Very Bad Timing
Yesterday I promised David, my agent, that I'd send him a copy of "Very Bad Timing," the spec for The West Wing that I wrote while I was at USC, and that was a semi-finalist in the ABC/Disney Fellowship. Lots of people with reasonable opinions have said that this is a good spec.
I opened the document up before sending it and read a few pages. I remember thinking it was a good piece of writing, but now it just seems limp and stupid. I can think of two possible explanations. The first is that my general opinion of The West Wing has dropped so precipitously that I cannot read its characters and locations without the shabby garbage that is current season reflecting into my psyche. The second is that my own writing of its characters and locations is about as pale an imitation of Aaron Sorkin's brilliance as the episoes that are currently airing, and the realization hurts.
In more positive news, I made some decent headway on the outline for the Ice Horror project today. I've added a new dimension of plot that makes the story a lot more interesting.
I also spent about three hours this morning answering about half of the weekend's flood of e-mails offering condolences regarding Skunky Layoff Day and kind words about my custodianship of The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game. It's been an overwhelming show of support, and I'm grateful to everyone who send e-mails and posted comments here. If you haven't gotten an e-mail back from me yet, please be patient. I want to keep in touch with everyone, so you'll hear from me soon.
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