Jumping for Joy

So I just got off the phone with one producer who has my outline. He read my sample script and said it was really well written, funny, hit all the right beats. Yippee! He likes the outline we sent and wants to get it to this bigger producer today. Eeeh! So excited! If she likes it, then we meet with her and start developing it. She's produced so many things I love, this could be so very cool. I don't know if I can wait to talk to him again. He's not even sure if he's going to call me back after the meeting. So who knows when we'll talk! I hope he's so darn excited that she says yes, that he can't wait to call. I hope! I can barely stand it watching the minutes tick away. Please don't make me wait all weekend or week to hear! It's super exciting and another step in the right direction of my soon to be successful screenwriting career. I hope the next thing I post is, it's a go!

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.

Saving Face

So, I wrote yesterday that I was going to use my writing time and not allow myself to use the internet for facebook or emails, or anything like that. But the only problem is, I ended up freelancing all day so had to be online to work. So, that experiment really didn't get to happen yesterday. I am a freelance advertising writer, and not only did I have one client yesterday but two. So I was bouncing back and forth, online even, doing research and work.

Then, when I finally did get to stop, I saw a sale on photo books that I wanted to get my parents and in-laws for Christmas, that ended yesterday, so I had to do that instead. One could say that perhaps I was wasting time and delaying writing, but I don't think so. If it had been to do just any holiday shopping, I wouldn't have done that. And creating photo books is not a quick task, so it took up the rest of my night. So by the time I finally had any time to myself, it was 10:30.

But, I will say, instead of just getting into bed and turning on netflix to get my nightly dose of 30 Rock, I decided to force myself to write. So I think this is an example of how you can find time to write no matter what. So even though I could have just gotten all comfy, I knew I wanted to finish my outline. And it had been a week since I felt like I really worked on this story, so I felt tonight was the night if I was going to be disciplined. And I did!

And believe me, even in that little time I had, lets say thirty minutes, I was so tempted to check email, check Facebook. I think it's just a bad habit I've gotten into. Almost like a drug or addiction. Because it's just this awful habit where I just want to click there the whole time I'm writing. And I don't need to. So it was an interesting experiment to see if I could do it in that little amount of time. And you know what? I was able to. And I finished my outline! And I felt good about getting in some writing time. So you see, you can find the time. And, I still got to lay down and watch my 30 Rock.

So even though it wasn't the experiment I would hope it to be. I think writing can't always be planned the way we want. Life does get in the way a lot of time. But as writers, we need to make the time for it. Have to put it as a priority when all the important things are out of the way that have must do's.

Can Facebook zap your writing time?

How much time do you spend going on Facebook? Or Twitter? Or reading emails? What about the news headlines? If you're a writer, and you're working on a script or a novel, or any creative writing, you need or should be writing almost every day. But are you?

Now even I can blame myself for going on Facebook, headline news, emails, off and on all day. They're time zappers. We writers have to find ways to stop letting things like that get in our way of actually writing. So what can I do to stop that? Well, I'm going to try something, that I hope I can actually do. It might be hard for me.

But here's what I propose, I'm going to limit how many times I go on these sites. Perhaps it's one time a day, where I check all my emails and Facebook, and headlines, and that's it. No cheating and allowing myself to go on more. But can I really do that? It's really tempting when it's just a click away! Especially when I'm writing a script, I need some brain vacations to come up with other ideas, so going on Facebook is so mindless, it's the perfect way to take a break. But am I using up valuable time that I could be writing instead? Maybe I spend more time on there than I would if I just took a break. But let me start with at least one day, and go from there. Perhaps I can go a week like this. And before I know it, maybe add a lot more writing time in my day, and then it can become a habit. And I'm going to blog about this tomorrow, so I'm held accountable. It's a scary thing being accountable. But it keeps me from cheating at least.

And what about my cell phone? It dings every time I get an email. Like it's calling me, taunting me. "Check your emails," it says. But how many times are they even from someone I know? 90% of them or more are from stores that want me to purchase things that I probably never would want any way. But maybe I can turn off that ding so I don't know about it. What I don't know, won't hurt right?

There's also the cell phone calls, or home phone calls. When I'm serious about having writing time, I don't answer my phone at all. It's so simple to go, "Oh, my friend Lucy is calling! I haven't spoken to her in ages!" And then get stuck yapping about who knows what, and before you know it, your window for writing time has vanished. So me personally, when I sit down to write, I let it go to voicemail. That's what it's for, people! You can always call them back. I promise, you won't lose friends.

Now another time zapper for writers, is watching TV. I can't tell you how many writer friends have favorite TV shows they watch all week long. I would tell them, if you have time to watch TV, you have time to write. Or some friends who would work full time jobs, and then when they get home they're too tired to write at night. Well guess what? You can't be a writer if you're not writing. That's how I even came up with my blog title, "Screenwriter Writing" because I can't tell you how many writers I've known that just never make time to write. I'd even tell them, "if you have 20 minutes where you're not doing anything, write in those 20 minutes." Because, if you were to write 20 minutes every day, by the end of the year, you'd have something! A first draft of a script, or a book, many short stories, who knows! But you can't get there if you keep making excuses.

I've seen and met many people who say they're going to write that script, but just never do. Life always seems to get in the way. But does it need to? Do you really want to write that script? Are your actions and priorities helping you fulfill your destiny? Sure it's fun to post on Facebook, but will you remember what you wrote on there 30 years from now. Or is that script you're dying to write, the next big movie waiting to happen. Only you know. But you'll never know if you don't get it on that paper.

Out of this world

So I watched PAUL tonight, that alien comedy movie starring Seth Rogen as the alien, with a slew of other big names like Kristen Wiig, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, a small part at the end with Sigourney Weaver, and some nice parts by Bill Hader and Jo Lo Truglio. It stars these two British guys, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who's mission in the movie is to travel America to see all the supposed alien sites. Only thing is, they meet Paul and end up on a journey to help him travel to a spot so he can meet his space ship and return home.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw it. The trailer didn't look great, some funny moments, but nothing that made me run out and see it in the theater. But I love Seth Rogen, so figured it couldn't be that bad....And you know what? I was delightfully surprised. This was a heart warming comedy that had a pleasant message that kept me laughing throughout. By the end of the movie, I was happy I had seen it, and know I'll be sure to share with all my friends that they should put it on their must see list too.

The fun thing about the movie too was that they had fun poking fun at all the alien movies we've known to love. And Kristen Wiig being one of my favorite actresses, for a long time, longer than Bridesmaids, I'll have you know, is as sweet and funny in this as all her other movies. If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it out.

Producer speak

So I finally got to talk to this one producer that has produced an indie I really liked. I was referred to him from a friend of mine. He's her brother-in-law. So she was nice enough to talk to him for me, and he was happy to talk to me today. I told him what was going on with my outline we pitched to the big production company, and that we got it to another big one. So he said, he wanted to hear it.

I'm sort of new at pitching still. But when we pitched our idea to the big production company, my writing partner showed me how calm you should be when you pitch. How you just really have to be yourself. And just tell the story as if you were telling a friend, likes it's about a movie you just saw. So I did the same with him. And he really liked the idea!

Sow now he's reading the outline, and if he likes it, then he's got an idea of this big female producer he wants to get it to. I looked her up on imdb, and she's got really nice credits! I'd be thrilled if she was involved. And he told me she's a power house in the "biz" and she's connected to all the big powerhouse female producers. I looked up one of the ones he mentioned, and she had a list of awesome films to her name too!

So I got off the phone just giddy! If this was a musical, I probably would have been tap dancing around the house with a cane, synchronized dancers coming up behind me on a lit up stair case! It was really great news, and just what I needed today.

So just goes to show you, you never know what good news is right around the corner. Or that there are awesomely nice producers out there. Can't wait to see what happens!

It's an Amazon jungle out there

So, apparently Amazon has a screenwriting and movie making website. I'll include it in case anyone wants to try it for themselves. http://studios.amazon.com/

I'm not exactly sure how it works. But they had a deadline that was yesterday at midnight, and there is no entrance fee, so I figured, what the heck. I've always been against entering so many contests, so I'm trying the opposite of that and trying to enter more contests. This is my second one to enter in one week! So we'll see what happens. The judges were high profile, so I liked that. The prize money was good. If you win the whole thing, they make your movie and you get paid $200,000. So hello, I'll take that! And then there's some other option of it going farther and you make $400,000. So why not?

So far since I've submitted it, it looks like no one has read it. I can't tell if it's just the judges who read it or online people. It seems that I saw some comment about the whole world could read it now. And it also seems they can add notes to my script. So am I supposed to be getting rewrites from someone in the Russian tundra or something? Will they even know what it means to write a Hollywood movie? I can only imagine what their take could be on my stripper comedy. Hmm... I look forward to seeing what comes of this.

I was a little tentative of having anyone and everyone have the chance to read what I think is my best script I've ever written. But I also think I need to start getting my scripts out there to more people. Even if they do live in places that might not even know what "fade in" means. Okay, maybe that's extreme. But being a judge in a contest in LA, and seeing how little the "screenwriters" knew about writing a script, I find it hard to believe people from all over the world will be able to add much. But hey, maybe I'll luck out and some amazing cinema buff from France will think my stripper comedy is the next big Parisian hit! I guess only time will tell. I'll be sure to fill you in if something ever comes of it. I'm supposed to be notified in January sometime. That's just around the corner. Now if only my contacts from this contest could be too!