I despair

I just received a review of my script from a professional reader. He took it apart scene by scene, character by character, and ripped open the structure and looked under the hood. The result? Needs some work, but very marketable. Marketable is a good word for me. Maybe one of the best. Sure...I'd love to hear someone say he's a great writer. A genius! However, genius only gets you a nice eulogy. Marketable may allow me to leave something for the kids when I'm gone.

So why despair? Because I do want to be better and I just read a script that I know is better than anything I'll ever write. It wasn't a great movie, maybe not even a good movie, but it was great writing. The screenplay was "Sunshine", by Alex Garland ["28 Days Later, "The Beach"]. Compared to his, my writing is big block text written with a wide point crayon and held with two hands.

Just looking at the page is a thing of beauty. It's white space everywhere. It's lean, not a bit of fat that needs to shaved. You would be hard-pressed to find a single word that doesn't belong. Yet, it conveys every nuance of character and scene with just a few words. This bare bones writing is ephemeral, but it allows you to FEEL the characters. Not just know them, understand them, but feel them.

It taught me a great lesson. No matter how many courses you take, books on writing you read, and experts you listen to, the best way to learn is to read. Read a lot.