Inverted Swan

Progress for me is normally swan-like; gentle forward motion on the surface as a result of mad pedalling below the surface.

Now I seem to be inverted. Lots of very visible pedalling accompanied by lots of splashing. Why? Trying to do too many things at once.

I’ve still got to finish editing The Novel. That needs a home on somebody’s slush pile because as sure as eggs are hard-shelled zygotes it ain’t going to magically turn inself into a bound volume on the shelf of Borders any other way.

Question: should I go straight to a publisher, a smart forward-thinking one like Snowbooks? Or find an agent? If I go play hunt the agent should I find one that does scripts and novels? Does such a beast exist? 

Meanwhile I’m preparing a script for submission to writersroom. But I need to add all the stuff that goes with it such as character backgrounds, synopses, bribes. (Ha ha, joke, honest)

At the same time I’m PO3ing someone else’s script. Got the notes, need to write them up.

Simultaneously I am scripting the feature-length drama idea that I had before Christmas. It’s got cake zombies. I really want to get to the bit with the cake zombies.

In parallel to that I’m working on the sitcom idea that came about as a result of Michelle Lipton and I challenging ourselves to see how many pages of script we could write before the Red Planet results are announced.

Concurrent to these activities I’m trying to make a start on the supernatural thriller drama series concept thing that struck me like an Acme anvil a couple of weeks ago. 

Besides all that nonsense I’ve got a pile of tasks in a Wait State that are seeing no progress at all: the short film, for example. It’s not the utter absence of film-making experience that’s preventing me from, well, making a film. Never let ignorance be a barrier to failing magnificently, that’s what I always say. No, it’s just a matter of Not Enough Time. Well, let’s put a positive spin on this one – at least I managed to deprioritise something.

Like we often say in the IT world, high frequency task switching across a high volume of similarly prioritised process-intensive threads in a single CPU environment will result in disproportionate performance degradation.  

Translated: stop pissing about and focus. 

Let this be a warning. Trying to do everything at once can invert your swan.

6 Comments

  1. Yep, I feel your pain with the whole lack of focus thing!
    Can’t comment on publishers, but I can chuck in my tuppence worth about agents. Have you got the Writers Handbook by Barry Turner (no relation)? Very informative. Lists tons of agents with what they’ll take on and their current client list. From memory, some do take on both scripts and novels.
    My agent, for example, deals primarily with television and film writers. They wouldn’t take on a novelist. But if one of their current screenwriting clients came to them with a novel, they’d take that on. I’ve noticed that with a few in the Handbook.

    Or try this link:
    http://www.writersservices.com/agent/
    seems to hold the same details (what they’ll take on) and is gratis. Looks like you can search by genre as well…

  2. I was flicking through my copy of the Writers Handbook this very morning, which prompted the question. It seemed that while some agencies cover both tv/film and lit, individual agents don’t.

    Ah, it’s just another one of my self-imposed delaying tactics. What I should do is make a shortlist of agents for both screenwriting and fiction work, write the letters, make the phone calls, send the material. What I actually do is sit around asking daft questions.

  3. Time for a visit to MoSCoW my friend. I have a season ticket. I never seem to get there though.

  4. They’re all Musts, matey. All Musts. The Shoulds, Coulds and Would Be Nices got dropped or postponed long ago. They’re all in a big spreadsheet entitled ‘Look What You Could Have Won’.

  5. I think you should concentrate on everything except the Kit Kat Challenge.

    I want to win.

  6. Your plan has failed, Lipton. Yes, I admit that I was working on my submission pack for writersroom over the weekend, but now…well, now I shall turn my attention to the KitKat challenge and everything else shall go by the wayside.

    Thirty pages by sunfall. I can do it. Watch me.


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