PERSONAL INSPIRATION

PERSONAL INSPIRATION

When we think of inspiration most think of political personalities that helped us build a foundation, but unfortunately most if not all of us have never had an up close and personal relationship with any of these people.

On a personal basis, I often think of whom I owe a deep share of gratitude to for helping mold my life and find the person I am so comfortable with. If we aren’t satisfied with our person, it becomes very difficult for us to teach and offer assistance to others. Being at ease with one’s skin takes time and patience, and usually we have someone who took the time to offer us encouragement.

I’m not talking about a pat on the back. I’m speaking of finding out that you are different and then learning how to be comfortable and successful with that person. It’s hard to understand there is no one else like you. There is only one you.

I remember back in junior high school. I had this teacher named Ton. Mr. Ton loved teaching. He came in early and left late. He gave his time freely and answered questions with explanations we all understood. He made learning unique and special. He knew how to tease the mind into having the need to know answers and then be satisfied with discovery. In one of the classrooms, the blackboards circled the room in a horseshoe. When most teachers just ambled on endlessly with the written word, Mr. Ton drew pictures and taught with excitement. He electrified the class, even the boys who didn’t want to participate, got involved. He drew us in. We listened. We learned and found a love to read and expand the mind. He was a great teacher.

Like many children growing up in a dysfunctional family, my mother was too busy in her mind to make room for children in need of nourishing. My father, again like many, was never around. He worked mostly to stay away from the house. I was lucky. I had a grandfather who cared. When my mom called me, a black sheep, meant to hurt me, my grandfather took me for a walk and explained how unique a black sheep was. A black sheep could be a leader. He stood out and was proud, and best of all the other sheep looked up to him. Instead of crawling into a shell and all but forgotten I learned to stand tall, accept whatever came before me and dealt with it. My grandpa was by far, the most important person in my life. He was my personal inspiration. Through him and his memory I have been blessed to share his teachings, patience and joy for life.

As we get older and drift into the workforce, few have time to help you find what’s inside. If you don’t know yourself by the time you get into your twenties, chances are you might never know the potential that lies just beneath the surface of the skin. Sadly, it requires inspiration from somewhere or someone to lift your spirits to a new high. But who might that be; you ask? It’s a problem for everyone and only a handful; actually find those unique personalities who will take the time to offer a hand. It might come from a wife, a child, co-worker, boss or friend. The problem we face is our lack of understanding the art of listening. We may have someone who can do all things needed if we could learn to hear them, but most won’t or don’t know how.

I married young and my wife became my personal inspiration. She didn’t baby me or continually pat me on the back. What she did do was insist I do what was in my heart and then she stood by me every step of the way. We shared everything, smiles, arguments, conversation and most of all we listened to each other. In the early stages of my career I met a few very special men, and each one had a unique form of inspiration. Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Ernie Borgnine, Ronald Reagan, Dick Clark and a few others gave me both direction and foundation. These unique men took the time to help me to understand I could make a difference; all I had to do was take the time to do it.

As an actor, I learned to listen to the director and then was able to discover what it was he or she wanted and expected my character to achieve in order to become fully dimensional. It’s not easy, but once you get the handle it drips out smoothly. Directors, however, work on a budget and in almost all examples money rules their activity and how much time and patience they are willing to give an intimidated or insecure personality. It might be easier to recast the roll then it is to help fix a person’s insecurities.

As a director, I found a love for working with children and animals. Animals are fun, loose and are willing to try anything to please and offer unconditional love. If well trained they will work a trick and repeat it as many times as requested. Actors, on the other hand, usually have a multitude of personality perks. Some are temperamental; some pout or become with drawn, while others are insecure every moment they stand before the camera. Kids haven’t found their insecurities yet, at least most haven’t, and so working with them is fun. They listen, want to please and like animal actors, are willing to try anything within reason. All the kids I have worked have brought much joy to my heart. Some of their parents, however, are not fun to be around at all. One child I worked with had a mother who cared more for her accommodations and how much money the child made then she did the child. When wrapping a film, nothing feels better than to have a child wrap their arms around your neck and thank you and whisper they love you for being so nice to them.

Like every writer who puts words on paper, albeit for the screen or a novel, we adore hearing a good review of our work. We all hear derogatory stuff because there are many critics in all walks of life. A writer’s worst nightmare is a critic in print who has had a bad day. They see nothing good to the written word and tear it to pieces. Then a strange thing happens. The public reads this terrible work or an audience pays to see the movie you wrote, and they love it. The movie or novel makes money and sells well, and then the critic may come back and take praise for creating a unique situation that ultimately made the film or book a success.  When I teach a class or appear for a lecture, I tell my audience to expect to read or hear pessimism about a work and accept it. Not everyone will like or inspire you. Fact is, few will want to do that because they are jealous of you and could never match what you have accomplished. Everyone strives to do their best, and I am the first one to say one or a handful of negative reviews does not make or break a work or the artist who created it.

One of my favorite stories happened in Santa Barbara California. I had just sold a screenplay, shared a great lunch and was on my way home. I stopped for gas, a station that happened to be right next to McDonald’s restaurant. The handle on the gas hose was wet and after pumping the gas, I went to the restroom to wash my hands. On the way back to the car this homeless man asked if I could help him. He said he had just been given a bed at a local shelter, but couldn’t check in until after seven. He sadly mentioned he was hungry and didn’t have money for food. I had been ripped off in the past and was reluctant to give money to a man who looked like he would drink it away even when famished, so I suggested I buy him dinner. He smiled and took out his wallet. He opened it, and it was empty. His eyes found mine and I saw a spark, some pride that had been beaten down comes to life. He asked if I would give him the money and then accompany him inside McDonald's. He explained he wanted to pay for the meal himself so it wouldn’t look like a handout. I put five dollars in his wallet, and we entered McDonald's together. He proudly ordered his meal and when the girl hesitated to fill it, he took out his wallet and showed her he had the money. I asked him if he was trying to stay sober, and he said it was either that or death, and he wanted to live. When we parted I gave him twenty dollars, it would have been more but that was all I had at the time. His tears made that experience stay with me for a lot of years. I can still see his face and the twinkle in his eye. Without knowing or trying, he gave me a personal inspiration that can never be taken away. One short moment of generosity changed both of our lives. The kindness of the money made his life seem worthwhile living, and he showed me there was hope for all of us if we took the time to listen and help when and if we can.

Ask yourself, who gives you Personal Inspiration? Who in your life changed how you look at things, how you respond to those in need and then ask if you have ever taken the time to help someone who is not asking for help. Life is short. The older we get the faster our life vehicle seems to travel. Along the way, we are often given the opportunity to cause a change, to do something so rewarding we will never forget it. It has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with the foundation on which you built your life structure. Time is precious. Stop and take the time to do what is really important. Be inspired and give that gift to others. Many of them will return the favor by helping someone else. Love life and share your smiles often.

William Byron Hillman © 2012

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Let’s Sue ‘Em http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M9E790

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://tinyurl.com/6wxef7g

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd

Bad Rap (November 2012)

Coming soon:

Quigley’s Christmas Adventure (November 2012)

COMPROMISE

COMPROMISE

I know the first thing that usually comes to mind when you say compromise is politics, but the word itself also has a unique intellectual property attached. When you use the word it automatically puts the listener on the edge, anticipating an argument or God forbid an opinion.

I grew up in a house full of turmoil. Dad was a democrat, mom a republican and grandpa an independent with an open mind. That’s not to say he was not opinionated, but he always taught me to compromise. He said without compromise, there was no happiness, peace or resolve.

Dad and mom argued endlessly and mostly about nothing. Grandpa was a man of reason. He listened very carefully examined all the facts before he passed judgment. I found my grandpa’s attitude much more congenial to my personality, and so I found listening to him and others made more sense than to constantly be in turmoil.

In school, you learn all about compromise early on. It’s hard to get along with playmates and not be able to give a little and take some back.

As an actor there is constant compromise, or you look for another job. If you have an opinion on how a character should be played, and the director has a totally opposite concept, guess who wins? As much as I love to act, you still have to keep in mind that others hired you to fulfill their vision. Disagree or refuse to compromise and you find yourself looking for work more often then if you got along and went with the flow.

When I became a studio writer, the word compromise was printed in capital letters. You created a draft you love, and then the studio reads it, and they have that right because they hired you. Then they ask for re-writes and then more of the same. At times, you think you’ve ended up with an entirely new script. After they finished readjusting the story, a director is brought in, and he too wants his input, vision, and ideas and demands his changes be made. Your baby now takes on a whole new look with lots of compromises here and there to make everyone happy.

When producing a film, the compromise usually comes from others. You want things to go smoothly and yet keep the structure to the piece intact. Then you find the necessity to compromise because your vision won’t fit within the budget.

The same goes when I direct a film. You still compromise on just about all facets of the production. The wardrobe needs a change because your star doesn’t like what was chosen for him or her to wear, the shoes are wrong and his desk needs certain items not in the budget or on the product placement list. You’re forced to compromise.

As a full-blown filmmaker, you find producing, writing and directing the film will surely be easier and the need to compromise won’t come up as often but it doesn’t work that way. You actually discover very quickly the need to compromise when the budget you helped create is or might be soon exceeded from the original figure. That’s when you’re faced with both eyes to figure out a compromise and get back on schedule. There are times product placement won’t save you, or you can’t afford certain things such as cranes, lenses or camera use. What do you do? You compromise and find a substitute solution. In post-production, there are even more compromises with editing, cuts, music, effects, angles, cutting an actor out and more. It can be a nightmare if you haven’t learned the art of compromise. It’s amazing how many things must be changed from the first day of production to the last.

Writers have always been faced with compromise. If you have an editor, they see weaknesses in your story or the concept of the overall book, television or film script needs a polish or rewrite. In a novel, there are more changes, compromises and arguments than usually found in screenplays. Hearts can easily be broken; characters left in the dust and the storyline adjusted with so many changes it’s hard to recognize the original work. As a screenwriter, you write the script, make changes, polish it, perhaps have a re-write or two and then get a green light for production. In comes the actors and the director and guess what? They too have some ideas that a minor rewrite will solve. They say it’s only a few, just a tweak here and there, and it’s done. Then reality sets in, you cut some things that made the story work, the engine is gone and/or the character's dimension has been compromised. There’s that word again.

In a relationship, you can’t get through a week without compromise. The range is vast and covers just about everything you can think of from food to deserts, vacations, clothes, haircuts, makeup, vehicles, romance, what films or television shows you watch and what music you both can tolerate. There are other areas, but you get the idea. The main and most important subject usually settles on money and the household budget. Here you find restrictions that neither party may be happy with even when compromises are made. All parties know if the budget works, their lives will enjoy a total and completely happy environment. Romance will bloom; smiles prevail, and compatibility will live to see another day.

What it all comes down to is even in the work force, politics, and personal relationships; the need to compromise becomes paramount in all that we do. When we can no longer compromise to get along or work together, failure waits right around the corner. Let us not forget; everyone is replaceable, even though we hate to admit this, it’s true. There is no job, no one person from the top on down, that can’t be replaced.

The ultimate goal for all of us is to learn, listen, smile often and get along as best as can be tolerated. There are no doubts, we will never all get along smoothly nor will there be a lasting world peace that someone somewhere will refuse to act as expected and will impulsively spoil the wonderful for us all.

On the other hand, there is also no reason for us not to try to achieve a peaceful goal and enjoy life to the max. I like to remind everyone, a smile goes a long way.

Compromise is truly a grand word. As my grandpa once told me, be prepared during the whole of life to make concessions. The quality and elements in our lives may differ, but the ultimate goal for all of us is to accomplish and perhaps over-achieve what was first anticipated.

William Byron Hillman © 2012

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://tinyurl.com/6wxef7g

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd

Coming soon:

Let’s Sue ‘Em (October 2012)

Quigley’s Christmas Adventure (November 2012)

SUCCESS

What exactly is a success? Are there different levels of being successful? The answer is yes. Sometimes being successful has nothing to do with money or financial rewards, but rather a personal measure that can only be defined by those making the effort.

When I produce a film, for example, many people are hired and how they do their job benefits their career and future recommendations. Some I meet only once or twice early in the preproduction process, and then again, when we start shooting.  Most of these people know their job well and do not need to be seen for them to perform to the perfection expected. Nevertheless, a wardrobe person must listen and be trusted or a disaster is in the making. We meet to discuss dressing the actors, and unless it’s a period piece that requires specific wardrobe costumes, something dealing with present day is easier but not easy. If the script is read and there is no mention of bright-red tennis shoes, and the actors show up on the set in red Reeboks, that’s not cool. That wardrobe person didn’t listen, and their success rate slipped a notch or two. Many jobs on a movie set require a successful background, and that has nothing to do with how much money they have. It does matter what their rate of pay might be on their next job.

To a writer, albeit for the screen or a novel, the success comes from building their audience, creating a following, structuring who they are and how they sell themselves to their potential buyers. For the writer who has struggled for years on end, been turned down by every agency in the business, had his or her work criticized negatively, been rejected by all publishers they approached and finally when all else has failed they find their way to self-publishing, and their work becomes a hit. The size of the hit is not as important as the audience that has been found and hungers for another book. That spells success.

Success comes when writers help one another. It is, after all, a very small world we live in. Many writers write alone and their lives follow that pattern until, or unless they find their audience and a bit of success does happen. It’s a lonely profession. I remember being a staff writer at one of the movie studios. I had written a draft of a script, and one of the other writers came over to look it over for me. He first read the content, and we discussed the story. He made several suggestions, some good ones that I ended up using with his permission. When we were all done, he quietly pointed out a few typos and didn’t make a big deal out of it. I remember that to this day. They were easy fixes, but the script would’ve been sent out with them uncorrected, and he saved by butt and some embarrassment.

I always tell students, not everyone will like your work. Not everyone will see eye to eye with your story content. Does that make it an ominous decision? The answer is no of course not. If you gave a thousand books away and only fifty liked it, does that make it harmful, and once again, it may surprise you there’s good news in that message. What you just did was find fifty readers who will look for your next book and most likely buy it. Amazingly, you found part of your audience. I’ve had people hate a screenplay and tell me to my face how horrible it was, how painful just to read and get through it. A month later I sell that same screenplay, and then it ends up making a pretty good movie. More importantly the film made money, and thus I had another audience for my work.

In the film business, unlike books, you are only as good as your last hit. With books, your audience tends to be loyal to you and will follow you and your work. As you build into your success, the reader enjoys it all the more. If you only write one genre, and it happens to be a series, your toes need to be very strong to hold you up, as your stories need to keep their attention with fresh and unique things for your limited characters to do. If you write a variety of genres without type casting your work, your audience will come to expect a bit of the unusual and accept a wide range of storylines. If you stick to one genre and limit the story lines, for example, writing about killers, rapists, military subjects or terrorist, then you need to create wonderful lead characters the audience will love, identify with and seek to follow. Any of the above will spell success when done with passion.

Success allows you to grow and once again this has nothing to do with your monetary world. It will eventually have great meaning, but not early on. No one can make a storyteller. If you have the gift, you can write. The writing part is also an art that no one can give to you. If you’ve ever read the paragraph, many schools use to show us how gullible we are, then you have read a horribly written string of misspelled words and language usage and yet you, the reader, understands the entire paragraph and can explain what it meant. That said there are some great books written with poor language, typos and some unique spelling and then went on to be best sellers. I am not suggesting you ignore your errors and know you will fix as many as you can find or your editor will discover, but perfection is hard to achieve with so many written words. Often times you will pick up a book written by a famous best-selling author and see typos. Most of these writers have professional editors, and yet they miss some bad usage or words missing or misused. It happens to the best, and it will happen to you no matter how many times to re-read your work. Unless every page is horrible, these mistakes are forgivable if the story holds. The reader sees the error and then forgets about it, so they can devour the next page. That, my friends, is part of the success you achieve when you find your audience.

As a filmmaker, success is not measured by your financial wealth. Success is based on how your film sold and if people came back a second time or bought the DVD of your film. It helps if they not only like the story but how the overall film looks. Were the actors dressed right, use the right gadgets; drive the right cars and travel to locations that captured your imagination? If they loved it all, then you made a successful film that will be remembered. Once an audience remembers you will be asked to make another film. You’ve earned a moment of success. What continues to be true is you are only as good as your last film.

As an actor, success comes from how good, your performance is and can you hold the attention of the audience. Do they like you and your character portrayal? Once they like you, they will always like you even when you work in a turkey. Unless you keep making junk, they will forgive one or even a couple but not all of your additional work. That’s when a star becomes a has-been.

Authors face a similar situation when the first part is the storytelling of your planned journey. If your three best friends love it or are afraid to tell you it stinks, but the next thousand hate it, you might want to try another genre or refreshed characters in a different setting. The story is everything, and that goes for film and television. Story, story, story. If you can tell a story and have people listen and enjoy the tale, you are a storyteller. Can you write? Only you will know the answer to that. No one can do it for you. No one can make you a writer any more than they can make you a storyteller. Once you find your handle, you have just received your first dose of success, and each step you take after that brings more success.

Communication skills also help and they can be taught, honed and perfected. Do you respond to fans? Always. Do you answer emails? Everyone.  Do you return phone calls? Each one is like finding treasure. Does anger help? Never. Can you write a good letter? Try, try and try again. They get better every time you write one. Do they help? Success can’t be obtained if you live in a dark bedroom. Communication is part of being visible.

Financial success usually comes after you’ve discovered. How successful you become is basically up to you, after all, isn’t that what you are trying to do?

The best part of success comes when you can choose what you want to do, turn down what you don’t, and be happy with your decisions.

Over the years, I’ve had the luxury of doing many things, acting, writing, producing, directing and filmmaking. I’ve written songs, music scores, created and directed commercials, and I’ve also stumbled. I’ve done good things and bad things, had successes and failures and through it all have enjoyed every moment. As one of my mentors pointed out to me early on, you cannot please all the people as that will never happen. There will always be someone who does not like what you do, including your greatest success. The secret is to enjoy the journey, be happy with what you do and sincerely care about others. What they think you can’t change, but you can entertain most of them, in one way or another. A smile goes a long way and certainly makes you feel better. The best part comes when you help someone else and because of what you do, that little effort opens a door for their success.

Success. It’s right at the corner.

William Byron Hillman © 2012

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://tinyurl.com/6wxef7g

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd

Coming soon: Quigley’s Christmas Adventure

ARE WE REALLY THIS GULLIBLE

Are We Really This Gullible?

I’m afraid the answer is yes. We are so taken in by what we read in the newspapers and the Internet or what we hear on television, radio, newscasters and/or politicians that we just assume it’s the truth.

It sort of reminds of when I see a sign that boldly states, “Live Entertainment” and I used to add, “That’s great as opposed to the alternative Dead Entertainment.”

When I went off to start my entertainment career, I toured the country as the lead singer in a rock band. We were a bunch of misfits, or so it must have looked to those who appeared to enjoy us. Our drummer was a black kid from Chicago who never stopped smiling. Even when he had the flu, he smiled. He just loved life. The bass player was a Hispanic kid from Mexico City; the lead guitar came from France and then there was me, the tall white kid with the golden voice. We played in nightclubs, country clubs, graduations, weddings, church events and even prisons. Everywhere we went to people told us how good we were, and we believed it. Fact was we fully expected a record company to jump out of the crowd and sign us up. We were a band of brothers who could do no wrong until we played at a high-school graduation. The first set was fabulous and the kids danced, laughed and had a ball. During the break we, the four about to become super stars, ducked behind the curtains to chill out. We were having a great time until we heard two girls talking. One said: “The band stinks.” And the other happily added "So “So does their singer. Hasn’t anyone ever told him how terrible he is?” The other girl giggled and added, “Maybe we should tell them to get a real job.” We heard them walk off and for the first time in years the smile on our drummer’s face was gone. We finished the gig, but it was never the same after that night.

When I got to Hollywood, my agent told me I’d be a star. I believed her too. I appeared in plays, did lots of day work, and became a regular on the soap opera Days of our Lives and then fully expected stardom. After a few more years I realized one in a thousand or maybe that number is one in five-hundred thousand make it while the rest drift around, settle for a few jobs here and there and most eventually give up and move on. Most of those were at one time or another told they were great and would be stars, and they all believed what they were told. We were all gullible.

We all truly believe things are great until we discover they’re not.

When I wrote my first screenplay, I had others read it. They all told me how great it was. I had just written the next Gone with the Wind. Even my agent said it was great, and I believed her. She submitted it to several studios, and they all turned it down. Then I got a phone call from the head of the story department at one of the studios, she had submitted the script to and who had also turned it down. The man asked if I would mind meeting him the following day at the studio. When I told my agent about the meeting, she immediately assumed it was great news, and that they had reconsidered and I was about to make my first sale.

The meeting didn’t quite go as she thought, or I hoped it would. The man asked me to sit and when I did the first thing he said was "Your “Your screenplay is terrible.” My heart sank and for a few minutes, I didn’t hear a word he said, and then he smiled and stopped talking. Suddenly, he had my attention. I felt like I was back in school or my grandfather was about to say something important.

“You really believed this was good didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “Everyone who read it liked it.”

“And you believed them?” He sat back and waited for my answer.

“Why would they lie to me?” I asked.

“Because they didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“If I can’t believe my friends and agent, who can I believe?”

His hesitation gave me plenty of room to think and for the life of me; I couldn’t come up with an answer. I studied his face. He was an older gentleman with a twinkle in his eyes that somehow made me relax.

“There is only one person you can trust, that you can truly believe to be honest with you.”

“Who?” I said it too quickly and wished it hadn’t slipped out.

“You,” he answered. “What you’ve written here is a very good concept for a very commercial film. You rushed the script, and wrote it without vision. Each scene needs to be seen in your head with your eyes closed. Each change must fit comfortably into the next, and the dialog needs to flow like your listening to a conversation between friends, strangers or acquaintances.”

“I’m not sure I can do that.” I said, and I knew he heard the disappointment in my voice.

“I’ll tell you what I am willing to do. You go home and re-write this from page one. The whole of your story has already created an organic structure and while it’s in skeleton form, it works. When you have twenty-five pages, bring them to me. We’ll have coffee while I read what you have done.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because you have talent that needs a little push. I can't guarantee the studio will buy what you end up writing, but I think you will learn to trust and help yourself.”

I admit it. I was and probably in some ways am still gullible.

The head of the story department critique was a wake-up call, like getting slapped in the face.

I did as he requested and over a couple of months rewrote and polished the screenplay. The studio didn’t buy it, but another production company did. When I tried to thank him for his help, he told me I owed him nothing. He told me one day, when someone else needs help, perhaps it will be your time to help him or her. It was, after all, once again a form of what my grandfather had instilled into my heart – pay-forward had resurfaced.

I hear people use that term today, but they have no idea the true meaning of what it means to pay forward. Give from the heart; expect nothing in return, and complete your mission is all it takes.

Over the years, I have enjoyed writing about many different genres, but all have a common thread of humor and humanity. I also learned not everyone will like your work or will say nice things about it. Truth is some will hate what you do and will try to discourage you and to them; I say no way. You can’t please all the people all the time so don’t try. If you believe in self-others will too, and you will eventually find your audience and the voice in which you write. I am grateful that Veronique and Murray are finding its audience, much like my Rollie Kemp thrillers are.

On the other hand.

If you believe what others say without checking the facts, you are assuming what is said or written is factual and true and then you my friends and readers are indeed gullible.

William Byron Hillman © 2012

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz4

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://tinyurl.com/6wxef7ghttp://tinyurl.com/6wxef7g

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspuhttp://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prdhttp://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd

IT ONLY TAKES ONE: It Only Takes One

IT ONLY TAKES ONE: It Only Takes One: It Only Takes One My grandfather told me it only took one mistake to mess up a whole day. A teacher in Military School said it onl...

It Only Takes One

It Only Takes One

My grandfather told me it only took one mistake to mess up a whole day.

A teacher in Military School said it only takes one lie to be removed from the school.

In Little League, my baseball coach said it only takes one hit to be a hero.

In high school the basketball coast said in only takes one great basket to win the game.

My professor said it only takes one second to listen, learn and comprehend.

When I first arrived in Hollywood, my agent told me “Bill, it only takes one role to jump-start an acting career.” I look back on that and realize most of that advice was pure hype to get me excited to try harder. My grandfather used the phrase often and more than once he was right on target. How smooth the day would flow without mistakes, and if only we could live mistake free. What he really meant was the deliberate mistake we make every day thinking a little short cut or another won’t matter. One little lie will never be discovered. One irrefutable moment in a relationship, that we know will cause heartbreak, is done in spite of the warnings. What difference does it make?  How many times we think it won’t matter, much. Then we discover it not only mattered; it caused a broken heart, or someone lost his or her trust or faith in you perhaps never to be forgiven.

Yes, it only takes one. Tony Curtis said it only takes one joke to loosen the cast and crew, and he was right. The joke was usually well received; we laughed and had a great production day.

Rock Hudson told me it only took one decision to change direction, a career or the attitude of someone looking forward to putting a negative thought in your head. Rock was a star and lived a quiet private life. Few knew his compassion or that he helped so many and never took credit for any of it. Rock understood what Pay Forward meant and exercised it frequently. As I have discussed and written many times, he found me on the back lot at MGM studios with four flat tires. Someone had cut them as a joke, but it wasn’t much of a joke to me. My wife was pregnant and at home alone and I had no way to call her. Rock was testing his new convertible and found me quite by accident. He laughed and told me it would only take one minute and drove off. It was a bit longer than a minute but a truck showed up with four new tires, installed them and said it was all taken care of. He even let me use his two-way radio to call my wife and tell her I was okay. When I tried to pay Rock back or thank him, he changed the subject and asked what I really wanted to do. He saw me stand behind the producers and talk with the editor and guessed I was as interested in working behind the camera as I was in front of it. He asked me, “If you only have one choice, which would you pick?” I wasn’t sure by then which way I wanted to go. Standing six feet five inches created problems for a career. A few like Rock, made it work, but many actors stood six feet or under, and, in most cases' way under. Actresses were considerably shorter, so a guy my height was like a fish out of water. Behind the scenes was quite appealing. Rock laughed saying, “It only takes one second to make that decision, Bill, just one.” He was right.

It only takes one.

In the real world, we are all faced with making split-second choices. Some are good, some not, but we make them. It is our pick, and most of the time we have options. At the end of the day we are the engines that drive the body, and it’s our body to drive. It’s easy to blame others, but it also takes just one preference, one dastardly error to mess it up. On the bright side, it only takes one great selection to reach success, to make it all go in the right direction.

My grandfather had more wisdom in his little finger than most people I’ve met have in their entire lifetime. He taught me to respect others and their property, to reason and understand predicaments I placed myself in, and to stop and think before taking steps to eradicate my foolishness. If he said, “It only takes one…” once or a thousand times, there was always a reason he said it.

There are few phrases in life that have the deep meaning this statement creates, completes, resolves, or opens the heart and mind to understand.

As a singer who became an actor/writer and then a filmmaker without much guidance or having the convenience of a mentor, I use these four little words frequently. They make me stop and think to consider the options and help make the right decision. In each of the many learning facilities I attended, the one given was to listen after all; it only takes one mind-drifting moment to miss the most important part of the lesson. The same goes for everything we do. In marriage, friendship, making a movie, writing a song, screenplay or novel it takes one great phrase, one beautiful sentence, one particularly rewarding statement or one fantastic scene in a film or television show that will be remembered by those who saw or read your work. It only takes one.

When I make a film, I like to choose the different genre and mix things up. I have made the action thrillers but in film, my favorite genre is family fare. Some of my most successful films were comedies like The Man From Clover Grove, The Adventures of Ragtime and Quigley. Each had kids and animals and lots of “it only takes one shot” to make scenes work better.

I write novels the same way and mix up the genre frequently. It was fun writing my memoir The Hard Way as our early life was quite remarkable, and I got tired of hearing people say, “Why don’t you put that in a book?” So I did. As a screenwriter, like almost everyone I know who writes for the screen, we have many stories that didn’t make it to the big screen. Many have sold scripts; some multiple times only to have the rights revert back to you when the options run out. We have piles of stories, again some good, some not. The special ones find a place in our hearts and minds. When you open the filing cabinet it only takes one moment to find the next adventure. You pick some of your favorite stories. Veronique and Murray is one of those. I sold the script five or six times. I think I re-sold it to one company twice. Everyone loved it, said it would be a hit, but it never got the green light and missed the big screen by “this much.” Now it’s one of my favorites and best-selling novels.

My agent once told me I should create a hero series of films, and thus Rollie Kemp came to life. I modeled him after my buddy who just happened to be a former FBI/CIA and Secret Service Agent. He also started and ended his law enforcement career as a detective. He was the nicest man I ever met, the kindest and the most lethal rolled into one complex personality. One moment he would take off his shirt and offer it to you, or help an old lady across the street. Then, in a heartbeat, he could drop a guy twice his size and disarm him. I thought Rollie Kemp should have all of what John had. So I developed ‘Ghosts and Phantoms Part I The Beginning.’  Rollie became the epitome of “it only takes one and pays forward.” John saved lives and took some that didn’t belong, and I thought how cool would it be to create a character so complex he didn’t know what made him tick and yet could solve the damndest of mysteries. I wanted a guy, who would help children and the elderly right in the middle of saving the world. So I introduced Rollie Kemp in ‘Part I The Beginning,’ and made him as messed up as I could. To say he has baggage is putting it mildly.

Like my grandfather always pointed out, don’t spider-web, pick one. I had already written a mini version of my memoirs but hadn’t put the finishing touches on it. I was once again ahead of my own feet. So after drafting the second part of Ghosts and Phantoms, I put it aside and completed the memoir. As I had done everything in life the hard way, I got tired of people saying I should put that in a book. When you start at the bottom with the clothes on your back and rise to walk above it all, perhaps a few words will help someone else who is currently in the situation I found myself.

To paraphrase my grandfather, things happen quickly and there will be times you only have one right option to make out of multiple choices. Throughout life there will be a stumble or two, some of the judgment calls you make will be the wrong ones, but it won’t be the end of the world. When I completed Part II, I felt Rollie Kemp was together enough to survive in the real world.

I broke away from the serious thriller scene to write Veronique and Murray, another screenplay-turn-novel and one of my favorite stories. In this story Murray has multiple times where he must make one decision. The quirky theme, nutty fun characters are all based on individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting at one time or another. The plot is complex and full of right turns that take us in the huge circle. It was time to laugh, be intrigued and have fun reading the book. I guess that worked based on the reviews and emails I’ve received.

I had to come back to Rollie Kemp. In the third book, APRIL, I tested Rollie, put him in jeopardy, made it impossible to survive and still pulled him to safety at the right moment. I played with the character to understand how he should deal with a situation and get out alive. I confronted him with choices and gave him but one way to solve each situation. It was fun to build a man you can look up to, trust, like and wished you had a friend just like him. He’s like ten perfect men all rolled into one guy. Women like him, men identify with him and his enemy believes he’s vulnerable only to discover he always has a surprise up his sleeve. From here on, the Rollie Kemp adventures will be fun to create, but he will continue to make one decision at a time.

William Byron Hillman © 2012

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://tinyurl.com/6wxef7g

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd