Writing Projects

As an admissions counselor, June and July leave me with the most free time of the year because most people don't look for college during these months. Theoretically, it is the time that I get to have normal social and fitness schedules and plan vacations.

I made the decision to cram as much writing as I can in June and relax in July. Because of the Pitchfest and some contest deadlines, this seemed like a good idea. Initially, I planned to write a spec script for Glee, work on preparing pitches for my feature scripts and work on revisions for all of my completed drafts throughout the month.

Then, I learned of a new contest to write an original half-hour pilot for a contest for Spike TV. Out of the blue, I was invited to participate in a secret writing project through a website that reviewed my earlier contest submissions and decided that I was a good writer. I felt like I couldn't pass up that honor, so I wrote new content for that contest.

When researching companies that are going to be at the Pitchfest at the end of this month, I learned that Agape Media is going to participate. Agape is a mega-church in LA that is rooted in New Thought. My spiritual center is closely aligned with Agape and one of my screenplays has some strong New Thought elements. In addition, they are probably the only the production company in the world that actually accepts submissions. Therefore, the screenplay I'd like to pitch to them must be a lot tighter than it is now.

Based on new work and information, I have decided to give my pitches and screenplay revisions top priority for the remaining 15 days in the month of June. After starting my spec for Glee, it felt like an incredibly daunting task to have a good draft by June 30 for a contest deadline. I will be taking a television writing class at Columbia this fall, so I will write that script during the fall semester.

I will spend July on the pilot for Spike and on the relaxation that I promised to myself all year. Within the last year, I have taken two screenwriting classes, a television class, several writing workshops and bootcamps and a spiritual foundations class all while balancing extra work, family, community and volunteer commitments. I think I deserve July.

I'll be taking the bus to Memphis to meet my girlfriend's family during the July 4th holiday and I'll be spending a long weekend in Lake Geneva with my family shortly afterward. I plan to watch at least one full season of the television shows Breaking Bad, Party Down, The Guild, Battlestar Galactica, Damages and Six Feet Under. I heard they're good, and I will be posting my opinions about them as the excitement unfolds.

The next post will include more information about my finished projects. I should have contest results from my secret writing project very soon and I will certainly provide updates about the Pitchfest. Stay tuned!