OK, blog-land, some important news. No, I’m not quitting the screenwriting game yet, in fact I just entered my script–code name MFTA–in my first contest. I don’t know if I’ll ever hear from the contest organizers, but it felt good to press submit tonight (of course the entry fee was a bit steep).
The script is not completely finished, but I have been spending September revising it all in anticipation of finally sending it out. In a way, this contest was my incentive. Although I feel with another month or so of work, the script could be even better, I knew that I had to keep this promise to myself for all of the hard work I put into the script. It is not my nature to simply write for writing’s sake. Maybe as a performer, I need to find an audience to share that work.
More posts to come this week–I feel that my schedule has suddenly cleared. Now all I need is to find a way to pay for the entry fee.
Questions for the comments:
1) What other contests should I apply to?
2) Have you submitted your scripts yet, and did you hear back?
3) How did you cope with the waiting process?
When Pico Met Sepulveda (alternatewrites.wordpress.com) 
Definitely apply to the Nicholl’s Fellowship, I think the deadline is in May. Some other great ones are the Slamdance Feature and Teleplay contests, the Austin Film Festival Screenplay contest and Scriptapalooza. ( I have urls for all these somewhere…)
The best thing to do is just not think about it. It drives me nuts when I apply for stuff – jobs, contests, credit cards. If you think about it, you will go crazy. Set a reminder on your calender for when to check it again and then just forget about it. If you are selected as a finalist you will be notified.
Other really great things to apply for are the fellowships – Disney, Warner Brothers, Fox, I think Nickelodeon has one. The best way to get into those is to write a dramatic or comedic television spec.
Good luck with the contest! I’m rooting for you (let us know what happens).
I’ll apply to Nicholl Fellowship + Big Break next year. This year I applied to the Omaha Film Fest. Where did you submit your screenplay to?
My first submission was to Big Break 2008… I paid the early bird fee which included 4 free issues of Script Magazine. I never got a single issue!!! *argh*
Agreed that the best way to cope with waiting for answers is to not think about it and move on. Especially with often too long time-frames!
I can’t speak to screenwriting contests, but good luck!
I have to admit, I’ve started to stop (??) applying to contests, unless there’s no fee or a really low fee. I just can’t afford to keep PAYING for my rejections, you know? (Isn’t my emotional suffering payment enough?! :P)