Check Out David Myers’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Myers

Hi David, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In middle school, I used to copy song lyrics into my notebook. When I didn’t know the words, I’d make up my own, incorporating my words into the lyrics of famous songwriters. One day, my father found my notebook and read what he thought were my poems. After a quick worry about my mental health, he encouraged me to keep going. He said I might become a brilliant writer.

After that, I wore the hat “writer” with pride — and the whole world began whispering their secrets to me. A family friend told me of her stillbirth and asked to be written about. Another confided that she’d hid in a tree with a gun, planning to shoot her husband, before chickening out. Ugly passions came my way, along with some of the most beautiful wisdom. I remember fondly the person in the Italian countryside who said to me, “People! That’s what really matters in this life. Don’t waste your time on bullshit or money!”

After putting on my own plays in high school and college, I moved to New York City to become a successful playwright. The profession comes with no manual, but boy did I try. I couldn’t afford to put on my own shows in NYC as I had elsewhere in the country — it was simply too expensive. So I organized readings and sent plays to everyone I could. “Brilliant writer” eluded me still.

So I went to grad school at The University of California, San Diego, where every year they guaranteed to put up a play I wrote. And they would teach me how to make them better too! This, I hoped, would solve the difficulties of NYC: not only would I have productions, I would also become brilliant.

While at UCSD, I also studied writing for TV. I managed to write a tv pilot in class that garnered me a lot of attention, and made clear I would be moving to Los Angeles after graduation. As soon as I moved to LA to make my brilliant pilot, the deal fell apart, and I was back to hustling.

LA, like NYC before it, has had wild ups and downs. I’ve sold original content to major studios, ghost written for major writers, and fetched lunch for people I was desperate to read my script. I’ve been on the staff of five tv shows over the past seven years, and I’ve caught sight of real brilliance in my co-workers.

Every step of the way, I’ve tried to frame “brilliance” as a process more than a destination. It has served me to remember that the root of the word is “to shine.” When the world doesn’t see your light, shine brighter.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Competitive pursuits involve a lot of rejection. And when you pour yourself into your work, rejections feel personal.

The greatest obstacle I’ve faced over the course of my career is losing belief in myself. Professional Writers get a lot of notes. And the difference between a piece of writing that “doesn’t make any sense” and one that “brilliantly defies expectation” is often a key few sentences. While pursuing those sentences, it can be very hard to keep hope alive.

I wish I could say I’ve conquered this challenge, but I haven’t. I don’t know anyone who has fully. My best advice when struggling to believe in your voice is to find a cohort that inspires — and to make make make until the making itself is no longer fun. Then make one more project. Just to honor how much you wanted to succeed. If you want to quit after that last project, then it’s okay to bow out. I have been lucky that when I force myself to finish the project that’s causing me to lose hope, my enjoyment, fun and hope click back into place.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Everything I write is animated by a philosophical question, though the questions — and styles — tend to be different in different mediums.

My plays often travel magically through time. Theatrically, I care very little about whether a character lives or dies. What their life means is what matters to me. I’ve written a play where a father and son travel through hundreds of years of American history on one piece of land in Virginia; and another where a daughter and her dead father tell the story of how their family came to America and rose to prominence.

My writing for TV is almost always thrilling. Life and death matter a lot. I write murder mysteries set in high stakes worlds. Stories where pulling on one string reveals something new about the way the world works. Underworlds that expose something about what’s happening on the surface.

And my movies are usually quite weird! They tend to be heavy on theme. Whether I create a new horror monster to write about military PTSD, or explore the idea of a “one true love” in a world of clones.

When my cylinders are firing, I am able to write about complex societal issues in a humorous and plain spoken way. I’m very proud of the way subtle and intimate ways my characters love and fight with each other.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My high school teacher Suzi Phillips in Houston, Texas rearranged my entire school schedule to allow me to study with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Edward Albee at the University of Houston. It was an incredible gift.

When I first landed in New York, George C. Wolfe, Suzan-Lori Parks and Jeffrey Wright showed me how work can be political and soulful. Bonnie Metzgar showed me that you can be kind and also be a badass.

I’ve been grateful to work on TV shows under Todd Harthan, who has a genius-level understanding of tone and pace; and Ben Watkins, who inspires by believing that human complication makes for better storytelling. He leans into the uncomfortable and finds exquisite gems.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.writedavid.com
• Instagram: perfect_n_brave