encouragement

An amiable assortment o’ items

Maximum Z comedy, contest, crowdfunding, development, encouragement, film festival, half-marathons, momentum, output, perseverance, persistence, productivity, project, pulp fiction, rewrite, running, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, success, writing , , , , , , , , , ,
study group
Everybody’s keeping busy, so there’s lots to talk about!

First three months of the year wrapping up today, which makes it the perfect opportunity to offer up your Project Status Update! Feel free to step up to that virtual microphone (aka the comments section) and announce the latest developments for whatever is currently occupying your attention.

My list is pretty short:

-Work on the pulp spec continues. Currently around page 83, with a projected final count of 120ish. Strongly suspect FADE OUT will be typed sometime in mid-April, give or take a couple of days.

-Dipped my toe into the waters of rewriting the low-budget comedy courtesy of some helpful notes. Not a total page-one rewrite, but definitely taking my time with this one.

-My western was named a finalist at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival screenwriting contest. (Editor’s note – yay) Further details (i.e. how it placed) won’t be announced until the awards ceremony at the end of April, but still quite proud to have made it this far.

And a couple of items tacked on to the bulletin board, which spotlights creative-type folks and their even more creative projects well worth your time and attention:

-Filmmaker/screenwriter Eric Claremont Player has launched a crowdfunding campaign for his courtroom drama film project. Make sure to check out the colorfully captivating and absolutely true backstory that led up to it.

-Writer-director Dianna Ippolito is running a crowdfunding campaign for her new project Robb’s Problem: A Horror Short. As Dianna puts it, “Our goal is to bring you a really smart, beautiful and thought-provoking horror film, produced, written and directed by women.”

As with all crowdfunding projects listed here, donate if you can!

If you’d like to get the word out about a project of your own, feel free to drop me a line. Operators are always standing by.

-Ran the San Francisco Rock & Roll Half-marathon this past weekend. Made it just under the 2-hour mark with 1:59:11. Next race is in July, so hoping to shave a few minutes off of that.

A little booster shot for you

Maximum Z ambition, blog, career, confidence, encouragement, perseverance, persistence, screenplay, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, success, writing , , , , ,
shot-in-the-arm
Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit.

Not a lot of writing done this week due to being slammed with a nasty cold. Hoping to get back on track next week.

In the meantime, waiting to hear about some potential leads. Exhilarating in that they exist in the first place, and frustrating in that things seem to advance as fast as molasses in January.

Each one part of the process we all put ourselves through in this crazy ongoing pursuit. It’s not easy. Far from it. But we knew that going in.

Some days it feels like success is a little closer within reach, and sometimes it feels like you’re caught in a fiery downward spiral of doom.

Given my druthers, I prefer the former.

In the meantime, here are two posts from last year that might help restore, or at least remind you of your confidence in yourself, why you’re doing this, and what you’re capable of.

In it for the long haul

Expiration date: NEVER!

Don’t lose hope, chums. Trust me, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too. We’re all in this together.

 

Hopefully not too seldomly heard

Maximum Z attitude, Clint Eastwood, draft, encouragement, feedback, pages, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , ,
callahan
Thanks, Harry! I’m glad you liked it.

So how’s your November writing project coming along?

Mine’s not too bad.

I’m a few scenes into Act 2, and things seem to be progressing smoothly, including coming up with a strong and slightly expository scene at the spur of the moment. Daily page output is fluctuating, but relatively steady; not sure if I’ll have a completed draft by month’s end, but think I’ll at least be mighty close.

This script is actually part of a collaborative effort (more on how that came about another time), so I sent the first ten pages to the other person, just to let them know how it was going.

Their response arrived the following morning.

“Fucking amazing! You are definitely on the right path. Amazing job!”

There was more to it, but I believe that accurately sums it up. They like what I’ve done so far, which in turn buoys my confidence, thereby inspiring me to keep charging ahead. Encouragement combined with enthusiasm is contagious.

Added bonus – several voicemails since then mentioning how they’re been reading those pages a couple of times a day and can’t help but feel a thrilled sense of anticipation about the rest of the script, along with its potential.

No complaints from yours truly about dealing with a case of the warm fuzzies.

A writer always hopes people like what they’ve written. True, not everybody will, but if some positive comments come from another writer whose opinion you value, wouldn’t that give you a little boost?

Who doesn’t appreciate a little vindication for all the hours put into getting to this point? We all know how much effort it takes to write something, let alone something that garners a positive response.

When I’m asked to read something, I’ll be honest with my thoughts on it. I’ll make appropriate suggestions of how it could be improved (which is usually the reason we’re being asked to read in the first place). But if I think it’s good, I won’t hesitate to say so. I will gladly point out what I liked and why I liked it.

Your readers are more than happy to give you positive feedback and words of encouragement, but they won’t do it because they like you or you’re their friend. They will do it because the material you wrote earned it.

And they’ll want you to keep doing it. And you’ll want to too.

 

Disappointed, yet still driven & determined

Maximum Z Austin Screenwriting Competition, career, comedy, contests, determination, encouragement, Nicholl Fellowship, notes, PAGE International, reading, screenplay, screenwriting, script, strategy, Uncategorized, westerns, writing
uphill
One step at a time

The results are in for my western’s involvement with the major screenwriting contests for this year:

PAGE – nope. Didn’t get notes.

Austin – nope. Notes expected later in the year. (They got over 9100 entries for shorts and features this year. That’s A LOT.)

Nicholl – top 15%, which isn’t bad. Two sets of notes; the first reader really liked it, whereas the second’s comments make me highly suspicious about their qualifications.

On a positive note, the script placed in the top 100 of the ISA’s Emerging Screenwriters contest, which is nice. Fingers crossed it advances to the finals.

But back to the big three. It’s a little frustrating that things didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean the script’s bad. A lot of my readers, many of whom have done well in these contests, all had very positive things to say about it and thought it was a solid and entertaining piece of work.

Two things to keep in mind about these contests:

–It’s all subjective.

–Sometimes you just get a shitty reader.

These also happen to be things we have no control over. Yes, it’s disappointing to get that email that includes the phrase “Unfortunately…”, but just because you didn’t do well this year doesn’t mean you won’t do better next year. This is the mantra I’m going with for now.

I’m also taking a little time off from the western to focus on the comedy and at least one or two other scripts. It helps.

Something else for you to ponder: contests aren’t the only way in. More and more I’m hearing/reading from writers who do well in contests, but nothing comes of it. They might get a read, but that’s it. You gotta keep trying from every approach you can think of.

That’s my plan.

Will I enter the contests next year? Possibly. But they’re not a priority.

Making inroads into a getting a career going is.

Just the push I needed

Maximum Z analysis, comedy, confidence, dialogue, draft, editing, encouragement, experience, feedback, networking, notes, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing , , , , , , , , , ,
push
What are friends for?

Notes are coming in for the comedy spec, and reactions are pleasantly positive. My always-reliable readers have provided some extremely helpful notes, including an across-the-board opinion about a key plot point.

A lot of what they had to say made some good sense and are really helping solidify the script into something more-than-decent.

While they had nice things to say about the script, each reader threw in an extra little tidbit in the form of comments directed at the script’s writer.

AKA me.

“These two lines of dialogue are an anomaly compared to the rest of it. I know you can do better.”

“Great story, but I’d like to see you dig deeper.”

And these are comments from experienced writers who’ve read some of my other scripts, so they know what I’m capable of. They’re not just saying these things in a casual, generic feedback kind of way, or because they’re trying to be nice. They really mean it, and I take what they say to heart.

I thought the script was okay to begin with, but after getting comments like these, it makes me want to try even harder.

When you’re in the process of putting a script together, you really dedicate yourself to doing a good job, and then try to do better with each subsequent rewrite. It’s how we improve.

But it’s also kind of tough to be able to get yourself past a certain point. You think you’ve done everything you can, but then you get a bit of a supportive nudge and your journey resumes.

It’s quite the confidence booster to know there’s somebody out there rooting for you (especially somebody without a vested interest in you). They want to see you succeed just as much as you do. So you buckle down and throw yourself into making that next draft even better.

End result – you have a stronger script and their belief in you and your abilities is confirmed. Wins all around.

And when the time comes and they ask me for notes on their script, I have a strong suspicion I’ll be able to do the same for them.