And Onto Other Things

Okay, so my big plan for November was to write a novel, or at least get deep into a first draft of one.

Well, that didn't happen. As usual, I'm full of excuses, but I don't feel like this has been a failure. My job is still long hours. My commute is still awful, and seems to grow a little worse every day. But my creativity, well I'm feeling a little better about it.

I started strong. I was really going to write those 50,000 words. And after my second writing session I had an idea for a screenplay. So I dropped the novel and wrote the screenplay instead.

No, not exactly.

I'm still percolating on this screenplay idea. It's a thriller and I usually write comedy, so I find this interesting in the same way that I thought trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days was a good idea. But the point is that trying to write the novel opened something in my brain and I came up with this idea that will eventually turn into something grand. I just know it.

And I'm not done with the novel. I'm just done for now. I actually really loved the adaptation process. I didn't have to think so terribly hard as to create a new world since I had the screenplay written, I just had to reimagine the telling a of a world I already created. Extremely challenging, and the few days I did work on it just left me wanting longer stretches of time to work on it. I know during my next break from unemployment, I'm going to crank out that first draft and it's going to feel great.

I wonder if I'll end up writing the novel before this new screenplay. We shall see. Another new project added to my internal To Do list.

A New Challenge

I haven't been blogging much lately. I started a job in August that requires long hours and a substantial commute. It's been draining. I haven't been writing. At all. I even have a sit com pilot outlined, an idea that I like, but I just don't have the taste for it right now. I don't feel funny. Most of the time, I just feel tired.

So I'm going to participate in NaNoWriMo. Yes, I'm going to try and write a novel in 30 days. A little crazy, but I'm going to adapt a screenplay I wrote around this time last year, so I have a pretty solid outline working for me. I think it will help free my mind and make me use my creativity in a different way than I'm used to, hopefully expanding my skills. And I don't have to be funny in the same way I do when writing dialogue that's supposed to make people laugh out loud, and that is a relief. I've written 3 pages, although in novel writing pages don't count like screenplay pages. It's all about the words. 832 down, 49,168 to go.

I love the idea of so much creative energy going towards the same place at the same time. Good luck to everyone participating!