Thursday, October 24, 2013

script writing/ my emails & blog



Oct. 21: This will be a kind of mental health email.  It’s self-analysis and assessment.  It will also touch on business and writing.  I usually keep business and writing separate, but I want to combine these two together so I can figure out what kind of writing career I can get.  I was at the Grant MacEwan Professional Communications website (previously called Professional Writing.)

Scriptwriting: I’m going to say it.  I have lost motivation and enthusiasm for this.  From the years of 14 yrs old to 22yrs old I was writing scripts while going to school.  I had to finish gr. 9, graduate out of high school, upgrade a year, then a year at NAIT, then 2 years in Professional Writing.

During my last semester in Professional Writing, I started pitching my script The Vertex Fighter.  (Back then it was called The Fighter.)  I worked full-time at the Soup place and did look for an office job.  However, I was mainly putting all my time and effort into looking for TV production companies in Canada, and pitching it to them.  I was also busy rewriting and editing my script.  

I have worked for 8yrs (14-22 yrs old) towards the goal of finishing all my schooling so I can have the Professional Writing diploma on my resume, to pitch my script.

I spent 2008-2009 intensely pitching and working on my script in my spare time.  There’s 2 yrs of constant work.  I kept pitching for 4 months of 2010: The Year of Unemployment.  The other 8 months was where I was constantly looking for a job and applying to places to work at.  The script has to be put in the back burner.

2011: The Year of the Office Job Search is where I was constantly going to lots of job interviews.  I did complete a 43 page script for this TV series.  It took me a month to write it.  It’s not until like maybe a year later, the producer said they weren’t going to produce the script.  That’s fine.

2012: The Year of New Directions.  I did start applying to all the TV production companies in Edmonton to work at.  If anyone remembers, I did do an interview for one in 2008.  I only met a couple of producers to do interviews in 2012.  I got more hours at the restaurant and did some temporary jobs like Telemarketer #1 and Telemarketer #2.

2013: I only sent my script to be read by one producer.  I had to look over my notes.

Obstacles: I know that getting a TV movie script produced was going to be hard.  I didn’t expect instant success that it will be produced.  I knew it was going to be a lot of time and effort of me sitting in front of the computer looking for production companies to pitch to.  It was good if one producer even reads the script.

Oct. 22 Professional Communications: Here is the Grant MacEwan website for this program.  Back when I took it in 2006-2008, there weren’t these 3 majors.  You either take it for 2 yrs to get a diploma or you go in 4 yrs to get a bachelor’s degree.

There wasn’t a Strategic Communications class.  At least not in the first 2 yrs I took it.  There was Technical Communications as an elective.  The only Editing and Publishing was the Proofreading and Copyediting class in 2nd yr.  That was a required class. 

Overview:

The professional communications stream has three majors, allowing you to choose what you want to do based on what you like to do! Wondering what kind of career tasks would be included in each stream?

Strategic communications
  • research, plan and deliver key messages and campaigns to move people to action
  • manage complex communications processes in a range of industries, including government, health care, education, private sector and non-profit agencies
  • understand and respond to mass communications needs and trends
Technical communications
  • research and write for specialized audiences in the sciences, health, education, business and industry
  • write instruction manuals, policies, procedures and educational materials, both individually and as part of a team
  • use industry standard software
Editing and publishing
  • improve communications by checking for correctness, concision and clarity
  • edit and manage publications (books and magazines, online and print)
  • understand and navigate the publishing process
Careers:

Communications professionals are in high demand and the types of jobs you can do are almost endless. Here’s just a sample:

Strategic communications
  • publicist or agent (managing other peoples’ reputations)
  • media relations officer (dealing with the media)
  • communications consultant (providing communications advice)
  • strategic planner (planning what to say, to whom, when and how)
  • advertising copy writer (creating copy that makes people want to buy things)
  • information service coordinator (writing, managing and producing documents)
Technical communications
  • manual writer (telling people how to do things: safety, education, instructions, etc.)
  • instructional designer (writing content for courses)
  • computer software manual writer (explaining how to get software to do what people want it to)
  • policies and procedures writer (writing rules)
  • technical descriptions writer (explaining complex ideas simply)
Editing and publishing
  • book publisher or editor (creating books from manuscripts)
  • magazine publisher or editor (creating magazines from articles and photographs)
  • production editor (overseeing the physical production of a book or magazine)
  • technical editor (making sure the complex copy is technically correct)
  • web content editor (making sure copy going on a website is correct and appropriate)
  • news editor – broadcasting (making sure what goes on the news is correct and appropriate)
http://www.macewan.ca/wcm/SchoolsFaculties/FFAC/Programs/BachelorofCommunicationStudies/Majors/ProfessionalCommunication/index.htm#3

Feedback: I would like your guy’s feedback.  What career should I go into?

My emails & blog: I want to say that I can not give a 100% time and effort into my emails/ blog.  I give my best effort at work because I get paid.  I look for a job and go to job interviews and give it my all.  I’m not a perfectionist.  Some of my writing will be good, or at least good enough.  Writing is subjective.  I can’t please everybody with my emails.  I know and I can guess some of your thoughts on it.  Correct me if I’m wrong:   

“I like reading the business emails because I can learn about careers from her job articles.”

“I don’t like reading the business emails, because they are not as fun and entertaining as the fun jokes email.”

“I don’t like reading the fun email, I rather read the news emails because she can always find interesting news.”

"I don’t like the news emails because it’s too serious and sad.  I rather read her writing emails where she analyzes TV shows and movies.”

The thing is though, is that I write for myself first.

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