Many years ago my father told me that a modest but talented composer when asked how he felt about being number one he replied “I hate it”. Astonished by the answer the interviewer asked him why and he said “there are too many number one’s in the world”
What he was referring to was that for him was more important to be the
best at what he does and not just number one. That idea has always lingered in
my head and you see this play out every day in our lives. Often the winners of
talent shows go on to become famous, for a while, and then vanish in the
limelight. One Direction, whether you like them or not, have become a very
successful boy band and they were not the winners of the X-Factor proving that
this composer was right, there are too many number ones, but it’s the ones
behind them you need to watch out for!
This week the results for the NYC Midnight Screenplay Challenge came out
and I did not reach the top five to move onto the third round. It is always disappointing when you
don’t reach the next stage of a competition but I am happy to take away the
experience, which I enjoyed and learned from it. And as I looked at the
results, although I was not on the top five, I was pleased to see I had not
come bottom of the league! In the voting system the judges gave points to 15
scripts (out of 28 competitors), from 1 to 15 (a bit like the Eurovision Song
Competition) in the two rounds and the top five writers with the most
cumulative points went through the third round. In the first set of voting I
didn’t get any points but with my second script I was awarded two points,
putting me second to last and one of 20 writers with points (there were some
that had no points at all!) and this made me very happy!
I know you are sitting there reading this thinking “What?” but I am
using the same principle as the one described by the composer my father told me
about. In life you need to maintain a positive attitude when you are passionate
about something, to keep you going and never give up! Yes I may have not been
on the top five who went to the next round, but at least I had two points (I
would have really hated not to have any) and I was not the last of the writers
with points! Second to last is already one more than someone else and closer to
the top! As they say there is always a silver line in every cloud!
And in life everything is about not just wanting to be number one, but
to be the best at what you do. I also think it is a matter of opinion and taste
when it comes to judging someone’s work. Whilst we all accept feedback and work
with it to make us better, more often than not it is someone’s opinion and may
not be share by many. Part of the process in this competition was to receive
personalised feedback from one of the judges about your work, a very unique
thing as often in this competitions they find it impossible to give everyone
who enters personal feedback. I welcomed this as I love understanding where I
can improve to make me a better writer. I may not always agree with everything,
but someone’s opinion can only help you improve.
I wanted to share with you all this experience to get you all to think
of the importance of always looking for that silver line in every cloud. I
think we should all strive to be number one, of course, but at the same time to
enjoy being number two, knowing that we are the best at what we do. And to
accept valuable feedback even if it may not seem right, remember perception is
reality and this is someone’s reality and others may share it. And whilst as a
writer I know it is hard to appeal to every audience, I must strive to reach as
many people as I can with my stories.
I will let you be the judge of that. This week I invite you as part of
reading this blog to take a look at the two scripts I wrote. They are only 5
pages long (5 minutes of dialog) and two very contrasting stories. Keep in mind
the challenge we had – to write a screenplay in 48 hours with three things in
mind – the Gen, a place and an object. As you read these visualise them on the screen.
I welcome any feedback you have, I would love to hear from some of you and
compare your thoughts with that of the judges in the competition. I write these
scripts for audiences and not for judges, so I am intrigued to see what some of
you think.
Below the links to the two scripts, all you need is 10 minutes (five
minutes each) and a glass of wine! Enjoy reading them and please let me have
your thoughts.
MidnightRunner – a horror story set in a Barn with a padlock as the object
TheView – a romance story set in an office with a cigar as the object
For other scripts and stories go to www.sergiosnyder.com
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