Friday, February 4, 2011

What Writers Can Learn From Mark Wahlberg

There are boys. There are men. And then there's Mark Wahlberg.

No, I'm not saying that because of his charm. Or bad boy appeal. *blushes* I'm saying it because OMG, I want to be like him when I grow up. 

Why?

Well, there's this movie he's in...



... and it's a-m-a-z-i-n-g. 

Not only is it amazing, the story behind its creation blew my mind. You see, when Mark Wahlberg read the script, he fell in love with it. So much so that he jumped in to both star in and produce the film. 

That was in 2005.

After a bunch of issues with distribution and the script itself, the movie came out in 2010. 

Ever since awards season started, Mark's been saying the same thing to reporters: "This movie almost didn't get made, but I'm so happy it did."

Mark struggled to get The Fighter to audiences. He struggled to make the studio believe this story was worth sharing. He struggled to keep his faith after years of training without knowing if he'd ever use what he learned or not.

Bottom line? He struggled.

And he made it. 

Hard work pays off, folks. If an ex-rapper with swoonworthy abs can make his dreams come true, so can you. 

Now tell me: what makes you keep pushing on in your writing?

9 comments:

  1. I guess I'm lucky, cause I could never stop writing even if I tried. It's too much of a compulsion at this point.

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  2. My mom just called me the other day to say, "DID YOU KNOW THAT MARK WAHLBERG WAS A RAPPER?" Yes mom...yes I did.

    What keeps me pushing? The fact that I still don't think of writing as the end all be all of my existance. I still do it for fun. If I write 100 manuscripts and never get published I'm okay with it. (Okay...that would be really sad), but once you take the fun out of writing then there isn't really a point in doing it anymore.

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  3. Awesome! I didn't know the story behind the movie. What an inspiration!

    Thanks for sharing, Amparo!

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  4. Great post. I want to see The Fighter. More excited now you've said it's amazing.
    What keeps me pushing? I love writing. I love telling stories and creating worlds. And I have awesome CPs who make me want to push to be a better writer.:)

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  5. I'm totally going to take a page out of Mark Wahlberg's book!

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  6. What keeps me pushing on? Belief that my fictional words may mean something to someone else! :-) Take care
    x

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  7. I keep writing because I get really sad and/or cranky when I don't. Writing is definitely not a walk in the park, but I really can't imagine my life without it. BTW, The Fighter was INCREDIBLE!

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  8. Mark Wahlberg was the only thing that helped me through the break-up of his brother's band, New Kids on the Block (yeah, I'm that old...)

    Hey, people have said my emails are going to their junk mail lately. I sent you one (my query) on Wednesday, the 2nd - if you didn't get it, let me know. ericao75(at)hotmail(dot)com.
    erica

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  9. You are so right! So because I'm struggling right now, does that mean I'm destined for greatness. I think it does...

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