I had a big decision staring me in the face when it came to selecting screenplay contests to enter for Dig Down. These competitions were providing a lot more options and customization for feedback than the horror specific contests I had entered the previous year. It was a good dilemma to have…but it was still a dilemma.
The biggest choices facing me came from the Santa Barbara Screenplay Competition and the Page Turner Screenplay Competition because of the variety of feedback options they offered. Santa Barbara had the most, but it felt like an easier choice to make because of that, and I ended up selecting the option that provided the judge’s score and notes.
Page Turner was the one that posed a challenge to me. There were really only two choices: receive notes on my screenplay, or have an over the phone consultation with the judge who read my script to go over its strength and weaknesses. Similar to the Finish Line Script Contest, there was also a minimum pages of notes and feedback I received.
Page Turner was not the only contest that entered this experience to talk with a professional. Santa Barbara had similar options, from a writer’s room analysis of the script, all the way to a 90 minute live consultation with the head of the contest. However, although it was a cheaper alternative for this level of discussion, I had opted not to enter Santa Barbara this way, as I felt 90 minutes wouldn’t be enough to really cover the script as they indicated, which was line by line (for clarification, I do feel that an hour and a half is ample time to discuss most scripts on a deep level, including Dig Down).
This would be a big commitment though. This option was for several hundred dollars. It was something I could afford to do, but as I’ve said in previous posts, I felt I was still at the infancy of my screenwriting abilities, which was why I was looking for feedback in the first place. Blowing through a lot of cash to find out in depth what I could’ve found out through regular feedback didn’t seem like the best use of my time and money. At the same time, I had just entered two other contests that would be providing me the same level of feedback if I didn’t chose this consultation.
The goal for these multiple entries would be to see if they addressed similar areas that needed improvement, or identified the same positive aspects. Essentially, multiple submissions would help me determine if I was on the right track, and hone in on what needed work.
But at some point, would the notes become redundant? Overkill? Wouldn’t I benefit if some of the feedback I received provided analysis beyond the surface level, and addressed the core of what might be keeping the script from its full potential?
I gave this contest its own blog post because of the weight of this monumental decision. In fact, it was such a big choice to make that even though I had found these contests at the same time, this was the last one I entered. Part of that was because I had wanted to get someone else’s advice on what I should do.
There was a woman I worked with who I had called my career soulmate. We both had the same mindset of the 9 to 5 job that gradually built up a pension you could hope to live off of through retirement. I felt most everyone else I asked would tell me to “just go for it, you only live once,” or “nah, you shouldn’t, that’s a lot of money.” And while those were the two options, I felt that’s where the discussion would begin and end with them, and this decision was too important to base on an instantaneous reaction without any real reflection.
I felt talking to someone who knew me and understood my mindset, and could propose points and pose questions to help me get to the route of what I wanted and should do was what I really needed. Sadly, she was not available as I watched the days tick off the calendar.
I was on my own.
So, I posed this to myself: Yes, I am already getting analysis from other contests. And yes, this option, while providing more than the other forms of feedback, is pricey. But, do I believe in my writing, and in myself? Do I believe Dig Down is a strong story, and that this could be made into a movie one day? And if so, would I then care if I spent a little more than I wanted to at the start of this process?
Essentially, I was asking myself if I believed in myself as a writer.
I submitted Dig Down for the phone consultation.