Dealing with Rejection
The Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition announced their top 10% earlier today. Congratulations to those who made it, and condolences to those who did not. The Wave-inatrix received a slew of emails from writers that ranged in tone from disappointed, angry, heart-broken and whiny. Wavers, I have one question for you: WWRD? What would Rocky do?
There is no pat answer when you got a "no" when you wanted a "yes". The hot wave of disappointment and anger that comes with rejection is like molten lava. But it gets better. Breathe it out this beautiful summer day, Wavers.
Was it a waste of time or money to enter this or any competition? Were you ripped of? Was it fair? Does this predict that you will also not place well in other competitions?
No, no, no and no. In order.
Entering a competition motivates you to make a deadline. It gets your juices flowing and your wheels turning. A competition like Blue Cat is absolutely worth entering; the prizes are tangible and the competition is absolutely legitimate.
Are competitions fair? They are subjective. Most of the entrants get thrown out immediately because the scripts simply aren't executed professionally by any stretch. Then, as the readers dig deeper, subjectivity starts coming into it. Readers for competitions like this are generally much less experienced than other readers - the pay is quite low - and they also have absolutely no mandate, no real measure. They just rate the scripts a bit arbitrarily on a scale of one to five in categories like: premise, dialogue, character, structure and storyline. Of course, all manner of subjectivity comes into it - but then - it always does. Competition or not. Welcome to Hollywood.
Because of this subjectivity, not placing well in one competition actually has no bearing on how you'll do in another. And if you don't place well in any competition, you have a wonderful lesson there too; maybe your work is just not ready yet. Maybe you need to keep running up and down those stairs.
The Wave-inatrix Anti-Whining Recipe:
one part perspective
two parts determination
three parts realizing that if this were a fair or easy business, everyone would be doing it
The Wave-inatrix talks a lot about what it takes to make it in the most screwy, unfair, exciting business on planet earth. Rejection is not just a part of being a writer - it's a huge part of being a writer. If you can't take the heat - get out of the kitchen. This is not to say it's not normal to feel disappointed, maybe even a bit mad about it, but take those feelings, let them breathe a bit, and get back to work. How you handle rejection is a great indicator of how you will handle working in this business.
Getting truly, deeply madly upset at rejection happens - but it's also the mark of a beginner. Why? Because the longer you've been writing, the more accustomed to rejection you are. In other words, the more you get rejected, the less it upsets you. When you get used to it, you lose the emotion around it. And when you lose the emotion around it, you are better equipt to be a writer. Strong emotion always gets in the way of true greatness. Wax-on-wax-off, Wavers.
Being an aspiring writer is like being in boot camp. Go ahead - crawl through the mud and ring the bell if you want to go home. Nobody will stop you. OR you can use rejection to make you stronger. You can use that uncontainable creativity and determination to go the distance. What - are you gonna go down because you got one knock on the chin? Cue up the Eye of the Tiger, Wavers.
No, no, no and no. In order.
Entering a competition motivates you to make a deadline. It gets your juices flowing and your wheels turning. A competition like Blue Cat is absolutely worth entering; the prizes are tangible and the competition is absolutely legitimate.
Are competitions fair? They are subjective. Most of the entrants get thrown out immediately because the scripts simply aren't executed professionally by any stretch. Then, as the readers dig deeper, subjectivity starts coming into it. Readers for competitions like this are generally much less experienced than other readers - the pay is quite low - and they also have absolutely no mandate, no real measure. They just rate the scripts a bit arbitrarily on a scale of one to five in categories like: premise, dialogue, character, structure and storyline. Of course, all manner of subjectivity comes into it - but then - it always does. Competition or not. Welcome to Hollywood.
Because of this subjectivity, not placing well in one competition actually has no bearing on how you'll do in another. And if you don't place well in any competition, you have a wonderful lesson there too; maybe your work is just not ready yet. Maybe you need to keep running up and down those stairs.
The Wave-inatrix Anti-Whining Recipe:
one part perspective
two parts determination
three parts realizing that if this were a fair or easy business, everyone would be doing it
The Wave-inatrix talks a lot about what it takes to make it in the most screwy, unfair, exciting business on planet earth. Rejection is not just a part of being a writer - it's a huge part of being a writer. If you can't take the heat - get out of the kitchen. This is not to say it's not normal to feel disappointed, maybe even a bit mad about it, but take those feelings, let them breathe a bit, and get back to work. How you handle rejection is a great indicator of how you will handle working in this business.
Getting truly, deeply madly upset at rejection happens - but it's also the mark of a beginner. Why? Because the longer you've been writing, the more accustomed to rejection you are. In other words, the more you get rejected, the less it upsets you. When you get used to it, you lose the emotion around it. And when you lose the emotion around it, you are better equipt to be a writer. Strong emotion always gets in the way of true greatness. Wax-on-wax-off, Wavers.
Being an aspiring writer is like being in boot camp. Go ahead - crawl through the mud and ring the bell if you want to go home. Nobody will stop you. OR you can use rejection to make you stronger. You can use that uncontainable creativity and determination to go the distance. What - are you gonna go down because you got one knock on the chin? Cue up the Eye of the Tiger, Wavers.
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3 comments:
I fell liberated. Yesterday I sent in my Disney Fellowship, and Expo6 entry.
This was my first year of contests, I entered Scriptapalooza, Slamdance, Nicholl,
Austin, Final Daft. I proof read and read aloud that darn script so many times, I had it memorized.
I had grown tired of going to the post office weighing the darn thing and reading
the address label 5 times in a fret that if my "9" in the zip code looked
like a "4" my entry would end up lost and my big break would have slipped away.
It's like contest season can make you so obsessed with one project, stifling
creativity for new scripts.
Last night I went dancing with friends and today slept until 1 in the afternoon with
my purring cats. Now I'm watching Gandhi with Final Draft the last thing
on my mind. This holiday week I can write and outline all kinds of ideas and not
worry about some freaking deadline. Pure creativity, pure writing fun.
Great timely post. I just got my first rejection and I've only been trying 3 months.
I love it. I find it strangely liberating. I can also understand why it affects new writers so much.
Confusion quickly leads to anger. A writer may have gotten positive coverage, notes and general reads and then some big-shot all of a sudden says, "No thank you."
Definitely daunting and the contests are just as bad as they mean - n certain senses - that you aren't even as good a the other newbies.
Enough to cause aneurysms. But the best, and worse, part of it all is that you can always write more specs.
Learn from your feedback (very important) and start over. Most of the contests I've seen advertised do provide written feedback, so you at least know how to improve the next script and repair the current one.
I just happened to drop in just in time to miss most of the big ones like Nicholl and Final Draft, but the ASA contest is happening soon as are several others whose deadlines I will meet, so my gluttony for punishment should be assuaged at least momentarily.
It's too bad I don't have a list I could use specifically for rejection. Wait I do. Never mind.
Anyway, onward and upward.
P.S. My rejection took a whole one day so at least there was little anxiety.
God, what an excellent post.
I entered Bluecat this year with a piece of material that I was pretty damn positive wouldn't place -- basically, I did it for the coverage they offer with every entry. Still, some part of me felt a little crappy last night when I learned that, in fact, I was absolutely right about its prospects. Didn't take long to get over it, though -- I just sat down in front of the computer to edit a short film I'd been working on, had a few of those "shot-matching nirvana" moments, and slept very well afterward.
I'm already back writing again, and thinking about what I can do to give myself more of a fighting chance next year. Once again, your encouragment has really helped to get me into that mind-set.
Plus, as a diminutive Italian-American east-coaster, I always appreciate a Rocky metaphor.
P.S. - I think maybe it was the implied bestiality scene in my script that the Bluecat folks didn't like... Next year, I guess I'll just have to go all out and show it (kidding... I think).
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