Skip Hollandsworth Feature By Christina Burke The lighthearted sound of sporadic bursts of laughter echoed around the room between hundreds of young guests as they quickly learned that Skip Hollandsworth was not afraid to say anything. “All first drafts are [expletive],” Hollandsworth said, quoting Hemingway. Hollandsworth, the executive editor of Texas Monthly magazine, has earned himself the title of one of Texas’ most prestigious writers. His never ending passion for writing has lead him to write hundreds of unique and effective articles such as Still Life, and also the recent screenplay Bernie. His latest challenge was to speak at a workshop full of high school Journalists from around the country, and he tackled this task with ease handing out great advice. “The stuff that makes us uncomfortable; that is what writing is about,” Hollandsworth said. Do not be safe. Do not write about the safe subJects. Do not write the predictable stories.” His humorous personality and obvious expertise was captivating to the room. He was not afraid to break down the reality of a successful writing career. “[The life of a writer] is a phenomenal contradiction,” Hollandsworth said. “There is the joy of being known as a writer, which is glorious, but then you have to go to your office and write, which is pure hell.” Hollandsworth never imagined himself being a writer. He learned how to write by imitating other writers, drew inspiration from what he knew was good writing and learned to use the rhythm of sentences. His passion for writing to tell people’s stories kept him interested. It took years for Hollandsworth to realize that he had the potential to peruse a writing career. After covering the death of a fellow student at Texas Christian University during his time working as a staff member on their student newspaper, he received an encouraging phone call from The Dallas Morning News, complementing his work. It was then that he realized he actually had what it takes to be a captivating writer. “No matter how much success I have had, I still feel fear,” Hollandsworth said. “For those of you who peruse this, you are going to face this issue: the fear of trying something. All I can tell you is that the way to beat the fear is to write a sentence, and then write another sentence, and then write another sentence. Do not look back.” As he moves further into his journalistic career, Hollandsworth strives to write more novels and screenplays. Although he claims he will never get sick of writing Skip Hollandsworth Feature By Christina Burke stories, his contribution to the screenplay Bernie has sparked new paths in his career, expanding his profession. “I never knew I would have the chance to write a screenplay,” Hollandsworth said. “You always think you want to do these things, and you think you have to have connections with this or that, but I did it, and it was not that hard.” When it comes to the secrets of perfecting Journalism skills, Hollandsworth declared they do not exist. He believes that a good writer is never comfortable with their work, but makes peace with it, knowing that they are constantly improving. He has a personal policy that nothing you ever do is good enough; there is always room for improvement. “No matter how bad it is, keep writing,” Hollandsworth said. .