Writing

I have had a completed screenplay sitting in my filing cabinet for almost twenty years.  When I first wrote it, I was in a screenplay class.  All the screenplays were submitted anonymously, and critiqued by the class.  My script was so consistently the one everyone liked and wanted to keep reading the updates on, that at a certain point the instructor asked me to hold off on submitting updates so other scripts would get read. 

I knew there was something good in the story idea, even if the writing wasn't as good as I would have liked.  When it was completed, I gave it to a director who was on-campus temporarily.  This director did artsy, independent films.  She said I would need to tighten up the writing, but it was definitely a blockbuster movie.

So what did I do with it?  I put it in a filing cabinet and never did anything with it.  In my defense, I was living in Arkansas and didn't know anyone in the entertainment industry or what to do with a script.  It was the only screenplay I'd ever written, and I was just happy that I'd completed anything of that length, and that I received an A for the class. 

Fast forward to now.  I was Facebook chatting with one of my oldest friends the other night, she's been involved in radio and has lots of connections with musicians, and a few people in other areas of the entertainment industry.  She is super sharp, quick-witted, and an excellent writer.  I asked her if she would be interested in editing it.  She said "sure." 

So I have released one of my babies into the world.  Maybe nothing will come of it.  I've never collaborated with anyone on my writing, but I feel like this is a good thing to do.  It's certainly better than letting it sit in a filing cabinet for another twenty years.  I wonder why I did that, just left it.  I've done that with most of my writing. 

The few times I've been published, I felt naked, exposed.  I've never had any desire whatsoever for fame.  I don't think my writing is good enough to make me famous, but some part of me didn't even want to flirt with the possibility of fame of any kind.  Maybe that's why I've never tried to get an agent or do anything with my stuff. 

That said, I've been working on a book recently.  I'm only a dozen pages into it.  I don't know if it will be completed.  I'm still trying to decide where it's going.  So far I'm just free writing, and the story is interesting, so maybe not knowing where it's going just yet is fine too. 

So that's what I've been doing lately, instead of posting on the blog like I've been thinking about.