All Done

Holy cow.  It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’ve got a good reason.

For those of you who don’t know, NBC, ABC, and Fox have programs for writers starting out in the business.  All three are due today or tomorrow.

To apply, ABC and NBC want you to write spec scripts, while Fox requires a spec script.  (Fox also requires a letter of recommendation from an agent or producer or some other Industry professional.  I’m not really sure why; if I had that, I wouldn’t need to enter a writing contest.)

They also want “statements of interest;” basically, essays explaining why you’d be a good writer.  I’m not really sure the purpose of these.  Isn’t that what the script is for?

Now, writing the scripts, I can handle.  But an essay?  I haven’t written an essay since college.  You could argue I write essays regularly on this blog (you could also argue “not regularly enough”), but it’s not really the same.  Here, I can spend as much or as little time as I want to discuss a given topic.

Also, nothing against you people, but this blog ain’t exactly getting me jobs, if you know what I mean.  Getting into any of these writing programs is a definite step forward for any young writer.  The pressure is a lot higher.

How do I describe “What from [my] background do [I] bring to the table as a writer that provides a fresh perspective in [my] storytelling?” in 250 words or less?

That may not sound like a lot of writing, but there’s a reason I didn’t become a novelist.  In a script, 250 words is, like, two pages.  It’s less than half a page of prose.

I spent most of the last couple weeks agonizing over each and every one of those words.  After that, sitting down at my laptop to write a post just seemed like torture; my mental tank was empty.

I’ll get back into the swing of things, though.  I’ve got a backlog of emails to respond to, plus some amusing/horrible office stories to relate.  I’m back, I swear.