by Herbie J Pilato
Beyond having talent, to attain and subsequently maintain success in Hollywood, in any area, certainly as a writer, depends on many things, but mostly the ability to retain a carefree spirit.
“Ok…alright….no problem,” is usually the best response when your showrunner rips your script to shreds, figuratively; or when your showrunner rips your script to shreds, literally; or both.
Nobody wants to be around someone who is unable to manage their emotions, especially in Hollywood.
You can write about characters who have tempers, or those who lash out at their peers. But you don’t want to be one of those characters in your real life.
Let’s face it: when you’re in the entertainment industry or in any creative field, you’re not a regular person; and that is not meant to be an egotistical assumption.
Writers compose stories about characters who may live an ideal life; and there are many wonderful aspects that makes a writer’s life, ideal. But more times than not, those with the white picket fences, the bridge-partners, and the soccer-mom vans are the individuals writers create, or the ones who live next door to us. But, usually, over-all, those individuals are not us.
Maybe we’d sometimes love to be those people, but ultimately – and again, more times than not, that’s an aspiration harder to realize than selling your first script or book.
The most important aspect to embrace in the creative life is creativity itself.
It’s a special gift.
I, for one, can’t play basketball, and I can’t count.
But I can write…I can observe…I can assess…I can inspire…and I can succeed – and I have and will continue to do so.
Once more, not from an egotistical stand-point, though ego does have its place in the creative field. But from a realistic point of view.
And if it’s anything writers require to succeed on equal standing with having talent and the carefree spirit…it’s having a point of view…for the written page…the live stage…the musical composition…the big screen…or for television.
