Bumping Around the Blogs

I’m on the road this week, so an abbreviated BATB today. In fact, I’m only going to highlight one blog, a new one, at least as far as I’m concerned. Screenwriter, playwright, and actor Charles Pogue has joined the ranks of bloggers (since March). Pogue’s writing credits include The Fly (1986), D.O.A. (1988), Dragonheart (1996), and Kull the Conqueror (1997). There’s a lot of ‘meat’ in this post, but this in particular caught my eye:

I think most successful writers are loners who go their own way. I’ve always found value in Paul Schrader’s comment: “Why should we open the doors for young talent? Those who knock the doors down are much more interesting.”

I think the most important part of being a writer, after having talent and having something to say (it’s not enough to want to write, you have something worth saying), is being able to think critically…to be able to articulate your thoughts and to scrutinize, analyze, and assess your own work objectively and honestly.

This is one of the things I harp on in any class I teach…an artist must have the ability to judge his own work. If you don’t, how will you be able to justify it and defend it against all those opinions that will want to take a piece of it? If you can’t stand behind it or stand up for it with cohesive intelligent arguments, why are you doing it? It drives a lot of young writers crazy when I bark my mantra: “A professional knows when he’s done good work.” “But how do you know when you know?” always comes the lament. “When you’re a professional, you’ll know,” I answer, increasing their frustration.

If you need grandma or one of your peers to pat you on the back to give you confidence, then you’re probably not focused, determined, or dedicated enough. You have to be the one to know you’re good and that your work is good, so that no matter how many times you get knocked down, you get up and keep coming at ‘em.

One of the reasons I keep promoting the simple act of reading scripts (more on that later today) is that it immerses you in the world of professional storytellers. If you read scripts often and for a long period of time (say 2–3 years), you’ll just somehow ‘get’ much of what screenwriting is about. Same thing with watching movies (if you study them through the eyes of a ‘screenwriter’). And of course, writing. The cumulative effect of sustained, recurring work — reading scripts, watching movies, writing scripts — should help you, not only develop your sense of the craft, but also of you as a writer, what you have — your own distinctive voice — to bring to Hwood’s table.

So add Charles Pogue’s blog — Pogue’s Pages — to your To Read list.

Blog on!

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