Friday, November 2, 2012

A 30 DAY CHALLENGE. DAY ONE Don't give up...

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that the last thing I do is participate in month long challenges.  I am of the opinion that I write when I want, about what I want and not because I have to.

For me writing is something I do, because I enjoy it.  However once upon a time, in a city far far away I thought I was going to be the next George Lucas, or Stephen King or Edward Allan Poe.

When I was 17 I really got the bug, I saw STAR WARS, and had read the article in TIME magazine about how a twenty something, unknown filmmaker named George Lucas had managed to write and produce the most successful film of all time, the original STAR WARS.

I had all kinds of ideas and I began to write my own version of STAR WARS, fairly complex for a seventeen year old, I even created my own models of of the starships and star fighters for the film.  

But I never took that most important step, selling the script.  I knew that this would be epic, but I just didn't know how to sell a script and worse still have the self confidence to sell it.

When I was 17 I was living at home, like most teen-agers, but I just had no desire to leave the safety of my home, belief that I could survive if I did, or knowledge of how to survive and sell my dream.

So my epic collected dust and got lost over time.

But I tried again in 1984.  I had always loved the original STAR TREK, and felt it could have been so much more, so I began my own version.... "A Bold New Frontier"  an epic space opera featuring Hahn Wilhelm Ryker, a 23 year old who ends up as the commander of the United Worlds Exploration and Colonization Ship Endeavor, after her captain dies while leading a landing team.  

What made "...Frontier" different from any science fiction series of the day, was it looked at the religions of the cultures it explored as well as the politics and sex.  I was 24 at this point and exploring world religions, while studying to become Catholic.

I had mapped out nearly 20 episodes, since back then the average run was 26 episodes, I had put together a outline for the series, based on the outline for the original STAR TREK, if you are going to borrow, borrow from the best.

Then again I stopped dead in my tracks, and again I had even come up with designs for costumes, props, sets and models of all the starships in the series.  I had ideas for casting.  Shirley MacLaine was a consideration for a lead character, some one who was both a novitiate nun and legal officer for one of the star ships.

But again I failed to act.  Little did I know that in 1993 a Television series would co me out, that had many aspects of "...Frontier" and that series would run for 5 years.  What was the series?  BABYLON 5.

While  J. Michael Straczynski made some major changes, in his format, two elements he kept in place, was the fact that religion was explored in many episode of the series and the characters were very flawed and human.

So I missed another opportunity.

Even today, I do not trust myself enough to present my works beyond creating the work, or posting it on line.

Will I get beyond this?  I would hope so.

My advice to anyone who thinks you are a writer, don't make my mistake.  Present your work to a publisher, producer or agent.  The worst that will happen is you get a rejection notice.  The best, you may be the next George Lucas, Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe.

Don't give up before you try.

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