Red-faced Return - well, at least a humble one...

I'm learning a lot from my daughter. She started writing her own blog a couple of months ago, and she is going gangbusters with the topic area - a change in her life.

I am impressed with her commitment, both to the change she is making, and her consistent reports of progress online. We talked about it before she did that, and she said how scary it was for her to think about "putting it out there".

I, on the other hand, did not find the creation of this blog scary at all. I even remember thinking that even if I don't "go Hollywood" in terms of employment, I would at least share the steps to my June trip. I thought that the June trip may serve as my "journey to Hollywood" if all else failed.

That would do, I suppose, but it just doesn't feel honest to me. The goal is not to attend a conference in LA, the goal is to have a movie produced by a Hollywood company. I took the course in order to do that - not to "just" attend three days of meetings with producers for the fun of it.

And so, learning more than a little about commitment from my daughter, I'm embarrassed to say that I dropped the ball. You devoted readers may know that at those meetings in June in Hollywood, I actually had one producer ask to see my script.

This may not seem on the surface like such a big deal, but it's everything to a writer. Nothing can happen until someone out there is interested in having a look at what you have written. She related to the story I pitched her on three different levels, and I remember thinking about the stories I'd heard and how important it is to find the right person for the right project - someone who can relate! And there she was (is...hopefully). And I dropped the ball.

You see, I had gone to LA to meet these people without having a completed script - or even a near-completed script. Coached by the best, I understood that all I had to do was say I was completing a re-write, and would get it to her in 4-6 weeks. At first I was determined. Then I ran into problems with it. You see, it's a little shorter than it's supposed to be. Or at least I knew it would be if I finished it, so I struggled with what was missing. I didn't want to add stuff for the heck of it. That's not good storytelling.

I got into online chats with colleagues from Screenwriting U, and determined that I had pretty much managed to end Act 1 on page 10. So now I know that it's the front end that is making it short. Okay.

Okay.

Okay...

Months have gone by and I still haven't completed this script - this story, for which I have found the right producer, potentially. The story she asked for in June. Now you see why I'm red-faced.

And I think it's a little to do with a lack of commitment to this blog. I'm not doing anything, so I'll just leave it, and let it remain blank for weeks and months. It also has a lot to do with fear, no doubt, and I'm going to talk about that next time. Here's hoping "next time" is soon. No. Here's committing that "next time" is soon.