ADVICE
This week's Scribosphere topic comes from Emily Blake inspired by this post here.
My friends, reps, enemies and cats all say the same thing about me. I'm crazy prolific. And they're right. I do not stop writing if I can help it. And in those instances I can't help it, it makes me an unpleasant person to be around. And that's saying something.
I can trace this need to be in constant shark-lie motion back to a piece of advice I gleaned from science fiction author David Gerrold's book on the making of his Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles," which, yes, predates my existence on this shit-brown planet. Good advice isn't just recent advice.
In his book he expressed the opinion that when opportunity knocks, you need to be ready with a script. Well, in truth you need to be ready with more than a single script. A lot of advice out there now says you should have at least a pilot and a spec. And if you're into bare minimums, yeah, that can work, but your stars need to be aligned in one badass syzygy.
Why on Earth would you stop there? And I've met more than enough people who thin if they've got two or three good scripts, they don't need to do anymore. That spec episode can be outdated in an instant if the show independently touches on your idea. Similar things can happen to pilots. And if your pilot is a network medical show, it might not be the best sample for the cable crime show.
So my advice: Keep writing. I don't care how many arrows are in your quiver, it's not enough until you hit the bullseye.
My friends, reps, enemies and cats all say the same thing about me. I'm crazy prolific. And they're right. I do not stop writing if I can help it. And in those instances I can't help it, it makes me an unpleasant person to be around. And that's saying something.
In his book he expressed the opinion that when opportunity knocks, you need to be ready with a script. Well, in truth you need to be ready with more than a single script. A lot of advice out there now says you should have at least a pilot and a spec. And if you're into bare minimums, yeah, that can work, but your stars need to be aligned in one badass syzygy.
Why on Earth would you stop there? And I've met more than enough people who thin if they've got two or three good scripts, they don't need to do anymore. That spec episode can be outdated in an instant if the show independently touches on your idea. Similar things can happen to pilots. And if your pilot is a network medical show, it might not be the best sample for the cable crime show.
So my advice: Keep writing. I don't care how many arrows are in your quiver, it's not enough until you hit the bullseye.