Change of Plans

I had expected to be away today for a commisioning meeting but it's been postponed until next week.

And I'm pretty glad about that. I've hit my stride with the spec for Project X and the pages are begining to flow. By the time the commission comes around I should have a decent first draft done. As I usually leave a first draft to stew for a few days this means I won't be pissed off at the commission for taking me away from what I really want to do.

That tends to be the split that most pro writers have to deal with. What you have to do and what you want to do. That is, if you really want to make a living at this game.
I doubt that anyone ever feels as excited about a commission they have taken on as something of their own that they are just itching to write. Don't get me wrong, I love a commission and if the phone hasn't rung for several weeks I start crapping myself.

It's the same for the pre-pro. You can love your day job but writing is your passion.

That's not to say you don't approach a commission with the same attention and concentration as you would your own original material. Quite the opposite. It is probably more difficult to get someone elses format right than it is your own. In fact, I'd say it is the release from that constraint that makes writing your own material such a pleasure. You can go where you want with characters you've created. You're not going to get notes back with ''Jim wouldn't talk like that' or 'Forty episodes ago Kevin slept with her daughter so the dynamic here doesn't work'

Anyway, I've 'felt' myself in to Project X. It took a while but I think it's there now. So as I'm on a bit of a roll with it I better keep going.