The year in preview – 316.5

I think I can wrap things up today, and then maybe get back to just writing once a week. That will be less pressure.

My big goal is that I want to complete one new screenplay a month. This is fairly ambitious, but my turnaround time keeps getting better, so this would be one step further towards consistency. I tend to have these little lulls between projects, so the purpose would be to make me better about starting the new one.

Is it feasible? I think so. The most I have ever written in one day has been twenty pages, which I have done three times. The most I have written on a following day after that was six, but usually less. With writing, it is not just the time you spend writing, but there is the time you spend thinking about it, plotting it out and solving problems. Twenty pages takes a lot out of me, and probably can’t happen that often. Ten pages might be the magic number. Since generally a full screenplay is going to be between 90 and 120 pages, it is not unreasonable that a month would be sufficient time for writing and editing, as long as I keep at it.

My main concern was whether I would have enough ideas to keep going, because new ones come up all the time, but what if they didn’t. As it was, I went through the stable of things that I have largely or partially plotted out, and there were nineteen, and just writing a smart aleck comment to one friend I came up with another plot idea, so this is doable.

There are a couple of things that could make me change my goal. The big one would be if I felt that it was compromising quality. I don’t anticipate that happening, but if does, it would be a strong reason to change things around.

The other possibility is if I get a chance to take a film break. I am a writer first and foremost, but I do get possessive of my stories, and that can make one a control freak. So even though I do not necessarily need to be an actress, director, or producer, I might try my hand at it, at least with some short pieces. Doing so might actually give me some opportunities to advance my writing career, so I can’t rule it out. If I need to recruit actors at some point, I will probably do that through Facebook.

I believe the project I will be starting tomorrow will be a darkly comic detective story involving criminal clowns, but I might find myself pulled in another direction. It’s funny how that works sometimes. Other possibilities include a sort of coming of age tale set in the world of ballroom dance, a first date that goes south thanks to the powerful corn lobby, two spoof/parody pieces, a Bay-sian special effects thriller, an inspiring sports movie, a screwball comedy set during the Great Depression (nothing says “funny” like depression), an update of a Moliere play, a tense political chess game, a couple of candidates for Lifetime Movies for Women, a couple of animated features, a ghost story unraveled by a spunky feminist college student just after WWII, and a remake of a Hitchcock classic.

I would love to do a Christmas special and see if a new one can be good, but without the glow of nostalgia I’m not sure a new one can make it. Also, with “Hungry”, I know what will happen to the characters for two sequels and a spin-off TV series with one of the secondary characters. (I have two other series ideas, but I am focusing on the movie side now.)

“Hungry” is kind of a problem. Of the three I have completed, it is simultaneously the easiest sell, the easiest one to turn over to independent filmmakers, and the one I want most to do myself. Well, it’s been percolating twenty-three years—it ought to be versatile.

We’ll see how things go. I will need to start calling agencies again soon. I might put it off an additional week, because next week I am taking a class on tax preparation, hoping to come up with another day job, at least temporarily.

I have other goals for the New Year. I want to continue my weight loss and become more active, of course. That is not so much a new thing as trying to keep on in the direction I have been. I also want to keep in better touch with my cousins, which means brushing up on my Italian. When I am there for a few days, I become pretty functional, but surrounded by English here it becomes hard to remember the simplest things. For regular resolutions, I am trying to quit playing with my hair (I keep messing with the tangles, and it’s like I’m verging on trichotillomania), and keep my thoughts pure. Should be a fun year.