I had just gotten off stage in a bar in the San Fernando Valley feeling pretty good. My set had gone really well and I was feeling on top of the world. I head over to the bar and the bartender told me the next drink was on him. Turns out the guy I was ribbing in the front row was the owner of the place, and his bartender was happy I made fun of him. While I was sipping on my beverage a group of ladies watching the show came up to me to add me on Instragram. It was that kind of set. At the end of the night, the guy I was talking to t urned out to be a manager with a talent agency that had relationships with Netflix and Nickelodeon. He asked me if I had a writing sample. I said of course. He said email me the script. I said I would after I proof read it. We left the bar to go to our cars, and I drove home now panicking because I didn't have any writing sample.     

What I did have was some old spec scripts from my days working at Nickelodeon in the writer's room and production offices of iCarly and Zoey 101, which was a decade ago. While I have the basic foundation of script writing in my head, I was struggling to remember the structure needed for a TV executive to make sure I was creating a script that created the conflict needed to move a story forward. Luckily, I had been outlining a TV pilot script in my head and was able to put together something. Took me a few weeks, but when I sent the script, I felt good but not GREAT about my writing. Had I been more prepared, I could have sent something much stronger. 

The manager still liked it and even sent me to talk to a few people at a few high profile places, but they weren't sold on my script. And I didn't blame them. It was good. But not GREAT. 

With the new year not as new as it was a week ago, I'm challenging you to get cracking now on that spec or original pilot TV script today. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll have that writing sample to share that you can be PROUD of! And when you get asked for you writing sample you can spend time polishing it up instead of starting from scratch. 

Too often, we get complacent with one part of our comedy and forget that the representation that can break down barriers wants to see more than just our ability to tell perfected jokes. They want other forms of content. Sketches. Scripts. Late Night TV Packets. Retweeted Twitter jokes. YouTube Vlogs. Published articles. We are more than the sum of our best sets. Stand up comedy is still show business, and the "business" side wants variety, diversity, and marketability. 

Sure, you could wait for someone else to build the show or movie script for you, but then you won't be the builder of your own destiny. You'll be someone's employee.