WHAT DO I DO WITH SPEC SCRIPTS?

The most fun I have writing is drafting spec scripts for existing television series. While I’m not a full-time couch potato, there are always some series that I watch religiously. I get a sense of a show’s timing and the nuances of each character. At that point, writing a teleplay becomes more entertaining than watching an episode.

Twenty years ago, I wrote spec scripts for “Designing Women”, “Mad About You” and “Seinfeld”. I showed some of them to friends and was encouraged when I’d hear them laughing out loud in the other room. (I could never be in the same room as they read. I’d drive myself (and them) mad, scrutinizing every single facial expression. Okay, you say it’s just gas, but do you really mean my writing stinks?) It was a huge step to share the scripts with anyone. But I never took a step that mattered. I never attempted to get them read by anyone in the business.

I’ve now written three spec scripts for current shows: “The Big Bang Theory”, “Being Erica” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine”. I’m proud of each one and I can hear the characters’ voices as I read the lines.

I’m more willing to put my work out there for an agent or a producer to read, but I remain stumped about where to mail the scripts and query letters. I don’t have any links with people in the entertainment industry. And to my knowledge I don’t have a friend whose former next-door neighbor has a third cousin whose boss plays squash with a buddy of the personal assistant of George Clooney. (Sorry, no links even to Kathy Griffin. Or Rob & Amber.)

So I’m at a standstill. Advice anyone?

HEADLINE NEWS...FROM TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO

I finished another spec script today, this time for a Canadian television series, "Being Erica". And I have a rough sketch for another script to start tomorrow. All of this in an attempt to get an agent--or someone!--to read my work. I am told that if someone finally reads a script and likes it, that person will want to immediately see something else. Gotta make sure you're not a one-shot wonder. Hence, the portfolio that I'm creating.

As with "Big Bang Theory", writing a script for "Being Erica" was immensely enjoyable and, upon finishing, incredibly satisfying. The whole tone of the writing was different as "Erica" is a drama involving time travel, flashbacks and quirky quotes from a mysterious therapist. I became hooked on the show over the summer, based on a recommendation from my cousin. I caught the first season reruns that followed and I went back and watched some some of the early episodes online to ensure I had a firm grasp of the show's premise and its structure. The "research" was worth it. While writing, I could hear the characters' voices. I also tweaked the plot based on comments and experiences from prior episodes.

For my next script, I'm developing an idea reminiscent of something I wrote years ago. I decided to review that piece of writing, but I could not recall where I'd stored it. I went down to the basement and dug through boxes of things I cannot defend keeping. Then, in an old briefcase, I found not what I was searching for, but something I had to stop and read. It was an article I'd cut out from The Dallas Morning News, the date: March 16, 1988. Title: "Making it as a screenwriter". Twenty-one years ago I dreamed of becoming a writer. The date and title alone reminded me how important this year is for me. So many years of dreaming and so little time to fully focus on writing. I did write--sporadically--and I did finish scripts that I liked, but I dared not show them to anyone.

It takes a risk like this, going without a regular source of income, to force me to be open about my writing and to do whatever is necessary to get it out there. As my bank account dwindles, I couldn't be happier with my decision.

That old script I was searching for? Turned out it wasn't in the basement at all. I found it in the filing cabinet in my office, in the third drawer, the place where I had looked in the first place. Somehow it hid between other files during my first inspection. While I'd set out to find a teleplay, the yellowed newspaper clipping was the true find.

Fortuitous, don't you think?