Unsold Spec. Scripts -- Is the Work Really Ever Done

Handing over the keys to a script I've written is never any easy thing for me to do.

For the past four months I have been working real hard at writing then perfecting my first animated feature.  And though I filed for copywrite protection, and got a paid script evaluation on it.  I STILL find myself monkeying around with it trying to make it better. 

Is an  unsold spec. script   ever really done? Come on, E.C. give it ONE MORE   view  .  Surely you can find   something new   to fix!

From my perspective I would say, no; an unsold spec. script is never really done.

It takes me a long, long, long time before I finally settle on a finished product that I no longer tinker with.  I have a hard time just listening to any of my old scripts without slipping into editing mode.  Definitely not out of editing mode with Dilly of a Duckling's Dally.  Still got some stuff I wanna splice in.  Right now I'm going through each beat of the story, weighing it's purpose and clarity.  Also in the midst of a chat with guy I paid for a critique of trying to find even more areas to make the script funnier and crisper.

Wait a minute, E.C. -- didn't you already do that?  I mean you did file for WGAw registration, U.S. Copyright protection, and payed a guy to critique your material.  All true, still my level of satisfaction that I've maximized this story's potential has not been reached yet.  Until it reads PERFECT to me, I simply wont be satisfied.

The funny thing is that how a script "reads" changes over time.  Just last week I re-read part the first Legend of Thars script I wrote about 6 years ago and was shocked by how many places I thought I could tweak  and make it better.  Sometimes I pop on   Gravesite Crows  , other times Preytorium, or When the Motorcycle Calls; same thing I start "itching" to rewrite them.  Do a change here, a change there, a change any little where.  Gotta fight that itch, though or I'd be working on the same thing for MONTHS squandering valuable time that I could have spent on another project in greater need, or advancing my legacy of scripts and novels written.  

Sometimes it just hard to say, done.  I'm done!  (for now...)

At work, during breaks, I would most days have a pen out and be editing pages of Dilly of a Duckling's Dally; and this one older ex-groupie used to keep asking me why I wasn't done with it yet.   She was totally clueless about writing .  I saw that right off the bat.  And that's okay, not everybody is a writer.  It's not fair to ASSUME that people know what it's like for another person to be a dedicated writer.  If it was up to that clueless person I would have been done writing back in January -- before I even had the first draft of Dilly of a Duckling's Dally written.  Ah the clueless, they're always good for a laugh.  

I'm getting closer to finishing, ma -- with each edit ONE step closer...

So I'm putting off really getting into the Thars project yet another week or so -- but it's all for a good cause.  I may never have sold anything, but that doesn't mean I'm not giving it my all.  I am. 

 

Comments

[E.C. Henry]

Hey, Penny, thanks for visiting my blogsite and choosing to leave a comment. :)

I consider myself a VERY SOCIAL writer. I love talking to people. So, yeah, if I ever reached super-status I most assuredly would interact with them.

As far as "find love" goes. Love is where you find it. It's a pretty allusive thing from my perspective of being 53 and single, so I PRIZE it wherever I find it.

I'd love to find a lover that I could bring into my writing and have her be a cowriter with me. I think think whoever you couple with your worlds need to blend and not be exclusive. Exclusitivity is a big risk in a relationship and is NOT the way God designed it to be.

Would I ever "date" a fan? Yeah, sure why not? Love is where you find it.

[Penny]

If you ever achieved writing success on the level of a Stephen King or a George R.R. Martin, do you think you would ever indulge in groupies?

Or, to put it in a less crude way, would you ever date fans?

[E.C. Henry]

Hey GTO! Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a response.

The ex-groupie claimed to have had a hook-up with the drummer from Metallica. I didn't press her for further details. From what she has shared with me, she's lived a very sordid life.

[GTO]

Who is the most interesting/famous person this ex-groupie has been with? You brought it up, so I'm just curious.