Week 1: Review/Preview
Reflecting on progress for the week of January 3 through 9, and previewing goals and tasks for the upcoming week.
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoinon Unsplash
The first full week of 2021 felt like an extension of the shit show that was 2020 - including a coup of the Capitol building. I’m not sure if this week is an indication of what the year will bring, but it’s safe to say that we should all tread lightly.
This year I want to do something a bit different with my blog and write a post every Sunday where I reflect on my accomplishments for the week that was and preview the upcoming week; adding, what my goals/major tasks are that I’d like to accomplish in the week ahead.
I’m doing this for two reasons:
A habit of daily/weekly reflection is good for the soul - and I think my soul needs all the good vibes it can get.
It gives me a sense of accountability. I know every day and at the end of every week I have to post SOMETHING about the day and week. If I want to achieve my vision of being a full-time screenwriter, then it starts with the continued and consistent daily practice of showing up.
So let’s begin!
Food for Thought
I’ve been a loyal reader of Seth’s Blog for some time. The daily nuggets of wisdom are so insightful and articulate that they can be applied to almost any discipline - especially those who see themselves as “creators.”
Today’s post Seth describes this idea that natural technique doesn’t exist; rather, it’s a learned behavior. For creatives I think many of us fall prey to the notion that some people are just naturally more gifted or talented than us; that some have a natural technique for crafting compelling stories and relatable characters.
Seth reframes that thinking to focus technique as a way to problem-solve situations and circumstances. Seth briefly contends that technique is something learned from people who have solved similar problems to the ones you’re facing. Don’t know how to create a specific character? Someone else has. Find out who and research what they did.
“Technique is the unnatural approach to a problem that, with practice, becomes second-nature. Technique is the non-obvious solution that amateurs and hard-working beginners rarely stumble upon on their own.”
As an aspiring full-time screenwriter, I have to look for the “non-obvious solutions” that more talented and successful screenwriters employ to both the craft of screenwriting and the business of writing for TV/Film.
To me, it all starts with the daily habit of writing pages, reading scripts, and watching shows.
Successes for the Week
Gotta celebrate the small wins and the completed tasks. Success is built, not given.
Created a story document for my new pilot about a troubled but musically gifted teenager who gets mixed up with the wrong people. I spent a week - and approximately 10 hours - teasing and shaping an idea into coherent, well-structured story.
Submitted my script DADLY to the Circle of Confusion Writers Discovery Fellowship. It’s the first submission of the new year, so let’s hope this one brings some good ju-ju.
Wrote blog posts for 5 out of 7 days of the week. My goal is to post every day - a snippet of what I accomplished, reflections of the day, etc. The more I write, the better I get. Blogging is the easiest way to do that.
Met with my weekly accountability group for the first time and share the logline and WHY behind the new pilot I’m working on. I’m really excited for this group and this weekly meeting. I’m treating it like I’m a staff writer on script and I have to submit material every week.
Emailed my script to my other writer’s group for feedback. Our first meeting is next week and these are people I met a few times online. I’m really looking for a small tribe of writers to grow with, and hopefully this group is it.
Conducted about 2.5 hours of research for querying DADLY to managers. I have a nice list of shows, writers, and managers who I think fit the tone and concept of my work.
Misses
Success doesn’t come with some type of failure or misses. Here’s mine for the week.
I only wrote 3 pages of my novella adaptation of THE NOISE WITHIN - another pilot I wrote. I had hoped to write 3 really shitty pages a day for a total of 21, but that didn’t happen. I put more focus on the story document for the new pilot and didn’t properly schedule time for this.
I didn’t get a chance to revise my pilot, THE NOISE WITHIN. It placed quarterfinals for Big Break 2020, but I’m not super happy with how it turned out - after not reading it since I submitted to BB in the summer. I rebuke the pilot and fixed the story throughout November and the first part of December. Gotta get back on track with that script because I think it’s a fantastic story with a unique angle on mental health and childhood abuse.
Goals/Tasks for the Week
Week 1 started strong, let’s see how I can keep the momentum going into Week 2 of the year.
Expand story document for new pilot into a more detailed outline for the pilot. Not an outline per se, but a more detailed story document that describes a bit of the B and possibly C story.
Write 7 blog posts.
Complete Step 1: Research of query campaign for DADLY by identify up to 10 “best'-fit” managers.
Meet with writer’s group and get notes on submitted script.
Meet with accountability group and share struggles/challenges/wins for the week.
Attend a WGA event on transitioning from a previous career into screenwriting. I’ve got some much experience and stories to share from working in Los Angeles as a teacher, but I don’t know how to leverage that into a career as a screenwriter. I get I need to use that information as my personal pitch, but how?
Write between 9 and 21 really shitty pages of my novella for THE NOISE WITHIN, which coincides with -
Revising at least the teaser and Act 1 of THE NOISE WITHIN pilot. At this point it’s just about execution.
Readings of the Week
Lastly, I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t read my ass off. Here’s what I read and analyzed this week:
“The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green. Fascinating book about the phenomenon of power and how it manifests itself in personal and business relationships. It’s a big book. I’m only at Law 10 - Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky. It’s also a great book from a screenwriting perspective because it gets me thinking about how the power dynamics influence the relationships between characters and their motivations behind the choices they make.
Pilot script for GODLESS by Scott Frank. A cat-and-mouse Western that was released on Netflix in 2017. I’m writing up my notes on it, including explicating how the script is constructed and what takeaways I have regarding craft and storytelling. I plan on writing a series of posts on this website about it sometime soon.
