Saturday, July 26, 2008

Q. I won the XXX TV writing competition, and now I seem to be making a lot of friends. One of them offered to send my spec along to a couple of agents. But I don't have a second spec! I've got nothing to offer and I know that if I garner some interest that'll be the first thing they ask for. I've got lots of great ideas so I know I could pump something out in a few weeks. If they ask, can I ask them to wait until the end of the month? Longer? Or do I need to just resign myself to looking like an amateur?

Geez, calm down. Who knows how long it will take for these agents to actually read your script and get back to you? It could be a month or two. They are likely to be focused on their current clients. Reading new clients is probably last on their list.

I would say, send your script in and immediately start writing that second spec. If someone likes your first spec, you can always you're just polishing it up, and get it to them in a couple of weeks.

What I wouldn't do is try to "pump something out in a few weeks." You probably wrote your competition-winning spec in more than a few weeks. You should try hard never to turn in anything that's less good than you're capable of. You will lose more opportunities by turning in second-rate work than you will by waiting until something's ready. Occasionally there will be a bona-fide opportunity ("so-and-so needs a lesbian romantic comedy set in Singapore under the Japanese") but those almost never amount to anything.

I want to stress that what makes things happen in show business is enthusiasm. A so-so script might get spread around, but only a dynamite script (or at least concept) will inspire an agent to spend a year trying to break you in, or a producer to spend a year trying to set it up. Is your script good enough for that?

Labels: breaking in

5:32 AM

3 Comments:

Don't worry, we don't expect you to actually have 2 good scrips off the bat.

You are better having worked on ideas instead of scripts after getting attention from your first script. This way, we can pick the best idea you should focus writing.

Hope this helps.

http://www.screenwritingcompass.com

By  Screenwriting Compass, at 7:43 PM  

XXX screenwriting competition? I didn't know they had a porn writing contest. Must have been a fun spec to write.

Nice work!

By  aldentre, at 8:45 PM  

YOU ONLY NEED ONE SCRIPT.

I can't stress this enough.

It's better to have one OUTSTANDING script than two very, very good scripts.

If you've written something good enough to get you signed by a big agent, said agent will just assume you can write another.

By  Jon and Kate, at 8:08 PM  

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