“The reason I’m a screenwriter today is that I believed in my talent and made the sustained sacrifices to become one. I eschewed other career paths. I worked day jobs to support myself. I wrote on weekends when maybe I would have had more fun at the beach. I started and finished scripts and then started new ones that were better. I kept at it. There are no shortcuts. The dues-paying process can be bewildering and lonely, but its job is to separate out the professionals from the merely curious, and when it’s over, you’re oddly thankful for having asked a lot of yourself…You should never let your life get to the point where you look at screenwriting as a lottery ticket that’s going to save you. What saves you is your belief in yourself and your commitment to getting better at your craft, regardless of when that craft is rewarded. And a decent script probably won’t get you an agent. If you’re still at the point where you’re writing “decent” scripts – as opposed to great scripts – you’re not ready for an agent. But the magic of Hollywood is that the appetite for great scripts far exceeds the supply of great scripts. So when and if you finally write that great script, word will get out. People will ask you to read it, not the other way around. Stay optimistic. Stay focused. Write well and the agents – and the success – will come.”
Screenwriter Ben Ripley (Source Code)
Interview with Carson Reeves at Scriptshadow
Screenwriting Quote #149 (Ben Ripley)
April 3, 2011 by Scott W. Smith
4 Responses
[…] “The reason I’m a screenwriter today is that I believed in my talent and made the sustained sacrifices to become one. I eschewed other career paths. I worked day jobs to support myself. I wrote on weekends when maybe I would have had more fun at the beach. I started and finished scripts and then […] Original Source… […]
Great quote! Thanks.
@Trevor—I bet if I went back over the years to various quotes by successful screenwriters you would find many variations of Ripley’s words of encouragement.
Writers have a way of thinking that the right class, better software & computer, that if they could just move to L.A./If they could just get out of L.A., if they had more time to write, if they had a better job, if they had better connections, if, if, if….
But it’s never, “If I wrote a better script…”
Before anyone ever starts out to write a screenplay it should be mandatory to memorize Ripley’s thought: “There are no shortcuts. The dues-paying process can be bewildering and lonely, but its job is to separate out the professionals from the merely curious.”
So true. The plaintive cry of the novice screenwriter: “If only I could figure out how to break into Hollywood.”
You don’t break into Hollywood; you use a key. That key is a great script.