The teacher, Professor Wuliger, spoke to us from his heart--he was amazingly open and throughout the course, he told us that he listens to his emotions, and that he relies on them to help guide his life. He looked over our classroom, filled with screenwriting students who would graduate in a few months, and told us the reality was that maybe seven of the people in the class would make screenwriting or television writing their profession.
He said that he had worked with and had known talented writers who finished school and then life and making a living took so much of their time and energy that they never pursued their dreams. He asked us each to create a five-year roadmap into the industry for our final test. He wrote "Well thought through," on my final, and the grade A+ with a bold circle around it; time has passed since I finished the course and I need to find that 7-page document!
I've learned that when I take writing classes I work on new projects. I'm inspired by classmates and by the professor. I'm productive and write outside of work. But when I'm not in class with writing assignments due, it just hasn't happened.
But my desire to live my dream--writing screenplays and seeing them produced--is more powerful than the time that's passing.
I've also wanted to share insights from some incredible mentors. I've tried to do that in this blog. The real magic, however, happened for me when a mentor would see me struggling, or would be convinced I could do better even when I didn't know it myself, and would reach into their own life experience to help. This was done quietly sometimes, and sometimes with passionate anger.
Those moments changed my writing, and my life, forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment