So are you saying that if you are in your forties then you should forget about trying to start a screenwriting career?

David Seidler was 73 when he won his first major writing award for "The King's Speech." Is it more common for 20 and 30 years old to break in as screenwriters? Probably. But again nothing matters except the quality of the script. If you write a great script, it will sell, no matter how old you are. And frankly Starburry's story tends to support the idea that you do not have to be a 24 year-old USC film school grad to have a shot at success as a screenwriter.

Yep, when I wrote the comment I was having fears about other things and then suffered from tunnel vision, when the fear of failure came into the equation as well.

Makes this here Wisconsin boy mighty cheery to see a fellow Midwesterner make a go of it!

Ironically, I think the stress of actually being here and living in LA can be detrimental to your inner writer. If you're worried about keeping two jobs, barely paying rent, praying your car doesn't break down, the roommate squabbles, the film school debt, cost of living being a bitch, etc... will you have the time, energy or creativity necessary to bang out the next gem of a script?

Scott, I know you didn't mean it this way, but winning an Oscar isn't breaking in, it's the highlight of a career. Bear in mind, Seidler has been a working screenwriter since the 60's.

J.S., there's also the influence of living in the 405-110-101-10 Bubble which can cut both ways. On the one hand, you can become quite aware of Hollywood story sensibilities by rubbing shoulders with the tens of thousands of screenwriting aspirants who clog every coffee shop from Venice to Silver Lake. On the other hand, that can work against you coming up with your own distinctive writing voice. On the whole, the significant advantages of living in SoCal outweight the disadvantage (IMHO). However whenever I run across articles that show how some writers do make a living in Hollywood while living outside Hollywood, I feel obliged to note them just to show it can be done.

I think technology has gone a long way in closing the distance gap. With email at your finger tips, skype and all sorts of video conferencing available... the chances of us "outsiders" succeeding has never been better. You take all that and add the availability of scripts, books, seminars and online classes and you have zero excuses. I had a chance to go to an event with George Wing (50 First Dates, Outsourced) who lives here in Seattle. Whenever he needs to attend a meeting he hops on a plane and back and is home for dinner. LA is simply not a place he chooses to live or raise a family. Bottom line, concentrate on writing a great story. The rest will take care of itself. Also I just turned 39 and I can’t imagine writing some of the stuff I do without the life experiences I have had up to this point so I refuse to accept age as an excuse or a road block. Good luck, have fun and keep writing! -Jim

Umberto Eco didn't start writing novels until his late 40s: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/07/us-books-umbertoeco-idUSTRE7A662Y20111107