Great Expectations

I have high expectations of myself. I fully expect that I will always do well in my classes, that I will continue to write good papers, do quality research  and soon get out of grad school adding those little initials after my name. I expect the same with my scripts. I never go into the writing thinking that I'll write something adequate or acceptable. From the outset, my intention is to knock it out of the park.

Home runs always? No.

The difference between having high expectations and of expecting perfection, is that high expectations still get the work done. Sometimes, you even impress yourself and others. Sometimes, you fall short of impressive and maybe you barely get to "it's OK." If you expect perfection, I doubt that anything will ever get written. Even if it does get written, it will never get shared with others. It will never get to the outside. Perfection, of course, is impossible. It's incapacitating because it's an unachievable goal.

My great expectations are to get the work done. That's the work of a writer. I've got the October deadline for Scriptapalooza for the TV pilot scripts. I plan to get a little writing done this weekend if the Universe allows it. My scripts won't be perfect, but they will be far better than the guy who claims to be a writer but can't get past the fear that others will deem his work to be just "OK." I've written long enough to be over that. My fear is in NOT getting the stories written. My fear is that you won't have the opportunity to see my stories on your TV or at your theater. That would be tragic for you and disappointing for me.

I don't want you to have to suffer that tragedy. But more importantly, I don't want to disappoint myself.