My Goal is to Write for 2011

Happy New Year everyone. I hope all of you have recovered from your New Year's Eve hangovers. For those of you who didn't drink or over indulge in libations, you are already off to a good start.

With a new year people all over the globe are hyped about their new year resolutions. It's time to start over, start fresh, and give 2011 all you've got. The shame is that this invigorating attitude tends not to last. It is gone for most people by March. Come June, people are figuring out how they can make it through the rest of the year. And then by December, everyone is ready to close the door and start it all over again. It becomes a never ending cycle. I'm ready to break that chain.

In previous blogs I've mentioned that I've felt both professional and personal growth over the last couple of year. Well, I'm ready to step up my game and get to that next level. In the past, I've said that I've wanted to get an agent, get accepted into a writing fellowship, win a screen writing competition, get discovered, and eventually make my living as a screenwriter. I know, nice aspirations to have.

For the month of December I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I'm going to achieve these different goals. I decided to take the hubby's advice and keep my goal simple for 2011. That goal is to write and only write.

While I was thinking about my goals for 2011, a light bulb went off in my head. I realized that everything I want and need to achieve stems from my writing. It's my foundation. If I'm not writing, my ideas aren't becoming complete stories that can win a contest, generate buzz, interest a producer, studio exec, or production company. Although I've been pursuing screen writing  for five years, I'm no industry insider. I'm still trying to wedge my foot in the door and only industry insiders get to sell ideas. I think I'm more likely to get hit by a truck than I am to sell an idea. While I wish I had that luxury I accept the fact that I don't. Like a drug dealer, I need a solid product, in my case a finished script. Something that will turn the heads of major players in the game. Right now, I'm slinging trying to get my hustle on, and while I've made some small deals; what I really need is the script that will grab the attention of the major players. Unlike drug dealers, it isn't once sole product for me. I need to write a bunch of scripts. The only way to grow as a writer is to write. I have no character development, no plot, no substance, no story arc if I'm not writing.

For 2011, my major goal on the screen writing front is to write and to write a lot. I can't worry about winning contest if the quality of my scripts are sub par. Practice makes perfect. I have plenty of story ideas that I want to turn into screenplays and fellowships to apply to, so there is no lack of substance. My task to achieve this goal will be to stay on task. I begin now and have a year to actualize this goal. Wish me not luck, but due diligence.