Invite Luck into your Writing Life!

As in most areas of life, luck, chance, and serendipity do play a role in whether or not your writing gets published.

Back in the late 1990s, I was putting the final touches on my first short screenplay when Steve - our financial advisor at the time - dropped by with an update. We got chatting about my writing, and he mentioned that his colleague’s brother wrote “scripts of some sort.” He offered to pass mine along on the off-chance I might get some feedback.

Worth a try, I thought.

A few weeks later, my manuscript arrived back in the post, accompanied by a card from the financial advisor’s colleague’s brother. It read: “This is great. Send it to the head of the BBC and mention my name if you think it will help.”
Signed: Tony Jordan.

If you think it will help!

Tony Jordan was - and still is - one of the most prominent and respected screenwriters in the UK. At the time, he was known for iconic television series such as EastEnders and Minder. Since then, his work has included Hustle, Life on Mars, and The Nativity, to name just a fraction of an impressive career.

Luck struck again when the Head of the BBC actually replied, suggesting I submit the script to BBC Two’s 10 x 10 series. Then serendipity truly stepped in: the producer happened to know a young director who was looking for a script to develop.

That director was Sarah Gavron, who later went on to direct This Little Life, Brick Lane, Suffragette, and Rocks, among others. She saw raw potential in the script and decided to take a chance.

After many rewrites and revisions, the resulting ten-minute short film, The Girl in the Lay-by, received widespread critical acclaim. It was presented in the BAFTA Kodak Short Film Showcase and went on to win the Las Palmas Film Festival in 2001.

But luck alone didn’t do the work.

• I had put myself in the right position by having a finished, proofread, and edited script.

• I had learned how to format a screenplay properly, so it wasn’t rejected at first glance.

• I’d studied the basics of screenwriting.

• I had a unique story, well told.

• I was willing to rewrite and make constructive changes.

• And most importantly, I submitted the work. I sent it out into the world - even if, in this case, it was via Steve, Financial Advisor and one-time-only literary agent.

Keep writing. Hone your skills. Send your work out.

Do that, and luck and serendipity are far more likely to drop by for a visit.

Denise Howie: World Famous in B.C. 


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