Writing Script

Newsflash, Blog Followers. 

Signed Contracts!  The writing can begin and...

I can finally break my silence on the new project with the Big Hollywood Producer (BHP) because I signed my contract today. 

What will follow in the upcoming weeks is another journey, hopefully from script to screen but on a 25-30 million dollar feature.  It has been quite a ride already, so hold on to your belly boys...

And in other news...

Writing For Hollywood is moving.  I have finally decided to move my little blog to a space all its own.  New website address will be forthcoming and I hope you will follow me and spread the word. 

Until we meet again - here's a little secret I want to share (under the protection of anonymity, of course) because it's a little strange:

What do writer's do after they sign their writing contracts?

Drink bubbly, pay off credit cards, buy a new car, a house, take a vacation?

Probably.

Not this writer.  This writer does a "signing contracts dance."    Wow, seeing that in type makes it seem even goofier, but something behind it that I want to share.

It's something I referenced in Tips for Writers a long while ago.  But especially today it bears repeating.

A while ago a writer friend of mine (http://thewomanformerlyknownasbeautiful.com/) told me, "You've got to celebrate even the smallest of good things in this business." 

This advice has stuck with me for years, because it is so true and so helpful.  Rejection is the norm in a writer's life.  Even when a studio buys a script there are ten others who didn't buy it.  For every writing assignment you land imagine the six (or more) other writers who worked just as hard and were turned down.  Most specs don't sell.  Most scripts never get made.  Success is the exception, not the rule.

So, this is why I do my little dance. 

Be it in the privacy of my own house (joined by my toddler who has no clue why Mommy is dancing or witnessed by my husband who is kind enough to not count this lunacy against my sex appeal) or in my attorney's office - I sign and then I shimmy.   There's no smugness, no ego in my little boogie.  It's just an acknowledgement that something good has happened.  A marking of a moment before the clock officially starts counting down to that first deadline.

I hope you'll all find reasons to celebrate your work in your own distinct way.  Dwell on the good and it might help you skim over the oceans of not so great.

Happy Shimmying!