Michael F-ing Bay

My interviews with writers, directors and executives!

My MasterClass Reviews

Featured Posts

YouTube Puppet Video Series

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

"Good enough"

This'll be a short one today. I read a truly nasty terrible script this past afternoon and I can't even use this blog to process my outrage because it hits so many topics that I've already ranted about here.

So I think I'll just offer this word of advice - maybe you've got a contact who can get your script into an agency or a production company. You might even have a contact high up in development or even at the agency levels.

All the friends in high places don't do you much good if your writing is shit. A Pass is a Pass. Sure, politics might force that Pass to become a very gentle pass, or even a face-saving lukewarm Consider - but don't count on your connections to save you from your own incompetance.

Don't give someone in power a shitty script just so you can give them A script. And deciding that a script is "good enough" is often an excuse for laziness.

8 comments:

  1. I always find it ironic when people misspell 'incompetence' when talking about someone else.

    I've done it myself. I'm just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nothing impresses people more than pointing out the typos in a blog entry.

    Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Or, Mr. Bitter, instead of being snarky to your readers when they bring your attention to a typo, you could say "thanks for pointing out my error", or perhaps just say nothing at all (remember Thumper's mother in "Bambi"?). When I pointed out a mistake you made in a post, you didn't respond, and just fixed it. A decent, quiet way to go, imo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think you'll find most bloggers in agreement with me when I say that I have little patience for "typo police," particularly those who cop an attitude in their corrections, as if to say "Gotcha!" I don't recall which typo you're referring to, Ursa, but I would bet you were respectful and pointed it out in an "Oh, by the way" manner.

    But if a person's only reason for posting is to scream and shout about a typo - and do it with a little bit of snark - then the LEAST they should expect is snark back.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, I did try to post it as quietly and nicely as possible. It was a sentence just after remarking on your tribute to a friend: http://thebitterscriptreader.blogspot.com/2011/01/youve-gotta-have-friends.html.

    ps, please pardon the use of the word "snarky" in my earlier post today. I dislike using it, but wasn't sure of a decent replacement.

    pps, I take your point - snark does sometimes require a bit of bite back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I read the first sentence and immediately asked: How did this script get to you?

    Then you answered the question.

    ReplyDelete