Do
you dream? Then do something with it instead of watching the dreamers dare on
some square screen.

            Do
you have a story to tell? Then start to tell it since it’s yours to begin with.

            The
end result isn’t always the best thing. Sometimes the journey really does
matter. Sometimes the journey can be everything.

            There
are times like today when I’m taking a script already set in front of me. I’m
working on a film novelization. It may or may not even have my name attached to
it. Since it’s going to be published in Brazil, I don’t mind. It’s still a fun
project. But today I had a simple scene which I made into something quite
beautiful. I unlocked the door and poured out my soul onto the pages. It
clicked and I looked back and thought this isn’t bad. It’s still a part of
me. It’s something that spilled out and I enjoyed the process.

            Yes, this is my day job. My night job, too. And yes,
I have a little experience. I’m fortunate. I’ve found ways to let it pour out
of me.

            But
you can let it pour out of you, too.

            You
don’t start by writing the last chapter in the story. You start by sitting down
and writing. You start by playing around with words. I call this making mud
pies. You’re a child and you’re just playing, feeling the slime in your hands,
trying to shape something with it.

            Do
it.

            Then
do it again.

            Then
keep doing it.

            You
want writing advice?

            Write.

            Then
keep writing.

            Then
keep writing after that.

            And
finish.

            Oh,
and by the way, finish.

            So
yeah, finish.

            And
then—hey, did I suggest you FINISH?

            It’s
so easy.

            Big
idea.

            Grand
idea.

            Should
be could be oughta be would be so much better than (BIG TIME BIG NAME EVEN
MIGHT BE MY NAME).

            Yeah.

            But
you gotta start.

            You
gotta keep going.

            And
you gotta finish.

            And
then . . . well, that’s when the fun (agony) begins.

            Are
you patient? Oh, you’ll learn to be. I am one impatient soul and wow how that’s
come to burn me. Because I can’t do anything but

            and
then

            and
then a little more

            and
then

            Feels
incomplete, right? You need something, anything to fill in the blanks. To end
the incomplete sentence. But that’s what you get. Sometimes a whole lotta
nothing.

            But
you have to be okay with it. Because you can still tell your story. You can
still make it into something beautiful. You still can and you should.

            It’s
never been easier to get a book out there. It’s never been more difficult to
try to sell and market a book.

            Wild
times. Take the plunge. Dream big.

            But
listen—the book is not what it’s all about. I don’t believe that.

            I
write cause I have to write. I still do. God willing, I always will.

            I
love words. I love taking emotions and then scratching and smoothing them over onto
the screen.

            My
pace doesn’t sometimes allow for, well, much. I’m learning and I’m making
mistakes. Yeah, I’ve got a long ways to go.

            So
you have a story idea. TELL IT. Not to me but to the screen and the page.

            Be
authentic. Try to do it in a unique way.

            And
then finish.

            And
then—well, then never give up. And congratulate yourself for finishing. Cause
so many people don’t. They want to but in the end it’s too much work. It’s too
long and too much of a pain for no return.

            Know
the feeling in the middle of the journey. That’s when it’s worth it. When you
have a writing bout and you look at the words and realize they’re worth the
effort.

            And
you tell yourself you’ll do it again tomorrow.

            Be
persistent.

            That’s
the same advice I always give. The only kind I can give. The kind I tell myself
day after day.