more truth than some people can handle, apparently

books:


	• The First Time I Got Paid for It Laura J. Shapiro Da Capo Press, 2002 - 258 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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Inspiring in an offbeat way ...

For anyone who's ever wanted to get paid for it, you ought to read this book. Especially wonderful for those who follow the Who's Who of Hollywood writers, and how they struggled. The foreword by William Goldman is especially charming as is the closing anecdote by Steve Zaillian, which I found touching. Audrey Wells' tale is flippant and funny as is Pamela Gray's.

Not what I was expecting

Maybe I missed the fine-print or something, but this book isn't what I was expecting, really, or what I was looking for. The book doesn't get three stars because it's bad -- it's not a bad book -- but because I think, well, the title is a sort of false advertising. When I picked up the book, I was expecting essays by successful writers about how they broke into the business of screenwriting ... inspirational-type stuff. Instead, what the book contains are stories about:

"The first time I ...

"... sold a tv-pilot after working for fifteen years as a staff-writer for a highly successful television show."

Or ...

"The first time I ...

"... adapted one of my highly sucessful stage plays into a screenplay."

And so on.

Many of the personal essays are interesting, some are funny, and the book is worth reading, if what you want to read are the kind of mildly amusing, sometimes hopeful essays contained in this book. If what you want is a book of essays by highly successful screenwriters about how the broke into the business, you'll find little (although some) of that here.

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Hope for us all

One of the things I'd like to do in my life is write a screenplay. I haven't actually done it yet, and I have no idea what the process is like. But this book was a very interesting read. It has given me a renewed sense of hope. Some of the writers' stories in this book are like fairy tales to the hopeful screenwriters, and some of the stories show the reality to us. Reading these has helped me learn what to expect--because I understand that most of these writers were lucky, and that's a lot of what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Let's hope I have it.

Also, I must point out that the forward by William Goldman was worth the price of the book all by itself. I thought I was going to die laughing. I think I read the whole thing out loud to my roommate.

All in all, this is a wonderful book, with many memorable and hopeful stories.

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more truth than some people can handle, apparently

I'm a screenwriter. Not a big name, no big successful movies or TV shows yet, but I'm working on it. This book isn't the endless parade of "how I won the lottery in Hollywood" tales that some people want...but that's because it reflects the reality of a career in screenwriting.

Truth is you need skills AND luck AND connections. It's a tough gig, it really is. Million-dollar screenplay sales are very rare these days. Only about 5% of the scripts produced bewteen 2000 and 2004 were written "on spec" (that is, a screenplay some writer sat down & created, then turned around and sold as a completed piece of work). Most work is done as a "hired hand" in one form or another. War stories like these are a useful reality check for anyone thinking about taking up the career. If you LOVE to write, it can be a great job. If you want to get rich, buy lottery tickets, your odds are better.

Also check out Wordplayer.com and SamAndJimGoToHollywood.com for realistic tales of struggle.

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reviews: page 1, 2

The First Time I Got Paid for It is a one-of-a-kind collection of essays by more than fifty leading film and television writers, with a foreword by screenwriting legend William Goldman. Linked by the theme of a writer's "first time"?usually the first time he got paid for his work, but sometimes veering off into other, more unconventional, "first times"?these always entertaining (and sometimes hilarious) pieces share what it takes to succeed, what it takes to write well, and other aspects of maintaining creativity and integrity while striving for a career in Hollywood. Richard LaGravanese (The Fisher King, The Horse Whisperer, Living Out Loud) confesses that his first paid writing job was crafting phone-sex scripts. Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune, Matilda) explains why, in Hollywood, an oral "yes" often turns out to be a written "no." Peter Casey writes about the unparalleled pitch meeting for the award-winning series Frasier. Virtually every big-name writer in Hollywood has contributed to this collection, making it essential research material for anyone trying to make it in the entertainment industry, and a perfect read for movie and television buffs everywhere.

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