Saturday, August 9, 2008

Not dead but sure tired

For the last couple of months, I've blogged about as often as Jenny...but since having a baby is not an excuse I can offer, guess I better come up with something. Yesterday was the deadline for application to a program called the Disney Feature Writers Fellowship. It's a very competitive program offered by Disney Studios once a year that accepts four screenwriters to work full-time for one year on various Disney feature films. It's very competitive and thousands apply for consideration. One of the requirements is to write a feature-length (90-120 pages) screenplay and submit it with your application. So, for the last several months, I've been writing my script. I already had one written from last year, but I felt like I wanted to put an idea on paper that I've had for several years.

One of my many bad habits is putting off writing as much as possible. I don't especially enjoy the process, at least when it comes to reviewing my work. As I learned in college, writing is really rewriting, over and over and over. And the more I rewrite, the less I like what I've written. It's a vicious cycle.

Yesterday afternoon I finished the last rewrite (before the next one, at least) and sent everything away to Burbank. I would be profoundly surprised if I were accepted, as fun as that would be. The competitors are often very experienced screenwriters with many awards and films to their credit. This was one of those "do it for the experience" experiences. In fact, I also applied to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab with this same project and was rejected on it a week ago. If you want to play in this game, you check your feelings at the door...

I had the thought yesterday (frightening though it was) of making available to those interested a copy of my script in order to get your feedback. Having lived with it for several months now, at this point I mostly hate it...So many problems, poor dialogue, weak characters, etc etc.

Starting Monday I'll be rewriting once again. I hope to have a semi-okay draft done by the end of the month, when I plan to begin writing a play and also to finish the first draft of a novel I'm writing. I would really like to know what people think of, but have no hope or expectation that anyone would want to. If you want to read it, just opt-in in the comments section. If not, you're wise, busy, or both.

4 comments:

  1. Let me have it. I haven't been known to be much of a reader but over the past year I've taken a greater interest and have more than quadrupled my reading, which wasn't hard. I just read 4 books. So I might not be a great critic but if it's not interesting to a broad audience I probably won't finish it so that could be of some worth. I would represent the average couch potato.

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  2. i love your writting. if you would permit it i would like to read what ever you have.

    keep going. in my last blog i think i was hopeing you would enact my solution.

    SR

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  3. Shawn,

    I tried sending it to both of your Juno accounts and it got kicked back...guessing you have a new email address that I don't have...

    SL

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