Other People's Writing

It's fall, a particularly dangerous time for writers of all sorts, but particularly television writers. We have a whack of work that's waiting on our to-do list. Outlines, beatsheets, one-sheets, first drafts, specs... they're all just sitting there waiting for us to finish while we download, read and watch OPW.

OPW... Other People's Writing.

It's the biggest obstacle I have to getting my own writing done. Lately it's been a sneak preview of that show everybody's been talking about... which is as good as everybody's says. And the last season of that show that everybody watched but still didn't get good ratings... which was as notsogoodasearlierseasons as everybody said. And that's just the television. There's movies, books and comics sitting in piles around my apartment. Calling me.

The summer is fading quick and there's a definite getting back to business vibe everywhere I look. Jim is writing a review of every movie at the TIFF, or so it seems. Will has posted a crazy Posto de la Gargantua about the State of the Industry, and Denis is back to his pre-summer blogging level. So that's it... I'm cutting myself off. No more extra-bonus-webisode-can't-miss-it procrastination. No more watching movies through twice (once with, once without commentary), no more special-featuring my boxed sets. Nope. I'm going Basic cable, kids. Spend a little more time trying to become somebody else's OPW.

Except on weekends... and holidays... and as a special reward for getting something done... like a blog post or something.