1) I'll admit: I blew A LOT of money on contests when I first started screenwriting. Not thousands. Fuck that. But a few hundred too much when you’re encumbered in debt, the rents due, and you’re about to stock pile on ramen (Oriental or nothing!!)

2) But there’s a reason I took the costly, impractical route. Now, I’m not suggesting you blindly submit your work into contests without proper feedback from professional script consultants, working writers, etc. hoping you get lucky. You won’t. Trust me...

3) And, if you’re still doing that, stop now. This is just how MY story started. And, like everyone here, they’re all different. The score card was from a well-accredited contest. I’m not much of a name-dropper. You can take my word for it or not.

4) The scorecard looks basic af. Looks like I just made it five minuets ago before I posted this thread, doesn't it? It's from 2014; it's also from the last contest I entered when I stopped blowing money on contests I had no chance of winning... that, and I wanted real food.

5) I bombed hard, but the scorecard gave me comfort because, I don’t know about any of you, but when you realize you’re good at something—maybe not good, decent, could be great, exceptional even, with hard work and the right mentor—you thought you’d be terrible at, it’s bliss.

6) I did eight drafts, then Googled well-established contests, digging to see the judges, exposure after winning, etc., and went for it. I entered my script into eight different contests...

7) The first few caused a dent to the pocket; I was a moron and entered into late-submission periods, costing me between $65-$80; towards the beginning of the following year, 2015, I paid between $35-$45 for early-submission, which, on those, I dropped the extra $$ for feedback.

8) Why not? Notes are notes. What blows is even though I got some good marks, which is great, I feel I bombed on the most important parts of the work, the ones that REALLY matter. Yes, I wasted money, but this is how it started for me, something to look back on and laugh...

9) Look, you can start decent, get good, then get really fucking good, but you need the right people. I’ll be honest: if I got a pass on every point of criteria on my script, I would accept the harsh reality that screenwriting isn’t for me. But, luckily, I’m decent, so onward.