Another Jewel of Inspiration I Found

Tags

Chuck Lorre, Two and a half Men, Writing Sitcoms

Wow, so I got a few personal emails this morning about the last post and how it “inspired” some of you, and here I thought I was just bitching and moaning about all the rules and regulations of “how to”. Just kidding, I was sort of complaining, sort of saying get off your duff and write something brilliant and stop thinking so much. THANKS for the messages. I am just saying, you have to do it, and not worry so much. Worrying to a writer is the worst kind of cock blocking to a player-don’t even allow it to happen.

NOW:

On the lines of inspiration, sometimes we need to hear from our heros, and not just the Johnny Cashes of the world-because we all know that musicians have a whole different life than the rest of us. Even the tragic life of a musician is somehow more sexy than the sad, lonely, depressed, life of the struggling writer-let’s face it, no on ever tossed their panties on the stage of a hit ‘shot in front of a live audience’ sitcom.

I was watching the very first episode of Two and a half Men, this morning-researching the funny- and saw this vanity card from Chuck Lorre. What I love about this particular one is that while I have always thought Chuck-you know I say Chuck like we are fast and steady BFFs hanging out breaking stories every weekend sipping over priced coffee in Malibu-I always think of Chuck as someone who never fails and every piece of writing he does is brilliant. Well here is the truth, told in a funny way-cuz you know he is a comedy writer-but still the truth, makes him a little more human, and lets us know that we all fail, and even when we are top showrunners we will continue to fail and fail big, and fail repeatedly until one day we don’t, then the network cancels us and it starts all over again.

Read this, be inspired, write your heart out, keep up the hussle, and ENJOY!

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #108

When Dharma was cancelled my heart was broken. Over the next few years my efforts to mend it by creating a new show led to an even deeper emotional nadir when I noticed that I had somehow become the author of a seemingly endless succession of failed pilots and pilot scripts. This was not a big enough string of stinkers to lower AOL-Time Warner’s stock price (that had already been done by people more incompetent than myself), but my ill-advised attempts at heart-mending were sufficient enough to cause people in suits to not look up from their cobb salads when I ambled into the WB commissary (in Hollywood even has-beens amble). But I was indomitable. I kept writing… and failing… and ambling. And then, about a year ago, my good friend and favorite cross-to-bear, Lee Aronsohn, told me he needed to write something fairly quickly in order to keep his Writer’s Guild health insurance. Everyone — friends, agents, execs — told me not to get involved. They assured me that I was too big, too successful, for such a partnership. You see where this is going. Lee and I wrote “Two and a Half Men.” Which brings me to the glaringly obvious spiritual lesson in all this. How do you mend a broken heart? The Bee Gee’s never figured it out, but I did. You help a friend keep their health insurance from lapsing.

More on TV Specs-My Thoughts

Maybe it is just me, but listening too much to every single piece of info-which is always different BTW-to find how exactly “how” get in, break in, start your career, etc, is a big waste of time to me. Here is why.

The thing is, I believe that all of it is great information, but sometimes when over loaded with too much, people, writers-creative beings-start to think, or what I like to call OVER THINK, then immediately self doubt follows, and worry, dread, self loathing and the eventual not handing in of the script. Or even worse handing in something you don’t love and isn’t great because you changed your mind half way through, or minutes before the deadline.

As well, everyone and their dog will follow everything everyone says, then you will NOT stand out. If everyone does the same spec script and writes the same letter of interest etc, how could you possibly stand out?
You think you will stand out because your script is “brilliant.”? Ha! Unless the title itself is beyond brilliant, if you are number 1202 of Modern Family, Community, (you get the point), how will you even get read?

I also can’t stand all the, “don’t write this, write this” advice going out there. Look it is simple, write a show you love, make it brilliant. I mean there is a chance that if you are writing a really popular choice this year, EXAMPLE: Castle, or Modern Family, then it will be harder to be seen.

So I say, break the rules just a little. Be ready with back up scripts, so when they ask what else you have, you have something that makes you different. This is a line from the film, Walk the Line, about Johnny Cash.

The set up is that Johnny is auditioning for a Sam Phillips and he is playing it safe, he is playing what everyone else is doing. Now, was Johnny talented? Did his voice stand out? Did he have star quality? Yes, yes, yes, but at this point, he wasn’t showing it.

Sam Phillips: Bring… bring it home? All right, let’s bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing *one* song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you’re dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin’ me that’s the song you’d sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it’s real, and how you’re gonna shout it? Or… would you sing somethin’ different. Somethin’ real. Somethin’ *you* felt. Cause I’m telling you right now, that’s the kind of song people want to hear. That’s the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain’t got nothin to do with believin’ in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin’ in yourself.

So then Johnny played a song that he wrote that was from his own truth, it was real and he got past, and broke in, the rest is history.

Obviously we as aspiring TV writers don’t have that much freedom, but we do in a way.

Like I said, I think all the info out there is valuable, but you have to take it all in and then make it work for you.
In any case, I just had to share my thoughts on this because it is summer and the followships/writing program deadlines are upon us, and everyone is talking talking talking which is turning into worry worry worry, second guessing and I think people are hurting themselves.

But for me, I am different, I don’t believe in “can’t” I don’t 100% believe in paying it safe, and or following all the rules and while I may not be working full time in the biz as a writer, I am working in the industry and would not be if I listened to everything and worried and hung onto every word everyone said. If you do that you’ll end up crazy, frustrated and at your sucky day job until one day you wake up 60 & depressed.

Wait! Why am I telling you guys this? Aren’t you my competition? Okay, forget all that, read everything, follow every rule, play it safe! Hahaha

Happy Writing and GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WRITING SPECS! We are the future of television!