Writebrother's Christmas Day Post- My 2006 Goals
Most people that write out New Year resolutions are full of shit. I think the main problem with people is that they think too long term, and when you do that it’s easy to fall off course. If you resolve to lose 10 pounds in 2006, you really don’t have to face the music until December when you realize that you’ve sat on your ass for 11 months and you’re going to have to down to the nearest gym to work a miracle. I think that when you set log term goals, it’s best to break them up into short-term goals so that you can keep yourself on track. Here are a few of my goals for 2006…
1. Write 4 feature specs:
Spec #1 by 3/31/06
Spec #2 by 6/30/06
Spec #3 by 9/30/06
Spec #4 by 12/31/06
So by the end of 2006 I plan to have written 5 feature specs. Not too shabby for my first 16 months.
2. Stay under 185lbs.
A lot of writers are entirely out of shape and I don’t plan on being one of them. I workout regularly, but when I don’t I tend to eat more and the pounds creep up on me. Fortunately even when I gain weight I don’t really look all that out of shape. I just end up looking more like a safety than a cornerback. Gotta stay at the cornerback size. I can pretty much make anything in life relate to football if you haven’t noticed.
3. Join a writer’s group after I get my 2nd spec of the year completed.
I figure I‘ll be a little more open about my writing by then. Not that I’m shy about it now, but I know my 3rd screenplay will be a vast improvement from my first.
4. Get an industry job.
It’s hard, but hopefully I can get one soon.
5. Get back to reading at least a book or two a month.
The past few months I haven’t read a damn thing, so I need to get back into the habit of reading. I’ve been too lazy to go pay my fine at the library, so I haven’t been able to reserve any books to pickup.
posted by writebrother @ 5:41 PM
5 Comments:
At 6:06 AM,
Shawn said…
You're nothing if not ambitious. If you accomplish #4, you can kiss #1 goodbye. Number 5 might suffer as well. An industry job will be a big time-suck; your life will not be your own. But if you get something good like a writers assistant gig on a show, you could be on staff in a year, if not sooner. An assistant gig at an agency or production company, or worse, working on set, will take you away from where you want to be. Do it for the experience if you want, but just keep in mind that you could start pulling 10-12 hour days. Trying to write four specs and work insane hours is really not feasible in the long run. I learned this the hard way.
At 7:21 AM,
oneslackmartian said…
Our family had a healthy "airing of grievances," but I got my ass kicked on "feats of strength."
What's on your book list? I got nothin'.
At 3:34 PM,
writebrother said…
S- If I do get an industry job I understand the hours will be long and such. Basically a screenplay every 3 months is comes out to about a page or 2 a day. If I can't hold a job and manage to write a page a day then I'm not built for this. I think I can do it, but you're definitely right in pointing out how time consuming an industry job is.
One- I've heard good thinsg about a book titled "Lunar Park" and I believe there's a new Chomsky book I've been meaning to read.
At 10:29 PM,
writergurl said…
I resolved, years ago, to NEVAH make anotherr New Year's resolution. It's been surprisingly easy to maintain that single resolution. YOu should try it, Works great! ;)
At 8:43 AM,
daveblud said…
I just started reading your post. I take it you didn't take the Associate Producers job.
L.A. is a tough town. When I was laid off, I spent about a month there (i'm from Ohio). I see daily the tribulations my buddies were going through (writing and such).
I just want to make my Graphic Novel.
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