Submissions 2013

We're in the Autumn season.  How do I know?

Changing leaves?  No, I live in Los Angeles.

Cooler weather?  No, I live in Los Angeles and I'm wearing shorts.

The start of the Fall TV season?  Yes...but with cable programs in the mix, shows are premiering year around.

I know it's the Fall because it's Submission Season for Playwrights!  I must have already sent in four or five submissions so far with another four or five to come.  I guess it's a little like pilot season for TV writers.  The stress is high.  Either you're gaining or losing weight, depending on how you handle your stress.  I'm starting a cleanse of sorts.  Because of health issues (mainly getting older), I am looking at my alcohol, dairy, red meat and sugar intake.  I did a three day juice cleanse last week just to clear toxins out of my system.  I'm drinking more water.  I've been running every day (or at least three days a week) if I can.  I'm trying to get rid of things I don't need.  Most people might purge their closets or cut off excess hair.  I've done those things as well in the past.  But right now, I just want to get down to the bare necessities of life (in another life, I was Mowgli from The Jungle Book).  

What does that have to do with script submissions?  Well, it's another opportunity to put some intentions out there into the Universe, right?  And if I get rid of some things in my life, I then make room for new healthier behaviors, patters and people.  I always like to submit to these various festivals and fellowships every year.  That means I need to have a new play every year.  It keeps me on my toes.  But also, I feel the pressure and anxiety to perform and to increase my odds of having a play developed by playing the numbers game.  But it's too much!

This year, I didn't really write a new play.  I knew I would be rewriting two older plays.  And that's great.  I love both of these plays and I love rewriting.  So that meant that I wouldn't be applying to certain festivals this year.  And I just had to be okay with that.  If I had something to give, I would give.  If I don't, then I don't.  I can't write a new play in two weeks and stress myself out, desperate to get myself into one of these festivals.  

I have to say that having the past couple of years off from the anxiety of TV staffing season has been great.  I'm still writing pilots.  I even wrote three pilots last year.  It's not like I'm being any less productive.  But sometimes you need to stop the train (or the hamster wheel) and just get off and look around.  Give your legs a break from running, running, running and chasing, chasing, chasing.

Here's a blog post that a friend wrote and another friend shared on Twitter.  It's all about this theatre submission thing and the rejection we face when we continually submit stuff.

http://lafpi.com/2013/10/on-rejection/

It's hard dealing with rejection.  Everyone always says, "If you wanna get in this business, you gotta learn how to deal with rejection."  Yeah, you do.  But it fucking sucks and you try to wrap your head around why everyone doesn't get it.  However, you soldier on and you get more determined and strident in what you write and who you are.

Cause that's all you have.  And taking a break from stuff for a while has allowed me to hammer at this profession that I've chosen.  I don't call it a dream because it's not a dream.  I write.  That's all I do right now.  I don't make money from anything else or from anything right now.  All I have is my conviction and my ability to sit down every day and write.  Whether it's a blog or a scene from a play or a TV pilot.  I have ideas.  I have things to write.  I make my life about writing.

And I have a lap top.  That's important.