Posted by Arturo Bandini at 66-168-209-20.charterga.net on August 05, 2003 at 17:12:35:
In Reply to: Writers posted by Era on August 05, 2003 at 16:38:22:
First, let me say that I believe that Good Will Hunting was originally begun by Damon for a class (acting or writing? I remember hearing this on NPR, though). Ben got into it as well, and they took their time writing it. Just to give you some background on the script (feel free to correct my errors)
As for your definition of writer: I, for one, am a writer who hasn't written much of anything in the past year or two. After a few years of working hard at a weekly magazine -- writing a weekly column as well as a variety of articles, from hard news to music reviews -- as well as other creative endeavors, it has only been recently (after about 2 years) that I have begun considering returning to writing by working on fiction again. And to be honest, I haven't really missed writing; the sun still rises and I still wake up every morning.
Of course, I had other creative work keeping me busy during these past couple of years: some freelance graphic design, video production, and also keeping a day job so I can pay my bills.
But I get the impression that you might either be young and/or a neophyte author. When I was young, I thought that I would die if a day went by w/out writing some new music on my guitar. I swore that the stars would fall from the sky if I didn't have my guitar in my hands at least once a day. Well, I haven't picked up my guitar in 2 or 3 months and I still feel fine.
But I've also known writers who wake up every morning and write. Every day. And they don't think that they'd have the right to call themselves writers unless they did. And if that works for you, then by all means follow that feeling. But I don't think it makes others less-qualified to be quantified as writers just because they don't write every day.
And besides, Matt and Ben currently have pretty successful acting careers, so it should be pretty understandable why they might not be so focused on writing right now.
(ps, there are very possibly numerous typos in the post, but it's dinner time and I'm not going to review this post. sorry.)