Reflecting on progress for the week of February 7 through February 14, and previewing goals and tasks for the upcoming week.

I think it was Joyce Carol Oates who said the greatest enemy to writing is interruption. I can definitely attest to the truth of that observation. This week was cray.

Week 2 of our visit with my in-laws in Arizona was entertaining, but I didn’t get as much accomplished as I wanted. My kids wake up at the ass-crack of dawn every day and they’re basically little motorheads for the rest of the day, regardless of how many bike rides I take with them, or how many times I kick a damn soccer ball down the street, or how many times I play zombie tag at a park my kids don’t sleep for shit. And, as a result, I get little sleep and little time to sit down and write.

So, that’s my reflection for the week: interruptions are part of life, so don’t beat yourself over the head if you don’t make your weekly goals. There’s always the next week.

Successes for the Week

• Finished character bios for my main characters in my new pilot. Lot of ideas flowing. Don’t know how much of it will actually make the pilot, but if this script gets a great response from my network of people I’ll write a short pitch for it.

• Wrote 2 blog posts. Eh, still a long way to go from posting daily like Set Godin, but I’ll get there.

• Met with my writer’s group and got great feedback on my logline and character sketches for my new pilot.

• Met with my accountability group and got more great feedback on my logline and character sketches for my new pilot. (I really am super lucky to have two different groups of people looking at my work and giving me feedback/notes.)

• Received some great feedback and excitement from a few working actors I know about my script, THE NOISE WITHIN. I think screenwriters should be strategic and mindful about who they give their scripts to and for what purpose. Screenwriters reading/giving notes on another screenwriter’s script is WAY DIFFERENT than an actor reading/giving notes on a screenwriter’s script.

• Finished another week of the craft course I got for free through my accountability group.

Misses

• Didn’t finish all my character work for my new pilot. I still have to work on their introductions and the “rules” by which they conduct themselves. I think I have to order another notebook because I’ve almost used all the pages in my current notebook on brainstorming/developing this pilot script.

• Again, not as many blog posts. One of these weeks…

Goals/Tasks for the Week

• Gotta finish character work. I’m in the home stretch now. If I can finish my character work this week, then I can solidify my story concept and move towards writing a story document for my pilot.

• Research “crossroads” myth for my new pilot. Going to write about what I find about this interesting myth and how I plan on using it in my pilot.

• Write 7 blog posts….fingers crossed.

• Start on the next week of my craft course.

• Meet with my accountability group.