“No one ever became a successful screenwriter by writing less”

This tweet last night from screenwriter John Gary:

I followed up with John and in an email, he added this: “Every successful screenwriter I know has one thing in common — they write all the time.”

Six years ago, I coined the screenwriting mantra: “Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages.”

Write pages.

Just yesterday, we wrapped up the 2nd Zero Draft Thirty Challenge. Hundreds of writers accepted the call to write from FADE IN to FADE OUT in a month and many of them achieved that goal, myself included.

Write pages.

My advice to aspiring writers: Complete three original screenplays. That is the path of least resistance into getting the attention of a manager or agent and maximizing the possibility of setting up a project.

Write pages.

In my view, John is absolutely right: The more you write, the more you learn the craft. The more you write, the more you understand yourself as a writer. The more you write, the more your unique voice emerges.

The more you write, the better writer you become.

Gauntlet thrown. Do you accept the challenge?

For my August 2015 interview with John Gary, go here.