Roger Avary

In my last post, I quoted a segment of something screenwriter Roger Avary said on his website (www.avary.com). His advice is so good that I couldn't resist posting the rest of it here.

For those of you who don't know, Roger wrote and directed 1994's "Killing Zoe". He also cowrote "Pulp Fiction" with Quentin Tarantino and is currently working with Neil Gaiman on a screen adaptation of the classic "Beowulf".

Everything that follows is Roger's:

Remember the Three P's:

Persistence: Believe me, there's plenty of talentless people making real good livings in Hollywood. It's not luck. Edison didn't believe in luck, and neither do I -- good or bad. It's all about keeping at it. If you work at it long enough, and learn from your mistakes, eventually something is going to happen.

Passion: No one wants to finance the film of a passionless individual. What most people want is to ride your passion. They want to feel that they're going to be part of something magnificent and exciting that's going to change humankind. Can't do that without passion. And if you're not passionate -- fake it.

Positive-Visualization: Trust me, you're going to go through some dark times. You absolutely must remain focused on the positive future. Visualize where you see yourself at nearly every step along the way. Soon you look back and realize you've actually gone somewhere. Visualization is key.

As far as your scripts go, keep writing. Keep sending them to whoever will read them. Just know that you can't expect anyone to do it for you. You have to do it yourself. And if you really need to, you'll shoot your movie on 8mm.