December 2020

By next summer, once this pandemic is hopefully over with, I may begin the turn towards literary work once more. Everything is simpler with a book because I tend to focus on one project at a time. 

For whatever reason, my screenwriting spells usually involve planning and writing several projects in a row. I've been focused on TV series for several years, so normally I plot the series and write the pilot then move on to the next one.

I have eight projects in the works currently, so you can be sure I'm still in screenwriting mode. Thankfully, I have done extensive work already on six of those projects. One of the other two is a new TV series I have in mind. The other is a novel series that has been sitting in the back of my mind for the past fifteen years patiently waiting its turn.

The jury is still out on that passion project because it will be a massive endeavor that will take up the better part of two years just to get it to a publisher. I may have a decision to make with that project because setting out on that adventure means turning my back on screenwriting to some extent, something I am reluctant to do again.

I may have to decide to postpone that ambitious novel series, or I could use the momentum and confidence I have gained the past few years writing TV series and go ahead and write that novel series as a TV mini-series instead.

Here is where I run into a major predicament with writing a TV Series over a novel series.

The Budget.

There is no budget in a novel series. Besides, I would be devastated to have to toss this story onto my pile of forgotten screenplays.

Whether I can get producers or publishers to drink my brand of crazy or not these projects are all getting written sooner or later. Be that as a screenplay or a novel.

 

Halloween 2020

Part of being a writer is making adjustments, not only to your words but also to where you focus your attention. Over the past year, I have been all-in on screenwriting. Three NEW projects were my main focus. Two of which I worked on with my longtime writing partner Chuck Thomas.

Those two are both high-concept projects where we tried to tap into the zeitgeist for inspiration. Both have garnered recent interest and one of them has been entered into a screenwriting contest. It has been a decade since I've entered a script into a screenwriting contest. Would I have entered it if the pandemic had never happened? Maybe not. But with the world all off its axis in 2020, entering a screenwriting contest or two makes more sense these days, especially with three new projects to test the waters.

I made an adjustment last year. At the time, I was finishing up a novel series and a novella. I needed to freshen things up a bit. The novel series is part of a package that includes a companion screenplay mini-series. And the novella is part of a similar package that includes a second screenplay mini-series.

I was all geared up to focus on the second mini-series after I recently finished my third NEW screenplay. Over the past month, I have been going over some of the feedback I received this year on my NEW projects. Even though more and more productions are starting back up, the pandemic has changed things in the business in the short-term.

As a novelist, I can think as big as I like. As a screenwriter during the pandemic, there are understandable limitations to what can be produced during this era. Hopefully, this era ends sometime next year and we can all return to some version of normalcy. Until then, I am making a slight change to my current writing plan.

The Plan to take me into the New Year includes:

1) Polishing and pimping one of my projects with Chuck.

2) Rewriting the pilot for the third New story of the past year.

3) Writing one new screenplay that could either become the pilot to a screenplay mini-series or be its own stand-alone movie.

Beyond this screenwriting plan, I am also expecting to make a turn back towards literary work at some point next year. The novel series and the novella are two of three literary projects that I look to refocus on next year. The plan for those three projects is to have them ready for a staggered release beginning in late 2022 or early 2023.

I have released a total of six literary works since 2012. Monarch was released as four separate books over the span of a year. Psykosis was released in January of 2015. In February of 2018, I did a limited-time-only release of In the Wake of Newton. I did this as a limited release because it is part of a novel series/ screenplay mini-series for which I have other plans.

It looks like I have enough to keep myself busy for a while. I'll try and give another update after the New Year. We'll see how much my plans have changed at that time.