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My Fellow Writers,
Sorry for the delay in getting this column to the site, folks. The last three days have seen me working until 1:00 a.m., and I've just had an early, 10:30 p.m. night. At least craft services feeds me well.
Someone asked me a question today about how to take rejection on a script that you think is ready. You can read my brief answer in the FAQ section, but I wanted to make a few more long-winded comments about it here, because it seems to be something that holds a lot of people back. Plus, I enjoy being verbose and pretentious.
We've all heard the stories. TRAFFIC was rejected by every studio in town. E.T., HOME ALONE, and STAR WARS were passed on by various studios. Even the best damn scripts out there only get about 1 in 5 readers. The others pass. That's just the way it is.
Here are the things you can't control: the reader (the reader's mood, the reader's day, the reader's miserable life), the genre the company wants, the script that was read before yours, the other projects at the studio, the other similar projects out there, the perceived trends, the perceived tastes of the audience, the box office winner in the weekend your script went out, and just about everything else about the process.
Here's the thing you can control: the script. You write a damn good script that satisfies you -- given that you are an educated and motivated writer who has done the hard work it takes to become competent and develop your talent. You do everything I said a couple of weeks ago in order to test the waters with your script among reader friends (and do a bunch of other things of your own accord that I didn't mention). You come up with a script that reads like a movie, and you don't settle for less than goddamn perfection. I can't emphasize this enough. If that thing's not sailing along for you -- the person who loves the concept and the script and has read it 1,000 times and lives with the characters every day -- then it sure as hell isn't going to do anything for the burnt-out reader who's half-skimming it amid a pile of 30 other scripts. Bring something to life, my friends! Go read ALIEN, or SILENC? OF THE LAMBS, or THELMA AND L?UISE. Those babies cook. You will not stop, not matter what time you pick them up. Your script has got to be that way.
Even with that kind of script, you're still going to get rejections. But at least the executives will respect your writing. They'll meet with you and talk about other ideas. You'll be one step closer -- and a big step it is -- to getting work.
So go rewrite. And when you come out with a script you believe in, don't take "no" for an answer. Best of luck. I'll be endeavoring to do the same.
Back to work with me.
Locked in a room,
Grady |
