Take Good Notes

… and don’t be like me.

Not quite true. I keep ok records. I back everything up. When I’m actively working on a project, I triple back it up every night. A few years ago I lost 20+ pages of a script rewrite that I was blazing through with spectacular results. Then… it was gone. No back up. Nothing. I threw things. I pounded on the floor. Guess what? Still didn’t have the pages.

And I’m convinced what I wrote to replace them wasn’t as good. So now… I’m uber-careful about making sure I don’t lose what I’ve written.

This is less about backing up your work than it is about backing up your ideas. Keeping good notes. Dating them. Filing them. Having them at your fingertips.

I’ve been living an adventure this week because I didn’t bother to record on paper an idea I pitched off the top of my head in a meeting with a production company six months ago.

It was one of those meetings where I went in with a planned itinerary of ideas and completed scripts. I was going to dazzle them.

Wrong. Didn’t respond to any of them. So I made something up on the spot, knowing what they kinda were looking for.

Now comes my warning. If you’re going to wing it, remember what you said. Apparently, I pitched one great idea. Not that I knew it at the time. Not so good that I thought they’d buy it or was something I’d write for myself in the future. So I promptly forgot about it. Didn’t write it down. Didn’t save it or even make notes afterward about the meeting.

Fast forward to last week. Six months after the meeting in question. A call. A call from the Development Exec at said Production Company. “Hi Bob. We were talking about your pitch and it’s been decided that we’d like to move forward with it. So we’re sending contracts (for money) to your manager and would like a full treatment in a couple of weeks because we think we’re going to fast track it.”

“Wow. That’s great,” I responded. “Which pitch?” Then...  the words I didn’t want to hear. A four word description… “The film about _______. ”   Huh? What? Now… in the deepest recesses of what used to be my mind, I recalled something about this topic. Not sure what.

One of my biggest strengths (and problems) in creative meetings is that my mind flies. I mentally sort ideas at computer speed looking for the one that works at that minute. And if you’re dealing with a rewrite meeting, it can make you look like a frigging genius. But I also take copious notes at those meetings, because ten minutes after that meeting I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything I said.

For this pitch, I took no notes because I READ THE ROOM INCORRECTLY and thought, “Ok. No harm. No foul.” My bad.

Back to the call. Instead of going into a catatonic state, which I considered, I did have the presence of mind to say, “Do you have your notes or a logline you’ve developed so I can compare them with mine? So I don’t go someplace with it you don’t want me to.”

They did and thought it would be a good idea if I had them. Whew. So now, I’m writing the treatment. I’ve also called them twice and asked if I could make radical changes in the story I don’t know, to make it a story that I CAN make work. They loved the ideas. Whew again.

This makes me lucky. A lucky idiot. This could have been a major embarrassment. I have instituted new rules. You say it, you write it down.

I already have my indispensable white board in my office filled with specs I’m working on, writing assignments, deadlines, page counts, and script ideas. My wife bought it for me a couple of years ago. One of the best gifts ever.

Now, I have binders. One for ideas and future pitches. One for what I said in ANY meeting or was said to me. Kept by date and time.

KEEP GOOD RECORDS. Keep them. You will need them. Especially if you don’t have them.

 

One thought on “Take Good Notes

  1. Ann Thomas

    It’s good you’re sharing some of the mistakes to help the writers avoid these.

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