I woke up one morning recently and realized that my life had gotten too small. Even my new novel, which I was enjoying writing, had grown somewhat irrelevant as my passionate desire to become a widely read novelist suddenly seemed to wane. My first novel was published in December of last year, and received mostly great reviews—and respectable sales—but suddenly I was filled with a new desire: to share my writing method, and the self-confidence it brings, on a larger scale than my one-on-one consulting or classes at NYU.
It was like a vision. I saw myself leading big seminars and helping others improve their writing and their lives. But while I know plenty of people in my field, this other arena is new to me, so I got in touch with Andrea Reese, an old friend who ran Barbara Sher’s self-help operation for seventeen years. Fortunately I contacted her just before the start of her next “Success Team.” Barbara has taught these “follow your passion” workshops for years and they led to her larger success, including several PBS specials, so I decided to take one myself and learn from a master.
Without giving too much away, after just two hours I felt completely bonded and invested in my fellow team members’ success even though they were all in entirely different businesses. How did Andrea do that? I was wowed and excited to discover that the workshop focuses on the same two concepts that I use as a writing teacher and business/marketing coach.
The first concept is specificity. Mark Twain once quipped that the difference between using the right word and the wrong word is “the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” In Barbara Sher’s Success Teams, you are told that other people can’t help you if you are not specific. For example, if you just say, “I want to be a successful writer,” you are being too vague and people don’t know how to help you. On the other hand, if you say that you want to be a television writer, you enable people to dive right in, like “Hey, I have a friend who works on a TV show!”
The second concept is community. It’s simply impossible to achieve big-time success alone. Therefore, we all must accept that we need a group of people who will support and help us, and if we don’t have such a group, we must set about creating one. Think of the title of the wonderful play Six Degrees of Separation: all of us are surprisingly and delightfully interconnected. The trick is finding those connections and making them work for you. My friend and lawyer, Bob Siegel, who has been the production counsel on over a hundred films, puts it succinctly: “Moviemaking takes a village.”
I was thrilled by my Success Team experience and couldn’t wait to incorporate what I’d learned into my “Creative Business of Screenwriting” workshop, which I gave to 30-plus people at New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) last Thursday.
The workshop was divided into two parts. The first half helped the writers assess their basic concept and create a log line, short synopsis, and bio, for use in query letters, live and online pitches, as well as for other marketing techniques. Here I counseled the attendees to be very specific about their projects and intended audience, just as Andrea had encouraged in the Success Team. The second half of my workshop was devoted to how to effectively network and make the professional connections you need. This is where the concept of community was explored in more depth: we discussed how to mine your present group of friends and colleagues to see if they know someone who can help you.
My workshop, I’m proud to say, was a resounding success. I will write more as I see how Andrea’s workshop affects people in the weeks to come. By the way, I will finish my novel!
To recap: Apply two simple concepts to your work and your life, and you will grow and prosper: One, be specific in what you ask for; and two, find ways to connect and work with other people.
Here’s to your successful writing!
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
