The Art of Listening and Mentoring

This month we brought four mentors to Nantucket: Mollye Asher, Stephen Belber, Sabrina Dhawan, and Jamund Washington. Leading up to their one-on-one sessions with our writers, each mentor - separately and independently - told us they planned to listen first. And that is what they did: they listened, then asked questions, then listened some more.

Each of these creative pros had the instinct to listen to our writers before sharing their own thoughts, reactions, and advice about the projects. By listening, the mentors were able to discern the story the writer was trying to tell and how they wanted to tell it; they were able to understand the story’s characters on a deep human level. Beyond any plot or set piece. And ultimately they were best able to explore and serve the writers’ intentions, which is invaluable to the writers as well as to us here at Almanack Screenwriters.

We are all surrounded by people with rich complicated stories, and to hear them we must be able to listen.

Our sincere thanks to Mollye, Sabrina, Jamund and Stephen. We’re thrilled to have wrapped you into our community. Thank you for your time, generosity, and reminding us of the importance of listening