Umm…John ridley worked in Hollywood as a Television Writer for over 6 years before he sold Three Kings. He was probably in Hollywood for a few years before he got his first Television writing job as well, which basically puts him in the 8-10 year range. Seems to me your so-called exception actually proved the rule.
By the way, John Ridley crossed the picket line (so to speak) and was the only non soap opera writer to work during the strike, so he doesn’t really support anyone but himself…So the Hell with him.

I actually sold my first script after I had been in Hollywood about 3 years. But I got really lucky. And that’s my main point. You might sell a script quickly but if you do you’re getting really lucky and you should understand and appreciate how lucky you really are.

And my comments “that the overnight success takes 10 years” wasn’t meant to imply that it takes 10 years to sell one script either. You’re not a success in Hollywood after selling just one script. To be a success or to “make it” requires many solid projects written and produced over the course of many years.

Again, I really wasn’t trying to discourage anyone and I’m actually quite surprised how many people took it that way.

I worry that someone will move to Hollywood write two or three pretty good scripts, send them out, and then when they don’t sell in the first 6 months or a year they’ll pack up and go home. Just because you don’t sell a script in the first 2, 5, or even 10 years doesn’t mean you should quit or that your scripts aren’t any good. They very well might be outstanding scripts. Screenwriting is a marathon not a sprint so I’m trying to prepare people for the marathon.

If you get really lucky and sell something in the first year, that’s great. But the majority of the people who I’ve met who have achieved some measure of success have done so by plugging away for years and really putting in the work.

Is that really nonsense, negative, pessimistic and completely unhelpful?

I agree it could easily take you ten years to write your first script that sells, if you ever sell one, but that wasn’t the question.

Can’t pay any attention to the braggart who regales us with all his wonderful achievements [and lunch with Ed Burns "several" times! WOW] but then hides who he is. Stand by your claims, or just stop making them.

Also, at this stage I have an agent and a manager, the kind of people who care and who’ll tell you the second you stray off and begin to feel cocky (which happens after you’ve sold a few, trust me).

It’s simple common sense that you should keep getting better and improving your craft. Just because you sold a few doesn’t make you an expert, and how ever thinks that is way over their head.

And I do not know why you take a shot at Ed Burns — he made his choices and doesn’t regret anything. I know this for a fact because I’ve had lunch with him several times. Don’t be so hasty to lash out at others, especially since your own credits aren’t that impressive either.

But I will still argue that your notion that a script will sell in “ten years”, is total BS. Just as an example, John Ridley wrote Three Kings in seven days and sold it after two weeks — this kind of stuff happens, all you need is a great, original idea.

And not some negative blog post.

No matter what profession you’re in it takes 10 years to get good at it. There was a book written recently about this, Outliers: The Story of Success.

If you think you’ve written something great and you’ve only been writing for a few years you’re seriously selling yourself short. I call this the Edward Burns syndrome. If you think you’re already there you stop getting better. It’s quite common in Hollywood. A newbie gets lucky and thinks it was his talent that got him where he is. He then languishes for years trying to repeat his original success. But it never happens because he doesn’t really have the tools to succeed – which are a lot more complicated than just doing good work. Edward Burns is a talented filmmakers but having early success was the worst thing that could have happened to him because he stopped getting better.

I actually have a post half written about the myth that “great writing will get recognized.” It’s a myth. I’ll be publishing it in the next week or two so keep an eye out for it.

The trap you’re falling into is that you actually believe that it all boils down to the quality of your work and if you write good enough scripts everything will be dandy. Trust me, Hollywood doesn’t work like that. The problem with this thinking is when things stop happening for you you’ll have no tools what-so-ever to get you through the inevitable downturn. You’ll be trying to write a master work and maybe you’ll do it, too, but it won’t be enough and you’ll have no idea what else you should do.

I’m really not trying to discourage anyone. The title of this blog is “Selling Your Screenplay” and that’s exactly what I’m trying to help people do. Selling a script is much more complicated than just writing a great script. And that’s what I’m trying to teach on this blog.

If you’ve had the kind of success you talk about that’s great. Maybe you really are an uber-talent. I sure wish I was. But I’m not. So I’m going to keep plugging away.