Five skilled wordsmiths, each providing seven gems of knowledge at the Emerging Writers Festival. Luke Devenish was the second to speak. Ambassador Devenish witty, charming and, as is appropriate for a screenplay writer, does good punchy dialogue. He’s a novelist, coming from the land of TV and the stage. He also teaches for AFTRS and has got me seriously considering going back to school. He too has a website. Here’s my paraphrasing of his enviable lines.
- I wish somebody had told me not to believe my own PR. Don’t get a hyped up, bloated ego head.
- I wish somebody had told me the importance of doing more than clever dialogue. To start with I was just a dialogue monkey (ed: Luke didn’t say monkey, Liz just likes to say monkey). Good story takes you to the next level and writing for TV forces you to be a story machine.
- I wish somebody had told me the real deal about agents – you don’t need to have them to get published.
- I wish somebody had told me to keep my gorram mouth open. You must learn how to talk about your work and promote your work. It is a skill you can learn and get better at with practice.
- It pays to be multi-skilled
- It is impossible to have a career without spelling and punctuation
- There is no shame in the lowest common denominator. Next to my computer I have two words SEX and DEATH.
- Just do it
Tomorrow, Ambassador Rachel Hills.
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