self-confidence

Maybe I have a shot at Miss Congeniality

Maximum Z analysis, contest, feedback, rewrite, screenwriting, self-confidence, westerns, writing
Many will enter, but only one will win
Beneath these pleasant exteriors exist cunning, ferocious competitors

The past few weeks have been exciting to watch as the latest results were announced for some of the major screenwriting contests.

First, congrats to everybody who advanced! It’s always thrilling to see good things happen for friends and trusted colleagues. Make sure you let them know you’re glad for them.

And if your contest email included the word “Unfortunately,…” it’s not the end of the world. Believe me. There’s a long list of reasons why your script didn’t make the cut. It happens. We’ve all been there. Getting upset about it won’t do you any good. The sooner you put it behind you, the better off you’ll be.

Once you’ve gone through the last of the 5 stages, you’ve got several months to really embrace the opportunity to put more work into your script (or scripts) so you can resubmit it/them again next year.

You want your scripts to do better? Do the work to make them better. Get feedback. Pay for professional notes if you can. Whatever it takes. You’re going up against literally thousands of other writers and their scripts. This isn’t the time to hold back.

Entering contests was something I did not do this year, primarily because I didn’t think my scripts were ready. The western needs at least 1-2 more drafts, and I’m going back and forth as to which one to do after that. I’ve never entered two at the same time, but based on how the writing goes over the next few months, might consider it.

So consider me among those thousands competing against you next year, and remember that each and every one of us wants to win just as much as you do.

Good luck.

The fine art of interpreting notes

Maximum Z adventure, analysis, feedback, notes, pulp fiction, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, westerns, writing
Not those kinds of notes
Oops. Wrong kind of notes.

It still needs some work, but the latest draft of the outline for the pulpy adventure is done, so it’s headed to the back-burner for now as focus shifts to rewriting/polishing the western.

I’ve been very fortunate the past few weeks to have received some high-quality notes for it, which includes a wide spectrum of suggestions of how it could be improved.

As expected, some have merit and some don’t (and this includes some professional comments), as well as a few changes not even originally considered. Each one gets serious consideration, but it all comes down to what I think works best for the story.

When I first started, I would assume every note I got was coming from somebody who knew better than me, but then there’d be so many changes/edits that the script was getting away from what I wanted it to be.

You and only you know what your script is supposed to be like. There will be many notes accompanying each subsequent draft. Don’t automatically think each one is right, but don’t immediately dismiss it either.

Ask yourself “Does this note help make my script better?” If so, how? If not, why not? If you’re not sure, look at it from both sides. Don’t rush just to get it over with. This requires a lot of thought, patience and attention.

It’s also important to not let your pride get in the way of the story. What’s more important – keeping your ego intact or making the story as good as it can be?

It took a while, but I eventually learned to trust my instincts to the point that I can now identify what I consider good notes and not-so-good notes, which has really made a difference in helping both me and my writing improve.

Working well within my wheelhouse

Maximum Z adventure, fantasy, fun, pulp fiction, science fiction, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, spec, story, storytelling, westerns, writing
Hang on. This is going to be quite a ride.
Hang on. This is going to be quite a ride.

Hard as this may be to believe, but I’m actually surprised at my progress with the outline for the pulpy adventure spec.

It’s coming along much faster than I expected, and the more I work on it, the more I see things that can be tweaked/adjusted/modified so as to improve on the overall story. I’m definitely not saying it’s easy; just easier than it used to be.

Having previous drafts to work with has been a significant plus, and once I fully embraced the notion of “anything can change”, it just took off from there.

But the biggest boon to this whole thing has simply been the pure enjoyment of working on it.

I don’t make any attempt to hide my love and appreciation of the pulp style of writing, so when I work on these kinds of stories, I make a sincere effort to really put it on the page.

The swashbuckling-ness of the fantasy. The rootin’-tootin’-ness of the western. And now the spectacle and wonder of science fiction.

I really do live for this stuff. One of my mantras since the beginning has been “Write something I would want to see,” and all of these definitely fall into that category.

Some may argue that writing material like this is counter-productive to getting a career going. “Nobody’s going to take a chance on something like this from an unknown writer!”, that sort of thing. If all I end up getting out of this is a solid writing sample, that’s fine by me.

Is it wrong to think somebody could read it and say “There’s no way I could get this made, but I really like the writing. Would you be open to working on ____?”? Hopefully not.

I’m taking my time with this, and in no rush to finish. All the work I’ve done on previous scripts is paying off in terms of knowing what to do, figuring stuff out and making the story (and the eventual script) better.

I’ve said it many times before: I am having an absolute blast writing this story, and hopefully those who read the end result will too.

Works for me

Maximum Z acting, adventure, comedy, filmmakers, networking, Preston Sturges, pulp fiction, rewriting, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, writing
Got my own way of doing things
Just doin’ my own thang

Over the past few months, I’ve made a sincere effort to expand my network of writers, filmmakers and industry folks. I can honestly say it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve had the benefit of connecting with a lot of fantastic people, both online and in person. Added bonus –  my self-confidence has shot through the roof.

Trust me. I’m phenomenal.

See?

This really comes in handy especially when I’ll read about someone else’s career taking a huge step forward (sale, option, deal, etc.). It stings at first, but then I remind myself that the only thing that person and I have in common is that we’re both writers. Their path and mine have been totally different and will continue to be so.

My turn’s coming, and I’m plenty experienced at being patient. You have to be in this business.

It doesn’t me do any good to compare myself to others. How I write, what I write, what I say to people, and so on. I’ve got my own totally unique approach to all of it. It’s taken a while to get to this point, and I like how it’s going, not to mention where it’s headed.

In the meantime, I keep writing (putting the comedy on hold to revamp the outline for the pulpy adventure, with ambitious plans for the finished product), reaching out to more people (great face-to-face meetings this week with a local actor and a writer) and continue the striving towards the ultimate goal.

The sound I needed to hear

Maximum Z anxiety, comedy, draft, editing, feedback, notes, pitching, rewrite, screenwriting, self-confidence, spec, writing, writing group
Oh so worth it
Oh so worth it

It’s been a very long time since I felt my heart beating that fast.

It was the weekly meeting of the writing group, where volunteers offered up ten pages of their material for a read-through and critiquing. The time was right to take the low-budget comedy out for its first road test.

Despite my confidence in my own writing ability, anxiety was coursing through me. What if they didn’t like it? What if my attempts at jokes fell flat? Worst of all – what if they thought it wasn’t funny? These meetings are held at a small cafe, so the strongest drink in the house was coffee, so I couldn’t rely on a stiff drink to steady my nerves.

To make things that much more nerve-wracking, the moderator (who knows and likes my writing) had me going last. This may have been deliberate on his part.

We worked our way through the other three sets of pages, and then finally it was my turn.

I took a deep breath, stood up, and began distributing pages (complete with assigned parts), explaining the concept behind the story. Upon reflection, the chuckles and comments of “Oh, that’s good” and “I like it” were harbingers of what was to come.

Even so, I had to force myself to take deep breaths and calm down as the read-through commenced.

Also working in my favor: the person portraying the main character was spot-on.

They got to the first joke.

And they laughed.

To say I felt a sense of relief is a severe understatement, but it was exactly the reaction I was hoping for.

The read-through continued, with laughs in the places they were supposed to be. As expected, some jokes hit better than others, but it wasn’t that much of an issue.

A few minutes later, it was over, and we transitioned to the feedback stage.

Overall, it was very positive. Comments were made about what worked, what needed work, and potential changes. Some of the suggestions had merit and worth considering, but for the most part (and keeping in mind that a few members of the group are not the greatest writers – based on reading their work), I smiled, nodded and thanked each person for their thoughts.

Once again proving it’s all subjective, one person said my character descriptions were “too much” and maybe “too flashy”, but the person sitting to my left interjected and heartily disagreed, saying “a lot of the writing in other scripts is just dry and kind of dull, but this really pops off the page and paints a great mental picture.” A few nods around the table supported the latter position. If your work sparks contrasting opinions, then it must have something going for it.

The evening came to a close, and I left, feeling just the slightest bit triumphant.

For now, I’m still working my way through the first draft, and a lot of the jokes probably need a ton of work, but at least I can say I got past this first hurdle.

Should be interesting to see how things go from here.

-Shameless self-promotion! The Great American Pitch Fest is only two weeks away, so there’s still time to register. Save yourself a nice chunk of change by using the code MaximumZ20 to get 20 percent off. I’ll be there, and hope to see you too.