These blog posts are a way for me to try and express my creative intentions for the future and to test my resolve. It is one thing to have discussions about what may be a good course of action, but it is another to actually plot a course to reach a destination.
Speaking of destinations, I have set an entirely different course this year. When the calendar flipped over to 2013, I just wanted a laid back year to collect my thoughts and plan for future writing endeavors. Then I was asked to help write a new story by a former writing partner. It was a welcome diversion and another awesome writing experience. It changed the course of the year to some degree in a very good way. Once that first draft was complete, I began to catch up on years of notebooks that had gone without review. No plan had really begun to take shape for the future and I was soooooo...... glad of it. I was able to just be for about two months as I sifted through the words of the past in those notebooks.
A part of me didn't want that period of review to end. I so badly needed my levels of stress reduced after the tumultuous past two years. Those years had such an effect upon me that I considered beginning work on another book just to detail the difficulties I experienced. Maybe I will some day, but I don't believe it is in my best interest at this time.
What's in my best interest is making good decisions with my time. For nearly a decade I have made my writing decisions largely on my own, with some help from friends and family. A point was reached with the completion of the novel where I believe it is in the interest of my writing career to seek further guidance. I have been fortunate to achieve the writing goals I set out for myself over the past decade. I read an article on screenwriting back around 2000 that stuck with me and set my course for the future. It stated that it would take the writing of a dozen screenplays to truly become a screenwriter. Without a degree in writing I thought that was certainly true in my case. That article set me out on a journey. The writing of those first dozen screenplays was a test, but the test didn't stop there. I wanted to possess the ability to write in every medium possible. Thus, the blog posts, articles, short-stories and that first novel were all tests for me. While I hope to never be finished testing myself, it is time to focus on quality over quantity and diversity. I have learned a good bit about my strengths and weakness as a writer. Now it is about implementing that knowledge in a way that others may enjoy and possibly benefit from.
A path forward has begun to take shape, yet it is always open to change depending on circumstances. The 2nd edition of Monarch is something that I put off doing because I needed separation. I have begun work on it and it will be done before the end of the year. Separate from the project that was begun earlier in the year, there are three screenplays that are in need of tweaking.
While I reserve the right to begin work on any new project at any given time, outlining is the plan for several new story ideas this year and not continuous writing. This year is about preparation and good decision making, not about adding to a stockpile that may or may not see the light of day. However, I do have a novella that may very well hit Amazon as an eBook by year's end.
My favorite new project may be one that I have already written as two-part screenplays. I no longer see it as two movies, and long thought it would be my first novel. It was the one story that I told no one about because it meant so much to me. It may very well be my next novel-- I would love to rework it into one. The thing is, it could also make a brilliant mini-series for HBO or Showtime. There are positives for doing it either way. I definitely see TV as a viable way to tell this story. I would not have said so when I originally wrote it. Thankfully a mini-series and novel are very similar in their structures, so I don't have to decide just yet. But soon. If I can attract representation by 2014, maybe they could provide the guidance to make that decision.
The rest of the year looks promising. I have countless projects in waiting but feel no rush to complete them, which is nice for a change. I'll take it as it comes, addressing things as they need it. I have put the work in and passed my tests. No need to be tense. It sure feels good to be in the driver's seat with the cruise control on.
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