Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Thoughts Before Bed:

Suddenly craving a burrito. Not like REAL burritos, but the cheap convenience store burritos you find in the freezer section. The kind that are no good for you and taste of beans and spicy grease.

I've been sitting on this post for a long time now, and I considered posting this a few months ago, but the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes kicked in, so I kinda sat on it for a while.

I've been trying to break into screenwriting since the early 90s. It's always taken a back seat to crises, medical issues and general "I need to worry about not dying" kinda things.

In the last ten years or so, things have stabilized enough that I've been able to concentrate on writing competitions, like the BBC Trans Comedy Awards in 2013 and just recently (after dealing with another life crisis) a Nickelodeon internship and another Paramount one late this year.

This is the first year I've really had "to myself." I had enough of a cushion to sit down and write, so I wanted to make a concerted effort to try and get in. I've been stuck, though, with the strikes and a pinched nerve that made sitting and writing for more than a few minutes incredibly painful.

I did try, though, but overall, the effort doesn't seem to be working. And, frankly, the landscape that I trained up for in the early 90s just so so so much doesn't apply anymore. I know at least two producers, one who was my high school English teacher, but just calling them up and saying "hey, can I write for you" is kinda frowned on these days.

The whole "Dolari Library" was kind of my last hope for getting anything published, and really I was just gonna give it all away for free, cause I'm more interested in getting things read than selling it. But I'd LIKE to sell stuff.

So this is just a shot in the dark, and probably my last hail mary pass, but I'm asking my friends who are there: How do you do it these days? Rather than just spin my wheels in random directions and hoping I can find a crack in the wall, how does one get through the door into the WGA these days?

I'm gonna write, wether I'm in or not. It'd just be nice to get paid for it rather than sit on files and files of ideas, smippets and unproduced scripts.

Gotta admit, the first episode of Dr Who back in 1963 is fantastic. The other three episodes of the story? Not so much....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG66hD7jxpA

@socketwench - I kinda like this feeling of isolation. Something is so bad that what only really matters is what's around you.

I do love shows like V: The Series and War of the World's Second Season that show (albiet just in reports) the world outside.

"Sir, do you know how fast you were going back there?"
"Uh...97?"
"That's a relief...radar gun's working. Thanks for you cooperation."

"Pop, you're gonna live to a ripe old age."
"How do YOU know that?"
"Cause I've angered the karma gods and you're my punishment."

@LeDiva

QT with your favorite movie musical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbheajO1thY

"Every job treats you badly, so why should you want better?" is not the correct take on job toxicitiy.

@boringaccount - I was at Nintendo of America for about ten years. I started as a phone tech support rep, became their chat/forum lead, eventually added to our letters department, and at the end was managing tech support teams.

It was a lot of fun, but there was also a lot of heartbreak: https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-america-contractors-full-time-complaints-report