Screenwriting 101: Peter Hyams

“A man much smarter than I once described this venture [screenwriting] as a horse race without a finish line. Just because you wanna do it doesn’t mean you’re gonna get to do it. However, if you are really talented, you are so separated from the overwhelming majority of the people who are trying to do it that I think you’ll get noticed. It may take a few times. Rejection is as much a part of this as physical fitness is part of being a marine. If you’re not prepared to do a lot of push-ups, don’t enlist in the Marines. If you’re not prepared to be rejected, don’t try to write films.”

— Peter Hyams

Excerpted from “Tales from the Script: 50 Hollywood Screenwriters Share Their Secrets”

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