Seeing as how this is Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer some hearty words of gratitude.
To all my writing colleagues, being associated with you has been a major factor in my being able to become a better writer. Reading your works has been a joy, and the number of you who’ve returned the favor and offered up notes has proven invaluable in elevating my material.
To all the incredible writers, creatives, and consultants, all past and future, who’ve consented to being interviewed on this site, your willingness to be involved, your honesty and candor regarding advice for writers, and suggestions for potential pies (and other assorted desserts) cannot and will not be overlooked.
And to all my readers. I’ve been doing this for almost 11 years. Each week’s post is always a challenge for me to provide content of both an informative and entertaining nature. It’s nice to know there’s somebody out there enjoying this, which makes my efforts that much more worthwhile.
Everybody have a fantastic weekend, and go write something.
-Looking for a gift for that special screenwriter in your life (even if it’s yourself)? How about a book or notes from a consultant? Lots of options available from the numerous interviews found right here on this very blog. Just click on the “Go Ahead & Ask!” link up on top, and have at it.
(Remember – lots of these folks do this for a living, so you’re not only helping out yourself or another writer, but them as well.)
-Feeling generous? How about tossing a couple of bucks towards somebody’s crowdfunding campaign? Projects like Venita Ozols-Graham’s short film Just Dessert or Chris Mancini’s graphic novel Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master. Time is short and every dollar helps, so donate if you can!
In retrospect, we should have clarified to the art department what a logline actually is
As part of my latest effort to get organized regarding self-marketing, I went through my loglines and tweaked them accordingly. Compared to their predecessors, they now seem to pack a bit more of a punch, which was my intent.
You never know the difference it makes when you add a word, take one out, or switch it out with a word you didn’t realize was stronger until after the actual switching.
The logline is what makes the first true impression on a reader. Does yours do the job you need it to?
Does the logline for your comedy offer up a funny premise?
Got a thriller or horror? Then that logline should jumpstart the goosebumps.
Do we eagerly anticipiate the pending rollercoaster ride for your action-adventure?
To utilize a somewhat clunky food metaphor, the logline gives us a sample taste for the exquisite meal we expect from the script.
That’s if the logline works. But what if you think it’s lacking the necessary ‘oomph’ it needs?
Worry no more. Friend-of-the-blog Angela Bourassa of LA Screenwriter has written 10 Steps to a Compelling Logline, which offers up some exceptionally helpful advice and guidelines. And if you’re still feeling stuck, here’s a link to her high-quality logline service.
Adult beverages not necessary, but also not a totally bad idea
Super-busy times around Maximum Z HQ these days, so rather than bore you with tedious details about my current slate of projects, I thought it would be better to offer up a few classic posts dealing with the idea of writers connecting and interacting with other writers.
Potentially entertaining side note – Feb 9th marks 10 years since I started this blog. Like with my scripts, it’s been a labor of love, and I appreciate every single one of you taking the time to give it a look. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it and have found it helpful in one form or another.
Ten years. Gosh. That’s a lot of posts about screenwriting, and the occasional mention of pie. Hope you’ll join me in celebrating by indulging in a little bit of both.
“I know you didn’t do as well as you’d hoped, so look at this as a learning experience.”
Yet another busy week around Maximum Z HQ, including quite a bit of doing script notes, polishing the latest draft of the comedy spec and punching forward on the horror-comedy outline.
Fun stuff all around.
It also included my western placing in the top 15 percent of this year’s Nicholl, which is the second time for this script, and third overall. Not bad, but still not enough to get to the quarterfinals. At first I was feeling kind of down about it, but realized (and was reminded by more than a few colleagues) that a much larger number of scripts didn’t even make it that far, so I should still regard this as a positive.
Suffice to say, it looks like there’s a little more tweaking in store so as to get this script and at least one other ready for next year (along with a few other top-tier contests).
Since this blog recently hit the 9-year mark, of course there are some previous posts of relevant content.
To all of you who had a script advance in PAGE and/or the Nicholl, my heartiest of congratulations. Steps are already being taken to reinforce the notion of me being among that group next year.
Just one more glass of champagne, then it’s back to work. Promise.
As 2017 wraps up, it’s only natural to engage in a little self-evaluation.
How many of your writing goals were you able to check off this year? Most of them? Some? A small-but-decent fraction? Hopefully you don’t need to mark the box labeled “None”.
One of mine was to complete at least three scripts. I managed two drafts, a revised outline, and one and a half rewrite/polishes (one still a WIP). Pretty solid results. A very hearty thanks to everybody who devoted the time and effort to give me notes. I hope my notes for yours were just as helpful.
Using those notes and the results of a few conversations, I think I’ve been able to up the quality of my writing a few notches. It still has a few levels to go, but it definitely seems better than it was. The next round of drafts should be really interesting, both in terms of working on them and how the end results turn out.
I wanted to read more scripts, which actually happened, but not entirely in the way I expected. I didn’t do as much reading of scripts for the purpose of entertainment or gleaning some helpful guidance because I ended up reading over 100 scripts for several contests. Don’t know if I’ll do it again, but still glad I did it.
On the gaining representation front, lots of query emails were sent. Maybe one response out of ten expressed interest in reading the script, with each ending with a “thanks but no thanks” or “just not what I’m looking for”. A bit disappointing, but not totally unexpected. Along the way, I also worked on being more strategic about the process, researching potential recipients and re-drafting the query to (in theory) really sell the concept of the script.
And what would an ambitious screenwriter’s year be without contests? My western made it to the seminfinals of a few smaller contests and the top 20 percent for the Nicholl (not too shabby), but once again whiffed it for PAGE. I’ve become somewhat disillusioned regarding contests, so will most likely really cut back on them. Maybe just stick to the big three.
There was the most pleasant experience of going to Los Angeles to attend a table read for one of my scripts. I like the idea of doing one or two of them locally, so looking into that for 2018.
I hosted two screenwriting networking events, which connected me with some very talented writers from right here in the Bay Area. Definitely plan on doing that again at least once this year. Highly recommended, especially if you’re not in Los Angeles and want to expand your own personal network.
On the half-marathon front, I ran five races this year – the most ever in one year for me. Still averaging about two hours, which isn’t bad – for me, but the quest for 1:55 continues. Already signed up for three next year, with maybe one or two more expected to be added into the mix. Like with screenwriting, improvement takes time, effort and dedication. A good pair of socks and strong knees also come in handy, and that applies to both.
Finally, this blog. As always, a great experience doing what I can to offer advice to help other writers, recounting my experiences and the lessons I got out of it, and presenting some interviews with some truly interesting and amazing creative folks. I am truly grateful to everybody who’s stopped by to take a look, like a post and make a comment.
But it’s also been exhausting. Producing posts twice a week on top of dedicating time to write and make a career out of it has simply gotten to be too much. I still enjoy doing the blog, but want to refocus my energies. So as of January 1st, I’ll be reducing my weekly output to Fridays only, and sometimes even that might be iffy. It’ll most likely be on a week-by-week basis.
I hope you had a most productive 2017 and wish you all the best for an even better 2018.
Maximum Z 