The entertainment industry is smaller than you'll ever believe

When you start sending your scripts out to important people in the entertainment industry, these people will remember who you are long after reading your script. As your participation increases over time, your name will come up or be seen more often. People will actually try to connect your name to something seen before.

As much as I hate the small town mentality of everyone having to know everybody's business, the entertainment industry has its own similarity to a small town. There are hundreds of thousands of screenplays written every year. Over 90% of these scripts never see any attention from important people in the industry. Once your stuff starts receiving attention, you have a reputation to protect.

I'm not saying that anyone cares what you're doing in your own time. What you submit and how easily it is digested within the entertainment industry definitely does count. Screenwriting is a tough business, so realize that you'll never be perfect. But you need to have quality in mind with everything associated with your name. I don't remember what McKee says about what to be or who to be as a screenwriter. He describes it well, but I can never remember much of what he says. I spend hours and hours cleaning fish and listening to McKee on audio tapes and still don't remember much.

As a relatively new writer, I am willing to have flaws in my writing. I'm not talking about the technical stuff, although I've screwed that up too. Realize that getting close to something with enduring and important quality is a huge success. If you have a strong concept and your story has a naturally occurring three act structure or spine, you can get the attention of Hollywood. If you have a weak concept and story with no naturally occurring spine, you're setting yourself up to be remembered as a weak writer. That weak story becomes your reputation in the Hollywood community.

Do the best you can with what you've got. If you fail, fail with something that you're proud to have created. Remember that those who have had success had to be where you are in the learning curve. Be proud that you've made it that far and that you have the ability to improve. Be that guy or gal and people will remember you for all the write reasons.