Backsides

As in getting up off one.

We're almost at the end of March and I now know enough of what I'm doing to reveal my secret plan: I intended to spend March pitching and prodding at my scripwriting career. Every day, I decided, every single day in March I would enter a writing contest, send a sample to a producer, post or email a query letter angling to get to send a script to a producer, I would target a couple of TV agents (my current agent is solely for novels), or anything like that.

And though, as it happens, today was looking like the bleakest day of the whole tough, bloodied month, I found someone to pitch to - and got a response from an earlier pitch saying I could send a particular piece of material in. So that was two, I've got one outstanding writing gig to get right and I've got Friday full to the brim with meetings and workshops so even though it's only March 28, I know I've succeeded in this month plan.

You know pitching and submissions take a time so my aim was to get something out each day, I wasn't really that fussed whether I heard back from anyone. That's part of the reason for doing this: not only are you getting off your backside but you get so each day is another pitch to get done and you can barely remember yesterday's, let alone be too fussed if yesterday's ended in a rejection.

As of this moment, having posted out today's one about twenty minutes ago, I'm now waiting on responses to 19 things, which seems pretty good to me.

And otherwise, by the end of this month, I, the laziest man you'll ever meet, will have done:

32 pitches*
7 contests
4 rewritten scripts
2 newly written short scripts
4 new internet radio scripts (not part of the month's gig but written and performed)
6 full script writing samples to producers
7 proposals to producers
10 something I don't want to say but they count, honest
2 stupid mistakes that I also don't want to reveal

*one day I was asked for a script when I'd already done the day's pitch

And in return I'll have got:

3 rejections
6 leads
1 meeting
1 workshop
0 sleep

I also hope to have something in the BBC Radio 4 pre-offers round, but that depends how well I write March 31's job.

Yes, I'm telling you all this because I think it's good, but I'm also telling me so that I might do it again. Around March 15 when it was all going swimmingly, I thought about extending this into April but, as feeble as this sounds, I need to quit for a bit.

I just know that my backside is my problem, and it's spreading. So things like this month's plan might help me and definitely feel as if they're doing me some good. Funny: I thought I'd had more rejections. I was just after telling someone that I had more rejections and that the good thing was with this one-a-day gig, I wasn't fussed: I be disappointed yet ten minutes later I'd have to consult my list to even tell you which one it was who'd rejected me.

And rejections or success, I'm still going to feel glorious when I've sent out March 31st's pitch.

So what do you think? Do you want to try this yourself? Or if you already do it, have you got any advice?

William