Month: February 2023

Took a while, but oh so worth it

Maximum Z animation, comedy, community, craft, fantasy, feedback, jokes, Nicholl Fellowship, notes, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, westerns, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The last batches of notes are coming in for the animated fantasy-comedy spec, and believe you me it is SO MUCH better for all of them.

I had faith and confidence in the story and the writing when the initial drafts were done, but it was the as-always-invaluable feedback I got that really helped fine-tune and polish to what it is now.

Bonus – everybody really liked the story and had fun reading it

Bigger bonus – the jokes worked, including more than a few “I actually laughed out at this”. This was a very important issue for me, and I’m elated that this was the result.

I’ve completed a quick tweak/polish and will probably do one more read-through just to be sure before I start sending it out to the big contests next week.

(Reminder for those who enjoy working under pressure – Nicholl early bird deadline is Mar 1 – next Wednesday)

In years past, I’d seek out notes from just about anybody and everybody. When you get numerous sets of notes, and many have conflicting opinions, it does no favors for you or your script.

Lesson learned. Now after each draft, I reach out to 2-3 readers with the same level of experience as me, or more, when possible. It might take a few rounds of doing this, but each draft gets the script to where it needs to be.

With my western, I thought my writing was as good as it was going to get. But working on this script has shown me that I wasn’t done yet. I’m the last one to toot my own horn, but this one seems more solid and put-together on several fronts.

They say you should be able to hear the writer’s “voice” when you read their script; that it sounds like something they would have written. I think that’s always been the case with each of mine, but for this one, you can hear me loud and clear.

Victories, defeats, and everything in between

Maximum Z animation, comedy, community, contest, determination, disappointment, encouragement, fantasy, feedback, frustration, horror, manager, perseverance, persistence, podcasts, query letter, representation, San Francisco, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This post is being released a few days after the usual time due to my involvement with this year’s San Francisco Writers Conference. I got to be a panelist, moderated a few other panels and did my “Screenwriting 101” presentation. A very nice time all around.

And for those interested, I’ll be taking over the reins of the screenwriting track for next year, so the gears are turning regarding what topics to cover. Hope you’ll consider attending.

It was really nice to talk about screenwriting with some experienced pros, along with giving advice and guidance to a lot of writers just starting out.

Call it a positive end to a semi-negative week.

The quest for representation continues. I’d queried a literary management firm in early January and they were quick to respond a few hours later with “Yes, please send it!”. Two weeks later, got an email saying “Sorry, we haven’t read it yet, but should get back to you by the end of the week.”

That was a month ago. Radio silence since then, including my obligatory follow-up of “Had a chance to read it yet?” I’m assuming it’s a pass, which is disappointing, but c’est la vie.

Moving on.

I also found out my horror-comedy short script didn’t even make the quarterfinals of a horror contest. Also disappointing, but this script is a lot more comedy than horror, so might not have been to the judges’ tastes or criteria. Who knows?

Still moving on.

But there were also a few bright spots amidst the gloominess.

A trusted colleague had some very encouraging comments about the animated fantasy-comedy spec. Feeling pretty confident about its prospects.

Several emails came in with requests for appearances on the podcast I cohost, including one mentioning how much they enjoyed the show. We also started posting the video versions, available here.

The takeaway from all of this is that you never know what’s going to happen and to just roll with the punches. There’ll be days where everything falls into place and days where absolutely nothing goes right. The best you can do is deal with it to the best of your abilities and hope it all works out in the end. And if things don’t go your way, you accept the results, learn from it if possible, and move on to the next thing.

A lot of things are out of our control, so we do what we can to influence or at least steer them to working out the way we want/need/would like them to. Celebrate any and all positive results, (briefly) lament the negative, then redirect your attention to “what’s next?”

Last week is in the past, so now it’s time to focus on this one.

It’s also worth noting that I got to talk with some other writers – both in person and online – who were just frustrated about the lack of progress they’ve encountered. There was a lot of talk about “I don’t know how much longer I want to put myself through this”, which I can totally relate to. Who hasn’t felt more than ready to throw in the towel?

And these are all talented people. Any of their scripts would make for a great film or TV show.

This ain’t an easy industry to break into. The chances of success are small, and seeing others advance (especially those who haven’t been doing it as long as you have) while you feel stuck isn’t helpful either.

Despite all the shitty days and setbacks, I’m one of those writers who intends to keep at it. I like the writing too much to want to give up, and give as much encouragement as I can in the hopes that they eventually feel the same about themselves.

Fasten those seat belts, chums. This bumpy ride keeps on going with no end in sight.

*gif by Frederatic on DeviantArt

Calling me “Professor” is optional

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I offer information. What you do with it is up to you.

For the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of being a speaker/panelist as part of the screenwriting track at the San Francisco Writers Conference. After last year’s conference, one of the volunteers approached me and asked if I’d be interested in doing a lecture/presentation about screenwriting to some branches of the California Writers Club.

Sounded like fun, so I agreed.

I put together a presentation that covers the basics. How it looks on the page, formatting, structure, what to include and not include, the importance of “show, don’t tell”, and so forth.

I did it with the mindset of “if I didn’t know anything about screenwriting and wanted to try writing a script, what should I know as I start?”

The more I came up with a list of what to discuss, the longer the list became. It was also important to really stick to the basics and not worry so much about things like contests, query letters, optioning a script, contract negotiations, etc.

I wanted to present the most basic of building blocks when it came to writing a script. A lot of the attendees were unfamiliar with how screenwriting works, so this was their first real exposure to it.

The info I present comes from all the lessons I’ve learned as part of my own writer’s journey and have helped me hone my own skills to what they are today.

I’ve done the presentation twice, and both seem to have gone over well. Each time yielded many follow-up questions I attempted to answer to best of my ability, along with a lot of the audience coming up afterward to say they had no idea how different screenwriting was compared to other kinds of writing.

Even better was that everybody said how much they enjoyed it.

I even sold a few of my books, which is always great.

I get to do it again next week at this year’s Writers Conference, then again next month at another branch of the Writers Club. No idea if there will be any more opportunities after that, but I’m just glad to have been able to do it.

I appreciate the praise, but need the criticism

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I had a great notes zoom call with a script consultant this week for the animated fantasy comedy spec.

They really enjoyed it, and had a lot of nice things to say – about both the story and the writing. Admittedly, those were all very gratifying to hear.

But I was more interested in what they thought didn’t work, or at least could use some tweaking.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a long list – just a handful of things, really. And even better, just about all of them were easily fixable.

This has been my m.o. since way back when I first started. Yes, it’s great to hear somebody say nice things about your script, but I need to know what doesn’t work. How else can I make the script better?

It also helps that my readers have some strong analytical skills. They won’t hesitate to point out both the strengths and weaknesses in my work, and that’s the sort of thing a writer needs if they want to improve.

Naturally, I don’t agree with every single note and/or suggestion, but I can see where they’re coming from. Looking at your script from somebody else’s perspective can help you see issues you might not have even considered. That’s also helped me a lot as well.

It all comes down to the single most important question when it comes to notes and feedback: will this make the script better?

Based on my recent series of notes and how the subsequent rewrites/polishes turned out, I’d offer up a resounding “absoutely”.

Speaking of which, I went through and made some of the changes suggested by the consultant – which also trimmed it a little more to a pleasantly round 100 pages.

Now it’s out to what is hopefully my last set of readers. Once those notes come in and any appropriate changes are made, the shift into contest-entering mode can begin.

There’s also the soul-sucking process of having to write a synopsis, but I’ll focus on the positive stuff for now.