continued- How Long Should You Keep Working on One Story?

There I was. Years of writing, manipulating, honing, cutting, adding to this one story, The Perfect Tear, and now I was at a dead end. Being in the business of entertainment, I had an aversion to asking anyone with a profile for help because I knew how hard they had to work to get where they were and how hard it is for the unproven to get through the doors. There had to be another way. I admonished myself that I did not come this far to  hit an insurmountable wall. The Perfect Tear was a good story and original in its content. I admit, at this point, I simply asked the Universe,  the Field of Potential or, as it's called in my story M.E.G. (Main Energy Grid) for help. No, that's wrong. I demanded help in no uncertain terms. I had done all that I could do. I spent my savings on my project to prove to myself that I thoroughly believed in it and I had never given up on my story. I needed help and I needed it now!

A few days later, browsing through Facebook, I noticed a post from a singer I had met in LA. She was proudly announcing the fact that five of her songs had been put in a film produced by a small company in LA. I followed the links until I found this company's website and saw that it was run by two women who mostly managed writers and scripts. I liked that. I have no real business skills nor any shared language with business men. so they scare me. I had far less trouble with the idea of asking these women to read my script and that the singer had told me to contact them. ( I think they will eventually forgive the white lie) 
I was ecstatic when they agreed to read it and convinced they would think it was the best thing ever. 
I was wrong, again.

They told me they would have it covered by a very good professional reader and it would be rated as to its chances of being picked up by a studio. That sounded exciting. I was pretty confident it would do well after all the work I had put in with the previous script editor. The girls from the management team set up a Skype call and promptly informed me that the idea was fabulous but the execution, once again, was a mess. I had rated a four; A FOUR! 

 It was over. This was the bitter end of many years of hard work. I had done all I could to tell this story. I was confused when they laughed at my obvious devastation and told me that a four was a good thing. What? How could a low score like that be a good thing? I was confused.
"No," the said, "some veteran script writers only get a score of one. A four for a first time script writer is really good!"  I remember shaking my head in disbelief.  But, I was overjoyed that they thought that way.
Hollywood is weird place.

 I have always accepted  criticism because I believe that it's part of the job.  I never defend myself or block it. If one person does not understand what you're trying to say, then many will not. Your writing has to be clear.  The girls told me they would help me to get The Perfect Tear into shape and they did. I was told to get a book called Save the Cat and that book saved my life. It very clearly set out the fifteen beats all producers look for in a script. These beats had to be on certain pages. Unlike some who might feel this stifles their creativity I reveled in the precise structure. Let the two hundredth rewrite begin!

to be continued:

Here's a sample of my other job!