contests

Just not their thing?

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(Apologies for no post last week. Had some important family stuff going on.)

Although my current focus is all about the crowdfunding for my short film, I got a bit of news earlier this week that really made me stop and think.

I subscribe to International Screenwriters’ Association (ISA), and one of the benefits of that is free entry to some of their contests.

I took advantage of that and entered my fantasy-comedy into the Emerging Screenwriters Sci-Fi/Fantasy contest.

It made quarterfinals, which was nice, but did not make the semifinals, which was not as nice.

My first reactions were naturally “Man, this script must really suck,” and “This does not bode well for the other contests I sent it to.”

After the requisite wallowing in remorse and self-pity, I’d remembered something else about this contest. When the list of quarterfinalists was released, I recognized a couple of names and titles I’d seen before.

I checked which of those scripts had advanced and which had not. One in particular that had not was a script I knew had placed in one of last year’s major competitions.

That gave me some pause. A script like this, one of exceptional quality, had NOT advanced in this contest? That just didn’t seem right. How could that happen?

This once again reminded me that IT’S ALL SUBJECTIVE. Your script isn’t going to click with everybody. I don’t know what the criteria for the readers or the contest are. Maybe the script wasn’t “genre” enough for them? Who knows?

I’ve gotten a lot of great & positive feedback on my script, and it’s done moderately well in a few other contests. Not that I’m comparing mine to this other writer’s, but neither script advancing doesn’t mean they’re bad. Just “not what they’re looking for”, and there’s nothing to do about it.

While it would have been nice for the script to advance, it’s not the end of the world that it didn’t. And it was still free.

I’ve been slowly pulling back from contests overall, and this kind of result is a contributing factor.

And almost as a counterpoint to this experience, I recently got a very nice pass on the same script from a reputable management firm that invited writers to submit. I had a strong suspicion it wasn’t the type of material they usually worked with, but figured I’d take a chance. Even though they passed, they liked it, and had some very nice things to say.

Now it’s back to the short film crowdfunding (currently at 34% with just over 3 weeks to go, so hope you can chip in. Thanks!)

Striving to thrive in ’25

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I can honestly say that this year did not play out as originally planned.

-A script rewrite was shelved to do a few more rewrites on another script.

-Developing the crowdfunding campaign for my short film, and subsequent production of said film, kept getting delayed – mostly due to working on other stuff.

-The podcast I co-hosted became solely hosted – by me – which meant doing a lot more reading of the books of upcoming guests.

-I entered my script in a handful of contests. Got a few semi placements, a few QFs, and a few whiffs.

Overall, not the results of what I was hoping 2024 would yield.

But despite it all, it’s all okay.

After all those rewrites, the script feels much, much stronger now. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m drastically cutting back on contests, so this script will only be submitted to a low single-digit number.

I really want to see this short film through to completion, so I’m setting up a daily checklist of what I need to do to get it there. Hopefully I’ll have an actual short film to show off this time next year.

On the writing front, I’m still working out the details of a new spec. Right now it’s all about breaking the story. Once the outlining is done, at least two drafts done by year’s end would be great.

There’s also a new type of project I’m developing that, if it comes to be, would be something I can’t wait to show. More on that as it develops.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the return of The Maximum Z Script Showcase proved to be a ringing success, with over 550 views and a handful of read requests. Already looking at when to do it for next year.

2024 has been a real rollercoaster ride, and I hope you were able to accomplish many, if not all of the things you set out to do.

Here’s to all of us doing even better in 2025.

-A little relevant and shameless self-promotion – the latest episode of the podcast features myself and screenwriter/author/brand strategist/past guest Brian Fitzpatrick talking about what a writer can do to prepare for the coming year. It was a lot of fun to record, and offers up some great advice.

Get the forks ready

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After I-don’t-know-how-many drafts, this most recent version of my animated fantasy-comedy is pretty much it for me. Granted, I’m waiting to hear back from some readers – some new sets of eyes and one who’d read a previous draft, so there’s a chance of more notes, meaning most likely one more revision, but for the most part – j’en ai fini avec ca.

This has been a long time coming – a few years, in fact. I often hear how you should learn to move on from projects, but there was always something about this one that always seemed to whisper “not yet”.

The work this time around definitely felt a little different. Scenes were moved around, trimmed, or flat-out cut entirely. Action lines and dialogue were tweaked accordingly, some more than expected. Sometimes I’d get a jolt of sudden inspiration and change something that hadn’t been touched since very early on. There were even a few new opportunities to add in a joke, including one that still makes me chuckle when I think about it.

Since I’d already planned to drastically cut back on contests, this one will probably be sent to just Austin and PAGE. I’m not really sure if this is this sort of script that Nicholl readers go for, although an animated script has been a finalist before, so you never know.

It’s a little frustrating it took so long to get here, but I’m extremely proud and happy with how it turned out – especially after this latest draft.

What a good run this was, and it definitely helped raise the quality of my writing.

Taking a little time off to catch my breath, with the gears already turning for the next one.

A few more hurdles to go…

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Several days and a lot of pages marked up with red ink later, the latest draft of the animated fantasy-comedy is complete.

But no resting on the laurels for this guy.

I have a few other pending projects that need my attention, and then it’s one more read-through to fix any new issues. That draft will then go to some readers, most likely resulting in another draft. After that, maybe a contest or two.

There weren’t a lot of major changes for this round; more like lots and lots of little ones. A changed word or phrase here, the reorganizing of action lines or dialogue, that sort of thing. Nothing too drastic, but just enough to make a difference.

Additionally, after all the time I spent on a potential new title, I decided to stick with the original one. For now, at least. If a producer wants to buy it and then change it, who am I to say no? Once the check clears, of course.

And a huge shoutout to all the readers whose notes made a big difference.

Overall, I’m quite happy with how it turned out. I’m glad I took my time and didn’t rush it. It feels more put-together than before, and hopefully the end result will be as rock-solid as it can be.

Fingers crossed.

Enjoying the ride

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The past few weeks have had their share of ups and downs.

Made a little progress on developing the new spec, but still a long ways to go. Have to keep reminding myself it’s an ongoing work in progress, and these things never come together immediately, so feeling frustrated about less-than-productive times is perfectly okay. Each day yields a small result, which is great.

The animated script didn’t make the top 10 in an animation contest, which was disappointing, but I did get some eye-opening notes about it, with more on the way, so looks like there’s at least one more rewrite in my future.

Still having a ball doing The Creative Writing Life podcast (on Spotify and YouTube), with more great guests lined up for August. Also mulling a couple of ideas for topic-based shows.

Been a bit lax on getting things moving for the short film, so hoping to correct course on that one.

It would be easy to let the negatives overpower the positives, but I’m in this for the long haul. It might take longer to reach that finish line, but I know I can get there.

The most important takeaway from all of this is that I like doing it. Even on the not-great days. Brainstorming, writing, interacting with other creatives. It’s all good stuff.

Otherwise, it would seem too much like work. And that’s no fun.