I recently returned from the Screenwriting Expo in L.A. Four days of panels, workshops, parties, and pitches along with four thousand other aspiring screenwriters. Daunting yet encouraging. Tiring yet exhilarating.
I scheduled all my pitches on Friday and Saturday so that I could relax on Sunday. Oddly, I missed the frantic energy of the pitch sessions on Sunday. Almost all the writers who spoke talked about pitching like it’s a prostate cancer exam. While I felt similarly going in, afterward, I enjoyed the rush. And got some great feedback.
My favorite speaker was Karl Iglesias. I put some of his tips to use right away and am happy with the results. For rewrites, I use his book Writing for Emotional Impact, going through it chapter by chapter for each pass on a rewrite.
The Expo pushed me, and my writing, to a new level. I’m looking forward to next year.

Hooray! I can’t wait to hear about it!
October 30th, 2006, at 8:50 am #