The First Time I Got Paid for It

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring in an offbeat way ...
Review: For anyone who's ever wanted to get paid for it, you ought to read this book. Especially wonderful for those who follow the Who's Who of Hollywood writers, and how they struggled. The foreword by William Goldman is especially charming as is the closing anecdote by Steve Zaillian, which I found touching. Audrey Wells' tale is flippant and funny as is Pamela Gray's.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining and enlightening - but for screenwriters only
Review: I could go on about the entertaining tales from screenwriters like Nick Kazan, Lawrence Kasdan, Ed Solomon and Pamela Gray, but I won't. That would rob you of the pleasure of hearing their tales for yourself. For aspiring screenwriters the messages are clear: overnight success is rarely overnight; when you have an agent that doesn't mean you'll automatically start raking in the dough; and lastly persistence in the crazy industry known as "motion pictures" pays off eventually.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I was expecting
Review: Maybe I missed the fine-print or something, but this book isn't what I was expecting, really, or what I was looking for. The book doesn't get three stars because it's bad -- it's not a bad book -- but because I think, well, the title is a sort of false advertising. When I picked up the book, I was expecting essays by successful writers about how they broke into the business of screenwriting ... inspirational-type stuff. Instead, what the book contains are stories about:

"The first time I ...

"... sold a tv-pilot after working for fifteen years as a staff-writer for a highly successful television show."

Or ...

"The first time I ...

"... adapted one of my highly sucessful stage plays into a screenplay."

And so on.

Many of the personal essays are interesting, some are funny, and the book is worth reading, if what you want to read are the kind of mildly amusing, sometimes hopeful essays contained in this book. If what you want is a book of essays by highly successful screenwriters about how the broke into the business, you'll find little (although some) of that here.

Rating:
Summary: Hope for us all
Review: One of the things I'd like to do in my life is write a screenplay. I haven't actually done it yet, and I have no idea what the process is like. But this book was a very interesting read. It has given me a renewed sense of hope. Some of the writers' stories in this book are like fairy tales to the hopeful screenwriters, and some of the stories show the reality to us. Reading these has helped me learn what to expect--because I understand that most of these writers were lucky, and that's a lot of what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Let's hope I have it.

Also, I must point out that the forward by William Goldman was worth the price of the book all by itself. I thought I was going to die laughing. I think I read the whole thing out loud to my roommate.

All in all, this is a wonderful book, with many memorable and hopeful stories.

Rating:
Summary: Hope for us all
Review: One of the things I'd like to do in my life is write a screenplay. I haven't actually done it yet, and I have no idea what the process is like. But this book was a very interesting read. It has given me a renewed sense of hope. Some of the writers' stories in this book are like fairy tales to the hopeful screenwriters, and some of the stories show the reality to us. Reading these has helped me learn what to expect--because I understand that most of these writers were lucky, and that's a lot of what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Let's hope I have it.

Also, I must point out that the forward by William Goldman was worth the price of the book all by itself. I thought I was going to die laughing. I think I read the whole thing out loud to my roommate.

All in all, this is a wonderful book, with many memorable and hopeful stories.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of laughs and a little wisdom
Review: This book is a hoot! The tone of this compilation of short essays by Hollywood writers ranges from thoughtful to irreverent to downright hilarious. The title is somewhat of a misnomer since not all chapters tell about a writer's first sale. Chuck Lorre tells of the first time he was fired from a writing job (for defending a remake of "Beany and Cecil" from the eventual creator of "Ren and Stimpy.") Carl Reiner skips telling about his extensive television and screenwriting but focuses instead on the sale of his first novel. Delia Ephron covers the sale of several books as well as how she came to be a screenwriter. Peter Casey, already a successful television writer, relates the miraculous meeting when he and his partners pitched the idea for "Frasier." While these essays provide glimpses into the Hollywood machinery and a few of its gears, facts and advice are scarce. You won't learn how to navigate the "trenches" by reading this. Instead, you'll be entertained by the irony, good humor, and storytelling presented by this large group of talented writers. Because each piece lasts for only three or four pages, you can dip into this book for a few minutes at a time and read passages out of order. Don't skip any, though, because you might miss a gem.