Your friendly aspiring writer has good news. I have been selected as a finalist for two scriptwriting contests. What does it mean? Being a finalist means those doing the judging have placed me in the top ten percent of the entries. Quite honestly, I’m a bit surprised, but elated, too.
One contest is on TVWriter.com. The site is maintained by Larry Brody, who has been involved as a writer/producer for thousands of hours of television. It’s a great site, with lots of terrific info for anyone who aspires to write for television. Brody’s also great at answering any and all questions from the wannabes who lob them at him. Additionally, there are a few industry veterans who are kind enough to offer their insight.
One of the site’s benefits is a semi-annual contest called the “Spec Scriptacular.” (A spec script is one written on speculation to display the writer’s talents.) I chose the show “Reba.” It was my first sitcom script, though I had written plenty o’ news, commercials and promos for TV and radio before I became involved in managing web sites and writing and editing web content. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the contest and am greatly surprised and flattered to be selected as a finalist. We’ll find out what the final results of the contest are sometime around the 29th of January.
[Brody has also just published a book called, “Television Writing From The Inside Out.” I’ve only read the first few chapters, but I can recommend it highly. The man knows of what he speaks.]
The other contest I more or less backed into. I registered my “Reba” script with WriteSafe.com, a site where you can protect your written work. It’s cheaper ($10) and also provides a place where your stuff can be read online. Registering your work there is also an automatic entry into their contest. But instead of competing against other work in a particular genre (in my case, sitcoms), you’re judged against everyone who registers any sort of work on that site. This includes short stories, screenplays, poetry, TV series premises, etc. Again, I was surprised to see that I made the finals with my first sitcom script.
In both cases, there are prizes to be awarded (cash, writing software, etc.), but the main benefit is EXPOSURE. Both contests appear to carry substantial weight in the “business of show.” Hopefully, someone with power and influence will say, “Hey, not bad. What else ya got?” I’m about 85% of the way through my second script, this one for “According to Jim.” I took a creative writing class over the last several months that ate up most of my writing, so I’m jammin’ now to catch up and get ahead of the curve. (It’s also why my blog entries greatly decreased — that and the annual crack habit I enjoy around the holidays.) I’ll need at least one more script, for a total of three, to be seriously considered for any professional assignments.
Even if I don’t advance any farther, being a finalist is a nice feather in my (prop) cap, though I prefer it raked lightly across my… uh, never mind. I’m just a lucky damn guy. Who knows? Maybe I have some writing talent in there ricocheting around my heart, soul and brain.
So there you have it. The saga of a true Hollyweird wannabe. Wish me some good luck.
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