Dang It!

[icerose]

Well, as an update, The Ocean Deep was just rejected. The comments were:


Although it is an intriguing and well paced story, it just doesn't fit with our development slate.

Thanks for letting us take a look and good luck with this project.


It seems I am getting good at collecting these wonderful rejection letters, now I just need to match someone's slate lol. All of the producers I have interacted with at this level have had the same type of responses and have always been rather kind.

Anyone else having these problems? Is it difficult to be a match for companies? Do they have a pretty solid idea of what they want and just know when they read it? I am merely curious as I haven't been on the otherside to see the process.

[clockwork]

Well, as an update, The Ocean Deep was just rejected. The comments were:



It seems I am getting good at collecting these wonderful rejection letters, now I just need to match someone's slate lol. All of the producers I have interacted with at this level have had the same type of responses and have always been rather kind.

Anyone else having these problems? Is it difficult to be a match for companies? Do they have a pretty solid idea of what they want and just know when they read it? I am merely curious as I haven't been on the otherside to see the process.

Yes and no. Most production companies I have met with tell me that if a fantastic script comes along, they will nab it no matter what is on their slate. However, my last meeting revealed exactly the opposite. The last producer I met told me exactly what he was looking for - traditional ghost stories, political thrillers, comedies that will attract a big-name American star and giant love stories. I was like, waaaaa? I knew it! You know exactly what you want!

I too have a stack of rejection letters saying similar things. Personally, I think that's just a standard response that can cover a tonne of potential reasons why they're not interested and I think the most likely reason for a script being rejected is that they are simply too busy with current projects to consider new work.

At least they said it was intriguing and well-paced! Don't lose hope, just keep submitting.

[icerose]

Hey Chris,
Glad to see you around.

Yeah, I figured they know exactly what they are looking for and when they see it they just know. I also think that is where some of the lesser movies come from. They needed to produce something and they didn't fall in love with it, but of course I could be wrong, I mean look at Snakes on a Plane.

Yeah, the response was great, my heart sunk at the Although, but I'll take the compliment as a sign I am getting something right, even if it isn't everything.

I think the reason why it was rejected was entirely my fault. It was meant to be a family action adventure, I am pretty sure I got the action adventure right but I failed on the family part. There's a family in it but it's pretty intense from beginning to end. I will target a more action/adventure the next round of queries, and I figure I spent about 2 weeks writing it stretched over a month after having the center chunk of 2 weeks spent moving and being sick writing it, it's not a bad response, especially with the first company I sent it to.

I think I have too dark of a writing streak in me to succeed at a family oriented piece. Someday I may find a way around it, but for now, I guess I will do what I can and keep on writing and submitting.

Now to see if I can't get Death do us Part into a feature instead of the short it currently is.

[clockwork]

Try not to predict what you think people will want. I've been doing that for several years now and at my last meeting, my agent said he felt my original voice was getting lost in the guff of me anticipating what people want. I'm currently writing something totally from the heart and damn be genre or marketability. It's more of a writing exercise but I can say that it's the most honest thing I've written in a while.

I hate when real life interrupts my writing. It's happening a lot recently and I need to keep tabs on it.

[icerose]

Try not to predict what you think people will want. I've been doing that for several years now and at my last meeting, my agent said he felt my original voice was getting lost in the guff of me anticipating what people want. I'm currently writing something totally from the heart and damn be genre or marketability. It's more of a writing exercise but I can say that it's the most honest thing I've written in a while.

I hate when real life interrupts my writing. It's happening a lot recently and I need to keep tabs on it.

I know the feeling on that second part. I've moved twice, been in and out of the hospital, and my youngest is teething which has wreaked havoc on my writing. I hate that.

On the first part, I only write the stories that come to me. I had invisioned the story as a family action/adventure, but it doesn't seem my voice wanted to listen, so it is now just an action/adventure. Dang it, as the title says because if I had been able to pull it off I might have had a sale. But at least my writing is always my own, in it's own wacky universe.

My current WIP is giving me fits. It's screaming to me that it's only a short and I'm not willing to listen. It takes place in one location with one main character, and three outside ones (one being the dead one). The protag starts out dead. I could easily lengthen the story by adding a life before with her alive and scenes outside of the core of the story, but for some odd reason it only wants to be the way it wants to be and isn't about to listen to me. So now, I am easing the escalation, trying to slow it down and in moderation so it happens more gradually but I fear even with that it won't make it over forty five pages.

I guess there are worse things that could happen, I think it's an awesome story but of course I created it. It has the veins of tell tale heart but with a married couple, so I guess I'll see where it goes from here.

[clockwork]

I know the feeling on that second part. I've moved twice, been in and out of the hospital, and my youngest is teething which has wreaked havoc on my writing. I hate that.

Sorry to hear that. I hope things get better for you soon.

My current WIP is giving me fits....

How much of it have you written? I've had ideas for shorts that I started writing out and before I knew it I was way past the target number I had in mind. Maybe try writing it as a short anyway and see what happens?

[icerose]

How much of it have you written? I've had ideas for shorts that I started writing out and before I knew it I was way past the target number I had in mind. Maybe try writing it as a short anyway and see what happens?

I have written from beginning to end all save a few pages of flesh out work and it is at a miserable thirty two pages. I knew from the beginning it was a short but I have failed to accept that fact yet because I love the story so much.

[clockwork]

I have written from beginning to end all save a few pages of flesh out work and it is at a miserable thirty two pages. I knew from the beginning it was a short but I have failed to accept that fact yet because I love the story so much.

Ah, I see. That's tricky. The structure sounds different to your average three-act deal which may be hanging you up. Can you maybe rework aspects of it so that it can be more conventioanlly told or will that ruin it?

[icerose]

Well it is rather unconventional and that is part of what I love about it.

It starts out with the husband, David, in the bathroom, meticulously wiping his hands on a towel, talking very calmly about their troubled marriage, an affair he had, how sufficated he felt, when he hangs up the towel it's soaked with blood. Then we see the bathtub, his wife is dead, her throat slashed and she is under the water, her eyes wide open.

"Consider this a request for divorce." he says as he walks out. Then he dumps her body in the trash and watches the garbage truck haul her body into the back of it.

He glances across the street where he sees is wife, standing there, staring at him. He starts toward her, the garbage truck drives past, and she is gone.

He thinks he is imagining it and runs back inside. Then the hauntings increase, he tries to lash out at her by destroying things she loved, her paintings, her garden, and so forth and it only gets worse.

The neighbor grows worried when David freaks out, pointing to an empty spot on the lawn screaming why can't he see her as the neighbor can't see anything.

The police come and David, in a trance like state, writes with red paint on the wall "I killed my wife." The police are at the door, his hands are covered in blood red paint and the paint has already mostly dried on the wall. He's trying to cover it up, the police are trying to get in, and he finally covers it up.

He gets rid of the police, and returns to his house, thinking he's just imagining everything still, he grabs a cold pack and lays down, then it gets worse, he packs his bags, preparing to leave and she is appearing everywhere. The words that he wrote are burned into the wall, he smashed holes in the wall, tears the house apart until he just loses it.

The police come, he confesses, he has withdrawn into himself and she is sitting there, smiling at him and no one can see it, which makes him even crazier.

The last scene is the only one that takes place outside the premises of the house, it's at a mental ward in the hospital, they talk about how they found the wife's body in the landfill, had he not confesses she would have never been found as they were covering the landfill with dirt and closing it as it was to become a park.

On the wall he has scratched in "I killed my wife."

It closes with her standing in the door way saying "Hello, David."

The way (I hope) it is written is to give question as to whether or not she really is haunting him, or if he is stark raving mad and is imagining it all. There are no outside signs that she is haunting him, like when the police grab him the wall is fine outside of his hammer holes and such.

The things I can think of adding without ruining that feel would only bring the script at most to forty five pages. So I am at an impass. I love the story, how it is presented and the feel of it the way it is, to make a feature I would most likely have to give some before story and some out of the house story which I think would detract rather than add to the story.

What do you think? Am I just too close to it?

[K-Mark]

Try not to predict what you think people will want. My agent said he felt my original voice was getting lost in the guff of me anticipating what people want.

This is awesome advice. Sometimes we get caught up too much in this and your voice disappears. That's not good because your voice is what's going to seperate you from the rest. True for all writing.

[K-Mark]

Ice, I am just brainstorming here, but maybe this will help you think of some ideas.

1) Leave it short at 32 pages and write 2 or 3 more shorts in the same genre to make up a movie like tales from the Crypt or something.

2) I don't know what is around, but maybe there is a way you can use it for TV. Like one of those short story shows. I think Lifetime has one called Ghosts, but I'm not sure. Again, Tales from the Crypt, Nightmares Dreamscapes (I know that is a mini-series).

3) Write it in novel form? Probably might be on the same boat with length, but 70,000 should do it.

4) Try and market it as a TV series (short story-esque) and use this the pilot.

5) Like suggestion number one, write 2 or 3 more shorts and connect them like Pulp Fiction or Crash.

These aren't the best ideas, but maybe they'll get the blood pumping.

As for the story itself, it seems cool. It's got a Poe flavor to it and a little bit of Secret Window. I liked it.

[icerose]

Thanks Mark, I could bug one of my buddies who is doing a series of shorts as a television series to see if he wants to use this one along with my other short, The Body Farm, that reminds me I gotta get back with him on that one.

It's just I still have it in my head that short script = dead script.

[clockwork]

I like you idea, icerose but I can see what you're saying. You have a strong premise but with none of the second act guff to pad it out. Right now you have a beginning and an end.

If you look at films like Rear Window or What Lies Beneath, they are such simple ideas at face value but the key to their worthy status as features is the mystery element. The mystery is what drives the characters and keeps the story moving. Your idea is more about a man's descent into madness. It's kind of like, we have the facts and are just watching it play out. There is definite interest from the audience's point of view concerning whether or not the guy will get caught but considering his crime is so heinous it might be hard to get an audience on his side.

What Rear Window and What Lies Beneath also have are the out of the house moments, the regular slice of life scenes, the visitors that come to pad out the pages and the flase starts and fake scares. You could conceivably add to yours but it would require doing the things you say you don't want to - like getting the guy away from the house and adding more characters.

I suppose you have to ask yourself how much you really care about the integrity of the structure. If you're not willing to change things then I say go for it as a short, there's certainly no harm if it protects the power of your original idea.

[icerose]

Hi Chris,

Yeah, I'm considering having more characters, but have them come to the house, looking for Marion. This would give insight to her character, means for him to be nervous, especially if her "ghost" is toying with him while they are there.

As it stands I think his descent into madness is too fast, but I don't want to drag it out by pure hauntings, so I think having other people intrude would be the most helpful.

Another possibility would be for him to not dump the body until midway, so the first half he has the body in the house and is trying to keep people from discovering it. This would keep him in the house, delay the occurance of the hauntings where he is already under an extreme ammount of stress beforehand.

The first act would be then that he has killed his wife and needs to get rid of the body, the second act is trying not to get caught during the act and the third act would be his descent into madness as he finally breaks under the pressure/guilt/halucinations or hauntings whichever the audience decides they want to believe.

What do you think of that one?

[clockwork]

Yeah, that's cool. The second act could be quite tense say if a relative came along because they hadn't heard from the dead woman in a while and were worried about her or something. I love those really tense near-miss scenes. What was that Denzel Washington film of a while ago where he was a police officer in Florida or somewhere in the south. He was framed for something, can't remember what it was, but the second act was a really really good set piece of near-misses. The film itself wasn't great but I loved the tension they racked up. You should see it just for that... hang on a sec. Out of Time, it was called.

The only thing I'd caution against is keeping tabs on the tone of it. Unchecked it could quickly slip into Weekend At Bernies territory. But I like the idea of the dead wife trying to get her husband caught by moving or placing objects in sight of police or relatives, you know? Really messing with him. But as time goes on and he keeps evading capture, the 'messings' become more intense and violent.

What are the guy's reasons for killing his wife again?

[icerose]

Yeah, I am watching the humor element as this is not meant to have any humor.

He killed his wife because he felt trapped and suffocated and wanted all her money. He didn't feel she paid enough attention to him and didn't let him spend enough money. He is scum and I want him to be as such. I want the audience watching, waiting for the moment his sorry butt gets caught.

I am sure there will be those with an ounce of sympathy for the guy at the end because I have decided upon a twist, she was dying from cancer and her sister comes out to visit. She would have been dead within the year. Thus he had no need to kill her and he could have had everything.

[clockwork]

Nice twist. :)

I was thinking about this a little more and I realised that the scenes that people tend to like the most in films are the ones that you couldn't write an entire film about. Say, the Dr. Evil scenes in Austin Powers or the cat scenes in Cats Dogs & - for me, they make the film what it is but if you did an entire Dr. Evil movie it would probably be quite dull. You need those in between moments of normality to help your better scenes shine brighter. It would be great to place the moments of the husband trying to cover up evidence of his murder adjacent with the banality of a pompous dinner party or struggling to get some nothing-report finished at work. If you're going to extend it to feature-length, you need those moments for balance.

[icerose]

Thanks, and yeah, some I do well with those quieter scenes, other times I try to keep them as minimal as possible, depending on how suspensful/scary I want the feature to be.

I was worried about lagging out The Ocean Deep when I was lengthening it as it was rather action packed and suspensful in my opinion, but it seems I was able to do it due to the well-paced comment I got. I think that is partly my same worry with this one, but I think I'll be able to do it. :)

[clockwork]

I'd love to write something short, around the 80-90 page mark but everything I write ends up at 130 which I then trim to 120. I'm too in love with dialogue I think. ;) Good luck with yours.

[icerose]

I'd love to write something short, around the 80-90 page mark but everything I write ends up at 130 which I then trim to 120. I'm too in love with dialogue I think. ;) Good luck with yours.

I'm too inlove with streamlining and slim and trim. We should meet at a compromise you and I. Then we'd both be at our target levels.

[RainbowDragon]

[/quote]I hate when real life interrupts my writing. It's happening a lot recently and I need to keep tabs on it.[/quote]

Hey, Chris, don't forget real life is important too! Without it at the very least we'd have no stories to tell :)

[scripter1]

Get a chat room, sheesh!!!


:tongue


Sorry to hear that it didn't work out Ice.
Remember, all this shall be for thy good.
From the writer's holy book of advice.
"I give unto writer's weaknesses that they may become strengths unto them."

You've found a weakness and now you can begin working on it.
This was a positive learning experience.

When studios give you lemons make .......er, better scripts?

[icerose]

Thanks Scripter,
With Chris's help I think I have it hammered out on how I can make this into a feature. I was missing the second act and he helped me to see what could be done without sacrificing all that I loved about it. If I run into another hitch at least I know where I can come and find a new solution. ;) And yeah, even the bad things can become good in writing.

[Mac H.]

One quick point - the line 'Consider this a request for divorce' sounds like a direct rip off of the most memorable line of 'Total Recall'.

(In 'Total Recall', the line makes more sense:





LORI (CONT'D)
Sweetheart, be reasonable...We're
married.

Lori stealthily reaches behind her back for a concealed gun.
and pulls it on him.

Quaid shoots Lori in the forehead, leaving a clean, small
hole between her eyes.

QUAID
(rising, to Melina)
Consider that a divorce.
)

You had a great scene there, but adding that line makes it sound derivative.

Good luck,

Mac

[icerose]

Thanks for the point out Mac, I hadn't even realized that. I will look at it again to see what will suffice as a replacement.

[Winterchase]

Well, as an update, The Ocean Deep was just rejected....

Anyone else having these problems?

Maybe next time try this approach; form an LLCs (an "s," not a "c" type; that's important) in your state (about $380, less if you do it yourself, and you can, easily), set up an escrow account with someone reputable (like Merrill Lynch, who won't charge you), get people to put some money in it (the more the better, of course), then take out the worst script you've ever written, assume an attitude, and send it off - and watch how suddenly that script goes from "trash" to "treasure" in their eyes. :hooray:

[icerose]

Maybe next time try this approach; form an LLCs (an "s," not a "c" type; that's important) in your state (about $380, less if you do it yourself, and you can, easily), set up an escrow account with someone reputable (like Merrill Lynch, who won't charge you), get people to put some money in it (the more the better, of course), then take out the worst script you've ever written, assume an attitude, and send it off - and watch how suddenly that script goes from "trash" to "treasure" in their eyes. :hooray:

Sorry, but you've confused me. How would that change the writing or what they are looking for?? And unfortunately I and everyone I know are about as broke as we can be especially with Christmas around the corner.

And surprisingly I have had wonderful comments on every rejection it is just followed by "This isn't what we are looking for at this time."

As for the attitude, I don't think I am capable of doing such. :o

[Winterchase]

Sorry, but you've confused me. How would that change the writing or what they are looking for?? And unfortunately I and everyone I know are about as broke as we can be especially with Christmas around the corner.

Hey, I'm a charter member of the "Broke Club" too!

Doing what I suggest won't, of course, change how good or bad the script actually is, but by having an organization and a little money in back of you will sure change people's opinions as to how good your script is, and what they (suddenly decide) really wanted. How, in God's world, do you think so many really, really, really(!) BAD films get made?

Film financing is an art unto itself.

The big dawgs usually go LP (Limited Partnership). It's expensive to set up and only the big boys play in that sandbox. Besides, the rules will blow your mind. The LP is usually the producer and gets to keep most of the profits. The GPs, General Partners, get the losses, which is okay by them because they have huge amounts of off-setting income in other areas and need the deductions, which are usually way over-stated.

In an LLC(s), the profits, if any, are passed through directly to the investors, saving having to pay taxes twice on the same money. They're very easy and inexpensive to set up and, as the letters imply, limit your liability. The money you can raise is put in an escrow account, draws interest, and can only be withdrawn under certain conditions as stated in the account's charter, which you write. It helps, of course, to have a lot in there, but just a few thousand gets it going plus it enables you to have the ways and means others can invest, safely. Regardless, having one, no matter how much is in there, is a pretty good talking point.

Some films, almost always low budget, are even set up an a 501(c)(3) - chartable, not for profit and therefore, all contributions are tax deductable. BUT, you're liable to bring the IRS down on you for that.

There's another way; if you have a novel and the adaptation, consider taking out citizenship in R.O.I. (Ireland). Over there, writers do not pay taxes on money realized from writing (R.O.I., Revenue (their IRS), 150, as amended, titled Artist's Exemptions). Publishers and film exec's know all about it. Usually, a corporation, owned by exhibitors, distributors, studios, publishers, etc., all American owned but with EU subs, pool their pre-tax income and do a buy-out of all the rights. It's considered a cost of doing business, therefore deductable, whereas an investment is not. Say it's your first novel and not really a barn-burner. That's okay. They offer you, say, $13 million for all the rights. When you regain consciousness and read on, you'll see you're reguired to invest $10 million of that $13 in the film in a way that will guarantee you'll never see it again. The corporation shelters income, brings the copyright back here, makes the film, publishes the book, takes the capital loss, hopefully, you come back home on a permanent tourist visa and everybody is happy. Oh, and it's all very legal.

Another way; go off-shore. Belieze (sic?) is good. So are the Cayman Islands. And they're warm. A little complicated and expensive to set up - around $3-8,000 - but money can be invested in the company with no questions asked. Lawyers place ads, looking for that business. Odds are the DEA knows who is on their (intestor's) client list.

[dpaterso]

:Wha: Is there a logline for this, WC? 'Cause the synopsis is busting my head. I hope someone else understands it and finds it useful, 'cause Lordy knows I don't. ;)

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
With all due respect, God has nothing to do with it. I intend to smite the wicked, not save the heathen.

[clockwork]

This is borderline spam!

Hey Winter, can we find out more if we attend a brief timeshare presentation by the hotel swimming pool tomorrow morning? A free gift basket of luxury suntan lotions is ours if we do!





(kidding!)

[icerose]

Whooosh! And over my head it went.

I just figure if I can't get a sale on my own I'll try and get an agent who will do right by my work.

[Rainy Night]

Not to promote any site or business, but have you tried InkTip.com - I actually got a request for a short that I had written through them.

[Winterchase]

:Wha: Is there a logline for this, WC? 'Cause the synopsis is busting my head. I hope someone else understands it and finds it useful, 'cause Lordy knows I don't. ;)


If I understood even part of it, I'd be rich and have a collection of Oscars stitting on my desk! I wrote that post from interview notes, not personal knowledge or experience, that's for sure. It seems that more creativity goes into financing a film, and the accounting, than the bloody script, which the money guys could care less about.

One entry quotes the man saying, "... If you think you have a good script, make sure you also have the facility to get it financed in accordance with the current tax code."

I think what he was saying that in this day and age there's more to selling a script and/or getting a project off then ground than just having a good script. Writers, it seems, have to also be good business..people.

He should know. Years and years ago he and his brother were approached by an unknown writer who asked them to invest in his script, which was envisioned as an off-off-Broadway production. They liked the business structure he proposed and agreed to invest if he could come up with a producer. He admitted they had never seen a Broadway show back then, couldn't make sense of the script and to this day don't know squat about music. All they wanted were tax deductions - capital losses. They didn't get that. The name of the script was Chicago!

The comments about R.O.I.? The writer started that ball rolling the same way, and they invested in it too. That time, however, while they sheltered income from the EU, they got their capital losses when the book and film came out in the states. I saw the film. It sucked. I put the book down after fifty pages. It was terrible!

You may or may not find it interesting, but I do.

In the next life, but not this one, I'd like to be a bean-counter.

[Winterchase]

... Hey Winter, can we find out more if we attend a brief timeshare presentation by the hotel swimming pool tomorrow morning? A free gift basket of luxury suntan lotions is ours if we do!

(kidding!)

FREE(?)! Did you mention something being FREE? Will unattached girls be there too, I hope, I hope? Maybe in them skimpy little bikinis? I'll be there in that case, but I ain't gonna wear no sissy speed-oh (sic), and I'm gonna bring along my dawg!

I guess I kind of need to apologize for the length of my posts; I'm now using "Voice" instead of typing stuff all the time.

[whistlelock]

Icerose, I'm curious as to how much research you're doing before sending off your script?

For further clarification- have the companies you sent to produce films that were similiar in nature to yours?

[icerose]

Icerose, I'm curious as to how much research you're doing before sending off your script?

For further clarification- have the companies you sent to produce films that were similiar in nature to yours?

Yes, I have checked credits, and I also check their websites and stay within the parameters of what they are looking for, which is probably why I am getting so many requests per amount of queries I am sending out. This last company with The Ocean Deep, then they said they were looking for all kinds, so I sent them Six Days, then they wrote back, said they loved it, but they were financing only family comedy and family action/adventures at the time, so I pitched The Ocean Deep as concept, they wanted to read it, I wrote it up, but that is where I get into trouble, I have a really hard time with touchy feelies. I got the Action and Adventure part down pat, it was the family viewing I bungled. I didn't have any soft edges just a lot of escalation and although limited violence, it lent to a higher radius of fear than parents would probably want for their kids.

I seem incapable of writing a family oriented piece, must be my darker side getting the better of me. ;) Evident by the WIP I have planned for January. If I pull it off right, it should be scarier than "The Ring" but of course that is a big if.

Rainy Night:

I have thought about using Ink Tips but my only short is entering negotiations next month for sale and I can't afford to list a feature lol so I don't have anything to list. Plus I have to wait back on like four of the features that are out on reads.

Winterchase:

If you come back as a bean counter, can you be mine? Because if you understand half that mumbo jumbo you were talking about, I'd be set. :D Although I do prefer it if my writing stands on it's own. Someday I'll take the plung and get an agent, that should help.

[English Dave]

I think most rejections boil down to 'It just didn't grab me'

That's not neccessarily a reflection on the script. These guys reject so much they've got it down to a fine art.

But ....the right script, at the right time, in the right hands is the mantra. Keep plugging away Icerose. The planets do line up occassionaly. :)

[icerose]

Thanks Dave,

Plugging away. Just sent off another query letter for The Ocean Deep. I figure if I have enough material with enough companies eventually I'll find a fit.

It also boils down to whether or not it fits within their financing perspective. Some of the companies that have rejected me have financing set up for certain types of scripts and those are on their slate, so they just have to find the script they are looking for. I strongly believe they know which script it is when they read it and they jump up and say "Yes!"

[English Dave]

Icey, can I call you Icey? :)

I'd query anyone and everyone. I wouldn't limit it. It only costs a stamp, or virtually nothing on an e-query. And if you get a request and they read your work then that can only be good. Because your script may not fit, but your writing might?


I mean....they may have a project that your writing has resonance with.

[icerose]

Icey, can I call you Icey? :)

I'd query anyone and everyone. I wouldn't limit it. It only costs a stamp, or virtually nothing on an e-query. And if you get a request and they read your work then that can only be good. Because your script may not fit, but your writing might?


I mean....they may have a project that your writing has resonance with.

My sister calls my Loopy so anything better than that is okay with me.

I do hear what you are saying, I get quite a bit that "This project is not right for our slate but if you get any new material please consider us first." and I do write across several genres in my writing. I can't help it, I love reading all kinds I figured I could enjoy writing all kinds.

I am sticking mostly to e-queries right now because money is extra tight, but there are a few companies I am going to paper query next month or so because they are just that good of a company and I would love my work to be considered by them. Also they have produced stuff within the genre of some of my scripts. Plus I need to get my printer fixed, the moving screwed it up.

[English Dave]

I do hear what you are saying, I get quite a bit that "This project is not right for our slate but if you get any new material please consider us first." .

See? You clearly haven't yet had the restraining order masquerading as a rejection. Amatuer!

What you have is the reader saying to the Exec 'That's a pretty good script. Send the number 2 rejection' :)

The number 1 rejection is 'Although this wasn't for us at this time we really enjoyed your work and if you would like to meet for a general chat feel free to give me a call'

;)

[dpaterso]

What number is assigned to their never contacting you again or responding to your emails, even to acknowledge receipt of the script?

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Sweetheart, I am tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery. I've just been tortued by a damned spinal surgeon and a gen-yoo-ine Iraqi. Of course I'm serious!

[icerose]

See? You clearly haven't yet had the restraining order masquerading as a rejection. Amatuer!

What you have is the reader saying to the Exec 'That's a pretty good script. Send the number 2 rejection' :)

The number 1 rejection is 'Although this wasn't for us at this time we really enjoyed your work and if you would like to meet for a general chat feel free to give me a call'

;)

See, there I go, showing my green core again. I'm glad I haven't recieved the restraining order masquerading as a rejection, that would just be creepy, but I haven't recieved the number one rejection (why does number 1 and number two bring out my childish grin??) yet. That would be an interesting rejection and I think I would faint if I ever got one like that.

Then after I picked myself from off the floor I would be so nervous. People think rejections are bad, but those acceptances are scary!

[English Dave]

See, there I go, showing my green core again. I'm glad I haven't recieved the restraining order masquerading as a rejection, that would just be creepy, but I haven't recieved the number one rejection (why does number 1 and number two bring out my childish grin??) yet. That would be an interesting rejection and I think I would faint if I ever got one like that.



You'll get so many of those that you will wonder if you'll bother taking them up on it. It's all part of the process. You get a lot of number 1's and number 2's before you hit pay dirt.

The fact that you get number 1's and number 2's in the first place is pretty good.


[Why did they cancel Beavis and Butthead] :D

[icerose]

You'll get so many of those that you will wonder if you'll bother taking them up on it. It's all part of the process. You get a lot of number 1's and number 2's before you hit pay dirt.

The fact that you get number 1's and number 2's in the first place is pretty good.


[Why did they cancel Beavis and Butthead] :D

It's also frustrating though because I feel like I'm close but not quite there yet on getting a real sale. I'm not talking about a low dollar option, or a short sale, I have a couple of those, or a few shorts published, I mean a real honest to goodness sale with the paycheck and results to be proud of.

That has to be the hardest part for me though, the feel of being close and near misses. I'm sure someday I'll get used to them but for now, whenever a date is looming, like tomorrow, where I know an answer is coming one way or another, I still get all nervous and can't focus on anything serious and it drives me crazy.

[English Dave]

It's also frustrating though because I feel like I'm close but not quite there yet on getting a real sale. I'm not talking about a low dollar option, or a short sale, I have a couple of those, or a few shorts published, I mean a real honest to goodness sale with the paycheck and results to be proud of.

That has to be the hardest part for me though, the feel of being close and near misses. I'm sure someday I'll get used to them but for now, whenever a date is looming, like tomorrow, where I know an answer is coming one way or another, I still get all nervous and can't focus on anything serious and it drives me crazy.

I feel your pain Icey. But you know what? That decision you are waiting on is so full of agendas that you have no control over.

What you have control over is your writing. That's what you are. To be a writer you have to hold on to that. Write. Let the chips fall where they may. It's the only way to stay sane.

[icerose]

I feel your pain Icey. But you know what? That decision you are waiting on is so full of agendas that you have no control over.

What you have control over is your writing. That's what you are. To be a writer you have to hold on to that. Write. Let the chips fall where they may. It's the only way to stay sane.

Yeah, I know. Which is why I wrote a short the last couple of days and submitted it, and outlined another story, as well as sent out another few queries. It's just hard to know it's so close and it could go either way at this point.

Then tonight when things settle down more, I am going to work some more on Death Do Us Part because I want it finished before November so I can focus on NaScriWriMo.

[English Dave]

Yeah, I know. Which is why I wrote a short the last couple of days and submitted it, and outlined another story, as well as sent out another few queries. .

You make me feel so guilty. :)

[icerose]

You make me feel so guilty. :)

Uhoh, my apologies. :o I thought I was being rather lazy because I hadn't worked more on my WIP.