That Silly Season

And I’m not talking about the award season, no siree-bob. I’m talkin’ Contest Time – Blue Cat, Big Break Screenwriting Contest, The Nicholl, Austin, Scriptapalooza, etc. It’s that time of year to dust off that spec, do a quick run through, touch up some typos, add a little polish here and there, tighten those brads, drop off your baby at the US Post Office and…

Cross your fingers…

Hold your breath…

And wait.

Then wait some more.

Personally, I have given up on the Silly Season with one exception – The Nicholl Fellowship – the Oscars® for un-produced screenwriters. Why? I don’t know for sure. Can’t stand the rejection? Maybe.

Can’t stand the wait? Most definitely.

Didn’t like the experience? No.

I find that my time is better spent writing. I tend to not write waiting around for contest results. I say to myself, self, start that next spec after you find out how well you can writer (or not). Wait. Just wait.

And it’s not because of bad experiences. My first ever contest entry resulted in an Honorable Mention. That said, my next fifteen-gazillion resulted in form letters asking me to try again next year. Until, finally, one dreamy day, I received a letter from Gregg Beal over at the Nicholl informing me that… almost, almost. Made the top 10%. And of course I knew, just knew, that next year I would be a finalist.

Another fifteen-gazillion entries later, nothing.

I’ve come to the conclusion that contests are venues of validation. We enter so someone will tell us we are good, no — great — writers. We enter because we are unsure of our talent.

Unsure?

Hmmmm, does it matter if we are validated? Don’t we write only because we can’t do anything else? Do we really need contests?

Let me know what you think of the Silly Season. Let me know about good experiences. Bad experiences. Which contests you found helpful. Which were a waste of precious writing time. And whether you enter contests or not…. Good Luck and

Keep Writing.