It’s odd; the things that can change from week to week. Last week, I wrapped up by saying that I was having major doubts about the direction of my re-write. Almost as soon as I hit “publish,” though, I flip-flopped. I finished reading the dreaded second act, slept on it, and woke up thinking to myself that it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined.
Then, I went out of town for the weekend. No writing or further re-reading was done. That didn’t stop me from doing plenty of talking about it with Onyx, though, as we rode the bus back from Washington, DC. I was happy to hear that he (and Zombie later agreed) felt as though the major problems with Act Two were largely solved. He had many small sized notes, and a few medium ones, which I’ll get at our next meeting on Wednesday. For the most part, though, he said things read well and were much smoother. Zombie agreed that it read much better – and I’m sure that being seven pages shorter didn’t hurt none.
A while ago, a former board member of the company I work for, and a man who happens to be a TV writer, mentioned that he would be happy to read “any piece [I] feel represents [my] best work.” At first, my instinct was to send something right away, so as to not lose the opportunity. When I thanked him for the generous offer, he reminded me that the reading could wait – he wanted what represented my best efforts. For the longest time, I was sure that singled out my comic book style spec script; it had been my thesis project, I’d worked on it the longest, and I submitted it to competitions (post to come soon about those). Today, I asked Onyx and Zombie what they thought; both said that the post-Apocalyptic spec I’m working on now represents my strongest material. In a way, that does not surprise me. I still need to hear it from the other Leaguers on Wednesday, but I am certain that the action is clearer, the story less complicated, and the production more manageable than the comic book spec. I’d still love to see that made – Hell, I’m already toying with the sequel. Their affirmation of the post-Apocalyptic spec as representing my best work, however, reaffirms something else, something all young writers should experience and success – the growth (in ability, in maturity, in style) that comes with practice.
Then, I went out of town for the weekend. No writing or further re-reading was done. That didn’t stop me from doing plenty of talking about it with Onyx, though, as we rode the bus back from Washington, DC. I was happy to hear that he (and Zombie later agreed) felt as though the major problems with Act Two were largely solved. He had many small sized notes, and a few medium ones, which I’ll get at our next meeting on Wednesday. For the most part, though, he said things read well and were much smoother. Zombie agreed that it read much better – and I’m sure that being seven pages shorter didn’t hurt none.
A while ago, a former board member of the company I work for, and a man who happens to be a TV writer, mentioned that he would be happy to read “any piece [I] feel represents [my] best work.” At first, my instinct was to send something right away, so as to not lose the opportunity. When I thanked him for the generous offer, he reminded me that the reading could wait – he wanted what represented my best efforts. For the longest time, I was sure that singled out my comic book style spec script; it had been my thesis project, I’d worked on it the longest, and I submitted it to competitions (post to come soon about those). Today, I asked Onyx and Zombie what they thought; both said that the post-Apocalyptic spec I’m working on now represents my strongest material. In a way, that does not surprise me. I still need to hear it from the other Leaguers on Wednesday, but I am certain that the action is clearer, the story less complicated, and the production more manageable than the comic book spec. I’d still love to see that made – Hell, I’m already toying with the sequel. Their affirmation of the post-Apocalyptic spec as representing my best work, however, reaffirms something else, something all young writers should experience and success – the growth (in ability, in maturity, in style) that comes with practice.
