Oversharing

John August had a great post earlier this week about waiting to share script ideas so you don’t get discouraged by less than enthusiastic responses.  I was happy to read this, I know Blake Snyder has a sort of different opinion (if I’m not mistaken, he basically suggests constantly pitching loglines and seeing what people respond to) but I’m with Mr. August on this one because I have first hand experience with sharing too early.  I told my friend who is a reader I respect about the spec I was going to write that eventually got me a finalist spot for a TV writing program.  He was very blah about my idea, but it ended up being the best spec I ever wrote, and thank goodness I didn’t scrap it right then.

I think the biggest problem with sharing work when it's still just an idea is that most baby writers aren’t very experienced pitchers so when we're in casual situations where we aren't ready to pitch we might give a bad pitch OR when people ask us what we're working on in these types of situations, they only take notice when our ideas are really out there.  I mean, if I told you I was writing a movie called Zombie Rainbow Butt Rockets that might get your attention, but if I said I was writing a psychological drama about a troubled ballet dancer you might think…ballet dancer?  BOOOORING!  But, I’m pretty sure Black Swan is a way better movie than Zombie Rainbow Butt Rockets.

On the flip side, I think you must share your work and get feedback when you have something to show (John August mentions around 20ish pages).  Being too secretive about projects will turn you into that person who thinks your work is too brilliant to have a logline or too complicated to explain, which is just bogus.  Think of it this way, how will Tom Hanks possibly intro a montage of your Best Picture nominated masterpiece at the Oscars if the plot of your movie can’t be condensed into about 20 seconds worth of description?

The simple joys of sharing.