Frank Monteleone On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer
An Interview With Susan Johnston
I don’t believe in the terms natural-born or talent in writing. I believe in desire. Anyone with a burning desire to tell stories in the best possible way will hammer away at the anvil of development and put in the needed 10,000 hours to become very good at their craft. No one is born a talented writer.
Some writers and authors have a knack for using language that can really move people. Some writers and authors have been able to influence millions with their words alone. What does it take to become an effective and successful author or writer? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer” we are talking to successful authors and writers who can share lessons from their experiences. As part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Monteleone.
Frank Monteleone is known for Valley of the Moon (2009) and Kandlestick Men.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Having written several stories when I was in my teens, my desire to be a writer was repressed by a passion for business. On a flight in a thunderstorm during a business trip, our plane was hit by lightning, cutting off all our power systems and lights. We were all certain death was imminent. In that quiet moment inside that cabin, every passenger searched their soul in solemn silence — a silence I have never experienced. In my personal search, I realized I had not written any stories. Things you always say you will ‘get around to doing.’ One month later, I resigned from my accomplished position and began taking extension screenwriting courses at NYU.
Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?
My pilot script KANDLESTICK MEN had performed well in contests and evaluations, with several ‘Recommends’. I had complained that I wished The Black List had some service for pilots. During a seminar, I was told The Black List (website) evaluation has a review section for unproduced pilots. I posted KANDLESTICK MEN, and within two weeks, with the help of complimentary evaluations, had earned four ‘8’ scores and a 9, invoking free hosting and cutting me off from complimentary evaluations generated by scores of 8 or higher. On Twitter, someone stated that I had ‘broken the Black List’.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?
I continued to work while secretly taking NYU extension classes. No one wants to be led by somebody who wants to be or do something else. So, I’ve led two lives. Now after totally disengaging from anything other than writing, I have an appreciation for the need to have a side hustle. The biggest challenge is managing the economics of time and work.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It was actually from a class. We had an exercise to write a two-page scene about a spouse in a relationship with a job their partner wanted them to quit. I drew from personal experience and embellished it a bit. Our work was peer evaluated, and all the female classmates read it and graded it high. The men did not get as stressed about the scene and graded it as average. I changed two sentences, and the men then graded it well. The lesson was to be sure you’ve conveyed essential information with enough clarity for all to see.
In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?
I don’t believe in the terms natural-born or talent in writing. I believe in desire. Anyone with a burning desire to tell stories in the best possible way will hammer away at the anvil of development and put in the needed 10,000 hours to become very good at their craft. No one is born a talented writer.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
My script KANDLESTICK MEN is the #1 crime thriller one-hour pilot recommended by The Black List. ORAC ELLE is a nominee in New Media Film Festival® and I just completed a psychological/horror pilot and am writing a REAL EVENTS historical figure/diverse cast historical drama feature.
Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.
#1) Determination, enough to keep you writing on the busiest or down days. 2) Openness, willing to look at editorial or feedback criticism, notes are not an attack but more as midwife assistance on the path to improvement. 3) Intelligence, enough to decipher the difference between the helpful and the noisy and troubled. 4) Honesty, self-criticism for improvement, knowing that you are the first truthful and most assertive critic of your own ability. I can never convince myself that a scene is ‘good enough’ and believe that is the truth. 5)Huger to improve, always learn from better work and teachers.
What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e., perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?
Study of successful screenplays -break down the pacing and key events, the economy of it all. And study. I made my greatest improvements while attending Sundance Collab classes.
Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?
I love British novelists like John LeCarre, Frederick Forsyth, and Peter Wright. Screenwriters I admire include Taylor Sheridan, Aaron Sorkin, and William Goldman.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Government Works. Have OSHA become responsible for any death in custody or apprehension connected with the police. Police exemption for OSHA review of workplace death is eliminated. Someone dies while being apprehended becomes Federal Jurisdiction. Officers and suspects alike. Then have police officers’ insurance bonded for any acts of malfeasance.
How can our readers further follow you online?
@FrankMonteleone (twitter)
Please send us a link with 2–4 high quality pictures of you that we can include in the article. They should be at least 1100 pixels wide.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=frank.monteleone.984&set=a.723635262711351
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@FRankMonteleone (twitter)
About The Interviewer: Susan Johnston is a Media Futurist, Columnist as well as Founder and Director at New Media Film Festival®. The New Media Film Festival® — honoring stories worth telling since 2009, is an Award-winning, inclusive, and boundary-pushing catalyst for storytelling and technology. Susan was knighted in Rome in 2017 for her work in Arts & Humanity.
