I'm going with the ultra-delusional hope that they still haven't emailed all the short-listed few yet.

Good luck with that

Heh, my guess is that they haven't got round to my masterpiece yet. Or maybe the post was late. Or maybe they love my work so much, they will tell me once they've got over the initial shock of how brilliant it is... Or maybe....

Quote: Mikey Jackson @ July 10 2009, 11:42 PM BST

Heh, my guess is that they haven't got round to my masterpiece yet. Or maybe the post was late. Or maybe they love my work so much, they will tell me once they've got over the initial shock of how brilliant it is... Or maybe....

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Maybe it was so good it caused them to have a stroke.

Whilst opportunities like the CBBC comp are, of course, very welcome and not something the BBC has to do, I think it's pretty clear that once again they've underestimated how many scripts they'd receive. When it was first announced I do remember thinking 'A week to read all those submissions and make a decision? That's pushing it'.

No one has a right to be chosen, only the quality of the work can dictate that, but I do think there's an obligation to inform people promptly one way or another. The fact that it seems a good chunk of applicants have yet to receive any communication at all during this process, is a bit much.

Meh. I always took it, If you not heard anything your not good enough to warrant a response so improve improve improve.

Quote: R.J. @ July 11 2009, 11:02 AM BST

Whilst opportunities like the CBBC comp are, of course, very welcome and not something the BBC has to do, I think it's pretty clear that once again they've underestimated how many scripts they'd receive. When it was first announced I do remember thinking 'A week to read all those submissions and make a decision? That's pushing it'.

View original

Well, it would be - if they only gave themselves a week. You're making the assumption that all of those scripts arrived on the very last day of submission, which is, as this thread clearly shows, a nonsense. They read them in advance of the deadline, from the moment they start to arrive, which will be from the moment the comp is opened - note people sending stuff in a month ago elsewhere in this thread. And remember they're only reading the first ten pages initially. Really wouldn't take that long. They clearly didn't underestimate the amount of time required because they were able to achieve what they needed to do in the time required.

You're probably right, and it's just the bitterness talking I'm sure, but a large chunk would have arrived very close to the deadline, as these things always do. Just because a few people sent their scripts in a month before, doesn't mean anywhere near the majority would have done (I sent mine in two weeks before).

What I meant was, they've underestimated how many people they would have to contact, which is why a lot of people haven't received anything. I still think that's a bit much. If they have been reading scripts for a month, why not inform those people who didn't get past the ten pages criteria straight after the deadline?

In 2001 when I entered the New Talent scheme I received confirmation that my script had been received and a fantastic letter that is probably still the most encouraging rejection slip I've ever had. Here, they wouldn't even tell us if they'd received the scripts. Again, I don't think that's as good as it could have been - it's certainly not very encouraging.

Quote: R.J. @ July 11 2009, 11:38 AM BST

You're probably right, and it's just the bitterness talking I'm sure, but a large chunk would have arrived very close to the deadline, as these things always do. Just because a few people sent their scripts in a month before, doesn't mean anywhere near the majority would have done (I sent mine in two weeks before).

View original

Oh, I sent mine in with a day to spare, I think!

What I meant was, they've underestimated how many people they would have to contact, which is why a lot of people haven't received anything. I still think that's a bit much. If they have been reading scripts for a month, why not inform those people who didn't get past the ten pages criteria straight after the deadline?

Well, again that does rather presuppose that they ever intended to contact everyone. I think it's far more likely that the reason a lot of people haven't heard anything isn't because of underestimation, but because contacting everyone was never on the agenda.

When the competition entry page specifies a date people will hear back by, and that if they've heard nothing they're not through, then I'm not sure what is gained by a personalised letter.

(Oh, and regarding the question of why they didn't inform people who didn't get past the ten page criteria earlier, well until they've read all entries, they won't know what the standard was, and early rejects might have been called into play).

In 2001 when I entered the New Talent scheme I received confirmation that my script had been received and a fantastic letter that is probably still the most encouraging rejection slip I've ever had. Here, they wouldn't even tell us if they'd received the scripts. Again, I don't think that's as good as it could have been - it's certainly not very encouraging.

The clue there is the 'most encouraging rejection slip'.

The people who hear back are the winners and the 'nearlys'. Sounds like that time you were a nearly, and this time you weren't.

Well, I didn't get through, like everyone else on here it seems! Boo hoo us! In retrospect, I think my script was aiming at too old an audience from what they specified. Of course it also might just be rubbish.

Anyway, going to retool it, up the characters ages to 16/17 and aim it towards BBC Three land.

Spewing forth bile isn't going to make a blind bit of difference to the result, but I suppose it's just a way of dealing with it. I didn't get through to even the next stage, and I'm gutted.

At this point, I can't quite accept that after nearly eight years of professional writing that a script I submitted in 2009 isn't better than one I submitted in 2001. And I know, I know it isn't that simple, the scripts were for two different genres, I was up against different writers with different ideas - plus a million other factors to consider...

But after writing something, that I genuinely consider to be one of the best things I've ever done, running it past a fellow professional who's work and opinion I really respect (but who I wouldn't call a close friend) and receiving a massive thumbs up, and then not even getting a response is, well, heartbreaking.

So I haven't accepted it yet, but I will. At the moment, this is me. Shouting at the sky.

Aaaagghhhhhh!!!!!

These sort of things don't really get me down too much. I didn't make it through, oh well, a touch glum for five minutes then onwards and upwards. It all comes down to personal opinion at the end of the day, so you can't get too downhearted about it, you just shrug it off and carry on. Constant rejection is just part of the joy of being a writer.

I think the way you handle any sort of rejection depends very much on where you are in your career. If you're just starting out and you haven't written much stuff, it's perhaps easier to handle. If you've been banging on for a good while, think you're improving and then you get knocked back, it can sometimes be harder to take. As we all know, the writers who succeed are the ones who never gave up no matter what, but if you're in your forties it's possibly harder to see a professional future for yourself, in anything, than if you were in your twenties.

I've written a lot of stuff, and sometimes it isn't rejected, sometimes it's accepted, but I just accept rejection as part of being a writer. I take your point about the age thing though, I'm in my twenties so perhaps that does play a part in my outlook, I don't know. It's very easy to stay positive and expect the big break to come along sooner or later when you're still young yourself.

I'm frustrated, like you would be with anything, just because these things take precious time when I could've been working on something else.

After about 5 minutes I made a list of other stuff I want to submit to in the next few weeks - including the Peter Ustinov thing (on writers room) which is asking for 'family drama', which my current 30 minute script can definitely be turned into.