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.
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.
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.
As all you phenomenal readers/followers out there may be aware, I was in Burbank last weekend for the Great American Pitch Fest.
Simply put, attending was one of the best screenwriting-oriented decisions I’ve ever made. I’ll get to the vaguely specific details about that in just a moment, but first, allow me to go over some of the supporting topics, starting with…
–Networking
I came armed with a new batch of business cards and the attitude of “Dammit, I’m gonna meet people!”
And I did. At the Friday night mixer. At the numerous classes/panels/workshops on Saturday. Even just stopping to introduce myself to folks sitting around a table in the hotel lobby.
Many are first-timers, nervous at attending one of these kinds of events. Certain that everybody else is a seasoned pro just brimming with confidence, whereas you’re feeling hesitant to even open your mouth and say something.
You know what? Almost everybody feels that way and is a little nervous on some level. Sure, others are a little more extroverted than some, but as I can personally attest, it’s a lot more fun when you get to know people. Besides, why pass up the opportunity to expand your personal network? That writer you just met from halfway across the country could turn out to be a vital asset somewhere down the line.
On a more personal note, I have to mention that the weekend was also a golden opportunity for me to actually meet several of my “Ask a Script Consultant!” interview subjects, including Pilar, Lee, JG, Signe, Tracee, and Steve. The interactions weren’t long, but each proved to be just as charming in person as they are in print.
–Pitching
The whole point of the weekend, and why I was here. First, the prep.
As I mentioned, there were panels aplenty where a lot of advice was given out (and sometimes contradicting something else you just heard). I had the benefit of having signed up for the pitch boot camp, where you and another writer would give your pitch, then exchange suggestions on how to potentially improve it.
I polished and honed the pitch for my western over the course of about six or seven run-throughs to the point where I had it down perfectly, then used that as a template for the fantasy-adventure.
As intimidating as doing this is, it all comes down to you being comfortable while having a pleasant conversation with somebody else about your story. The objective is to get them so interested that they really want to read your script. It’s not easy. Listening to other pitches, some writers would give vague story details, while others might go into too much detail.
As was pointed out, you’re also pitching yourself. You’re showing that you’re passionate about the work, hopefully have a pleasant personality, and are someone people would enjoy working with.
Now, a rundown of the results from the actual pitches:
(side note – As I would sit down with each person/pair, I’d ask how they were doing/how their day was going/etc. I’d rather start things off pleasantly rather than just launch straight into the pitch. Everybody was in good spirits throughout the day and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Many added that the quality of the material being pitched was very impressive.)
-13 total (although it felt like more)
-Two said “Thanks, but it’s not for us”
-The rest asked for a one-pager. More than a few asked “What else have you got?” (followed by handing over the other one-pager)
-Just about everybody said, “Wow! That was a great pitch!”
-One script request
-Two asked for follow-up emails
-“This sounds perfect for us!”
-“This is exactly what MAJOR PRODCO is looking for!”
-“We have to continue this conversation offline. Here’s our card. Call us.”
To say confidence levels were running high at the end of the day would be an understatement.
Epilogue
-All of my follow-ups have been taken care of. Since each one of them is also dealing with a lot of the pitches they heard, as well as working on their current projects, I expect it’ll be a while before I hear back from anybody. As always, fingers firmly crossed, hoping for the best while I bide my time and return to working on my assorted projects.
-Turns out I’m actually really good at pitching in person, or at least in a face-to-face scenario. Too nervous to do previous pitches via Skype, I’d always submitted a written one, which yielded zero results. This new confidence and willingness to be seen makes me feel that I’d have a much better chance of success in the future.
Conclusion
I’d started the weekend feeling very nervous and anxious about whether or not I’d do a good job. As time passed, I was able to relax and enjoy myself, which probably played a big part in how it all turned out. I had a great time, and left feeling closer than ever before to getting a professional writing career going.
If you’ve never been to a pitch weekend, I highly recommend it. You’ll meet lots of great people, make fantastic connections, learn how to get the most out of your pitch, and just have an awesome time.
-My only complaint was that since time was very limited, and I didn’t have a car, the enjoyment of pie did not take place. Maybe next time.
(Still accepting suggestions about where one might find quality pie in beautiful downtown Burbank.)
-Didn’t get much writing done this week due to our shaggy dog getting a mess of foxtails stuck in her toes, including one so far in it required a trip to the emergency pet clinic. She’s better now.
-More great notes received for the western. Thanks to all who’ve contributed. It’s especially nice when those who’ve read the previous drafts have high praise about how much of an improvement the latest one is.
Hopefully the next draft will continue that trend.
-The revamping of the comedy outline continues, including tightening the whole thing up. I must have cut at least 10 scenes/pages, so shooting for a total of somewhere in the mid-to-upper 90s. As it should be.
-Yet another “pass” on the fantasy-adventure pitch, so taking a break from those for the time being. The most frustrating part is the oddly-phrased way some of them say no. I’d rather they just said “Sounds intriguing, but it’s not for us.”
Too bad there’s no translator app for that.
-Reader participation time! In the comments below, please give the title, genre and logline of the second script you ever wrote.
I’ll go first.
WOK & ROLL. Comedy. An overly-ambitious Caucasian chef in a struggling family-run Chinese restaurant takes on a sleazy rival determined to shut it down.
Maximum Z 