It was a good week. A few days after learning that SeaBird had placed in the HorrorOrigins screenplay contest (in the Horror Feature division, of course) and is in the running to win it, I got word that my Ireland-themed comedy pilot Gotta Be McGee has made it to the Finals in the PAGE Awards International Screenplay Competition.
I’m thrilled by this. The PAGE Awards is one of the biggest and most respected screenplay competitions. People can (and have) argued that screenplay contests in general can be arbitrary and a waste of time (and money) but the fact is, writing “spec” scripts can be a lonely business. You can get honest notes & feedback from your “writer’s group” if you’re lucky enough to be part of a good one (like I am,) but forget about getting regular friends or family to read your scripts. …and now that my agent is dead, even if there wasn’t currently a writer’s strike, it would be almost impossible to get many “industry reads” of my new work, so placing high in a few screenplay contests can get it some attention and serve as validation that the script is as good as I think it is.
Also, and I know this is going to sound hokey and ‘woo-woo’ to non-writers: When we create these characters they really are “alive” in our heads, and in a way, they really do exist – out there somewhere in some parallel/alternate reality. It feels like you’re doing them a disservice if they only live on your hard drive and in your imagination and no one else’s. With this Finalist slot in the PAGE Awards, I know that McGee and the rest of the characters in his world now exist in at least a few people’s heads and that they felt ‘real’ to those people too. It is a small victory, but it is a cherished one. I’ll take it.
Keep writing, everyone.
PLANET O'CONNOR 