More money.
I earn little as I have little of any interest to say.
Didn't I do well or you can go to hell? Page 3
Quote: sootyj @ December 28 2008, 5:15 PM GMTMore money.
I earn little as I have little of any interest to say.
You and Roscoff are the two funnier ones on this forum. Both of you make me laugh and smile so........maybe you have more than you think.
Quote: Marc P @ December 28 2008, 12:46 PM GMTWas it seefacts?
Ahhhhhhhhh, no. Too easy!
Got some stuff on telly. Didn't get some stuff on telly.
2009? hopefully more gots and less didn'ts.
Quote: Seefacts @ December 28 2008, 8:52 PM GMTAhhhhhhhhh, no. Too easy!
It's the holidays Mister S 
Quote: sootyj @ December 28 2008, 11:30 AM GMT1 Started writing properly (Well started in October 2007 so shoot me).
Me too but this year wasn't great, it was okay though seeing as I only started writing scripts in May, before that I wanted to become a novelist but in the last seven months: I wrote a sitcom, 2 dramas and a film. Sent the sitcom off to Baby Cow but got rejected, didn't get through in the Red Planet competition and am still waiting to hear back from RISE about my film, from Scriptapalooza for a spec scipt I sent them and from the BBC Writerstroom about the drama script I sent them but the most memorable thing was when my drama script got accepted and I got excited only to find out that they wanted a retainer of £1250 so it was a con. To top it all off my laptop's charger got burnt out so I now have to wait for it to be replaced. Better luck for 2009 and it's looking good as I'm starting a scriptwriting course in January taught by Graham Lester George (who I've never heard of) and I've sent an edited script of my sitcom to Baby Cow again 
Zuhaib I don't want to seem a downer but you're going for some awsomely big targets pretty early in the game.
So I wouldn't be surprised about getting knocked back.
It maybe at this stage you could think about going for something a little smaller?
Me too but this year wasn't great, it was okay though seeing as I only started writing scripts in May, before that I wanted to become a novelist but in the last seven months
Same here. I was writing a novel, but in July 2008 I thought "actually, I think I'll write the TV script instead which will give the novel more chance of being published if it was a TV series first."
Therefore I started doing research on writing/submitting TV scripts, which is actually how I found THIS site.
Now, at the end of this year, I am writing for NR, TS and 118, plus I have completed SIX pilots for TV shows ready to be distributed in the new year.
Quote: sootyj @ December 31 2008, 4:17 PM GMTZuhaib I don't want to seem a downer but you're going for some awsomely big targets pretty early in the game.
The only thing I am going for so far this year is hopefully getting somewhere with my sitcom pilot, everything else was everything that happened in 2008. The good news is as from today I have (actually we all have) 364 days to make something happen
Quote: sootyj @ December 31 2008, 4:17 PM GMTIt maybe at this stage you could think about going for something a little smaller?
Any suggestions? I never know how or where to start Anyone know of any opportunities?
Quote: Mikey J @ December 31 2008, 5:36 PM GMT"actually, I think I'll write the TV script instead which will give the novel more chance of being published if it was a TV series first."
Isn't that a bit like saying I will stand more chance of a Premium Bonds jackpot if I win the Lottery and invest the money from that?
Quote: Zuhaib @ January 1 2009, 5:34 PM GMTThe only thing I am going for so far this year is hopefully getting somewhere with my sitcom pilot
Just get cracking with a different pilot. Every time I've sent one off, I start the next one. By the time all the rejections start pouring in, I just think: "Yeah, that last one was pretty shit in retrospect - but THIS ONE is pure gold!"
....until the next set of rejections come pouring in. It's a horrible, vicious, soul-destroying cycle.
Sold 2 jokes to 118 118. Had sitcom pilot in development (paid) with BBC. Found out just before Christmas they're not taking it any further.
O, and got 12000 words into my much delayed novel.
I finally returned to scriptwriting after 5 years of writer's block and general lack of confidence. That was my major breakthrough - as pathetic as that sounds. My girlfriend of 3 years had no idea I had aspirations to be a writer -that's how bad the writer's block was! Worked on a bunch of sitcom ideas. Produced a sitcom script called 'Bunker' that a bunch of you guys were very nice about. Sent it off to every prodco going, but got no bites. Struggled to plot out a new one (but had a bit of a breakthrough around Christmas so I should be good for this year). Worked on various comic book projects, which remain uncompleted due to my script ambitions. Started actually entering competitions and writing schemes instead of just thinking about doing it. Got feedback from RFTP at the end of the year and may get on one of the last shows (but probably won't). To be selected was cool enough.
2009 - BE MORE PRODUCTIVE.
-- Got a single sketch onto Tilt: a hit rate of about 0.001% of the sketches I seemed to send in. I have never been more in tune with the news that week.
-- Got a feedback email from RFTP. I have no idea how successful the rewrite is at the moment. One sketch is good but too much like a thread from the last series so is not going in.
-- Failed miserably with every single News Revue and Treason Show sketch/song. Got 'nearly' for one of them, so rewrote it into a proper failure.
-- Haven't sold a joke to 118118 but have only tried three times. Suspect my second email of 30+ puns have changed the rules.
-- Strongly suspect my two Sitcom Trials sitcom attempts also brought in their new 'Don't write a one-act play' rule.
-- One of those one-act plays was acted out in Script Night and went down very well.
-- Rewrote a trite Christmas play for kids into a comedy show that could be enjoyed by the kids and their long-suffering parents. It seemed to go down quite well, including the hidden, dark humour.
-- Script edited/gave feedback on a lot of stuff for a few people around these parts. Learnt more doing that than anything else.
-- Got rejections from Comedy Lab, Baby Cow and the BBC Writers' Room for various things. At least I'm consistent.
-- Wrote some sketches. Not as many as sooty.
Dan
In May I began attempting to write comedy again after a lay of more than a decade. I was convalescing after an illness and I began writing again as a form of therapy. I set myself a target of writing fifty sketches before the end of the year and near enough hit that. Some of them are okay.
I got one sketch in Treason and a quickie in a Newsrevue run. None of my song parodies were accepted by either. (One of them I thought was quite good.)
No feedback from RFTP.
I was unsuccessful in a couple of competitions.
Away from comedy. I completed a short (well, not that short) story that had been left unfinished for twenty years, which was like shifting a turd after the longest period of constipation ever. No luck yet in placing it. (There seems to be a lack of demand for erotically charged horror/fantasy stories set in 11th century England).
I have been planning out a children's fantasy novel, and need to actually start writing.
It is not much, but I am struggling back to life after a horrendously long period in a creative coma, so I am taking satisfaction in small steps.
Where I went off the rails a little towards the end of the year was in allowing myself to become hung up on the idea of gaining some recognition; this shift, from concentrating on the writing to dwelling on the vindication that could come from success, affected my ability to write.
For the coming year I intend to do the things I want to do, which includes writing, and not to allow myself to be distracted so easily, but not to set myself any goals either - and not to doubt myself if others do not recognise my genius.
The important thing is not to lose the fun and excitement of creativity, and the belief in your own worth. Success is illusory, and if you build your self-worth upon the approval of others you can lose your sense of who you are.