You pinpointed my greatest fear--once signed, how do I make the most of it and not screw it up.. As for delivering, I wonder if a rookie writer should stick to specs early on. A writer knows he can deliver on a spec because it's his/her idea and he/she can develop it until it's ready. For an assignment there will be a time limit plus if that rough draft is a mess the powers that be might lose confidence quickly.

Hey, Paul! From my experience, it might be tough to do that. Going out on all those general meetings, I discovered that each of those places already had properties they were eagerly looking for writers to develop, in addition to hoping you may have something that interests them too. Assignments are a huge part of being employed for most writers and they get you into meetings where you can start to form relationships, even if you don't get the job. I had that same fear of turning in sideways drafts that would lower someone else's confidence in me but I had to learn to live with that fear and trust my process. I've been working on developing a feature with a producer for a year and a half now and have made tons of wrong turns. There have been times I've wondered if this was the draft of the pitch that was going to get me fired, and the truth is, I have learned to not only be ok with failing but to embrace it as a step towards something better. (read Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull about how long Pixar takes to really break a story)

Thanks Mickey! I almost missed your comment since it's on page 2 now. What a pleasant surprise. It sounds like you're having the time of your life. Your entries are very uplifting.