Being a mom has its advantages

So a nice mom in my son's class offered to have me get my outline to her hubby who's an exec at one the studios. I thought it was so nice of her. Some people don't like to help out in this business. You never know who does, and you never know who doesn't. So when you meet someone who does, it's sure a pleasant surprise.

Even my script that's at Disney, did I mention I had one there? A mom friend of mine from my son's soccer team, she's a producer at Disney, and she referred me to the gate keeper at Disney Feature Animation. So she helped me get my script in there. Another really nice mom.

The thing is, when I decided to become a mom, I was already working on my screenwriting. So I actually wondered if I'd want to make the sacrifices to be a good mom, a great mom, and be able to still write. I decided, yes, I wanted to be a mom. And then it's so funny to think how being a mom has only added to my screenwriting and has opened doors for me. Even both of the TV shows I pitched to ABC were about being a parent. I never would have had those ideas if I hadn't become a mom. Who knew being a mom would end up helping me write so much? I think many of my screenwriting ideas come from that too.

So now a word of advice on how to open doors for yourself. First off, if you find out someone is in the business, don't instantly ask them to help you. Some people might disagree. But the thing is, they must get bugged all the time by people and they probably can't tell you from a newbie writer who probably sucks beans or someone who's worth reading. I think the best way to handle it, is to let them know the things you have going on as a writer, if it comes up naturally, and see if they seem interested in reading any of your stuff. If they don't seem interested, you'll know. Then at least you haven't bothered them like every other Tom, Dick and Harry. If you get to know them in a regular situation, actually become friends with them, they may offer as time goes on.

As your career begins to get further ahead, you can decide if it's more comfortable to ask. Like for instance one of the producers my outline is with, was the brother in law of my friend/neighbor. I'd never asked her to talk to him for me before, until now. Because my outline has gotten a lot of interest, I knew that at least she'd know I wasn't some newbie any more. She's a super nice friend and was more than thrilled to ask him for me. And he's just as nice and was more than willing to talk to me too. Since the first producer we have our outline with and is interested in developing it, is a big well known guy, even he was impressed. So that boded well for us. So as you can see, I didn't reach out to her right away when I started writing. But I worked on my writing and waited till I got better and better and doors started to open for me. That way when things start happening in your career, it all builds on the other great things, and more people are interested. Momentum just sort of takes over. You might feel like it takes longer than you want. But I truly think that with time, your writing gets better and if you act when your career really is ready, that's the better time to act. As opposed to act on it when you're not there and blow any opportunity you might have had.

But what if you don't have any contacts? Well, I guess that's when contests can help out. Something I mentioned in an earlier post. Like I said, keep writing, keep entering contests, and see if you can move further ahead in them. That's how you know when it's time to act. The more contests you start to place in, the more you know your writing really could be ready for the real world.