The Groovy Deadline

Here was the puzzle- write the script for an internal proof of concept animation slash live action presentation with four sets, three characters, and it should use a detective. Deadline- 15 hours from when I put the phone down. Wrinkle- the visuals of the four virtual sets did not arrive until noon. Which gave me three hours to describe them, insert details, and finish. Upshot- done, and I made as much money as the advance on my last novel.

This is, strangely, exactly like all the other deadlines in all the other mediums. In visual art, tattooing and painting, you always get last minute changes, last second curve balls, late stuff, incomplete data, you name it, but I learned a long time ago that if you roll with it and deliver the goods like nothing bumpy ever happened it opens doors that lead to more and better deals. When I was finished I talked about it on the phone with the producer, because that’s faster than reading it, and then I took a nap. Then I set about parboiling baby potatoes in fennel brine and thawing the smoked pork chops. While I did I thought about this creative deadline business, a constant in my life for three decades, and how its changed over the years. One thing stands out- it got easier. Why? If you work with people who respect your time (as in pay well for it) you try harder for them. Just like in life itself! Full circle! You try your best with the people who treat you well. Shazam baby. Good actually making more good, proof of concept X 2 of a positive feedback loop. Seems like I’ve know this all along, but it also seems like I’ve forgotten this many times. Nice reminder. Smooth days ahead for us all if we can stick to these guidelines.

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it.” ― Henry David Thoreau