Screenwriting: The 30 Days of Rejection Challenge
I just sent a spec out.
It didn’t sell.
Which means it went through about 2 months of pure rejection.
I’d say something like 20–30 production companies, plus a handful of directors said “NO THANKS!’
I also published a book. Within 1 hour of its release, I got a 2-star review on Goodreads. The person didn’t even have time to read the whole thing before they stamped it as ‘below average’.
Ouch.
Every week, on average I get 1–3 rejections (scripts, pitches, reviews, notes, etc). We won’t even count the producers who just prefer to ghost you — never reading scripts or replying to questions about meetings or pitches or whatever.
I wrote a blog about rejection awhile back…saying I get rejected hundreds of times every year. Here it is:
https://medium.com/@jamienash/theres-no-crying-in-baseball-but-screenwriting-41995754a35f
It’s really painful and even after probably tens of thousands of ‘we have something just like it already in production’ or ‘not for us’ or ‘go back to your day job’ or ‘zombies are out, we want mummies’, I’m still not completely callous to the sharp thorns of rejection.
Screenwriting is a sales job. In the early days, you’re writing spec screenplays which not only are ‘sales pitches’ for movies but they’re also resumes/marketing material for you. They’re writing samples that sell you as someone to be in business with. Later, you’re outright pitching for OWAs(opening writing assignments) or doing generals which are like glorified job interviews.
And it takes hundreds of contests submissions/queries/pitches/generals/etc — before you get any traction. It’s essentially cold-calling. You’re a door-to-door salesman trying to sell a ShamWow. I don’t know about you — but I NEVER wanted to get into sales. The thought of dealing with doors slammed in your face over and over again but having to persist to make one sale…to make a living seems like hell.
But that’s exactly what writing is…it’s a sales gig. Collecting rejection is part of the process. Hell, it’s how I spend most of my days!
We read books on craft, we study movies, we strategize how to pitch and study filmmaking. Can we get better at rejection? Can we work through the fear to make ourselves more productive?
Like any fear, maybe the way to do it…is to experience it in low doses. To manufacture controllable experiments to get in the groove of it and figure out personal strategies of how to absorb the blows.
I saw a Ted Talk a while back about rejection — where a guy sought rejection every day. Here it is:
Awhile back, I decided to do the same thing for screenwriting for 1 month — 30 days of rejection. I made a quick list of 30 ways to seek it out:
— Query Managers with a logline. (you can find lists of managers online)
— Query Producers with a logline.
— Ask for brutally honest feedback from someone I know who gives brutally honest feedback(getting notes is another form of rejection…and one that you need to get used to)
— Post on the Blacklst and order coverage
— Email comic book publishers and pitch myself for work
— Email producers and ask for general meetings.
— Pitch a logline online for feedback. Several Facebook pages allow you to do this. Lots of people wait out there with knives ready to pounce.
— Post a script page online and ask for brutally honest feedback.
— Enter your script into contests.
— Try to option a book I love. Research and make a call or email to the author or agent in charge of the rights. I had a friend who did this with a favorite book last month and got the option for $1. Mostly, you’ll get rejection.
— Try to option a news article.
— Try to option a podcast series or episode.
— Enter Short-Films in Festivals.
— Ask a producer if I can pitch on a property they own.
— Ask a producer if I can pitch them a television idea.
— Ask a producer if I can send them potential loglines to either develop or just for their opinion.
— Join a writing group/get feedback.
— Pitch ideas to random strangers at the Starbucks.
— Pitch ideas to friends at the next dinner party
— Email/DM/Whatev a producer and ask for advice.
— Email/DM/Whatev an agent and ask for advice.
— Email/DM/Whatev a writer and ask for advice.
— Attend a pitchfest or pitch contest at a local festival.
— Write a blog article about something controversial in screenwriting
— Self-Publish that book
— If you have a book…seek out reviewers on Instagram or Twitter or Goodreads.
— Self-publish a screenplay
Okay, I’m sure you can come up with several more of your own.
Do one a day. Force yourself to collect rejection.
What did I learn?
The best way to deal with rejection — is to have irons in the fire. To have other opportunities. And here’s the dirty little secret about all of these…they not only help you learn about rejection — but each one advances your career in some small way.
By seeking rejection today…you fight off yesterday’s ‘no’.
Seek it out. Collect them!
One advancement a day…you can do that, right?
#30DaysOfRejection
