Weathering the Storm
Long days, late nights make a weekend of rain a welcome respite of reflection.
Photo by Peter Oslanec on Unsplash
Well I crapped on my goals for this week…but for good reason.
About a week ago I received an email from Final Draft Big Break contest - my script THE NOISE WITHIN made quarterfinalist for the 2020 campaign - and the email said that a management/production company would like to read my script (I guess scripts that make QF have their loglines sent out to management companies, agencies, and production companies).
To say I was thrilled and concerned at the same time would be an understatement.
I was floored because I was a bit down on myself about my writing lately, and I was just looking for some type of pick-me-up; something to appease my self-pity. It was late Friday afternoon, and I was in a staff meeting at one of my schools. I’m usually cooked by late Friday, so my attention span during this meeting was more like my 5 year old. I began flipping through my phone and saw the subject line: READ REQUEST. I did a ubiquitous double-take, read the email, and logged off the meeting - 30 minutes before it ended.
Cool! I read the email and saw who the company was floored because I like the team running it and it’s reputation is super solid in the industry. But then, reality struck in the head with a baseball bat: this script isn’t ready.
Sure the script placed quarterfinalist in a large contest, but it really wasn’t ready to be seen by a manager, agent, or production company. I got some feedback from the FDBB contest as well as a few other contests I where I entered the script, so that information coupled with my own story-sense convinced me that the script needed some strong revisions, if not a total page 1 rewrite.
I quickly responded to the email saying "HELL YES PLEASE SEND MY SCRIPT” while also asking “CAN I HAVE SOME TIME TO REVISE IT BECAUSE I THINK IT’S REALLY CRAPPY AND I DON’T WANT TO COMPLETE WASTE SOMEONE’S TIME.?”
Good news: yes to revision. Challenge: revise in a week. Buckle up buttercup and put on your writer hat because this is what pro-level expectations feel like.
Luckily this script is something that I was going to tackle revising at the start of this year, and I did a ton of prep work, revision work, scene work throughout November of 2020 - I had a notebook of about 60 pages of notes, ideas, and shifts in sequences I wanted to make. The problem I had was to execute on those new notes in a week’s time - while helping my kids with school and working - is nearly impossible without meth, speed, a ton of coffee. I only had one of those three items.
Regardless, I worked my ass off for the next seven days, clocking in every night around 8/8:30 pm and writing, revising, puking until midnight/1:00 am. I pulled a 2:00 am sesh just to add a bit of sauce to the experience.
In the end, I’m happy with what I submitted and am hoping for the best. But, the reality is that this is probably going to go nowhere, so after writing this blog post about it I’m just going to let it go. First rule in screenwriting (or anything creative) is to have a Ron Popeil mentality: just send the script out and forget you ever did. Writing and creative pursuits is like being a closer on a baseball team: show up, do your job, and go on to the next game. If you blow the save, great; If you’d protect the save, great. There’s always a game tomorrow.
The only thing I’m going to do is send the script out to a few trusted readers who are in the industry or are connected and get their feedback. My wife loves the concept and thinks it’s something that I should send to market, but I need another set of eyes on it before giving it a final polish in preparation for sending it out. Hopefully I can get it out sometime mid-February.
Either way, the start of 2021 feels SO productive and positive: a new writer’s group, an accountability group, submitted to a fellowship, received a read request on a script, wrote a semi-daily blog, and researched management companies/managers.
Quote of the Day
I find the following bad boy today after reading a newsletter I subscribe to on being a creative entrepreneur.
If you have an idea but think “someone has already written that” just remember there are 1,010 published biographies of Winston Churchill.
The source of the quote is from Collaborative Fund, an investment firm for entrepreneurs - of all places to find a quote that resonates with writers and idea-makers.
It’s easy to run after the shiny new object and bully yourself into finding the idea that no one has ever thought about. The reality is that no one gives a shit. Ideas are worthless; execution is priceless. My new script is nothing new: a coming-of-age story set in the mid 90’s. Plenty of those bad boys around. But my story will have my recipe and use my ingredients grown from my own garden, so whatever I make I know it will look, smell, feel, taste different than all the others.
Today’s Accomplishments
Wrote this blog post.
Started working on the character sketches/biographies for my new script.
Began working on my personal logline/pitch document.
And I worked my ass off revising a script I’m proud.
Tomorrow’s Tasks
Write a blog post.
Continue to work on character biographies/sketches for my new script.
Continue working on my persona logline/pitch document.
Read and take notes on my peers’ scripts/documents for feedback.
Today’s Story Worthy Moment
My wife and I had a discussion today about our sons’ sleeping habits. For the last few weeks our kids have been going to bed at a normal time but are waking up SUPER FRIGGIN’ early. Bottom line: their not getting enough sleep.
My wife thinks that the poor sleep is caused by living in the apartment and not being able to go outside and play (if we had a house and yard). The more I thought about it I came to the conclusion that my kids’ sleeping habits is a result of having their lives completely put on pause for the last (almost) year.
My wife and I disagreed a bit, as marriages are prone to do, but the discussion made me think about how much the outside world affects a character’s psyche and behavior. I mean, my family and I are acting completely different now because we’ve been seemingly sequestered for so long - little in-person contact with friends, no social life, no kids’ activities, etc.
It makes me think about the world my characters inhabit and how the world directly affects the choices they make.
