Looking up contests to enter, weighing the different ways of entering, waiting on the feedback these contests offered, and reviewing and applying the notes I’d received, had led me to this moment: my first ever script consultation. My excitement had been kept under wraps as the prep work for this meeting kept me busy, and now, in the final moments while waiting for the call, this nervous excitement was all I was left with.
Nerves were definitely present, but I reminded myself that the email I had gotten scheduling this appointment was to expect a good call. The notes, while filled with areas to improve, were still positive and supported this expectation. But still, anytime you go into something for the first time, there’s bound to be a little nervous energy about the unknown.
“This is going to be a good call,” I reminded myself. “They told me so.”
I think that may have actually added a little bit of pressure to the moment–that the expectation was that this was supposed to go well. The email gave the impression that they were impressed with my script for Dig Down. Yes, they had noted areas to work on, but from research I’d done on writing screenplays, and webinars I’d sat in on hosted by industry professionals, I knew that most scripts were bogged down by lots of technical issues, many of them not formatted properly, or lacking the story structure of a movie.
Having adapted my script from my first published book, which had been vetted by my editor, and had gotten positive feedback from readers, I knew that I didn’t have any story structure issues. And I had made sure to format my screenplay properly.
“They told me to expect a positive phone call.”
My main concern was the high bar I might have set for myself. Because I didn’t have glaring technical deficiencies, I felt that when I had the consultation, I’d fall short of their expectations when it came to answering the questions they posed in their notes, maybe only giving surface level responses and then finding out they were hoping for responses that were more in depth. Imposter syndrome definitely crossed my mind heading into the meeting, that it wouldn’t take too long into the conversation for the facade to lift.
Two o’clock came. I had everything set up. My laptop was open to their notes, with the screenplay minimized but ready to be called up. I had a notebook with my responses to their questions, and a book mark to flip to a blank page to take more notes on the conversation. My phone was fully charged, but still plugged in, as this was blocked out for three hours, and I didn’t want to run into any technical issues during the call.
The phone rang. This was it.
“This is going to be a good call.”
When I answered, I was greeted warmly by Joe, the lead judge in the Page Turner Screenplay Competition. I really helped put me at ease, reinforcing what they had told me, to expect a good call. He then followed up his greeting with something else that really help settled my nerves, saying:
“I hope you had as great a time writing this as I did reading it.”
The conversation couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
And then, what I said next nearly blew the whole consultation before it even started.