Goal for 2009: Just Do It

So here we are guys...about to start a whole new year. Every year I think, oh, I don't hew to these false calendar boundaries, I just flow with the seasons of life, maaaan. But then the new year rolls around and one does find oneself secretly thinking: will try go to bed earlier, will get electric toothbrush, must get new cell phone plan.

As it turns out, in Screenwriting World, January really does make a natural break from one year to the next. We have a few short weeks of relative quiet then the competition season is announced and business begins to rev back up again. Yes, this year we have a Funky Economy so we must take that into account, but still - Hollywood slouches on and this is indeed a good time to take inventory of where you've been and create a road map for where you're going.

Personally - because it would be no fun if I didn't share - I am excited for the thriller my partner and I co-wrote to go out to some buyers right after Sundance. We're working on another at quite a clip, should we have some opportunities that arise from the first, and we have literally a huge dossier of other ideas, some beat out in outline form, others even more realized than that. So we're ready to pull the trigger on a number of thrillers. Tons of complicated stuff is happening with my business but the upshot is we have new financial backers and - well, I guess it's dull unless you're interested in Media Empire Chia Pets. Lots of cool new initiatives, let's just say. And one of them - if it actually gels - will mean that I will be looking for some kick-ass comedy scripts.

I also really am going to try to go to bed earlier and rise earlier. I want to read more and if I go to bed earlier, there's a chance of that happening rather than the 1.5 paragraphs I currently make it through before falling asleep, book in hand, at 2am. I'm going to be adding some new content to the Rouge Wave which I think you will find mighty enriching. Oh, and work out daily. And get a new car. Yeah, I need a new car. So 2009 will be a year of great personal and professional growth. Oh and I really did get an electric toothbrush so I'm off to a pretty positive start.

What about you? It's sometimes helpful to look back at where you've been in order to design a plan for going forward. Do you have any old scripts that you're still rewriting and working on? Or are you going to generate new material this year? Hint: please generate new material. Are there screenwriting events you'd like to attend this year? Hint: go to at least one. Can you be reading more produced scripts this year? Hint: YES. In fact, one of the new bits on my new website which debuts later this week is a "script of the week" that you can go download and read. Will you be entering competitions this year? Which ones? Deadlines have not yet been announced but we know that in general the deadlines are in May and June. So you have time to prepare. You should be able to complete two to three feature scripts in one calendar year. Sounds like A LOT, I know - but why not try? The more material and ideas you generate, the better your writing becomes and the better your chances of breaking in get. That's a fact, Jack.

So take this week to reflect a bit on where you've been and where you're going. Set goals that are realistic for you. We all have families and other obligations so don't set goals that you know in your gut you won't actually meet. That defeats the purpose. If you work full time, can you set a goal to write two pages each day? Or to write for 30 minutes each day? 30 minutes 7 days a week is 3 1/2 hours of writing time every week. Doesn't sound like much but that might be realistic and actually, writing doesn't take all that much time - it's the THINKING about writing that does. Many of us probably spend more time thinking about, dreading, worrying about, complaining about writing than actually writing. Do you surf the interweb? How many minutes each day? I know I waste tremendous amounts of time on doing stuff that has absolutely no pay off for me. And I know that because when I buckle down to write or work at developing my business, I am always amazed at how much I get done in two focused hours. Two focused hours is like 8 unfocused hours, don't you think? Arguing on message boards, clicking on silly links that show cats saying dumb things spelled wrong, reading celebrity news - these are bullshits, my friends. And we all do it. So we need to go on a collective Interweb Diet. I'm in, are you?

When it comes to your writing career you have to be mercenary: Just Do It. Nobody is going to do it for you and there are plenty of other writers who'd love you to mess around, wasting time because you just created an opening for THEM.

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