In July 2003’s Buzz, we offered some suggestions on how to commit to a project, even when the going gets rough. But what if you and your story really aren’t right for each other? How do you tell if the script you keep rewriting and/or sending out is standing in the path of your success?

There are three different scenarios that could be at work here. In the first case, this is a script that has not been seen by anyone but you, or has been seen by only a few friends for feedback. You’ve spent all this time on it, yet it does not seem to be getting any better during revision, and it may even be getting worse. When is it time to throw in the towel?

If you haven’t done this already, put the script away for six months or so and work on something else. When you look at it again, after some distance, you may see what attracted to you to the idea in the first place and easily recommit. If the script still seems as weak and hopeless as it did six months earlier, it is likely that this was never a story you really wanted to tell.

Another tactic is to seek feedback from an objective source, such as a teacher, script consultant, or fellow writer who is not also a friend. The encouragement of objective readers may help rekindle your interest in the project, and/or they may see positive qualities you’ve failed to see. However, if none of the notes you receive, even if positive, inspire you to return to the story, then you have probably grown beyond it.

In the second case, you have a finished script that you have sent to agents and producers and contests, with no luck. Perhaps you have gotten some polite rejection letters or placed as a quarterfinalist in a contest, but years have gone by and the script remains without a champion to get it made. When is it time to stop sending this script out?

If the criticisms you’re getting touch on issues you’re aware of but hoped no one would notice, then you need to either address those problems or move on to the next script. You may believe that it is not worth your time to do the work necessary to make the changes, or you may feel that the changes would undermine the story. You may be right in both cases, but the fact remains that agents and producers feel these flaws make your script hard to market. Learn what you can from the feedback and move on.

Lastly, if a movie with the same story as your script has just come out in theaters, then you have a problem. This happens more frequently than you might think, and sometimes similar projects are pursued simultaneously anyway. If your script is similar only in arena or basic concept, chances are your plot is unique and it is worth viewing the new film to confirm this. If yours is different enough, then it is just a matter of waiting a bit before sending it out to agents and producers.

Be aware that this problem occurs most frequently with historical scripts based on fact. If you read a book or article about an interesting historical event, chances are several other screenwriters have read it as well. This is why it is best to stick with original stories until you are working in Hollywood and can get your historical pitch set up before anyone else does.

In spite of the advice above, I feel that you should never throw anything away, only put it aside. You may meet a producer at some point who is looking for a story exactly like the one you have written and is willing to work with you to develop it. It may be that you are not ready yet to tell this story, but as you continue to write, your craft will improve, and you may be able to go back and fix some of the problems that stopped you from moving forward on an old project, or you may discover that you can incorporate parts of a previous script into a new story. You may even realize one day that your flawed screenplay would work great as a novel or play. Your script may have been rejected because it was a genre that was out of style, but styles change. New contacts arise. The most important thing is to keep writing and keep producing material. Every script you complete will teach you something you can apply in your next script, and will give you a new contest entry or a follow-up to an encouraging agent or producer.