Hard Truths You Probably Don’t Wanna Hear But Should (For Writers): The Sequel

Love or hate ...

• Florence Pugh is not getting attached to your spec because you tagged her on social. That's not how packaging works.
• Don't include cover art for your script. Chances are it's gonna be really bad (unless it objectively isn't, in which case, go nuts, do it).
• Alarm clock openings were never in style. They're not in style now. They will never be in style. Educators have told you not to do this for many years now—I've seen them say it firsthand. You will lose a piece of your soul every time you write an alarm clock opening. Hit snooze. May we awaken from this nightmare.
• Producers, managers, and lit agents will never ask you for upfront money to produce your script or publish your book. Should someone explicitly request such things, you must shame them on social media, as per the rules of international law.
• Yes, industry people check your X, Instagram, and other accounts to confirm you're not a maniac—reasonable opinions, good; crazy talk, not good.
• Don't just listen to industry pros, remember what they said.
• 150 pages is too long for a script if you're a new screenwriter, I don't care how great it is.
• 150,000 words is too long for a novel if you're a debut novelist, I don't care how great it is.
• If you're rude to an industry person for no legitimate reason, there is a 400% chance they're going to tell their industry friends about it.
• "Naturally beautiful" is a meaningless way to describe a character.
• Your logline is super important. Whoever says you don't need a logline—I mean a basic, short pitch—is a sociopath who cannot be trusted.
• Posting on social about how so and so agent or producer rejected your work is probably fine but also probably definitely very unnecessary ... and actually not that fine.
• Talented people don't necessarily make good teachers.
• Titles matter (like, the title of your story).
• As an unrepped writer not actively in development, there's zero benefit, ever, in putting a draft date on your cover page.
• Stop calling yourself an "award-winning ___" unless the award is at least sorta meaningful. Winning a local award in your small town's short story contest, lamentably, in a broader context, does not qualify.
• Someone who has never sold a script, published a book, or staffed on a show may give you better advice on craft and industry navigation than those who have.
• The following are not "great notes"—“the characters feel real, and the dialogue is crisp and sounds like how people talk” or “the story is gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat!” They're hardly sentences from a real person.
• Not all reps (agents and managers) are created equal.
• Most of you are not writing interesting stories because your ideas aren't interesting enough, and you're painting yourself into a corner. SO—if you made it this far, congratulations. I'm gonna give you my patented, ultra-top-secret method of coming up with great concepts: whatever idea has been done a million times, just do the opposite. Use that as your starting point. The Costanza Method™️. "If every instinct you have is wrong, the opposite ... must be right." A basic heist movie? What if they had to sneak something inside? Rescuing someone from a kidnapper = tired. Kidnapping a kidnapper = wired. A love story where two people fall in love? Okay, Nicholas Sparks. How about a love story where two people fall out of love (I mean, that's depressing, don't do that, but you get the gist).

(Editor's note: Maybe check out Part 1, too.)