Out of the 100+ query letters I sent out last month, a whopping total of 2 managers asked to read the western. One is a larger, more well-known place that has asked for my scripts before but has a reputation for non-responsiveness, so not much hope there.
The other was a smaller one-person operation who seemed very interested. I sent the requisite follow-up email, but was told that they “unfortunately didn’t respond as strongly as I would have liked,” and wished me good luck with it.
I hate this part of this process.
Was I upset and disappointed? Of course.
Was my confidence and belief in my writing ability shaken to its very core? Yup.
Was I convinced that I was pursuing a foolish dream and that things would never work out? Pretty much.
Jump ahead to today. I’m still upset and slightly disheartened, but intent on movin’ forward. Giving up continues to NOT be an option.
I’ve revised the letter, have my previous list of email addresses, plus a new one, so a new round of queries is forthcoming. I also learned after sending out the previous batch that the industry for the most part shuts down in August, so it’s more than likely that those queries were never even seen, let alone read.
All I can do is send this latest round out and hope for the best. I’ll distract myself by writing a lot, but also know that a few weeks after they’re sent, every time an alert of a new email pops up, I’ll secretly hope it’s one of the many recipients saying “I’d like to read that.”
Chances are it won’t be, but it doesn’t hurt to think positive thoughts.
“The rewrite’s done, and all of a sudden, I’m nervous. Like, ridiculously so.
I’ve sent scripts out before, but this time something is making it a lot different.
A fear of failure. Of rejection.
What if nobody likes it?
What writer hasn’t gone through this?
But as I tell K every once in a while – the only way I could fail is if I stopped trying, and I don’t plan on doing that either.
It may be that after all this time, the idea of possibly being that much closer to actually achieving my goal is kind of overwhelming. This is where that internal voice kicks in.
Do I have what it takes? Is the script just about ready to be sent out?
Damn straight. I’ve got a lot of confidence in this script and my writing ability.
I can and will do what it takes to make this work.”
I wrote this a little over 3 years ago after finishing the final draft of my fantasy-adventure. That script went on to some moderate contest success and got me a manager.
Now I’m getting ready to repeat the whole thing with the western. I like to think my writing’s improved since then, but every word still applies today.
The fear never really goes away. I’ll always be nervous when I send out a script, but I’d be rather be nervous sending out a script than not even trying.
I’ve been doing this for quite a while, and each draft gets me a little bit closer to reaching that goal. Is this the time that it finally happens? I certainly hope so, and if not, I’ll just keep trying.
For all the fear and trepidation I feel during this part of the process, it’s my drive to want to succeed that always wins out and keeps me going.
And a very hearty thanks to everybody who’s helped me along the way to tell this story about a girl and her train.
Wouldn’t it be great if every single time you sat down to write, you produced something just flat-out jaw-droppingly incredible?
It would also be great if you could eat an entire pie by yourself and not get sick, but that ain’t gonna happen either.
You work hard and do the best you can, and that’s all you should ask and expect of yourself.
You know what you’re capable of. You set goals, and make the effort to accomplish them. You push yourself to keep getting better.
You might hit the target on the first try, or it might stretch into double-digit territory. Every victory moves you forward.
What separates you from someone who “has been thinking about writing a screenplay?” You are ACTUALLY DOING IT, and even though you know firsthand what a frustratingly aggravating and slow-as-molasses-in-January process it is, you soldier on.
Just finished a draft? You both dread and look forward to the inevitable rewrite.
You do not suffer writer’s block gladly. In fact, you challenge it. With a vengeance.
Faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, you think your way through/around it to a solution. You practically thrive on your ability to keep going, despite how high the odds are stacked against you or when it feels hopeless.
You want this so bad it actually does hurt.
That spark of creativity burns blindingly bright inside you, and you fan the flames as often as possible.
You write because you can’t imagine doing anything else. Coming up with ideas, stories, scenarios and characters brings you a special satisfaction that only a select few can relate to.
A lot of us go into this with dreams of making a career of this. Some will succeed, many won’t, but we don’t let that deter us.
We all have a rocky road ahead, so make sure you keep doing whatever you have to in order to stay on it. The final destination is well worth it.
Maybe this is the experience talking, but my best guess would be that it’s from taking my time and reminding myself there’s absolutely no need to rush through it. These folks aren’t going anywhere, so taking a few more days to properly prepare won’t make much of a difference.
But it is making a huge difference for me.
I’ve got two exceptionally long lists of names and emails, but each is several years old, which requires some admittedly exhausting investigating through multiple levels of IMDBPro into how accurate and up-to-date the information is. Don’t have a subscription to it? You should.
Time, determination, patience and persistence are the four essentials in this scenario.
A lot of time has been spent tracking down where some of those names have ended up. While most are still at the same organization, a good many have moved on. Some to new places, some who’ve gone out on their own, and, from what I can gather, some have totally abandoned ship (including one guy who fell into the deep end of the cliche pool and now sells real estate).
My favorite one so far has been the manager who passed away several years ago, yet is still listed. Just their name and nothing else. I’ve no doubt that at this very moment, somewhere out there, a query email is working its way to them.
The last couple of times I sent out a massive wave of queries, it was in a very rushed and impatient way. “This has to go out NOW!” After finding an email address, I’d immediately cut-and-paste the body of the letter and hit ‘send’. Nothing else. I’d estimate about 75% of them went through, while the remaining 25% came back as ‘undeliverable’ or “address not found”. Those would be immediately dismissed. Over the next few days and weeks, maybe a few responses would trickle in; say 1 for every 10-15 sent. Not the best of returns.
But again, this time it’s different as I’m trying to be been much, much more thorough. Do they even accept queries? What sort of material do they specialize in? Sending to someone who specializes in horror would be a waste of time for both of us. When was their last project? Have I heard of any of their projects? How many clients do they have? What are some of their clients known for? (One place lists Rod Serling(!) as their top client. Interpret that however you want.) They still use Hotmail? Is that even still a thing?
So while I spend part of my time developing a workable list of query letter recipients, I’m also focusing on assembling the actual letter that will be sent. Type ‘screenwriting query letter’ in any reputable search engine, and you get page upon page of links to articles, columns, blogposts and so on. There are countless opinions about what should and should not be in there. Pay attention to those. I tend to favor short and to the point, but effective enough that it gets you noticed and hopefully piques their interest.
It’s pretty likely I’ll crank out a few drafts of this as well before finding one that I think works best.
Like writing the script itself, it ain’t easy. None of this is. But it’s what I have to do in order to make things happen and move ’em forward.
(And if anybody knows a manager they’d recommend or think might be interested in taking a look at my stuff, feel free to point them in this direction. Much obliged.)
The latest round of work on the western is done. Taking a little break while waiting for some feedback from friends and trusted colleagues, then off it goes to one more professional consultant. Hopefully not too much more to do with it after that.
(Also gearing up to enter it in a couple of contests next year.)
So what now? Easy.
Start researching potential managers to query about it, and get started on the next script – one in particular that may not need as much work as originally expected.
These are thrilling times we live in, chums, with bigger and better things yet to come.
And which of your many projects are you focusing on right now?
Maximum Z 