Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Hadley Davis Rierson ’89speaking is difficult for many people but it will never beas difficult as it was when you were in ninth grade. In caseyou are curious, my talk was about smiling (I believe itbegan “smile and the whole world smiles with you”) andI grinned and bore it and received an A–.As you have surmised from the talk of the boy and theslow dancing, I did not have an overabundance of socialconfidence at Milton. I was not a sophisticated New YorkCity–bred boarding student. I was not an athlete with muscularcalves and a field hockey stick in hand. I was notblonde (I am now). I had (and still have) what I consider tobe an imperfect nose. Thanks to my Milton teachers, however,there was one arena where I had plenty of confidence:the classroom.My Milton English teachers nurtured confidence in mywriting. This is not to say J. C. Smith or Mr. Zilliax werenurturing. They were tough critics. When I had not livedup to my potential, their disappointment alone was crushing.But when I met or exceeded their impossibly highexpectations, like the time Mr. Zilliax read my paper onThe Turn of the Screw (ending with my analysis that “the governess’sscrew was, in fact, ‘loose’”) aloud, I felt, well, brilliant.Now, on days when writer’s block takes hold and Icannot write a sentence, I think of Mr. Zilliax. I was goodenough for John Zilliax for God’s sake! He read a paperaloud for God’s sake! I have to be good enough for somerun-of-the-mill Hollywood executive.Knowing you can write and knowing how to sit down andwrite are not the same, however. Milton taught me to dothe work. Each time I stare at 120 blank pages (the lengthof a screenplay), I get the Milton exam pit in my stomach.People are counting on me to write 120 pages of wordsfrom my own imagination! No, wait, they are not justcounting on me; they’re paying me! The reason I stopshort of a full-blown anxiety attack is that thanks to Milton,and all those blue books, I know how to manage my time.I outline my scripts much like I outlined my U.S. historyterm paper for Alan Proctor. I map out how many scenesI need to tackle each day to meet my deadline and trudgeforward until 120 blank pages become 120 completedpages and I get to type the wonderful words “The End.”This brings me to the end of my essay. As I said before,I attribute my Hollywood writing career to Milton. Incidentally,between you and me, my characters never confusewho and whom.Hadley Davis Rierson has written for the television shows “Dawson’sCreek” and “Spin City” and is the author of a book: DevelopmentGirl: The Hollywood Virgin’s Guide to Making It in the MovieBusiness (Doubleday). Ice Princess, her first feature film, wasreleased by Walt Disney Pictures in March 2005. She is currentlyworking on a movie for Warner Bros.49 Milton Magazine