Tips for Writers

I recently came across two fun articles about how to pitch your work to agents and studios. Since writers are usually much more focused on the actual process of writing than on learning the basics of getting their work sold, I feel like the basic pointers in the below are very helpful, especially to anyone in a situation similar to mine!

#1. Breaking In, an article from Script.com on selling your first script:

http://www.scriptmag.com/2010/12/14/breaking-in-breaking-the-rules/

#2. Biggest mistakes writers make when querying agents, written by a fellow Blogspot writer!

http://www.jmtohline.com/2010/12/biggest-mistakes-writers-make-when.html

Enjoy!

Meeting New People...

It’s been great to discover just how willing people are to help me out along my journey. I used to feel very shy about my dreams, so I never discussed them. What I’ve found since starting this blog is that I have a number of friends who have a number of friends for me to meet, given my areas of interest.

This past week, I had the privilege of meeting three new folks. One is a filmmaker, another does sound for films, and the last one is an author and business owner. All three were recommended to me by people who felt they had something to offer my mission.

The filmmaker, the only one I haven’t met in person, was fantastic because of his overall enthusiasm for his field. In a challenging industry, he’s finding projects that interest him and doing what he loves. As an added plus, though he’s currently not in New York, he’s here often, and always looking for people to help out on his films. He loved the “No MFA Project” concept, so hopefully we will be able to meet up later this year.

The woman who does sound for films was also an inspiration. Over a cup of coffee, she offered advice on which film jobs tend to be more lucrative, the life of a freelancer, and also the positions which tend to hire women as opposed to men. One such job is script supervisor, a position I’ve always found interesting. A script supervisor is in charge of making sure things remain consistent from scene to scene. (For example, if a girl leaves her house in a yellow sweater, she can’t show up at the party in a purple parka.)

She was also helpful in discussing film education. In agreement on the craziness of a $105,000 MFA, she suggested instead taking courses at other schools in New York for a fraction of the cost. I myself had recently discovered that to do the one-year screenwriting program at New York Film Academy, a program similar to Tisch in terms of developing writing and filmmaking skills, is $27k, about a fourth of Tisch’s cost. My new friend also recommended that I look into courses at the School of Visual Arts and the New School. After having done so, I’ve learned that to take a basic filmmaking or film editing course runs around $800.

Finally, the author/businessman was great in that he encouraged me to clearly imagine my goals for the next five years, and got me considering all the different ways of handling my future. He himself has held a variety of positions in his life, and is definitely not the type to ever miss an opportunity or fail to give something his all. He helped me to reevaluate how I might want to approach this next year. For instance, my current job might not be the perfect fit, but another job could be a better fit and continue to offer me stability and growth while I learn about new things.

What I’m realizing is that the No MFA Project isn’t only about learning new skills; it’s also about reflecting on my life, where I want to go, and how to get there. It’s about figuring things out. A great way to do that is through the new people I meet and what they have to teach me. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped connect me with someone!

Have someone you think I should meet? Check out the “Who Should I Meet?” section below and send me an email!

Me vs. The MFA

Ironically, what this writing program really has to offer me has very little to do with writing, with which I already feel secure. What it offers me is the next step: getting my work produced.

So, here is my list of the top four things this program can give me that, as of this moment, I cannot give myself:

1. FILMMAKING SKILLS.

When I was little, I would hear stories about writers struggling to get their work produced and think it was silly. It made perfect sense to me that a writer having a hard time getting picked up could just cut out the middle-man and learn how to film what he’d written himself.

            Apparently, Tisch thinks the same way I do, which is why their dramatic writing students have the option of taking two classes in the basics of filmmaking.

            GOAL. Within the year, to produce one short film (10 minutes), and to have a knowledge of filmmaking.

2. CONNECTIONS WITH ALUMNI AND OTHER INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.

I’m going to rate this one as the toughest on the list. Tisch alum include more Oscar winners than any other program in the country. The teaching staff include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights. However, being part of this prestigious alumni network doesn’t automatically guarantee that a person will reach these same heights, so spending all that money still doesn’t make much sense.

GOAL: Within the year, to develop a decent friend circle of people in the film and theater industries to help guide me in my career.

3. PITCHING YOUR SCRIPTS.

Tisch’s career center will do this for you. If you don’t know, pitching a script is presenting it to studios in the hopes that they will option it.

Let me just say that I’m skeptical. I can’t imagine that a career counselor with whom I have no real relationship is going to extend a ton of effort, love, or care in doing this for me.

GOAL. Develop pitches on my own and send them out on a daily basis.

4. SHEER TIME TO WRITE/COMPLETE MULTIPLE WORKS.

This last just states the obvious. A major advantage of entering an MFA program is the time in which to do nothing but learn and create.

            I never imagined just how difficult it would be to both hold down a full-time job and pursue my passion. But, when you get right down to it, if it’s something I really want, why on earth can’t I just make time to write?

GOAL. To develop a writing routine and keep track of the projects I complete in my new project-tracker section on this blog.

The Tisch program sounds incredible, but at the end of the day, when I look at what they can offer compared to the fact that I can probably closely approximate these things for free or for a very small price, I still think it’s worth it to see where I can get on my own.

The No MFA Project

$105,000.

I hope you can appreciate the enormity of such a sum to someone currently making, well… a LOT less than $105,000 a year. This price tag would be hard for me to stomach even if it were for something guaranteed to give me a fantastic return on my investment.

But it’s for an MFA in dramatic writing.

Now, don’t get me wrong – the program is FANTASTIC. It really is. So much so that the horror of taking out $105k more in student loans (despite the fact that I still have some that I’m paying off) was something I could almost – ALMOST – overlook.