Monday
Oct122009
If you don’t want them to beat you join them
October 12, 2009
Networking is a bit of a black art and one that many writers shy away from. But, for a writer, developing and maintaining the right contacts can mean the difference between a hobby and a career. I asked scriptwriter and marketing consultant Caroline Ferguson what she thought her session with Scriptwriter and networking ace Janice Day would be offering: she replied:
“Many writers would rather rip out their own teeth than introduce themselves to complete strangers. Self promotion simply isn't part of the character set of the typical writer. Janice and I will be giving plenty of tips and practical tools for how people can overcome their own reticence.”
Check out Caroline’s great article on networking at Cheltenham in TwelvePoint, which is the best primer on how to prepare for an event like this. It is so crisp that even social misfits and marketing-phobes should find it of value.
In the next week or so Caroline will be summarising and updating that advice for those attending the International Screenwriters' Festival in Cheltenham (26 - 29 October). Even better, on Day 1 of the Festival she and Janice Day will run a session on networking. Janice will guide delegates through working a room, while Caroline will offer practical tools to help even the shyest attic-dweller overcome their aversion to building a useful network.
Once upon a time it was enough to be a good writer, hiding away and turning out five pages a day. But the world has changed and where once there was a relatively level playing-field – you either had an agent or you didn’t – now with websites and social networking sites and a recession sorting the wheat from the chaff, being able to get that little bit extra out of a gathering, being able to draw attention to your work by whatever means that are legal and unaggressive, needs to be considered.
The old saying “it is not what you know but whom you know” has greater currency now than it did in the past. It is not enough to write well; you need to get out there and meet people. That is where commissions increasingly come from and why I encourage my clients to attend as many events as they can.
This is a disadvantage if you live miles from anywhere in rural bliss and have lots of young kids who should come first I really do believe that). But there are ways. Cheltenham is only four days and I believe that there are families coming with the non-writing parent utilizing the local council’s facilities for kiddies. Some people come for only two days - you can notch up at least 20 meetings a day. Where else could you meet 40 people intwo days, including leading producers, directors, writers and agents?
To make sure you do actually hit the marks each day (that sounds ambiguously bad; isn’t ‘mark’ a disparaging idiom?) Janice and Caroline make it simple and sensible. Being good at networking is very much part of being a writer in the 21st Century. It is actually easier than writing well.
“Many writers would rather rip out their own teeth than introduce themselves to complete strangers. Self promotion simply isn't part of the character set of the typical writer. Janice and I will be giving plenty of tips and practical tools for how people can overcome their own reticence.”
Check out Caroline’s great article on networking at Cheltenham in TwelvePoint, which is the best primer on how to prepare for an event like this. It is so crisp that even social misfits and marketing-phobes should find it of value.
In the next week or so Caroline will be summarising and updating that advice for those attending the International Screenwriters' Festival in Cheltenham (26 - 29 October). Even better, on Day 1 of the Festival she and Janice Day will run a session on networking. Janice will guide delegates through working a room, while Caroline will offer practical tools to help even the shyest attic-dweller overcome their aversion to building a useful network.
Once upon a time it was enough to be a good writer, hiding away and turning out five pages a day. But the world has changed and where once there was a relatively level playing-field – you either had an agent or you didn’t – now with websites and social networking sites and a recession sorting the wheat from the chaff, being able to get that little bit extra out of a gathering, being able to draw attention to your work by whatever means that are legal and unaggressive, needs to be considered.
The old saying “it is not what you know but whom you know” has greater currency now than it did in the past. It is not enough to write well; you need to get out there and meet people. That is where commissions increasingly come from and why I encourage my clients to attend as many events as they can.
This is a disadvantage if you live miles from anywhere in rural bliss and have lots of young kids who should come first I really do believe that). But there are ways. Cheltenham is only four days and I believe that there are families coming with the non-writing parent utilizing the local council’s facilities for kiddies. Some people come for only two days - you can notch up at least 20 meetings a day. Where else could you meet 40 people intwo days, including leading producers, directors, writers and agents?
To make sure you do actually hit the marks each day (that sounds ambiguously bad; isn’t ‘mark’ a disparaging idiom?) Janice and Caroline make it simple and sensible. Being good at networking is very much part of being a writer in the 21st Century. It is actually easier than writing well.
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