What should I try to accomplish next month?! Take a second to vote on my poll and let me know what you want to see me accomplish during the month of May.
Some ideas I have:
*Art - I have a few art projects I've started but never finished. Mostly an altered book for a good friend who has been ever so patient with me as I keep promising I'll finish it for her. It's been three years I think.
*Retraining - There's another half marathon coming up in July that I could begin training for and blogging about.
*No trash! - I read an article about a couple who went a whole year without producing any trash! I was inspired.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Week Three...plus
Okay, it's been a little past week three.
I was able to write a little more, very little. I'm at page 75, and the end is staring me in the face taunting me for not being able to power through.
I mean, I can power through, I'm sure, if I turn the reality TV off and turn the creativity on. I plan to do that today! After this episode of Pretty Wild of course.
I have about ten scenes left, and I've visualized how most of them should play out, so if I'm lucky, I can finish this sucker today!
Silly me, I thought I'd run out of challenge before I ran out of page count!
I was able to write a little more, very little. I'm at page 75, and the end is staring me in the face taunting me for not being able to power through.
I mean, I can power through, I'm sure, if I turn the reality TV off and turn the creativity on. I plan to do that today! After this episode of Pretty Wild of course.
I have about ten scenes left, and I've visualized how most of them should play out, so if I'm lucky, I can finish this sucker today!
Silly me, I thought I'd run out of challenge before I ran out of page count!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Week Two
Okay, so it's a little bit passed week two, but bear with me.
This last week was hard to keep writing. I totally lost steam and my creativity seemed to just fizzle out. I forced myself to write a little bit each day, which in turn made my dialogue sound forced. It was hard to sound natural, and it was hard to get my characters to do anything.
So a took a couple of days off, and let my creative juices reboil.
They didn't come back full force, but I was able to hammer out six pages today. I just kept in mind where I wanted to story to go, and how it needed to get there. It helped some, but I miss the days where I'd sit with my laptop open, music on and all of a sudden I'd be twelve pages ahead.
I'm on page 61 (technically 6 days ahead of where I should be), which means I have 39 pages left to tell my story. I'm not sure I have 40 pages of story left to tell! I don't want to fall short! That could be some of my creative hang-up. Too much pressure to fill the pages, not enough confidence that my story can handle it.
This last week was hard to keep writing. I totally lost steam and my creativity seemed to just fizzle out. I forced myself to write a little bit each day, which in turn made my dialogue sound forced. It was hard to sound natural, and it was hard to get my characters to do anything.
So a took a couple of days off, and let my creative juices reboil.
They didn't come back full force, but I was able to hammer out six pages today. I just kept in mind where I wanted to story to go, and how it needed to get there. It helped some, but I miss the days where I'd sit with my laptop open, music on and all of a sudden I'd be twelve pages ahead.
I'm on page 61 (technically 6 days ahead of where I should be), which means I have 39 pages left to tell my story. I'm not sure I have 40 pages of story left to tell! I don't want to fall short! That could be some of my creative hang-up. Too much pressure to fill the pages, not enough confidence that my story can handle it.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Week One
Well, it's officially the last day of week one in the Frenzy. (That's what us savvy participants call the contest, the Frenzy. Or Screnzy if you want to get silly.) The Pages Per Day average should be 3.3, if you want to finish 100 pages in 30 days. So far, I've powered through 45 pages of scripted material. At this rate, my movie should be about...four and a half hours long. ;)
This process is amazing though! I've rarely been able to tell a story on paper from beginning to end. Or even come up with an ending! Or even wanted an ending! (I think I really like the idea of stories, but I love my characters so much that I don't want to end it.) And now I'm outlining plots like a pro!
It's actually thanks to the Young Writer's Program that this contest also hosts. They have some basic tools (meant for high schoolers....) that get you thinking about your story and how to tie it all in. I was afraid it'd be over outlined, thus making the writing process not as fun (because half of the excitement comes from letting my characters do the work), but it totally wasn't. It actually got me to rein in my ADD habits of story telling and forced me to organize them.
And being 45 pages in, I'm about halfway through my plot! Which means I'm right on target - story wise. If I finish this project early (ahem, like by the end of week two), I've got another one floating around in my head. So who knows, maybe I'll come up with two scripts by the end of this month!
This process is amazing though! I've rarely been able to tell a story on paper from beginning to end. Or even come up with an ending! Or even wanted an ending! (I think I really like the idea of stories, but I love my characters so much that I don't want to end it.) And now I'm outlining plots like a pro!
It's actually thanks to the Young Writer's Program that this contest also hosts. They have some basic tools (meant for high schoolers....) that get you thinking about your story and how to tie it all in. I was afraid it'd be over outlined, thus making the writing process not as fun (because half of the excitement comes from letting my characters do the work), but it totally wasn't. It actually got me to rein in my ADD habits of story telling and forced me to organize them.
And being 45 pages in, I'm about halfway through my plot! Which means I'm right on target - story wise. If I finish this project early (ahem, like by the end of week two), I've got another one floating around in my head. So who knows, maybe I'll come up with two scripts by the end of this month!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Meet My Characters
As promised, here are some intros to the characters of my screenplay.
Alison (Ali) Banks: Main Character.
Ali lives in San Fransisco, and works for the contemporary, cosmo-like magazine The SanFran Beat. Well, she actually works in the blog department on the online verson of the SanFran Beat - the BlogBeat. She's a relationship guru, answering emails and posts about people's relationship blunders and busts. She would love to one day write for the magazine, if she could ever convince the editor-in-chief that her advice (and writing) is quality work.
Likes: Jogging in the park with her corgi Harley, expensive coffee, and Lady Gaga.
Dislikes: Office functions, her editor-in-chief, and Twitter.
Brayden Scott: Love Interest.
Brayden's originally from Colorado, but stayed in San Fransisco after college to persue his dream of being an out-of-work freelance photographer. He'd love to make it big one day (wouldn't we all?), but cares too much about working with clients individually to sell out to a big company.
Likes: Taking his golden retriever Ruger to the soft pretzle stand, photographing weddings, and picking up girls in bars.
Dislikes: Girls that smack their gum, getting dumped, and tall women that wear heels.
Vienna Whitmore: Antagonist.
Vienna is perfect...according to Vienna. Failure is not an option for her, and thus taking chances when it comes to running her magazine is her least favorite activity.
Likes: White, pilates, and her big office.
Dislikes: Bloggers, coffee, and big events that don't serve white wine.
Coreen (Cory) Mitchell: Best Friend.
Cory and Ali have been friends since college. She's always supported Ali's dream, and thinks that her advice are words of gold.
Likes: Tequila shots, working with her best friend, and wearing expensive shoes.
Dislikes: Working five days a week, paying for cabs (she'd rather walk), and paying full price for drinks when happy hour is such a great deal.
Harley: Corgi.
Harley is a sweet little tri-colored corgi that loves Ali. He takes care of her when she gets too drunk to get up for work on time, and always provides snuggles.
Likes: His squeeky newspaper, strutting through the park, and kibble.
Dislikes: Waking up early, seeing Ali sad, and sleeping on the floor.
There are a few other characters involved, but I guess you'll have to wait till I'm done to read about them!
Alison (Ali) Banks: Main Character.
Ali lives in San Fransisco, and works for the contemporary, cosmo-like magazine The SanFran Beat. Well, she actually works in the blog department on the online verson of the SanFran Beat - the BlogBeat. She's a relationship guru, answering emails and posts about people's relationship blunders and busts. She would love to one day write for the magazine, if she could ever convince the editor-in-chief that her advice (and writing) is quality work.
Likes: Jogging in the park with her corgi Harley, expensive coffee, and Lady Gaga.
Dislikes: Office functions, her editor-in-chief, and Twitter.
Brayden Scott: Love Interest.
Brayden's originally from Colorado, but stayed in San Fransisco after college to persue his dream of being an out-of-work freelance photographer. He'd love to make it big one day (wouldn't we all?), but cares too much about working with clients individually to sell out to a big company.
Likes: Taking his golden retriever Ruger to the soft pretzle stand, photographing weddings, and picking up girls in bars.
Dislikes: Girls that smack their gum, getting dumped, and tall women that wear heels.
Vienna Whitmore: Antagonist.
Vienna is perfect...according to Vienna. Failure is not an option for her, and thus taking chances when it comes to running her magazine is her least favorite activity.
Likes: White, pilates, and her big office.
Dislikes: Bloggers, coffee, and big events that don't serve white wine.
Coreen (Cory) Mitchell: Best Friend.
Cory and Ali have been friends since college. She's always supported Ali's dream, and thinks that her advice are words of gold.
Likes: Tequila shots, working with her best friend, and wearing expensive shoes.
Dislikes: Working five days a week, paying for cabs (she'd rather walk), and paying full price for drinks when happy hour is such a great deal.
Harley: Corgi.
Harley is a sweet little tri-colored corgi that loves Ali. He takes care of her when she gets too drunk to get up for work on time, and always provides snuggles.
Likes: His squeeky newspaper, strutting through the park, and kibble.
Dislikes: Waking up early, seeing Ali sad, and sleeping on the floor.
There are a few other characters involved, but I guess you'll have to wait till I'm done to read about them!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April Showers
I hate rain. Okay, that's all I'm going to allow myself to say about the sucky weather that has taken over this month so far. Yes, I know it's only the third day, but I'm ready for Spring damnit!
Moving on. April's goal/project/resolution is...drum roll please...
Write a Screenplay!
Yes that's right. I'm writing a movie. I've joined ScriptFrenzy.org, a website operated by the fabulous people that bring you National Novel Writing Month (or NaNo WriMo). It's a 30 day challenge, to write 100 pages of a script. Any script will do, as long as it ends up being 100 pages! I've chosen a screenplay, because I dig movies, and I think I only have the attention spand to tell a story in a two hour segment, versus multiple (like a tv show).
I'm nervous about putting this out in the blogosphere, for the world (okay, mostly my friends) to see. I don't usually share my writing with people I'm close to...but the truth is, writing is a huge part of my life, despite what people may think. And I can't let fear stop my from sharing it.
I'll probably be posting every couple of days to update on my progress. BUT big rule of the screnzy, is no sharing! I'll give you breif charater intros, and basic synopsis, but none of the script will be posted till the end.
Moving on. April's goal/project/resolution is...drum roll please...
Write a Screenplay!
Yes that's right. I'm writing a movie. I've joined ScriptFrenzy.org, a website operated by the fabulous people that bring you National Novel Writing Month (or NaNo WriMo). It's a 30 day challenge, to write 100 pages of a script. Any script will do, as long as it ends up being 100 pages! I've chosen a screenplay, because I dig movies, and I think I only have the attention spand to tell a story in a two hour segment, versus multiple (like a tv show).
I'm nervous about putting this out in the blogosphere, for the world (okay, mostly my friends) to see. I don't usually share my writing with people I'm close to...but the truth is, writing is a huge part of my life, despite what people may think. And I can't let fear stop my from sharing it.
I'll probably be posting every couple of days to update on my progress. BUT big rule of the screnzy, is no sharing! I'll give you breif charater intros, and basic synopsis, but none of the script will be posted till the end.
March Recap
Remember when I said I was back on track, and going to kick ass in my DIY projects? Maybe those weren't my exact words, but they were my intensions. Turns out my intensions didn't over power my procrastination.
I have a couple of excuses (I worked a funky schedule one week, which threw me off; I got sick; blah blah blah), but the truth is, I never got around to fully planning how to attack the furniture painting. Or the picture project (select photos to hang in my awesome frame set I got for christmas). Or the office project. I even told my roomate I was going to organize my corner of the office. She laughed. I think she knew that I'm a lot of talk, and little action.
But that was supposed to change this year! I'm supposed to be accomplishing each thing I set out to do each month. But...I'm really just finding more things I want to do, and adding them to the list of things I haven't done.
What I did in March:
1. Ran a half marathon (woot! Still proud of that)
2. Bought a laptop
3. Fill out my tax forms
What I wanted to do in March:
1. Run a half marathon
2. Repaint my furniture
3. Hang my photos
4. Organize my office
I'm going to take this month as a teaching point. I'm teaching myself that I was unhappy not accomplishing something, or even dedicating myself to something for 30 days at a time. I was much happier in Feburary when I had a goal, even if I didn't finish it (I'm talking about the Shred, not training). Maybe I wasn't clear enough with myself in March as to what my goals were. So next month (er, this month) it's back to basics, one goal at a time, focus focus focus!
I have a couple of excuses (I worked a funky schedule one week, which threw me off; I got sick; blah blah blah), but the truth is, I never got around to fully planning how to attack the furniture painting. Or the picture project (select photos to hang in my awesome frame set I got for christmas). Or the office project. I even told my roomate I was going to organize my corner of the office. She laughed. I think she knew that I'm a lot of talk, and little action.
But that was supposed to change this year! I'm supposed to be accomplishing each thing I set out to do each month. But...I'm really just finding more things I want to do, and adding them to the list of things I haven't done.
What I did in March:
1. Ran a half marathon (woot! Still proud of that)
2. Bought a laptop
3. Fill out my tax forms
What I wanted to do in March:
1. Run a half marathon
2. Repaint my furniture
3. Hang my photos
4. Organize my office
I'm going to take this month as a teaching point. I'm teaching myself that I was unhappy not accomplishing something, or even dedicating myself to something for 30 days at a time. I was much happier in Feburary when I had a goal, even if I didn't finish it (I'm talking about the Shred, not training). Maybe I wasn't clear enough with myself in March as to what my goals were. So next month (er, this month) it's back to basics, one goal at a time, focus focus focus!
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