Last week, I presented you with the first half of my interview with author, Dennis Palumbo. Screenwriter, psychotherapist, author and witty interviewee. I've been excited to show you the rest of what Dennis has to say about writing. So without further delay, below you will find part two.
Q. We all know it’s difficult to land a movie deal in Hollywood. You co-wrote the star-studded movie My Favorite Year, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay. Can you tell us something fun that most people wouldn’t know about working in Hollywood as a screenwriter?
Dennis: I’m not sure. I’ve rarely seen the word “fun” and “screenwriting” appear in the same sentence. In fact, most people know by now that screenwriters, though vital to any movie, are usually treated pretty badly by studio execs, producers and directors. That said, it’s still an amazing experience to see and hear the scenes you wrote come to life when the finished film plays in front of an audience. On the whole, I had a good experience writing film and TV in Hollywood, and am very grateful for that time in my life.
One fact that I think most people don’t know, or at least seldom remember, is how long it takes for a movie to go from the first draft to the finished film playing at your local Cineplex. For example, My Favorite Year took about five years, including being developed at two different studios and going through many drafts.
Q: You’ve written screenplays, TV series like Welcome Back, Kotter, and advice for writers. What inspired you to write a book of mystery short stories.
Dennis: Well, I’ve always loved mysteries and crime stories. In fact, it’s my favorite genre. As I mentioned in Part One of this interview, my first published story was a whodunnit. But in the case of my new book, From Crime to Crime, the real inspiration for most of the stories was a weekly get-together that I used to host for me and three of my friends. We called ourselves the Smart Guys Marching Society, and got together every Sunday for six years to debate, discuss and rant about the issues of the day. Sort of a poor man’s McClaughlin Group, plus deli and beer.
Anyway, since I’d always loved the so-called “armchair mysteries” of Agatha Christie, as well as the Black Widowers stories by Isaac Asimov, I thought it would be fun to imagine my friends and I caught up in solving crimes. Sort of “Desperate Husbands” meets “Murder She Wrote.” And that’s how that series of stories got started.
I must say, I’ve always liked the idea of amateur sleuths. I guess it’s the fantasy that, given the right circumstances, I could help figure out whodunnit, too. That’s why even among the three stand-alone stories in the book, two also feature amateur sleuths: one is a female police psychologist with the LAPD, the other a penniless patent clerk named Albert Einstein, who gets caught up in the hunt for a turn-of-the-century serial killer.
Q: And finally, here’s a question to help my readers succeed in their own writing projects: Let’s say you had a client who was completely new to the writing business. She’s excited to write, but afraid no one will ever publish her work. If you had sixty seconds to give her some encouraging words, what would you say?
Dennis: I’d say that her fear was natural, and part of the very excitement about writing that she’s feeling. As famed psychologist Rollo May has pointed out, creativity is impossible without anxiety. That said, I’d also remind her that feelings do not predict the future. An actor may experience stage fright, and yet still go out on stage and give a great performance. The stage fright itself did not mean he would give a bad performance.
In the same way, the writer’s fear does not predict that her work will be bad, or unacceptable, or rejected by the marketplace. Her fear is just that: fear. The same fear everyone has who’s trying to do something difficult and meaningful. Whether you’re a new writer or a veteran, you’re going to deal with anxiety. After my years as a writer, and now almost 20 years as a therapist working with writers, I know for a fact that two things are true---
all successful writers used to be struggling writers; and
all successful writers still struggle.
Anyway, thanks for asking me to participate in this Q and A. I hope my answers have been helpful to your readers.
You've been wonderful, Dennis. I wish you great luck with From Crime to Crime. Thanks for giving such an interesting interview.
If you would like to learn more about Dennis Palumbo, you can visit him at www.dennispalumbo.com
Comments