“Twas the Night Before Black List…”

Funny how things become traditions here at Go Into The Story. Several years ago, screenwriter Chris McCoy uploaded this series of tweets the day before the roll-out of the 2013 Black List:

“‘Twas the Night Before Black List and all through the LA / Writers were nervous — could this help them get pay?”

“Their loglines were sharp and polished with care / In the hopes that St. Franklin soon would be there.”

“The writers were ambien’d all snug in their beds / While visions of having a sustainable future danced in their heads.”

“The agent in Prada and the hopeful in Gap / Had just settled their brains (with pot) for a long winter’s nap.”

I asked Chris if we could run with his verse as a blog contest to which he kindly agreed and that led to this. It was so much fun, I’ve reprised the ’Twas the Night Before Black List Challenge every year since. This year, there was one winning entry from Jesse Tripp. Here it is!

‘Twas the night Before Black List and all through the L.A.
Writers were nervous, could this help them get pay?
Their loglines were sharp and polished with care
In the hopes that St. Franklin soon would be there.

The writers were ambien’d all snug in their beds
While visions of having a sustainable future danced in their heads.
The agent in Prada and the hopeful in Gap
Had just settled their brains (with pot) for a long winter’s nap.

When next to an aspiring writer’s laptop came a shocking message.
He logged both onto my email and Twitter with the steadiness of a carriage.
Once on both sites then came with a gasp
Searched the words and then his heart felt like a grasp.

This year’s ambitious scripts came like new-fallen snow.
Gave the dreams of hope to its fledgling writers below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
But the names of the dreamers being together like reindeer.

One of those came with many a logline like an avalanche.
For minutes, he shivered like wind next to a tree branch.
The thoughts of the writers that to him felt healthy like grain
He was so inspired by their stories that he called them by name!

“On, Aaron! On, William! On, Gary! On, Jordan!
On, Alejandro! On, Hampton! On, Scott and Bryan!”
He had read all those scripts many times, learning all the pages.
It felt really better to him with a heart than like being in the sages.

As the loglines go in a steady yet quick pace
He felt in the zone, it was like being in space.
Yet even though he knows that he’ll have to work so hard
He made a promise that he would never act like a star.

As he promised to be completely humble
If he had an ego, he would get into huge trouble.
Who knows what stories could emerge from his brain and heart?
A horror story? Science-fiction? A comedy-drama for a start?

He doesn’t know which one to do because of his procrastination
So he would have to start making sure, with or without anticipation.
With readers’ notes and hosting, he should start being surprised
From longhand to Final Draft, he must keep his eyes on the prize.

He felt apprehensive of stories but soon he must begin
It’s hard to get from all the way out to all the way in.
He must no longer say that he’s a writer, he must be one
No matter the problems, he has to get the job done!

Working hard must happen and will happen, as a start
He will thank the writers over the years who appeared
On The Black List… with all his heart.

Jesse received one free script evaluation and a free month of his script hosted on the Black List website, plus one of my Craft classes. For free!

In the spirit of Jesse’s verse, my sincerest hope for each of you is that in 2019, you write a screenplay, teleplay, novel, short story, or poem that brings you the best of fortune and success… like making the Black List.

Happy Holidays!