Rejection
When you were starting out, how did you deal with rejection? Also, what advice can you give on the proper way to send out your work?
–Alan Wojcik
I dealt with rejection the same way I deal with it now: vodka.
No, but seriously. The truth is, a screenwriter is going to face rejection over and over again, and not just at the beginning of his career. There will always be a job you wanted and didn’t get, or a snub you didn’t see coming. Eventually, you learn that you can’t depend on strangers for validation.
At least, one day I hope to learn that.
If it’s any consolation, there are people who have it even worse than writers: actors. Whereas a writer might be rejected for his work, an actor can be rejected simply for their face. Or butt. Or voice.
Which ties into the second part of your question: how to send out your work. Think of your script as an actor going out on an audition. You want it to look its best: properly formatted, no typos, and two good brass brads that won’t unbend halfway through the script. Don’t give the reader any chance to ding your work simply for its appearance.
Oh, and your script should be really, really well-written. That’s the most important thing.
(Originally posted September 10, 2003)
August 10th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
Just out of curiosity, what is the general opinion of using the binder strap things? The ones that fit through the top and bottom holes of a 3 holed page, and have little sliders that keep the points down.
August 10th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
As a reader for a few contests for a few years now, I can tell you those things annoy the crap out of me! I see that, immediately think amatuer.
Same goes for anything other than simple brads. Pictures on the cover, people who leave their name on the script, etc. all leave a bad first impression. Not to say I haven’t had diamonds in the rough. I try to give each script it’s proper due, but once that little nugget of negativity is in my head, it’s hard to get it back out.
August 10th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
Two Brads. No binder strap things. Two Brads. No spiral bindings. Two Brads. No heavy duty staples. Two Brads. No super-cool-neon folders. Two Brads. Send me money. Two Brads.
Two Brads. Period. (and send me money)
Oh yeah, and the rejection thing? I read somewhere that Stephen King hung up 200-300 rejections on his wall before he finally sold Carrie.
If you want it bad enough, it’ll happen for you.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:52 am
green question for derek - what do you mean about leaving your name on the script?
June 1st, 2006 at 10:33 am
David,
Most screeplay contests clearly state in their rules that you shouldn’t put any identifiable info on your cover page. Just a title. It’s to keep things anonymous, as it should be.
But people still do it. Is it becasue they didn’t read the rules? Too new to writing? Who knows. Any way you slice it the answer doesn’t come out giving you a good first impression of the writer.
Granted you still judge the work, but when I get scripts that have the name blacked out or the cover page just ripped off because it obviously had too much info on it, you start your reading after a long, disappointed sigh and cross your fingers it gets better (but it usually doesn’t).
June 1st, 2006 at 10:43 am
@davidwag, when you submit your screenplay to contests you are supposed to leave your name off all pages except the cover (or follow other similar instructions) so that the person reviewing your script does not know who you are.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:42 pm
I deal with rejection by bleeding internally. And rum.
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:18 am
My take on rejection is a little different. A job you didn’t get isn’t rejection unless you were the only candidate.
June 2nd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Okay, can I ask the dumb question? I’ve fastened my screenplays with brads before, and they inevitably start working their way out of the holes. How does one keep a brad bradded?
June 2nd, 2006 at 2:37 pm
I find the best way to keep brads from sliding out is to use those little washers with the thin slit for the brads to slip through; they do a good job of holding them in place.
The other option is those small silver screws that screw in through the top and bottom of the page holes and screw together in the center. I notice a lot of agencies are using those these days.
Also I like to go with the three brads. I find that the center brad keeps the middle of the script from buckling in while turning the pages.
June 2nd, 2006 at 3:33 pm
As a UK writer I find the so called ‘rules of presentation’ near impossible to adhere to no matter how hard I try. Throughout Europe and Australia (and no doubt many other countries), brads do not exist, US letter paper size does not exist, three hole punches do not exist. Trust me I have hunted extensively.
The rules only seem to work for American writers writing for themselves. What about the rest of the world? In a desperate attempt to adhere to US competion format expectations, I tried ordering all the US gubbins from the US Writer’s Store. That was 2 months ago, and after their 2nd attemp at shipping the goods seemingly having failed, I have had no choice but to submit my entries on A4 paper, with four holes and binder strap things.
I just hope my writing is good enough to quash the readers’ sighs of ‘oh what a talentless amateur’ before they reach FADE IN.
June 5th, 2006 at 11:57 am
“Throughout Europe and Australia (and no doubt many other countries), brads do not exist…”
You obviously haven’t been “throughout Europe” as you can find them in any bookstore in Norway.
June 7th, 2006 at 4:03 am
“Throughout Europe and Australia (and no doubt many other countries), brads do not exist”
Umm, James, have you tried looking in stationery stores? I get mine from Sussex Stationers or W H Smith.
Most contests don’t seem to mind about A4 paper; but you’re absolutely right about the three hole punch thing: I had to get mine from America whilst on holiday.
As for rejection, I always think that’s a step up from being completely ignored as seems to be the norm.
June 7th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
In the UK the standard Acco brass fasteners really do not exist!
Yes my ‘extensive hunt’ has stretched beyond the high street stationers.
What shops like WHsmith and Rymans stock are the sharp, spindly brass fasteners which every US script reader states should never be used, as they draw blood.
Personally I don’t care what a script is bound with, but every single script reader or book agrees that it is unwise to bind with anything other than Acco, so I have to try to conform.
Once I’ve cracked the binding, I’ll be turning my attention to those words.
June 7th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
I recently posted about Rejection with a capital R on my blog… and here is the quote I used from Sylvester Stallone (stay with me here, he DID write Rocky): “I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.”
So wake up and get going. The journey is just beginning. Scribe
June 9th, 2006 at 11:18 am
Rejection of any kind is hard. Rejection for your writing is really brutal. I’m not sure why we take it harder than, say, the rejection we feel when someone doesn’t like our taste in neckties or whatever. But it’s not easy, and it keeps on coming, even if you’re pretty good writer to begin with. No writer seems to be able to nail it every time. NO writer can create something from a blank page that captivates every reader every time. NO writer knows for sure that this story point, or that character turn will be the one that resonates with an audience. So when we’re rejected, we’re in good company.
June 9th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Well said, Scribe.
June 12th, 2006 at 2:58 am
James Bicknell, You can get USA size paper and brads shipped in from:
http://www.writersstore.com/
They have everything you need. Never let me down. Get back to them if they failed.
Ron Taylor
June 20th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Rejection is part and parcel of a writer’s life and may have nothing to do with the quality of the work. Recently, after working nine months on a script which ‘they’ loved, a new executive came on board, who didn’t. Fortunately I was reasonably paid. Even more fortunately I have some writer friends with the most appalling rejection stories - which, I’m afraid to say, always cheer me up. And R (2 brads)Dane, apologies for responding a year late but I can’t agree. Wanting something badly will not guarantee getting it, or the world would be a very different place. And probably full of some very very bad films.
July 1st, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Speaking as a reader from one of the same competitions as Derek and RDane, I’d just like to say that not all readers make their opinions of the screenplays in front of them as small as coming down to brads vs. straps vs. spiral binders. For many of us - in the screenplay competition world, it’s all about the story in front of us, and how well (or not) it’s told. And, judging from James’ response on June 2, he can write. And one day, his writing will be the right story in the hands of the right reader.