beagle72
02-03-2004, 10:48 AM
Full disclosure -- yes, I'm venting. As a newcomer to screenwriting, though not a newcomer to professional writing, I've immersed myself in publications and Web sites brimming with career advice.
One encounters many contradictory nuggets from one pundit to the next. OK -- there's no single formula to this career, so fair enough. Everyone has their own experience with what worked for them.
But here's what gets my goat ... I've recently read at least three articles on "writing the perfect query letter." Among other things, the authors (rightfully) stress the importance of competent writing, error-checking, etc. Yet, each of these articles contain sloppy errors of their own!
In one, the author supplies a sample query letter with a sample movie title, "DARK MOON JENNY." Toward the end of his advice, he mistakenly refers to the movie as "DARK MOON CHRISSY." Nice proofreading, sage advisor.
In another column, advising (rightfully) against unsolicited submissions, the author riddles her writing with awkward sentences and just plain bad constructions. One gem of a sentence: "When a new writer sends material to my email address without querying first, it’s sometimes very inconvenient because with such ‘surprise attacks’ when opening my email, some have taken more than two hours to download because someone has sent their entire script or in one case, their novel." Real concise.
Same author, different column, endorsing the services of script doctors as a reality check for new writers. Toward the end, she opens a paragraph with "You just have to ask yourself, how important is it that your script be perfect?" Immediately thereafter, the next paragraph begins, "So you've got to ask yourself, how serious are you about a writing career." Hmm ... redundant, bad punctuation ...
I know this all seems nitpicky. We all make mistakes. But that's exactly the point! These people are supposed to communicate an air of credibility in their advice, which is specifically focused on taking care with how you present your writing self.
I'm sure these advisors are well-intentioned and wonderful human beings, but one would prefer that thou shalt practice what thy preach.
--beagle
www.livenudecats.com (http://www.livenudecats.com)
One encounters many contradictory nuggets from one pundit to the next. OK -- there's no single formula to this career, so fair enough. Everyone has their own experience with what worked for them.
But here's what gets my goat ... I've recently read at least three articles on "writing the perfect query letter." Among other things, the authors (rightfully) stress the importance of competent writing, error-checking, etc. Yet, each of these articles contain sloppy errors of their own!
In one, the author supplies a sample query letter with a sample movie title, "DARK MOON JENNY." Toward the end of his advice, he mistakenly refers to the movie as "DARK MOON CHRISSY." Nice proofreading, sage advisor.
In another column, advising (rightfully) against unsolicited submissions, the author riddles her writing with awkward sentences and just plain bad constructions. One gem of a sentence: "When a new writer sends material to my email address without querying first, it’s sometimes very inconvenient because with such ‘surprise attacks’ when opening my email, some have taken more than two hours to download because someone has sent their entire script or in one case, their novel." Real concise.
Same author, different column, endorsing the services of script doctors as a reality check for new writers. Toward the end, she opens a paragraph with "You just have to ask yourself, how important is it that your script be perfect?" Immediately thereafter, the next paragraph begins, "So you've got to ask yourself, how serious are you about a writing career." Hmm ... redundant, bad punctuation ...
I know this all seems nitpicky. We all make mistakes. But that's exactly the point! These people are supposed to communicate an air of credibility in their advice, which is specifically focused on taking care with how you present your writing self.
I'm sure these advisors are well-intentioned and wonderful human beings, but one would prefer that thou shalt practice what thy preach.
--beagle
www.livenudecats.com (http://www.livenudecats.com)