Weekly update
Well, this week was tough. Tough with a capital T. In fact, TOUGH will all capitals. There, I said it. But I survived and I did everything on my dailly lists and weekly lists EXCEPT take photos. I'm reallly struggling with taking a photo every day.
The 'take a photo a day' thing came from the fact that I never owned a camera, HATED having my photo taken and generally broke out into hives whenever one came near me. I also developed this weird theory that if you spent all the time capturing the memory on film, then you wouldn't actully experience the memory. Or something like that. It sounded good when I was drunk. Then I went to New York last year and decided that I had to have a camera if I went to New York. What? I was going to come home and talk about how good Times Square was? I don't think so. Talk is cheap. A picture tells a thousand words. Pick your metaphor. Pictures are good. So I bought a camera and I took like a gazillion photos. I've barely looked at them since I got back but I like the fact that they are there. And more importantly, I liked taking photos. So I thought I would get back in the habit of taking photos. Maybe one a day was a bit ambitious. Are there really that many things I want to capture for posteriety? Maybe I need to change it to keep my camera with me at all times so that I can take a photo when I want to. A need to take photos would probably develop into an obsession and I really don't need another one of them. I remember thinking it was a really good idea when I put it on the list. Turns out it is not a good idea, and for the first couple of weeks, all I have done is take pictures of the birds in my backyard. BORING!
I'm going to have to rethink this one.
In brighter news, and trust me, there wasn't much of that this week, I did cross off my "get a play produced in another country" and I started a new day job which mean I will actually have money coming in while trying to pursue this dream of mine but the writing front hasn't exactly been lit by the muses so to speak. I played around with different times to work (early in the morning, at night) even though I know, I KNOW, that writing at night is a fool's errand and if I'm going to do this then I am going to have to get up at 4.00am every morning. EVERY MORNING! Except Sunday, because Dude, even God knew the effects of all work and no play.
I also started a short story which I thought would be a lot further on at this point than it is. But I started it. I wanted to stick it in a drawer and forget about it but I kept going. I'm experimenting with it. I'm putting words on paper. I coudl probably have put more words on the paper but there are words, and they are on paper. Are you getting my message about words and paper? I surely hope so.
So there was that.
I also started brainstorming a new short play that is due next Monday. It's on the theme of "Inns & Outs: Hotel Lobby" which gave me about 25,000 ideas of what to do with such an open theme and none of them came to anything. But I think I'm on the money now. I'm seem to be writing a lot of things where people aren't actually talking to each other. I don't know what that means.
I also 'finished' Act One of New Light Shine and when I say 'finished' I mean that I have put words on paper and they kind of, if you squint a lot and have no judgement, look like Act One of a play. It's going to need a lot of work when I put it together next month into something resembling a play. However, in the grand scheme of things, it actually is sounding a lot better than it did in any of the previous drafts, and there were a lot of previous drafts.
What else for this week?
I seemed to be constantly reading this week. I finished Shutter Island by Denis Lehane, who is surely the greatest crime writer we have. Surely! I don't even like crime fiction and I dig Denis Lehane. I also dig the movies made from his books and I'm sure I am going to love Shutter Island when it hits the big screen. I also read 7 plays and the highlight was rereading The Homecoming by Harold Pinter yesterday. I never used to like Pinter. He always seemed to leave me cold. HOW WRONG WAS I? The man was a genius. GENIUS. There is going to be a lot more Pinter on the menu this year. A lot more. I also read a great screenplay, Mixtape that is from this great website that talks about screenplays that are in development or in production or should be. I can't wait to see Mixtape. It's the kind of screenplay I am hoping to write this year.
That just about sums it up for this week just gone. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either. Baby steps, baby steps.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Experiment
Well, there were some definite results for the little experiment to see if I could write at night and still get as much done as I did when I get up at the godawful time of 4.00 am.
And the answer is ... NO!
I don't know what happens at night but there is just no time. No time! And there are distractions. People call, the boyfriend wants to do unreasonable things like speak to me, and then he wants to eat. I mean, COME ON!
So, it is back to the 4.00 am starts. Which is going to be hell but I probably just have to harden the fuck up.
And the answer is ... NO!
I don't know what happens at night but there is just no time. No time! And there are distractions. People call, the boyfriend wants to do unreasonable things like speak to me, and then he wants to eat. I mean, COME ON!
So, it is back to the 4.00 am starts. Which is going to be hell but I probably just have to harden the fuck up.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
New plans
Well, now comes the real test on how to do everything on my gorgeously obese list and still remain relatively sane. I started a new job that will continue for mostly the first half of this year and while it will bring some much needed cash to my barely breathing bank account, it will take many important hours away from my day.
Yesterday, the first day, I woke up at 4.00 am and worked till about 7.00 am. I spent the rest of the day with toothpicks in my eyes to keep myself awake. But that's okay. At least something got done. I didn't get much else done when I got home last night as I watched the minutes tick by until I could reasonably declare stumps and head to bed.
I didn't wake up at 4.00 am this morning. Which may turn out to be folly and I will live to regret it but I thought I would try and see if I could write tonight and then compare notes on which is better. I would like to write at night because 4.00 am is just so awful it makes it all seem like work. Which it is, but it really shouldn't feel like it.
So that is the plan for today. Work tonight, see if what I do tonight is any better than what I did yesterday and then repeat until finished.
Yesterday, the first day, I woke up at 4.00 am and worked till about 7.00 am. I spent the rest of the day with toothpicks in my eyes to keep myself awake. But that's okay. At least something got done. I didn't get much else done when I got home last night as I watched the minutes tick by until I could reasonably declare stumps and head to bed.
I didn't wake up at 4.00 am this morning. Which may turn out to be folly and I will live to regret it but I thought I would try and see if I could write tonight and then compare notes on which is better. I would like to write at night because 4.00 am is just so awful it makes it all seem like work. Which it is, but it really shouldn't feel like it.
So that is the plan for today. Work tonight, see if what I do tonight is any better than what I did yesterday and then repeat until finished.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Cross, cross, tick
As of 5.00 am this morning, I get to cross another thing off my list.
82. Have a play produced in a country I haven’t had a play produced in
Done.
Just found out I am having a play produced in Toronto, Canada, which is the first time my words have hit the maple leaf country.
Excitement, excitement!
Time to break out the champagne and comply with
97. Celebrate all successes, no matter how small
and somehow also comply with
105. Limit my drinking
This is all very tough.
82. Have a play produced in a country I haven’t had a play produced in
Done.
Just found out I am having a play produced in Toronto, Canada, which is the first time my words have hit the maple leaf country.
Excitement, excitement!
Time to break out the champagne and comply with
97. Celebrate all successes, no matter how small
and somehow also comply with
105. Limit my drinking
This is all very tough.
New items on the list
Yesterday, I added 5 new things to the list:
112. Rewrite short play
113. Rewrite short play
114. Rewrite short play
115. Rewrite short play
116. Rewrite short play
Alright, I put the same thing five times but if you saw the massive moutain of half-drafts of short plays that I have, you would have put it down 5 times as well.
Part of the aim of this year is to claear the decks this year, take all that wonderful writing I have done that now sits in folders somewhere and turn it into actual plays. Cause, dah, that's what my job is supposed to be ... isn't it?
112. Rewrite short play
113. Rewrite short play
114. Rewrite short play
115. Rewrite short play
116. Rewrite short play
Alright, I put the same thing five times but if you saw the massive moutain of half-drafts of short plays that I have, you would have put it down 5 times as well.
Part of the aim of this year is to claear the decks this year, take all that wonderful writing I have done that now sits in folders somewhere and turn it into actual plays. Cause, dah, that's what my job is supposed to be ... isn't it?
Word of the Week
Number 48 (new word every week) was a touch hard this week. There was nothing in what I read that jumped out of me and said “You don’t know me” but in the general throw of things there were two words that caught my attention:
1. Invictus – which is the name of the new Clint Eastwood film that I CAN’T WAIT to go and see when it opens later this week. I should know this having studied Latin a long time ago. Well, at least I knew it was Latin. But a quick trip to the Latin dictionary solved the mystery.
Invictus – unbeaten, unconquerable.
2. Lackadaisical – this is a word I know but don’t know. I guess the word itself gives it away. Lacking something. But I heard a woman use it in the pub the other night and I thought ‘Is she using that correctly?’. Turns out she was, so kudos to her for being half-tanked and pulling out the big words.
Lackadaisical – unenthusiastic, listless, idle. 2. Feebly sentimental and affected.
Who said pubs were a waste of time?
1. Invictus – which is the name of the new Clint Eastwood film that I CAN’T WAIT to go and see when it opens later this week. I should know this having studied Latin a long time ago. Well, at least I knew it was Latin. But a quick trip to the Latin dictionary solved the mystery.
Invictus – unbeaten, unconquerable.
2. Lackadaisical – this is a word I know but don’t know. I guess the word itself gives it away. Lacking something. But I heard a woman use it in the pub the other night and I thought ‘Is she using that correctly?’. Turns out she was, so kudos to her for being half-tanked and pulling out the big words.
Lackadaisical – unenthusiastic, listless, idle. 2. Feebly sentimental and affected.
Who said pubs were a waste of time?
Week Two Update
I had somewhat of a free pass as this week was nine days long. HOW WONDERFUL, I hear you all say. Where do we sign up for this marvellous invention that is a nine day week? Well, if I could figure that out, I’d be in the Bahamas by now with a young, virile man that didn’t speak a lot of English. But I digress. As the new year started on a Friday, the first week was Friday to Friday. But it’s easier for all concerned, namely me, to have the week run from Monday to Sunday, hence this week was nine days long. Lucky me.
However, I didn’t get much achieved on either Monday or Tuesday as there was a heatwave here in Melbourne and brain turned to mush, only computing things like ‘We need more icy poles’ and ‘God, I don’t think I have ever been hotter in my ENTIRE LIFE’. So there wasn’t much in the way of work achieved in those two days.
But here are some of the things that I achieved, or am working towards achieving:
11. Finish a full-length play
I have been hard, hard, hard at work on rewriting a full-length play of mine New Light Shine. This is about draft 948 but who’s counting? But I think this is the money draft, as we say in the playwriting business. Well, we don’t actually, or some might, but I do think I’m on the money with this. The copious drafts had only served to completely complicate what is actually a very simple story. So I’ve stripped it back as much as I can and begun from that point.
I’m trying to write and finish six full-length plays this year. I know. CRAZY. But that means that I need to finish a play every two months. January and February is New Light Shine.
25. Write a short story
Would you like to know how long it has been since I have written a short story? A LONG TIME! But this year I am going to write 5. CRAZY CRAZY! I started my first one last night. It’s about a young woman that mistakes sex for love and is trying to learn the meaning of both. It’s a first draft, so it’s best just to keep going with it and not talk too much about it until I actually get something onto a page.
80. Find a new day job
Because if I have to deal with many more lawyers I’m going to go postal on all of them. Seriously. Kickstarted the search on Friday with an application to work as a writer of sorts at state parliament.
2. Read 100 novels
I’m not quite sure when this became a good idea and made it’s way onto the list, even though it is a great idea. 100 novels. How wonderful. That means 2 novels a week, and while I’m a voracious reader, 2 novels a week on top of everything else is a huge ask. Anyway, as mentioned before, I started with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel which was not only long, but very, very dense. Don’t let that put you off though. It is quite marvellous. But I’m now onto number 4 and so catching up, catching up.
I get the feeling that a lot of this year is going to be catching up.
However, I didn’t get much achieved on either Monday or Tuesday as there was a heatwave here in Melbourne and brain turned to mush, only computing things like ‘We need more icy poles’ and ‘God, I don’t think I have ever been hotter in my ENTIRE LIFE’. So there wasn’t much in the way of work achieved in those two days.
But here are some of the things that I achieved, or am working towards achieving:
11. Finish a full-length play
I have been hard, hard, hard at work on rewriting a full-length play of mine New Light Shine. This is about draft 948 but who’s counting? But I think this is the money draft, as we say in the playwriting business. Well, we don’t actually, or some might, but I do think I’m on the money with this. The copious drafts had only served to completely complicate what is actually a very simple story. So I’ve stripped it back as much as I can and begun from that point.
I’m trying to write and finish six full-length plays this year. I know. CRAZY. But that means that I need to finish a play every two months. January and February is New Light Shine.
25. Write a short story
Would you like to know how long it has been since I have written a short story? A LONG TIME! But this year I am going to write 5. CRAZY CRAZY! I started my first one last night. It’s about a young woman that mistakes sex for love and is trying to learn the meaning of both. It’s a first draft, so it’s best just to keep going with it and not talk too much about it until I actually get something onto a page.
80. Find a new day job
Because if I have to deal with many more lawyers I’m going to go postal on all of them. Seriously. Kickstarted the search on Friday with an application to work as a writer of sorts at state parliament.
2. Read 100 novels
I’m not quite sure when this became a good idea and made it’s way onto the list, even though it is a great idea. 100 novels. How wonderful. That means 2 novels a week, and while I’m a voracious reader, 2 novels a week on top of everything else is a huge ask. Anyway, as mentioned before, I started with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel which was not only long, but very, very dense. Don’t let that put you off though. It is quite marvellous. But I’m now onto number 4 and so catching up, catching up.
I get the feeling that a lot of this year is going to be catching up.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Back to Basics
So, it's been a tough couple of days. I'm blaming the heat on the lack of actual work down but maybe the heat is only partly to blame. Maybe it is just me, and my tendency to want to take the laziest path possible. And sitting on the couch watching 30 Rock seems like a much better option than sitting at my desk and doing some actual work. It sometimes just feels too hard. And while I sit on the couch, the voice of doubt starts to creep in, getting louder and louder until very very quickly, it all looks a bit hopeless. Actually quite a bit more than a bit. And then it all crumbles to pieces.
Thank god I started this list. It's a constant reminder that motivation and achievement are hard won battles that need constant attention.
So, the first two days of the week were pretty much a write-off except for the writer's residency application but I got back on the writing horse this morning and am working my little heart out on the enxt draft of a full-length play New Light Shine and am starting to make some real progress on it. I hope to keep working on it for the rest of the week and have a whole chunk of it done by the end of the week.
It looks like I'm going back to day job work next week so I need to get myself prepared before the majority of my hours is taken over by soul-sucking tasks. Oh, the humanity.
Back to the battle.
Thank god I started this list. It's a constant reminder that motivation and achievement are hard won battles that need constant attention.
So, the first two days of the week were pretty much a write-off except for the writer's residency application but I got back on the writing horse this morning and am working my little heart out on the enxt draft of a full-length play New Light Shine and am starting to make some real progress on it. I hope to keep working on it for the rest of the week and have a whole chunk of it done by the end of the week.
It looks like I'm going back to day job work next week so I need to get myself prepared before the majority of my hours is taken over by soul-sucking tasks. Oh, the humanity.
Back to the battle.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
VICTORY
As I swelter here in the heatwave in Melbourne, I have put down the icy pole for a moment and managed to cross another thing off the list:
Number 69 Apply for a writers residence.
Just finished my application to go to a wonderful place in Connecticut for four weeks. Please, please, pick me.
3 down, 207 to go.
Back to the icy poles
Number 69 Apply for a writers residence.
Just finished my application to go to a wonderful place in Connecticut for four weeks. Please, please, pick me.
3 down, 207 to go.
Back to the icy poles
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Busy Woman
That is me. Busy, busy, busy.
My to-do list just for today is:
1. First draft of an application for a writer's residency.
2. First draft of an application for a new day job.
3. Scene Two of New Light Shine
4. First draft of a short story.
5. Blogging.
Blink twice and you'll miss me today. I'm THAT busy.
My to-do list just for today is:
1. First draft of an application for a writer's residency.
2. First draft of an application for a new day job.
3. Scene Two of New Light Shine
4. First draft of a short story.
5. Blogging.
Blink twice and you'll miss me today. I'm THAT busy.
HEAT
Oh, I hate this time of year. Hate, hate, hate. Have I made myself clear? And it's all due to one thing. HEAT. It's unbelievable. Having grown up in the great town of Brisbane, Queensland, I know about heat. It's hot all the time there, even in winter. But it ends. It gets hot during the day and then it drops at night. Not to a liveable level but there is always some difference between day heat and night heat.
The same does not apply for little ol' Melbourne. It gets hot, it stays hot, it's 3.00am and it's 30 degrees celcius. And then there is a thunderstorm at breakfast and then it's cold, cold, cold. It's weird and it should be stopped.
Anyway, yesterday was one of those days when it was 30 degrees by breakfast and then just kept getting hotter. Days like this see all my lovely work plans evaporate before they hit the page, and all I can do is lie in various states of undress and vow never to complain about the winter this year. This of course won't happen but I keep on vowing.
However, in the somewhat cooler light of day this morning, I found that in my hear-induced insanity yesterday, I managed to completely rethink a full-length play I had been struggling with for at least two years. I employed the Keep It Simple Stupid method and suddenly found that it was starting to work. IT'S WORKING! Which is completely and utterly exciting and reason enough to forget that I did practically nothing yesterday and get cracking with everything on my current to-do list today.
The same does not apply for little ol' Melbourne. It gets hot, it stays hot, it's 3.00am and it's 30 degrees celcius. And then there is a thunderstorm at breakfast and then it's cold, cold, cold. It's weird and it should be stopped.
Anyway, yesterday was one of those days when it was 30 degrees by breakfast and then just kept getting hotter. Days like this see all my lovely work plans evaporate before they hit the page, and all I can do is lie in various states of undress and vow never to complain about the winter this year. This of course won't happen but I keep on vowing.
However, in the somewhat cooler light of day this morning, I found that in my hear-induced insanity yesterday, I managed to completely rethink a full-length play I had been struggling with for at least two years. I employed the Keep It Simple Stupid method and suddenly found that it was starting to work. IT'S WORKING! Which is completely and utterly exciting and reason enough to forget that I did practically nothing yesterday and get cracking with everything on my current to-do list today.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Week One
Well, I have come to the end of my first week on this little (read: HUGE) adventure and so far, so … fairly okay. Well, I wasn't expecting to wake up on 2 January and have everything look completely different. Well, maybe I was but a part of me knew that was not realistic.
But even though as previously mentioned things nearly went off the rails as everything got dropped to finish the project. But yesterday and this morning I did rally to the cause and get everything on my Daily and Weekly tasks done and dusted.
So, quick recap:
- All of the weekly and daily tasks were done. Tick.
- I crossed two thing of the list – I wrote a short play and a one-act play. Tick, tick
- I started work on a variety of other tasks. These include:
- I've begun number 110 – turn my writing room into a WRITING ROOM which sounds ridiculous but then you haven't seen my writing room. It's a junk heap. Paper comes here to breed, dust comes here to breed, everything no one wants comes here to breed. So, no more. Bit by bit and it's going to take a while, I'm going to turn this into Creativity Central.
- Number 102 - At the beginning of the week, the emails were above 1,000. They are now at 91. Victory over the inbox is mine.
- I have begun working on the next draft of my full-length play New Light Shine which will become number 11. I've got a list of tasks for research and backstory that is a mile long, and that was only after reading Scene One. Oh, dear.
- I've done some work this afternoon on some applications for some writers residencies so that will become number 69.
Tick, tick, tick.
- I've begun number 110 – turn my writing room into a WRITING ROOM which sounds ridiculous but then you haven't seen my writing room. It's a junk heap. Paper comes here to breed, dust comes here to breed, everything no one wants comes here to breed. So, no more. Bit by bit and it's going to take a while, I'm going to turn this into Creativity Central.
So, all in all, it has been a pretty good week. Here's to Week two.
Word of the Week
Number 48 on the list is to learn a new word every week.
I added this to the list mainly because every time I read a book and I come across a word I don't know, I think to myself I will go and look this up in the dictionary. And then I never do. So this is to make sure that I always go and look up the word.
There were a couple of words this week, one of which I pretended to have known for about a decade and never really did:
Bildungsroman - a novel dealing with one person's early life and development.
So there you go
But word of the week goes to (drum roll please)
Parabola
An open plane curve formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane parallel to its side, resembling the path of a projectile under the action of gravity.
Yeah, I have no idea either.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
WTF
I just went to cross off "Write a one-act play" off my list, as this is is ALL I have been doing for the last two days straight and surely, in my great wisdom, I have added a play or two that is somewhere between a short play and a full-length play.
Surely in between laughing every day and writing everything I can possibly think of, I have added a one-act play.
Ah, no.
Well, that is just not good enough, so we are adding it to the list.
111. Write a one-act play.
Which now looks like this:
111. Write a one-act play
Two down, 208 to go. Wow. This is going to be a long year.
So, it was all going wonderfully well. It was hard but I was managing. And then one little email set off a nuclear bomb.
Let me explain.
On New Years Eve I sent off a whole bunch of submissions to a whole heap of places for upcoming festivals and whatnot. Actually, more festivals than whatnot. Anyway, one of these was a festival at a University in Georgia and the initial application was to submit a synopsis of the play that you wanted to submit for consideration. Easy. Done. When I pressed send and sent my application to the other side of the world and then some, I had a very rough, very bad first draft of the play I wanted to submit. I somehow got it into my head that I would have about a month to get the next draft together before I got a yay or nay to whether they wanted me to submit it.
It was three days later that I got a lovely email saying sure, send us your play. Ah ... No worries.
So for the last two days I have been chained to my pen getting the next draft of this little masterpiece ready for public consumption. Everything else went out the window, all the daily tasks, all the weekly tasks, the list itself, as I went hell for leather to get this done.
And it's done. And I really like it.
Half of me is happy as the proverbial pig in mud that I just worked and worked until it was done. The rest of me is like, I screwed it all in less than a week.
BUT, here's what I have done since I sent off the masterpiece this morning:
1. I have caught up with the play readings.
2. I have laughed and laughed.
3. I have caught up on my daily diary.
4. I am working right now on catching up with the blogging.
And before the night is done, hopefully I will have caught up with the marketing tasks, and all the other things that I need to get done before Week 2 is upon me.
I am still way in this. THIS is going to happen.
Let me explain.
On New Years Eve I sent off a whole bunch of submissions to a whole heap of places for upcoming festivals and whatnot. Actually, more festivals than whatnot. Anyway, one of these was a festival at a University in Georgia and the initial application was to submit a synopsis of the play that you wanted to submit for consideration. Easy. Done. When I pressed send and sent my application to the other side of the world and then some, I had a very rough, very bad first draft of the play I wanted to submit. I somehow got it into my head that I would have about a month to get the next draft together before I got a yay or nay to whether they wanted me to submit it.
It was three days later that I got a lovely email saying sure, send us your play. Ah ... No worries.
So for the last two days I have been chained to my pen getting the next draft of this little masterpiece ready for public consumption. Everything else went out the window, all the daily tasks, all the weekly tasks, the list itself, as I went hell for leather to get this done.
And it's done. And I really like it.
Half of me is happy as the proverbial pig in mud that I just worked and worked until it was done. The rest of me is like, I screwed it all in less than a week.
BUT, here's what I have done since I sent off the masterpiece this morning:
1. I have caught up with the play readings.
2. I have laughed and laughed.
3. I have caught up on my daily diary.
4. I am working right now on catching up with the blogging.
And before the night is done, hopefully I will have caught up with the marketing tasks, and all the other things that I need to get done before Week 2 is upon me.
I am still way in this. THIS is going to happen.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Mini-Review
I was starting to feel a little, well not depressed, but a touch Deputy Downer after the first two days of my grand experiment. It wasn’t that the initial thrill was wearing off or that I suddenly wanted to quit or anything but there was as a definite WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? going on in my head. And a bit of YOU ARE NEVER EVER GOING TO GET CLOSE TO COMPLETING ALL THESE THINGS and a few YOU ARE A COMPLETE IDIOT thrown into the mix just to make sure I got the message.
So I thought I would step back for a couple of minutes and see just what I have accomplished in the last two days and what I am doing that is getting this list done and did.
1. Daily Tasks
There are 9 daily tasks on the list at the moment:
1. Read/Watch a play every day
5. Write for at least 1 hour every day
17. Complete a marketing task every day
19. Blog every day
32. Take a photo every day
45. Find something to laugh at every day
66. Take 5 minutes a day just to sit in silence and do nothing.
67. Tell myself something nice about myself once a day
101. Write down everything I do.
Nine tasks sounds like a lot of things to cram into days that are already overstuffed, but I guess that is the point of this year – to make my days the way that I want them and not let all the minutiae become the dominant force. I really don’t want to lie on my death bed and convince myself that I was so happy I didn’t write that play because I focused more on having clean undies.
And so far, so good, although the two that are really trying me are 66 and 67, which probably says a lot about why I need this massive intervention into my life. But I’m working on them, I’m doing them and that is what is important.
The easiest so far has been number 45. Go figure.
2. The Beginning of other tasks
I have also began some other tasks, or in the process of starting some tasks that are going to be long-term.
49. Keep a plant alive for at least 6 months.
This I started yesterday. For Christmas, I received from work a basil plant, or more accurately, I received soil and basil seeds. Yesterday, seeds went into soil and now we wait.
6. 210 Submissions
Well, I have one submission done. Only 209 to go.
2. Read 100 novels.
I’m reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel at the moment. It’s fantastic, even though it is 600 million pages long. I’m hoping a lot of short novels get published this year or else this is going to be tough.
34. Quit smoking.
I am trying very hard at this. I’ve definitely cut down but the quitting thing is tough, tough, tough. I soldier on.
46. Count to 10 before I lose my temper.
This got tested last night when the Boyfriend screwed up dinner. I counted to 10, I still lost my temper. So technically, I did do it but it didn’t work. This I will have to improve on.
102. Keep emails under control
At the start of this year, I had over 1,000 emails in my inbox. It’s now down to 661. You do the math.
103. Less TV.
Small story: I really wanted to watch a movie on TV last night. But the play that I was writing and submitting wasn’t finished. I chose the play. No TV last night. VICTORY!
105. Limit my drinking
Last two nights: Two beers. That’s limited in my opinion.
3. Weekly Tasks
There are six weekly tasks:
20. Do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.
This is tough. I HATE exercise. HATE it, even though intellectually I know that it is a must. I’ve been walking a lot but it’s always to do something. Get the papers, go the shops. This is not really exercise. So I need to work on this.
36. Eat vegetables at least 3 times a week.
Made a salad last night to go with the dinner that was almost ruined. VICTORY!
48. Learn a new word every week in the general throw of things.
Not yet …
62. Indulge in something wicked once and only once a week.
Ferrero Chocolates – that was the easiest thing in the world. I can’t believe I have to wait until next week for something else.
89. Read a screenplay once a week
Not yet …
109. Read at least one short story per week.
I read two yesterday, neither which set me on fire but still …
So that’s not too bad for two days. If only I could figure out how to add about 12 hours to every day, I would be just cruising.
So I thought I would step back for a couple of minutes and see just what I have accomplished in the last two days and what I am doing that is getting this list done and did.
1. Daily Tasks
There are 9 daily tasks on the list at the moment:
1. Read/Watch a play every day
5. Write for at least 1 hour every day
17. Complete a marketing task every day
19. Blog every day
32. Take a photo every day
45. Find something to laugh at every day
66. Take 5 minutes a day just to sit in silence and do nothing.
67. Tell myself something nice about myself once a day
101. Write down everything I do.
Nine tasks sounds like a lot of things to cram into days that are already overstuffed, but I guess that is the point of this year – to make my days the way that I want them and not let all the minutiae become the dominant force. I really don’t want to lie on my death bed and convince myself that I was so happy I didn’t write that play because I focused more on having clean undies.
And so far, so good, although the two that are really trying me are 66 and 67, which probably says a lot about why I need this massive intervention into my life. But I’m working on them, I’m doing them and that is what is important.
The easiest so far has been number 45. Go figure.
2. The Beginning of other tasks
I have also began some other tasks, or in the process of starting some tasks that are going to be long-term.
49. Keep a plant alive for at least 6 months.
This I started yesterday. For Christmas, I received from work a basil plant, or more accurately, I received soil and basil seeds. Yesterday, seeds went into soil and now we wait.
6. 210 Submissions
Well, I have one submission done. Only 209 to go.
2. Read 100 novels.
I’m reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel at the moment. It’s fantastic, even though it is 600 million pages long. I’m hoping a lot of short novels get published this year or else this is going to be tough.
34. Quit smoking.
I am trying very hard at this. I’ve definitely cut down but the quitting thing is tough, tough, tough. I soldier on.
46. Count to 10 before I lose my temper.
This got tested last night when the Boyfriend screwed up dinner. I counted to 10, I still lost my temper. So technically, I did do it but it didn’t work. This I will have to improve on.
102. Keep emails under control
At the start of this year, I had over 1,000 emails in my inbox. It’s now down to 661. You do the math.
103. Less TV.
Small story: I really wanted to watch a movie on TV last night. But the play that I was writing and submitting wasn’t finished. I chose the play. No TV last night. VICTORY!
105. Limit my drinking
Last two nights: Two beers. That’s limited in my opinion.
3. Weekly Tasks
There are six weekly tasks:
20. Do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.
This is tough. I HATE exercise. HATE it, even though intellectually I know that it is a must. I’ve been walking a lot but it’s always to do something. Get the papers, go the shops. This is not really exercise. So I need to work on this.
36. Eat vegetables at least 3 times a week.
Made a salad last night to go with the dinner that was almost ruined. VICTORY!
48. Learn a new word every week in the general throw of things.
Not yet …
62. Indulge in something wicked once and only once a week.
Ferrero Chocolates – that was the easiest thing in the world. I can’t believe I have to wait until next week for something else.
89. Read a screenplay once a week
Not yet …
109. Read at least one short story per week.
I read two yesterday, neither which set me on fire but still …
So that’s not too bad for two days. If only I could figure out how to add about 12 hours to every day, I would be just cruising.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Cross that off
Day two, and I have crossed the first thing off my list! And yep, it feels fantastic.
Look at this:
52. Write a short play.
Okay, well, I will.
And I did, so now you look like this:
52. Write a short play.
Done. It was called A Touch of War but somewhere in the drafting process it became Stupid, and Terrible which I know is asking for a cheap shot from a reviewer but still, if it works it works. Right?
Anyway, it's a 10 minute play with three female characters who are all gathered for the funeral of a soldier killed in war. They are all isolated in the same house and don't speak to each other but rather it is three monologues melded together as they all talk about this man who is never coming home.
And because resting on my laurels is never going to happen this year, I promptly submitted to a festival in Canada.
I think all that deserves a beer.
Oh bed, I love thee
Two days in and this is a pretty accurate depiction of what it feels like to be me at the moment.
But I soldier on, and am very, very close to crossing the first thing off my list.
Just for clarity's sake, that woman is not me. Her hair is way too blonde to be me.
But I soldier on, and am very, very close to crossing the first thing off my list.
Just for clarity's sake, that woman is not me. Her hair is way too blonde to be me.
Friday, January 1, 2010
What now?
So, I've declared it to the world that I'm going on this adventure. Now what?
Can I go out and get drunk to celebrate that I've made this wondrous decision. Unfortunately , no. That would be in violation of Number 105 (Limit the drinking) and karma will do nasty things like make all my hair fall out – karma does that kind of stuff doesn't it?
Anyway, to keep my hair, now is the time to start planning, and to get started on some of the list.
On the planning side, I need to go through all the submission opportunities for the next few months and see what I need to get done and when. This will (hopefully) create some sort of structure to the monolith that is the List.
But to maximise on the momentum that I am feeling right now, today I'm tackling number 52 with the writing of a short play called A Touch of War. All things going well, and even if they don't, I'll be submitting it tomorrow.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be going into detail about the items on the list. I'll also be doing weekly reviews and sometimes daily reviews of how it is all going and the general struggles and triumphs. But until we next meet …
Happy writing, happy living, happy 2010.
A little about me
A short biography, because I know that you want to know what you are dealing with.
I'm 32 years old, I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have a boyfriend and a house that is falling down around me. I'm a genius at procrastination. I tend to waste a lot of hours not doing much. I'm as stubborn as a really stubborn mule. I'm a half-decent writer. I want to be a great writer. I've had things produced, I've had things published. It's not enough. I have a tendency to be incredibly sarcastic. This is one of the few things I have no desire to change. Another thing I won't be changing is that I'm a completely unrepentant flirt and have a tendency to get myself into an awful amount of trouble because of my mouth. Well … a girl has got to have some fun.
What else?
I like …
Using a lot of paragraphs
To say simple things.
One last thing: I own thousands of books and I take pride in the face that there is always something good to read in my house.
I hope this gives you somewhat of an idea of what you are dealing with here. If not, hang around (please) and hopefully we'll get to know each other better.
Nervous Wreck
So, as you can see, with this formidable list, I'm either incredibly brave, or am an undiagnosed dumbass.
Only time will tell.
Just for clarity's sake, that's not a picture of me. I wish my hair looked that good.
Next post will be all about me, because I know you are all DYING to know.
Only time will tell.
Just for clarity's sake, that's not a picture of me. I wish my hair looked that good.
Next post will be all about me, because I know you are all DYING to know.
The 210 List
- Read/Watch a play a day
- Read 100 novels
- Visit an art gallery once a month
- Make a new friend
- Write for at least an hour a day
- 210 submissions
- Write a screenplay
- Finish everything I start
- Do a course in something I know nothing about
- Be a better girlfriend
- Finish a full-length play
- Finish a full-length play
- Finish a full-length play
- Write a full-length play
- Write a full-length play
- Write a full-length play
- Complete a marketing task every day
- Build my website
- Blog every day
- Do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes
- Write a screenplay
- Write a short screenplay
- Take a holiday
- Lose a dress size
- Write a short story
- Write a short story
- Write a short story
- Write a short story
- Write a short story
- Plot a novel
- Publish a play
- Take a photo every day
- Do my taxes
- Quit smoking
- Begin the life project
- Eat vegetables at least 3 times a week
- Write a full-length youth play
- Write a full-length youth play
- Write a short youth play
- Write a short youth play
- Write a short youth play
- Final draft of my TV pilot
- Get rid of the junk
- See a play somewhere other than where I live
- Find something to laugh at every day
- Count to 10 before I lose my temper
- Save every penny I earn from writing and use it to buy time to make more writing
- Learn a new word every week in the general throw of things
- Keep a plant alive for at least 6 months
- Get rid of all the clothes I never wear/will never wear again in my whole life
- Find a place for everything
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Write a short play
- Indulge in something wicked once and only once a week
- Bone up on my theatre history
- Use my lunch hours for something other than wandering around aimlessly
- Stop impulse purchasing
- Take 5 minutes a day just to sit in silence and do nothing
- Tell myself something nice about myself once a day
- Dance
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a writers residence
- Apply for a grant
- Apply for a grant
- Apply for a grant
- Apply for a grant
- Apply for a grant
- Find a new day job
- Have a play produced in my country
- Have a play produced in a country I haven't had a play produced in
- Brainstorm/outline an adaptation of a classic
- Write a children's play
- Write a radio play
- Become more involved in my local theatre scene
- Return emails in a timely fashion
- Treat every project as if there is someone waiting for it, wanting it, expecting it
- Read a screenplay at least once a week
- Learn how to write a treatment
- Write a monologue
- Write a monologue
- Write a monologue
- Write a monologue
- Write a monologue
- Do something wonderful and indulgent and lovely for my birthday
- Celebrate all successes, no matter how small
- Stop biting my nails
- Volunteer for something
100. Brainstorm/outline a TV mini-series
101. Write down everything I do every day
102. Keep emails under control
103. Less TV
104. Listen to more music
105. Limit my drinking
106. Treat my computer kindly
107. Read more non-fiction.
108. Cleanliness is not next to Godliness
109. Read at least one short story every week
110. Turn my writing room into a WRITING ROOM
111. Write a one-act play
So here we are. At the start of a brand new year and the start of a brand new blog.
I’ve started this blog to track this year in which I hope to change my life. Well, actually, I want to set fire to my life and see what I can make out of the ashes. Perhaps that is a little harsh but I’m planning on having a big year and I hope to accomplish many things with the end result being me creating the foundations of the life that I want to have.
You see, I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. A writer is who I am. Unfortunately, I don’t get to write all the time. In fact, I don’t get to write as much as I want to, or even need to, in order to become a writer all the time, every day, every last minute. Which is what I want. If I can see the end goal, it’s to be a full-time writer. I’m sure that there is something more catchier way to phrase this goal but that will do for the time being.
All things being equal however, being a full-time writer is not going to happen in a year. But maybe, just maybe, if I work my little butt off, I can be a part-time writer in a year. That’s the goal. To stop the day job being a full-time soul sucking exercise and turn it into a part-time necessity.
To do this, I’ve written a list. I’ve named it the 210 List. It’s what this blog is all about. Completing the 210 List. I’m thinking, wishing upon a star, praying to a number of gods, that if I put in the work, that karma will shine its light upon me.
A lot of the list is writing related because I want to put it first. Number one priority, every day. I probably don’t have to tell anyone but life is brutal in its demands. Life will fill itself up with the small stuff faster than you can say “Wait a minute! I was going to be something special!” However, changing your life can’t be just about work, work, work. All work and no play and all that jazz. I also want to be a better person. I want to be healthier, I want to participate more in life, I want to live every minute and minimise the regrets. So, there’s stuff on the 210 List to help me do that.
The list, which will be posted after this initial post, is about as ambitious as it gets. And, at the moment it is only at 110. What the hell?, I hear you all say. Okay, maybe your not but I like to imagine my audience and that’s what you are all doing. Now, you are looking all pissed and peeved and feeling like you got all ripped off. You’re about to go back to Facebook and update your status again. You: Pissed. But bear with me. There will be 210 things. It wasn’t as if someone already stole that blog name and I had to suddenly get all creative and come up with something different. This year is all about progression, about moving forward and creating change. When the change comes, and believe me I am laying out the red carpet and ordering in change’s favourite foods so it better show up, but if I wrote all the things that I wanted to achieve this year without leaving a bit of room (or a lot of room)it will be impossible to embrace whatever is about to come my way.
Simply, I want to look back on 31 December next year and see the progression from the person I am now to becoming the person I want to be. Progression. That is what we are looking for.
I’ve started this blog for accountability. It’s all well and good to say that this is the year that things are going to change, it’s much more difficult to actually change. Change is god-awful, gut-wrenchingly hard. Best to be honest about these things, isn’t it? But when the life that you want to have only exists in your daydreams, you’ve got to do something. Drastic.
I read over the list and take in the enormity of the tasks I have set myself and I feel both excited and exhausted. Which actually, when combined, produces nausea. But, as I once heard one successful person say “No one ever died from being tired”. So I’m going to be the exhaustion to one side and focus on the excited. This is going to be a great adventure and I hope you all come along for the journey. Feel free to post comments and let me know how you are changing your life, or just to give me a cyber pat on the back.
I’ve started this blog to track this year in which I hope to change my life. Well, actually, I want to set fire to my life and see what I can make out of the ashes. Perhaps that is a little harsh but I’m planning on having a big year and I hope to accomplish many things with the end result being me creating the foundations of the life that I want to have.
You see, I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. A writer is who I am. Unfortunately, I don’t get to write all the time. In fact, I don’t get to write as much as I want to, or even need to, in order to become a writer all the time, every day, every last minute. Which is what I want. If I can see the end goal, it’s to be a full-time writer. I’m sure that there is something more catchier way to phrase this goal but that will do for the time being.
All things being equal however, being a full-time writer is not going to happen in a year. But maybe, just maybe, if I work my little butt off, I can be a part-time writer in a year. That’s the goal. To stop the day job being a full-time soul sucking exercise and turn it into a part-time necessity.
To do this, I’ve written a list. I’ve named it the 210 List. It’s what this blog is all about. Completing the 210 List. I’m thinking, wishing upon a star, praying to a number of gods, that if I put in the work, that karma will shine its light upon me.
A lot of the list is writing related because I want to put it first. Number one priority, every day. I probably don’t have to tell anyone but life is brutal in its demands. Life will fill itself up with the small stuff faster than you can say “Wait a minute! I was going to be something special!” However, changing your life can’t be just about work, work, work. All work and no play and all that jazz. I also want to be a better person. I want to be healthier, I want to participate more in life, I want to live every minute and minimise the regrets. So, there’s stuff on the 210 List to help me do that.
The list, which will be posted after this initial post, is about as ambitious as it gets. And, at the moment it is only at 110. What the hell?, I hear you all say. Okay, maybe your not but I like to imagine my audience and that’s what you are all doing. Now, you are looking all pissed and peeved and feeling like you got all ripped off. You’re about to go back to Facebook and update your status again. You: Pissed. But bear with me. There will be 210 things. It wasn’t as if someone already stole that blog name and I had to suddenly get all creative and come up with something different. This year is all about progression, about moving forward and creating change. When the change comes, and believe me I am laying out the red carpet and ordering in change’s favourite foods so it better show up, but if I wrote all the things that I wanted to achieve this year without leaving a bit of room (or a lot of room)it will be impossible to embrace whatever is about to come my way.
Simply, I want to look back on 31 December next year and see the progression from the person I am now to becoming the person I want to be. Progression. That is what we are looking for.
I’ve started this blog for accountability. It’s all well and good to say that this is the year that things are going to change, it’s much more difficult to actually change. Change is god-awful, gut-wrenchingly hard. Best to be honest about these things, isn’t it? But when the life that you want to have only exists in your daydreams, you’ve got to do something. Drastic.
I read over the list and take in the enormity of the tasks I have set myself and I feel both excited and exhausted. Which actually, when combined, produces nausea. But, as I once heard one successful person say “No one ever died from being tired”. So I’m going to be the exhaustion to one side and focus on the excited. This is going to be a great adventure and I hope you all come along for the journey. Feel free to post comments and let me know how you are changing your life, or just to give me a cyber pat on the back.
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