Your Game Plan & Why You Need One
Whether you’re a self starter or a very unstructured person when you work from home you need to establish a routine. This is a universal truth. A fact I learned when I was 19 years old. At the time I was working as a regional trainer for a large cosmetic company and the CEO had a very specific mantra …
Plan Your Work – Work Your Plan
These six words are the key to my success both in Prime Time TV and in life. More important is the fact that it can be the key to your success as well.
Let’s face facts … a goal without a timeline is simply a dream. Many people have aspirations to achieve something big but so few are really willing or committed to actually doing the work. People like this rarely succeed and are often quick to blame their lack of success on bad luck.
A word about luck …
I’m a firm believer in the quote, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”. Which brings us full circle to … Plan Your Work — Work Your Plan. There truly is no shortcut to success.
Many aspiring writers think all they need to do is write one spec script, get an agent and simply sit back and the work will come. The premise of “If you build it they will come” may have worked in the feature film “Field of Dreams” and as wonderful as that film was we all need to remember that it was, after all, fiction.
Luck is simply an opportunity being presented to you. Preparation is the fact that you have done the work required.
So how do you capitalize on luck and make it work for you?
You plan your strategy and do the necessary work to achieve your goal. That way when luck presents you with an opportunity you are ready!
Here’s a “true life” example of luck working for two former newbie writers because they were prepared.
Friends of mine, Harry Werksman and Gabrielle G. Stanton were writing partners. I met them through a mutual friend who asked if they could join our writers’ group. Based on his recommendation (as often is the case in Hollywood) I agreed.
Harry and Gab were hungry, focused, and dedicated to breaking in to TV drama. They had already written three spec scripts for top Prime Time TV dramas and a spec screenplay. Both wanted to join our writers’ group to get solid feedback from peers on their past and future specs to up their game.
Every week they had new material or revisions on one of their scripts. They were relentless. There was no doubt in my mind that these two would make the transition from newbie to professional writers. The only question was when.
Well, I am happy to tell you that based on their body of work they were able to get an agent. I can hear you asking … How did they get the agent? How did luck play a part?
The answer is simple. They had done the work and were fully “prepared” with a full range of polished specs that were market ready.
Now here’s the “luck” part.
Harry’s father lived in Palm Spring and was a golfer. One day on the golf course there was a threesome that needed a fourth player. They asked Harry’s father if he would join them and he agreed.
At the club house over drinks, one of the players learned that Harry’s father had a son. He asked Mr. Werksman what his son did for a living. Mr. Werksman quickly told him that his son was a writer. The man gave Mr. Werksman his card and told him to have his son send him a script.
That’s the luck part … an opportunity coming out of nowhere. (NOTE: If memory serves me this happened on a Sunday)
Mr. Werksman called Harry and gave him the agent’s contact info. That same day, Harry and Gab consulted with our writers’ group to ask what scripts they should include in their packet to the agent. We all chimed in, Harry and Gab put their selection together, called the agent and delivered their packet first thing Monday morning. Bottom line — the agent read their material, loved it and signed them.
Now this story could have ended very differently. If Harry and Gab only had one “half-baked” spec, then they would have had to take the time to rewrite it before putting it out there. By the time they would have done that their window of opportunity would have passed. Since they were prepared, they were able to strike while the opportunity was hot.
Also, by having several market ready specs, the agent knew they were serious about a career and after reading their work he knew their writing was consistent, they had a voice and a brand. Three keys to getting an agent to sign you.
The rest is history as they say. Not only did Harry and Gab get an agent but they were now part of the “inner circle” of Hollywood. Their career took off and you can see their list of impressive credits on IMDb.
