5 Tips for Starting a Creative Career

Last week I met a young man who just got his degree in English and Film from a Florida college and wanted a career as a writer, ideally writing for film and television. A friend of mine asked me to give him some advice, which I wanted to share with all of my readers. The five tips I gave him are useful for anyone starting a creative career at any age. 1. Keep creating -- if you want to be a screenwriter, write treatments and screenplays on spec. Agents, producers, and media companies will need to see proof you can write before they hire you as a writer. You don't have to limit yourself to visual media -- if you get novels, short stories, poems, or even news articles published they will give you credibility. Along the way you may write some things that aren't worth sending to anyone. Don't despair -- that's all part of the process. 2. Find a creative community -- You need other people to look at your work and make constructive suggestions. People to bounce ideas off, and people who think your ideas are cool and want to work with you. While you can look for those people in any town, if movies or TV are your goal, you should probably move to Los Angeles. That's where the creative decisions are made. You'll also find other young people like yourself, all trying to break into the industry. Some of them will make it before you and they may take you along. 3. Make great content -- Quality matters. When a media executive sits down to go through the scripts and submissions they received, they know they're going to read a lot of junk. They're hoping to be thrilled. Write the script that thrills them. 4. Find your unique voice -- Keep pushing yourself to get better with every script and story you create. You don't want to write like everyone else. You want film producers and executives to say "we want the best in the business for this. Get me (insert your name here). 5. Pay your dues and persist -- You will probably face a lot of rejection. Producers will turn your work down, agents won't talk to you. There will be many days when you'll want to quit and get a 'real' job. Don't quit. If you're meant to be in the business, your work will improve with constant practice. You'll make friends in the business who can hire you or collaborate with you. You'll start to get known. Then, when an opportunity presents itself, you'll be ready and perhaps you will be the next big thing. And if not, at least you're in show business, baby. Hurrah for all those young people heading to Hollywood!