Encounter Horses

Not a great deal to report yet. I'm courting some excellent job opportunities, and I finished David Jauss's Alone With All that Could Happen; you can see my review here. 

In short, though, it is worth checking out. It helped me plow through another script and the middle of a short story I'm wrapping up about a woman who joins forces with her brother-in-law to exact revenge on her husband's abductor. I read new books, wait on submissions, make more and encounter horses. 

The script is under review. There's already a team of enthused people who are softly committed to its production, which is a blessing. I started it for practice and contests, but it seems there's a chance it will get produced, now. 

eligible

I spent all morning registering copyright protection for a new manuscript and hunting down medicine for my cat. I'm definitely a writer.

I have become a bit frustrated with the hunt for agents. It seems to me that there can only be so many eligible queries for finished manuscripts submitted every day, and agents simply don't respond. I would appreciate a rejection every once in awhile. It's affordable to write and submit writing, but submitting writers are consistently abused by the publishing industry. If a magazine and/or agency has a response policy, they should follow it. If you say you're going to respond within 12 weeks to submissions that adhere to your requirements, then respond. Rejections are better than nothing. Sending a pre-written rejection letter is easy and, I should hope, is part of a publisher's job. I wouldn't notice if this were a merely occasional phenomenon, but it's not. I've been submitting written works since I was seven. Not responding has always been pervasive. I have to wonder what they're playing to. Sure, no self-publishing option can benefit from the distribution of hard copies in every Barnes and Noble, but outside of that there is little that a major publishing house can offer than a smaller press or individual proprietor can't get on their own. All this to say that I'm thinking more seriously about self-publishing for longer works. 

Applying to jobs is far less bleak. Employers often let you know when they've picked another candidate. Same with film festivals, although those entry fees sure do rack up! I'm still waiting to hear on Delta Phi, but I look forward to sharing an update when the time comes :)

I made a new chart on my wall of all the writing projects I hope to make before I die. It's exciting to see it laid out! 

Undergraduate Reel

A mentor of mine recommended I make an actual, comprehensive reel of some of the work I did while in film school. It was fun to make and to watch. I never fully appreciated how the monochrome causes so many of my pieces to sort of blend together, as if they're from the same work; but of course I find that interesting in its own right.

It's not terribly commercial. But anyone whose done good narrative work knows that it can't be done without a competent handle on the medium. It strikes me as odd how non-fiction writing and video suggests authority and competence to people when it is in fact fiction that is the most difficult. Perhaps because those who are inexperienced often jump into fiction first, and there's so much bad fiction out there. Approved bad fiction, no less. Fiction has an audience wherever it provides catharsis, whether its good or not. And if it's really bad, people will blame themselves before they blame the work. Sometimes a book is confusing not because it's smarter than you, but because it's just no good.

I don't know why I'm drifting into this tangent. I just wanted to share my reel. I edited it initially to Alt-J's "Hand-made," then switched to Carly Commando's "Everyday" before uploading. It makes me smile to watch all the evidence of things I was afraid to do, but did anyway. My peers made reels all the time. I don't know why I waited so long. Looking back at my work feels like examining a lot of long, grey ghosts who for the most part repeat the same lessons like mantras or haunting litanies.