A book I’m thoroughly enjoying right now is George Lucas: A Life.
While I've never been much of a Star Wars fan, I can't help but admire the franchise he built and his fight to keep Hollywood’s greedy mitts as far away from his IP as he could.
Anyway, one thing he says that really resonated with me came after winning a scholarship to shadow Carl Foreman as he filmed Mackenna’s Gold.
But before we get to that, just to give you a little idea of just how rebellious Georgey boy was, instead of watching over Carl’s shoulder every waking minute of the day like any budding filmmaker would, he instead grabbed any unused camera equipment on set to film his own stuff.
Talk about balls.
As it so happened, Carl Foreman wasn’t best pleased with these antics from such a young apprentice.
That was until he watched some of the stuff George made.
After seeing his potential, he allowed George to pursue his creative endeavours when time allowed. Good thing, too, because it meant he could use the latest and most expensive equipment on the production’s dime.
Not a bad deal at all.
Fast forward a couple of months: the movie was produced, and his scholarship came to an end. However, through the powers that be, another, more prestigious scholarship landed on his lap…
A Warner Bros. scholarship.
Most aspiring filmmakers would be thrilled at such an opportunity. Not George. Despite eventually accepting it, he knew it only promised one thing:
More shadowing.
“Watching doesn't teach you anything,” he famously said.
Read it again, Legionnaire.
Oh yes, wise words indeed.
Shadow for too long, and you risk languishing in it forever — or long enough to erode confidence in the thing you’re pursuing. It’s one of the big reasons I made the somewhat bold decision to ignore all of the Brandon Sanderson (admittedly, fantastic) lectures he has kindly shared over the years.
A move that some experienced authors would scold me for.
And while I appreciate the thrill of a good sneer, it’s not that I know better than Brandon when it comes to crafting an unforgettable fantasy world, but rather, I know what it leads to:
Procrastination and, ultimately, inaction.
Been there, done it, and got the love bites to prove it.
I cannot tell you how many “brilliant” ideas I’ve had only to let other writers’ shoulds and shouldn’ts cause that idea to shrink in defeat like a cock on a winter’s morning.
And I’m not talking about chickens, either.
The result?
Ideas I now fiercely protect and stories which otherwise wouldn’t have been written.
That, my lords and ladies, is the most precious of all.
So if you champion creativity, originality, and fantasy novels that pay homage to the traditions of the genre while also being brave enough to challenge others, then something in my bones tells me you might just enjoy The Divided Region.
Remember, watching doesn’t teach you anything.
Only action.
And you can act right now by hitting the link below:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
DJJW