Screenwriter Phill Barron writes a caustic blog that invariably talks sense but entertainingly. This week’s edition of The Jobbing Scriptwriter talks about the danger all freelancers face of being a bit too keen and doing more than you should.

I know, I know, I should learn my lesson and walk away from these things. And to be fair, I am doing so more and more.

What has tended to happen in the past is in order to make the ludicrous deadline, I need to start working before the contract arrives … which I do, because I’m a trusting soul.

Never, ever trust anyone. That’s a lesson to learn right there.

So I beaver away, come up with a bunch of ideas, talk it over with them, incorporate their feedback into the plot and generally hash it out until we (amazingly) have something they like the sound of.

Even if I have (accidentally) forgotten the child-abuse.

Now they need a one-page synopsis.

That’s all, just one page.

Contract still hasn’t arrived, but that’s fine. It’s only one page after all … but they need it immediately. By nine the next morning.

Too Much Too Soon – Phill Barron, The Jobbing Scriptwriter (10 June 2014)

If you never read on, well, you won’t this time either. But imagine this link comes with me guiding your finger to the clicky or the tappy bit of your screen.