Sunday, November 30, 2008

coverage

Coverage.

The cornerstone of the the entry level development position in the 'wood. Or so I'm told. By some twist of fate I've been doing it on and off since 2004. The downside is that I do coverage of books for production companies. Books take much more time to read, and are generally more complicated than scripts are, simply by the nature of the text.

I sometimes get very frustrated with the process. As a screenwriter I'm told that people put my script down after 7 pages if they aren't wowed... and yet I have to read the entire damn book despite knowing on page 4 that this isn't something the company can use.

If I'm being totally honest with myself, sometimes I resent the coverage because it is time that I'm writing something that isn't mine.

Conversely, I would never have had the confidence to finish a script had I not seen what else is out there, had I not had practice writing structural critique.

2 comments:

The Swivet said...

Seems odd that they can't let you do coverage for books that same way we agents do readers reports or judge a query. I mean, you DO know after about ten pages of a novel if it's going to work or not, if it's going to fit your criteria or not.

Curious.

I'm enjoying your blog and am glad to see you posting more often.

If you add the free "Share This" application, you can crosspost with one cick from here to LJ, too.

Lunch soon?

M. Lucey said...

It actually does make sense. I mean, I'm not the person who make the final decision, or even the next-to-final. I'm just the first gate keeper.

Glad you are enjoying the blog.. um.. after xmas for lunch?

I know that it sounds crazy but I've got a number of work events coming up. again.