I DID IT!!!!!

Guess what?! I FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY finished my urban fantasy pilot after 18 months of brainstorming, outlining, writing draft after draft that just didn't work, and then more brainstorming, outlining, writing draft after draft...etc. In fact, after I finished draft number 10 (yep, count it. TEN DRAFTS), I stared at my computer screen. Just stared. I was speechless. I couldn't believe it. I'd actually done it. I'd finally figured out a good structure for the story and wrote a script that I was actually happy with.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to say that again:

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!

I honestly, seriously considered dropping the project a dozen times. Every time I finished another draft that just didn't click, I promised myself that I was going to give up. Put it on the shelf. Try again at a later date. Forget this frustrating, annoying, stupid story even existed. To be honest, I'm not sure why I kept going. One thing that really helped was that I met a junior literary manager last year when all I had was a logline and a poster. That was it. It was the only story he was interested in. Knowing that somebody in Hollywood wanted to look at it was a great motivating factor. But even so, I was still in a deep, dark, black hole of knowing with absolute certainty that this story was never EVER going to work.

But...a hard knot of stubbornness deep inside me refused to give up. Back in June I had promised myself that I would write just one more good draft, and then I would give up the project forever, satisfied that I had at least given it a really good try. Well, one more 'good draft' turned into five more drafts since none of them were a 'good draft.' I panicked in August, wrote even more frantically, I even signed up for a November screenwriting class in California--a perfect opportunity to meet that manager in person and renew my connection with him (even though I was five months late in giving him my promised pilot script). The class really helped to give me an extra hard push the last couple weeks. I find that I do WAY better in my writing if I have real deadlines--screenwriting contests, weekend trips to California...etc.

I finished draft 10 while being deathly ill and watching loads of Korean drama episodes (Shopping King Louis is really cute, and W was a wild, crazy, amazing adventure criss-crossing the realms of fiction and reality!). I even managed to get it through a critique group the day before I left for California, and I was so lucky my sister tagged along for the trip because I didn't even have enough energy to drive.

Unfortunately, the manager I wanted to meet was traveling and the meeting didn't work out, but I did send him the script, and it's on his to-do list.

I still can't believe I did it. Wow.