When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an actor. Over the next few years, I met only a few people who were pursuing that same dream. I would ask for advice, and received the standard,'Go to drama school,' or 'I went to Juilliard, try to go there, its a good school,' or 'Forget drama school, they're full of shit,' or 'Go to New York, not L.A,' or 'I like L.A., but I have an agent and a green card.' All of the advice started to sound the same-confusing. After I turned my attention to writing, the advice was less contradictory, but I found myself dealing with the same thing all serious writers face-finding an agent. This was a real education. Actors have to face much rejection during the audition process; for the writer, the rejection is a little less direct, but the process can be exhausting emotionally, even effect the actor or writer creatively, and self-doubt can creep in. I listen well to advice, but I wonder, during all those years, if I should have been asking these accomplished actors and writers how they learned to believe in themselves. Does Yale Drama School teach a class to their students about how to deal with rejection? My college did not make teaching confidence or self-esteem part of the creative writing program. Can you imagine Self-Esteem 101? The class would be filled to capacity with eighteen year old freshmen girls, including myself in those days.
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