I've been in some form of the online screenwriting universe forever, and there's a type that keeps popping up. The writer who tries to break in for years, fails, and decides that his new role is to present the rules he's learned as gospel. Sometimes he'll try to charge you for the advice, sometimes he'll dole it out for free...
But what he's doing is: telling you the only way to write and break in is to replicate the methods he's failed with.
It's madness. You wouldn't learn how to pass the bar exam from someone who flunked it forty times. And yet these guys are all over twitter and done deal and stage 32 and whatever other corner of the internet new writers flock to for advice.
The worst part is most of the advice is stuff they've gathered from other cocksure amateurs. There's a whole database of bad advice that has become scripture. Look for the million "we see" threads here for an example.
I'm not saying you have to be a professional writer to share advice/experiences. But either make it something you've experienced (here's what happened in this contest, here's how I get responses to queries, here's how I outline, etc, etc) or cite some actual expert - "here's a link to Pro Writer X talking about how he handles notes."
In short: don't get sex tips from someone who's never fucked.
But what he's doing is: telling you the only way to write and break in is to replicate the methods he's failed with.
It's madness. You wouldn't learn how to pass the bar exam from someone who flunked it forty times. And yet these guys are all over twitter and done deal and stage 32 and whatever other corner of the internet new writers flock to for advice.
The worst part is most of the advice is stuff they've gathered from other cocksure amateurs. There's a whole database of bad advice that has become scripture. Look for the million "we see" threads here for an example.
I'm not saying you have to be a professional writer to share advice/experiences. But either make it something you've experienced (here's what happened in this contest, here's how I get responses to queries, here's how I outline, etc, etc) or cite some actual expert - "here's a link to Pro Writer X talking about how he handles notes."
In short: don't get sex tips from someone who's never fucked.
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