What to write

As I mentioned, I got a manager this past year and figured it might be helpful for everyone to write up a short list with a few pros and cons of having representation. Here you go.

Pros:

• He gets me meetings and my scripts read by people who would never touch me before.
• Keeps me focused on writing projects he can sell.
• Helps set goals and keeps me on track to accomplish them.
• It's nice to have someone who believes in your writing.
• I don't waste my time on unsaleable concepts anymore.

Cons:

• I've written a grand total of 0 scripts since I signed with him.
  
• It's creatively draining. Beforehand, I could write anything I wanted just for fun, but now writing feels more like a job.
  
• My manager and I don't always see eye to eye on which project I should focus on.
• Writing has slowed down considerably because of the above.

All in all, having representation is much better than the alternative, but it's incredibly frustrating at times too. I definitely see why writers and other creatives curse the names of their representation at times. Very often I have a project I fall in love with and my manager poo-poos it at some stage, whether pitch or treatment, usually without batting an eye. Luckily, 95% of the time I look at the project again and understand the problems with it, swallow my pride, and put it aside. However, there are sometimes scripts you can't get out of your mind, and that's when I take a stand.

During this time, I learned to follow the age old strategy whereas I write one project he recommends, and I write one which I love. It's working out well, except that it's taking a long time to find a project he loves that I can bear.

That's it for now. I'm pretty wiped out and sick, so I hope this was coherent.