Small Steps

Posted in Posts, Quotes by Rachael C Marek

pic-jointer-11 I’ve found that I haven’t had much to say lately. I’m not sure exactly why. In part it could be because the last couple of months have been sort of strange. Since that incident at work back in February, I’m happy to report that my shift in focus has remained. It is weird there though. I’m more focused on the job I actually want, even though the progress is slow sometimes, I am still moving forward.

I’ve been better about reading, which somehow eluded me last year, and I’ve maintained my one-movie-a-week routine (although I did see the Avengers twice, so I’m small-steps one movie shy of my goal as I write this). I’ve rewritten two acts of one of my screenplays, I entered my TV pilot into 7 contests, I’ve come up with a new screenplay idea that I’m excited about (let’s just add that to the backlog of ideas currently nestled in the recesses), and I bought my airline ticket and badge for the Austin Film Festival screenwriters conference. So…yay!

Not that long ago, we had been broke, The Sis and I. Not so broke that I was worried we might end up homeless, because we always made sure we paid rent, but poor enough that there were a few times we used a credit card to buy groceries and pay bills. Not a great place to find one’s self. Now, I’m in a position to attend a writers conference, one of my goals, and I’m nervous and delighted.

Having this external goal compels me to get my writer’s portfolio in order. There is no way I’m going to squander this opportunity. It’s one thing to submit to contests, it’s another to hopefully meet and mingle with people who could actually propel my career forward, and so I have to get my sh*t in order. No more messing around. No more excuses. If I’m going to spend this big shiny penny, I have to make the most of it.

It also helps to keep striving when you receive feedback like this from a contest you entered:

“Vivid world building and unique characters set a great foundation for the series. The dialogue between the characters is distinctive and introduces creative dialects and words that the sci-fi audience will love.”

Thank you, Slamdance!

So I’m committing to this page my goals for the next 17 weeks:

Have 3 full length features show ready
Have my Pilot’s Bible ready
Flesh out at least 3 like-genre scripts
Flesh out 1 out of genre script (will save this to the end 😛 )

DreamsWrittenDownAreGoals

Whew. I’m at some stage of progress on each goal, but there’s still plenty to do, so I better get cracking.

How are you moving towards your goals? Please share your small steps and let’s celebrate them together! Also, are you planning on attending AFF? It would be great to meet a familiar “face”. 😉

Happy Writing!

29Dec2016

A Couple of Thoughts On This Week

Posted in Posts by Rachael C Marek

A couple of days ago I awoke to the news of Carrie Fisher’s passing. Another beloved icon gone too soon – and you know in this Star Wars house this was a deep-felt loss. And then, as if to add insult to injury, my email contained a message that my pilot would not be advancing in one of the contests I had submitted it to.

The feedback was, at least, somewhat encouraging:

The Demeter is set in an interesting world with a couple of well-drawn characters in Wyeth and Sadie. Actually, the voice of Zeta as a less obnoxious Siri is also a nice character. On the page, the script looks good, without blocky description or dialogue passages and is error-free (a rarity!). The biggest question at this point is probably trying to determine what the story will be about in future episodes. Will the entire series be about their attempt to return to earth? Some hint of where the series will go could add a lot to the overall value of the pilot.

It was one of those days that made me want to both crawl into bed and take the world by storm.

I did neither.

I chose to lose myself in my happy place – Dragon Age land. A few hours achieving measurable goals with my dogs snuggled around me was comforting, but I’m still just sad.

Maybe the sadness is exacerbated by the fact that I am so far from where I want to be. I resent my job and without just the teeniest bit of encouragement on the screenwriting front, I just feel as if I’m never going to leave my own mark.

Yes, I know this sounds a tad vain, but it’s my dream to have my writing immortalized via the silver screen. Let’s be honest, we don’t follow the artist’s path to fade into obscurity, we want to be remembered. Plain and simple.

The passing of yet another childhood favorite has only reiterated how precious our time is. We have to make the most of the time given to us and continue to strive towards our goals, no matter where on the ladder towards that dream we find ourselves.

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Wishing you all the very best as we come to the end of another year! Let’s start planning for a productive and successful new year!

*Thank you for being a part of our lives, Rebel Princess. May the Force be with you!

20Oct2013

Network: American Zoetrope

Posted in Posts, Tips, Websites by Rachael C Marek

When I set out to maintain a blog, it was part of a professional to do list I had created for myself (1 of 25 items, of which approaching my career more professionally was also on the list, hence the list). Another item was to find and research useful sites that offered either information, sound advice, networking opportunities, or all of the above. So yesterday I shared Stage 32. Today, American Zoetrope. The site was developed by Francis Ford Coppola and is open not just to screenwriters, but all writers, artists, musicians, actors, directors, etc.

The site offers you the opportunity to have your work read by a wide audience and receive feedback, in return you must do the same for others, but a little heads up, there are deadlines and rules. In the screenwriting “room” you must read 3 scripts and offer feedback before being allowed to submit your own work, and there is a time limit for how long your work will be available (30 days) on the site and how long you have to read and review others (you receive an additional 10 days to write the review). I think this is a great service as it allows you to be more objective which in turn might help you in your own writing. Plus, it’s free! Also, there’s an annual contest (deadline was in September, I missed it by 2 days…).

I hope you find this useful!

Happy Sunday!