SE2.0 D001: Welcome to Season 2.0

And thus it begins. . .or so it continues. This is Day 1 of the second season on The Screenwriter's Journey. Instead of a one-year odyssey, it is now an on-going chronicle of my efforts to sell a screenplay. What's the difference? Well, basically there is no arbitrary deadline to make a sale. At least not yet. I have spent the past year training myself to write consistently, and that now seems ingrained into my being. It takes a little pressure off me knowing that I'm not racing a deadline that ultimately I have no control over. At the same time, it is now part of my daily habit to write. I should still be able to make my monthly quotas even if I have to juggle how I reach that quota.

I also want to spend some time working on other projects outside of writing, so I need the flexibility to move between projects without an overwhelming sense of guilt that I'm not getting the writing done. Time management will be critical to make this possible. It's also going to take considerable discipline and responsibility to make all my goals in the time I allot, or I will quickly find myself falling behind.

I also need to be more reasonable about the goals and deadlines I set for myself. I often bit off more than I could chew over the course of the past year when setting monthly goals. As I fell behind, I would panic and scramble to try and make up ground. This didn't always result in the best work. I need to be conscious of these things going forward and not be so hard on myself if I fall behind.

So what will the goals be for the following months and year?

Generally speaking, I would like to complete two more scripts during the course of the year. Unlike this past year where I had a solid foundation with existing scripts to work with, I will be creating new pieces from scratch. It will take more work, and based on the time it took to write/rewrite Come Ups, I think two new scripts is probably the best I can hope for along with other projects that I want to work on.

I would also like to secure a manager to help guide me in the writing process. I think I am far enough along with my writing abilities that I could use the guidance and nurturing a manager provides in building a screenwriting career. I'm not looking for an agent. That's down the road a ways. I still have some growth to accomplish and I think that growth would benefit from an industry mentor.

My shorter range goals are to make one more pass on the three existing screenplays and make sure I have done all I can with them (The Devil's Tramping Ground will need the most work as it is the most recent) and begin the process of marketing them and sending query letters. I think that will be the priority for September.

October will be spent working on Everyday Clowns. There is so much completed on that series that it feels like a wasted project if I don't finish it. This is one that has languished for years. It is also my only comedy at the moment and could make a great calling card if nothing else.

November will be reserved for NaNoWriMo. I attempted it last year, but I got caught up in work, and I was feeling guilty at not turning out script pages, so I kept vacillating between projects and not doing a very good job on any of them. I have a good solid start on a novel; I'd like to finish it. November will be for NaNoWriMo. If I get no scriptwriting that month, so be it. I'm setting that time aside now, so no guilt.

And that's about as far ahead as I would like to look currently. I need to do some work on the neglected Hike-LosAngeles site. Plus, I have a considerable amount of work to do on creating the North Georgia Mountains website. As if that weren't enough, I have also opted to be a mentor to students from my alma mater, Catawba College, who are interested in pursuing a career in writing.

So it's at this point that I would like to refer myself back to paragraph 3 of this blog and mumble under my breath about biting off more than I can chew. And I haven't even decided what the screenwriting projects for the year will be yet.

Wish me luck.