Thursday, August 30, 2007

My final project is finished. Done. History.

Submitted the final project for my screenwriting MA this afternoon online, before driving two hard copies into Edinburgh and presenting them to the administrators at Screen Academy Scotland. Apparently mine was the second effort submitted, so good luck to the 23 people still to hand in. One last task remains, writing and submitting of self-reflexive essay of 1500-2000 words about the evolution of my project. Got a fortnight to deliver, but it's not the work of a lifetime.

Delivering a big project is always something of an anti-climax. There was no heavenly choir, no great ceremony, nobody applauds your effort. Sign here, put it there, away you go with the rest of your life. Used to feel the same back when I first started getting my novels published. Would print out my mighty tome, and get a black cab across London to hand it over. The book I'd sweated blood on would get stuck on a pile of things waiting to be read. End of story.

These days I don't even get the luxury of a cab ride to my publisher. Now you simply attach the file to an email and press send. So driving into Edinburgh made handing over my final project in hard copy a little bit like the good old days. As per my usual ritual at the end of a big project, I'll crack open a bottle of bubbly tonight and toast reaching the finishing line. May as well enjoy the moment.

7 comments:

Jason Arnopp said...

Congrats, fella. Enjoy that well-deserved bubbly booze.

Lianne said...

Well done! That's must be a huge relief!

Anonymous said...

Good for you. It must be a great feeling to have completed the MA coursework. Now you just have to await your distinction!

As someone who's still interested in taking a scriptwriting MA I'll be following your post-degree adventures keenly.

It will be interesting to see how the MA pays off, directly or indirectly.

Andy Phillips said...

Well done, and congrats on the Page finals! Rock on Danny's Toys!

SiFraser said...

"Ok so you've finished that Dante arc, I've got a Dredd here you can do until another Dante script turns up"

My sympathies rest with the trees.

Barry said...

I was number 3, I saw you walking out when I was walking in. I'd have beat you if it wasn't for that damned typo I spotted on P1 at zero hour.

Well done.

Jon said...

I drove my final MA submission up the motorway from the West Country to Leeds (because that's where my Uni was... not much point otherwise). Gave me 2 and a half hours of free time to mull over all the things I would have changed if I'd just had another week... day... hour... a minute.

Congratulations on getting done and dusted.