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Transcript

Networking 101 for Writers

Image by uh_yeah_20101995 from Pixabay (Is this a coffee shop or a lab?)

Hi everyone. Yeah. One of the things you have to do as a screenwriter is network. Networking involves personal interactions with actual individuals, so that can feel a little overwhelming to people when they think about it. How am I going to interact with every single person that I want to read my book? Well, don't think about it that way.

Simply think about it as reaching out to somebody else and making a connection. A connection in an intentional way. If you're interested in pitching a movie, running an idea by somebody, you might reach out to a different person than you would to somebody who you figure will just tell you, oh, yeah, that's sounds nice, and not really invest in what you're saying or understand. So anyway, I was just looking. This is one of the first places you're supposed to look, your phone contacts, and I see all sorts of names on here.

It's really funny. I'm like, "Oh, wow, I have that number. I haven't seen this guy in years. Oh, and I wonder how she's doing. Huh? Interesting. I didn't know I had her number or his number." Yeah. Oh, goodness. Yes. You just never know what you'll find when you look, I mean, I seem to collect contact names and numbers, like dust balls in the corner. They just kind of show up, and it makes you realize that you do know a few people, or you have spoken to a few people, and there they are. They're their names. Presumably, I could reach out to any one of them and say, "Hey, how are you doing?" And one person on here is identified only as Hansen, which is pretty funny actually. It's a person who had done a reading of one of my screenplays for a character called Hansen, but I was embarrassed that I couldn't remember his name, so I just wrote Hansen.

I was going to ask him what his name was after I called him. I never called him. Maybe it's not too late, huh? It's been a few years. It's been maybe 10 years. Do you think he'll remember? I don't know. Anyway, it would be kind of amusing. Possibly. I have to think about it. Anyway, that's one of the little tips I'm passing on. Start reaching out to individuals that you think would be fun to know, would share your interests. Simply just be there for other people and for yourself really. That's it for now, and I shall be seeing you. Talk to you later.

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PPS: It's a coffee shop next to a lab.

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