Film Courage: When should a writer quit their full time job?
Erik Bork, Screenwriter/Author: Only when writing has become one that can replace that full-time job basically I would say which you kind of know it when it happens I think. Obviously if you have a full time job because you need that amount of income and you can’t get it if you quit because writing isn’t bringing it, then I probably wouldn’t be quitting.
I think most people tend to get it. I don’t see people quitting their jobs even when they have a professional nibble at writing because you can have a nibble that doesn’t turn into anything. Even if you get an agent, even if you get a job, even if you get a job on writing staff of a hit show, that could be over in six months and you may not get another one.
You’re going to suspend your full time day job while you’re on that hit show because you probably have to…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About : Erik Bork is a screenwriter best known for his work on the HBO miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, for which he wrote multiple episodes, and won two Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards as part of the producing team. Erik has also sold series pitches (and written pilots) at NBC and FOX, worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies like Universal, HBO, TNT, and Playtone. He teaches screenwriting for UCLA Extension, National University and The Writers Store, and offers one-on-one consulting to writers.
BUY THE BOOK – THE IDEA: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction by Erik Bork
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