networking

The (much) tougher part

Maximum Z agent, ambition, career, determination, goals, manager, motivation, networking, opportunity, perseverance, persistence, production company, query letter, representation, research, salesmanship, screenplay, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, success, writing , , , , , , , , ,
ali hit
99% of the time, you’re George Foreman

In this week’s previous post, I wrote about the necessity of how a writer needs to enjoy the actual writing part of being a writer.

A few colleagues piped in, saying while that part of it holds true, they also find the business aspect (i.e. the marketing of YOU) to be significantly harder and much more challenging. Taking it one step further, lack of progress on that front adds to their frustration.

I can’t argue with any of that. I’ve experienced it firsthand many times.

Friend of the blog Phil Hardy had this to say:

“…this should resonate with most of us that are doing the same thing as you are. However, one of the keys in trying to be a successful writer is spending a fair amount of time crafting query letters, answering ads or attempting to make contact with industry people anyway you can. Many writers fall flat in this area. One should definitely spend as much time as they can trying to promote and sell their work, as well as taking joy in the act of writing it.”

Simply put, marketing and promoting oneself is a necessary evil that a writer has to be willing to undergo and endure as many times as it takes if they want to succeed. Sucks, but it’s the truth.

After working on a couple of scripts and building up my arsenal of materal, I’ve decided to take the plunge again.

I’ve put together what I consider to be a pretty effective new draft of the query letter. Gone through the list of managers, agents and production companies, researching who might a good match for each script.

A few queries have been sent, so the waiting and hoping for a positive response begins yet again. All the while, working on more scripts. It’s all I can do.

My efforts to improve my networking skills have also paid off. Every once in a while, a colleague will send me a listing that seems tailor-made for one of my scripts. Even though none of them have worked out, it’s made me aware of more opportunities than I would have been able to find on my own.

We all know this is not an easy path. It’s extremely tough and really puts your endurance to the test. The question you have to continually ask yourself is “Am I willing to keep working at this until I get the results I want, no matter how long it takes, how frustrated I get, or how impossible it seems?”

I can only speak for myself.

Yep.

-You might find these older posts somewhat relevant and worth a read.

The me businsess – a 24/7 operation

A support staff of one

Not exactly “Kryptonian under a yellow sun…”

Maximum Z Alex Ross, ambition, career, comedy, confidence, determination, manager, momentum, motivation, networking, screenplay, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, Superman, writing , , , , , , , ,
alex ross superman
…but yeah, kind of like that

As has been much documented ’round these parts, trying to make it as a screenwriter is a long, tedious slog. For anybody. And that includes me.

It is a slog into which I have voluntarily cast myself.

There has been, and probably will continue to be a lot of disappointment and frustration along the way.

It’s the nature of the beast. Nothing I can do about it.

Well, actually there is.

More on that in a minute. But first, an anecdote!

I was digging through my binder of notes and documents, some of which span back a few years.

Among them, the printout of an email from an “industry insider” totally trashing me and my idea after I’d revealed the idea for what would eventually become one of my low-budget comedy specs. There was not one encouraging sentence in this entire communique. “Give up.” “You’re wasting your time.” “You don’t have a chance.”

And that was some of the nicer stuff.

The person who sent it likes to talk the talk, but in my opinion, falls a bit short on walking the walk. I printed out the email as a reminder that if an asshole like this can establish a career (if you can call it that), then there’s no reason I can’t either.

Funny thing about me is that I’m quite the stubborn cuss. I may get annoyed, upset, distraught or even full-blown depressed about how lousy my situation may be at that particular moment, but sometimes you gotta hit bottom before you regroup, reorganize, and resume the climb, more determined than before to get a little higher.

Which sums me up right now.

I’m not there yet, but it feels imminent. While it would be great if something happened in the immediate future, I’ll remain realistic and at least work towards “something soon”.

I’d say I’m in a pretty interesting place right now. I’ve got some quality scripts to show, several in various stages of development (and much further along than expected), and a growing network of connections, many of whom are more than willing to do what they can. When more than one professional says to me “I can’t understand why you don’t have a manager/more interest in this script!”, then I guess I’m doing something right.

Even though there’s been a steady and gradual progress in “making things happen”, this is still all on me. This long, tedious slog will eventually come to a most satisfying conclusion – for the best possible reason.

So until that forthcoming day when fortune finally smiles down on me, I’ve no plans to give up and will continue to push forward. It’s getting close. Mighty close.

Up, up, and away, chums.

A contrast in opinion(s)

Maximum Z career, Los Angeles, networking, pie, screenwriting, writing , , ,
pecan & cream
One thing we can all agree on: pie is wonderful. Anybody who believes otherwise is just wrong.

During my recent sojourn to Los Angeles, I filled up a lot of my schedule with in-person meetings with several folks with whom I’ve only interacted via social media or the telephone.

To those I’d contacted but we couldn’t make happen – maybe next time.

But back to the matter at hand. Every one of those meetings generated some thorough conversations about working within, or at least working on breaking into, the industry. Some were more experienced than others, but everybody had a lot of interesting things to contribute.

Plus, they were all well aware of my goal/ambition to be a working writer, so suggestions and advice were plentiful and happily offered, and I was more than happy to receive them.

And that’s also where things got…interesting. As you’d expect, there was a wide variety of information offered. One person would suggest something, another would suggest something different, and more than once did these two suggestions totally contradict another.

Someone says “THIS is what you need to do,” while another says “Whatever you do, DON’T do THIS.”

What’s an aspiring creative-type person to do?

One of my meetings was with a semi-retired industry veteran. I’d received some advice the day before, and was a bit hesitant, or maybe call it skeptical, to accept it. Seeing as how the person I was meeting with was pretty savvy, I asked what they thought about it. They had that “Huh?” look. “I’ve never heard of that before,” was their response, followed by some rational explaining why they respectfully disagreed.

It’s been my experience that everybody has an opinion about what works and what doesn’t work, but that’s also based on how it applied to them. Circumstances and conditions will always be different in every situation for each individual. What worked for somebody else may totally backfire for you. Figure out what you think works best for you.

And be forewarned – sometimes you might choose wrong. It happens to everybody. Use it a learning opportunity to help ensure it doesn’t happen again. In theory, you’ll only make that kind of mistake once.

I was very fortunate to be able to meet with so many knowledgeable people, which now enables me to more or less cherry-pick from the suggestions and advice I think are the most appropriate and applicable.

Hopefully, they’ll yield the desired results. I’ll let you know how it goes.

O, the joy of a southernly jaunt

Maximum Z acting, Black List, Dreamship, experience, family, fantasy, feedback, Los Angeles, networking, opportunity, perseverance, persistence, professionalism, reading, screenplay, screenwriting, script, storytelling, swashbuckler, travel, westerns, writing, YouTube , , , , , , , , ,
gable colbert
Fortunately, I didn’t have to resort to this

The suitcase is put away. The dirty clothes laundered. The thank-you notes sent.

All the result following your humble blogger’s recent trip to the land of potential future employment, aka Los Angeles, which continues to yield results and, hopefully, keep on doing so.

“Los Angeles? How in the world did that come that about?” you may ask, and probably just did.

I was invited. At the behest of a new media company (as in “new media” i.e. online content, not “a media company that is new”) called AfterBuzz TV that produces a myriad of programs about an even wider variety of topics – all entertainment-based.

This one in particular is called The Unproduced Table Read. As the title implies, after finding a heretofore unproduced script they deem appropriate, they assemble members of their core group of actors and do a table read of the script – first as livestream video, then viewable on Youtube. Following the read, there’s a brief q&a with the writer. Sometimes the writer’s there in person, or if they can’t make it in, done via Skype.

Seeing as how the City of Angels is an hour-long plane ride away, I opted to attend.

They’d found my fantasy-swashbuckler in the archives of the Black List website and thought it fit the bill. The producer contacted me earlier this year, and after some informative back-and-forth emails, it was all set.

Seizing the opportunity of being in town, I also went about setting up meetings of both personal and professional natures. Although the scheduling didn’t work out with a couple of potential representatives, I was able to have some very productive conversations with some exceptionally talented professional contacts.

Networking, people. Establish and maintain those contacts! SO worth it.

But getting back to the table read. It was great. And fun. The actors did a fantastic job, and as a bonus – they really, really liked the script on several levels. I’m quite thrilled with how it turned out.

Was it worth doing? I’d say so, and not just because it got an enthusiastic reception from the people involved. It’s probably a little early to see if it’ll contribute to the career-building aspect, but it definitely makes for a strong marketing tool.

If you ever get the chance for a table read to be done for one of your scripts, take it. You can even put it together yourself. It’s a great way to evaluate the material, plus the actors might provide some unexpected insight. All you need is a workable space and the ability and willingness to feed your performers.

While talking afterwards with the show’s producer and some of the actors, somebody asked what other scripts I had. I mentioned the western. “We haven’t done one of those,” was the reply. Thus raises the possibility of a return trip. Time will tell.

You can count ’em on one hand (plus an extra finger)

Maximum Z craft, development, editing, feedback, networking, notes, patience, pulp fiction, reading, relationships, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, support, writing , , , , , ,
six fingers
This many

In years gone by, when I was seeking feedback on a script, I would ask just about any writer I knew if they’d be interested (along with an offer to reciprocate, of course).

At first that number was in single-digit territory, but eventually crossed into low double-digits.

Definitely way too many. But I was still learning and trying to get as much feedback as I could.

That in itself soon became a double-edged sword. As much as I appreciated everybody’s notes, the amount of conflicting opinions (Person A: Do this! Person B: Don’t do this!) kept getting bigger and bigger.

It got to the point where I couldn’t stop second-guessing myself, which was definitely not helping.

So after the last set of notes came in on the latest draft, I decided on taking a different approach next time. For my own sake.

Taking a look at my list of names, I evaluated each person on it. How were their notes? Insightful? Just okay? Even if I didn’t agree with everything they said, did their notes have merit?

Doing all those reciprocal reads also played a big factor. Does their writing indicate they have a solid grasp on the craft? Simply put – do they know what they’re talking about?

The number of names was soon whittled down to a respectable half-dozen; six writers I think are very talented and who have each made good headway developing their own careers. The notes each one has provided me have been extremely helpful in improving both my writing skills and my material.

It’s also gotten to the point where it’s not an uncommon thing for one of them to ask me for notes on their latest project before they send it out.

When I wrapped up the first draft of the pulp spec this past weekend, my first instinct was to immediately contact the group. But time and experience has taught me that patience pays off. I opted to go through it again, editing and making appropriate fixes. This way, I’m sending them a better draft, which means less work for them. Their time is valuable, and I want to respect that.

I’ve seen writers on forum groups asking the community if anybody would be interested in reading their latest draft. That’s fine, but I think it’s a little too risky. Without knowing how much experience the other person has, you might end up hindering your progress, rather than advancing it.

I can’t stress it enough: take the time to build up you network. Establish your own core group of writers you think are exceptionally good. Be more than willing to read their stuff. Take their notes to heart. In turn, both of you will be better writers for it, each creating better material.