Day 151: And so, it begins…

Day 151.  When I was editing, all I could think about was writing.  Now that I have no more editing to do, all I can think is, “holy shit!  I have no excuse not to be writing!”  And so, it begins—my writing crusade.  On Day 85, I signed up for Script Frenzy.  That really did give me a nice kick in the pants and created a lot of productivity on the script but the editing crusade took precedence over it in the end.  One crusade at a time was the lesson learned.  Ahem.  I can only imagine how many similar lessons I’ll be learning the rest of this year.  Oh well.  Not going to focus on my mistakes.  Onward!

The reality is, I must impose a deadline on myself in order to finish my script.  Otherwise, I’ll never get it done.  I’ll never make a third movie.  And I’ll never accomplish my yearlong experiment in prolific creativity.  Wow.  When you put it that way, I gotta kick it into high gear!  I really am over just poking along on this script—which I’ve been doing for almost a year now—and putting it on the back burner—where it’s been since I came up with the idea.  Therefore, I am, right this second, officially deeming it my top priority!  Oh, my.  Why am I suddenly scared shitless?  Probably has something to do with the “no excuse” I mentioned earlier.  Yikes.  I need to reread Day 15:  Fear: Friend or Foe?   It’s my friend!  Fear is just an indicator to take massive action, right?  So suck it up, lady, and grow a pair!  Okay, fine!  Letting it go.  Here is where I’m at—I need 30 more pages to reach a, “first words on paper” draft.  I need to get to a “first words on paper” draft as soon as possible because then I can do a rewrite to reach a real first draft.  Then I can attach a director to it and then I can finally get this third project moving forward with a full head of steam!

I can do this!

Sounds easy enough.  Yeah, right!  I haven’t even looked at it since April 14th.  I don’t even remember what it’s about!  No, I do.  I think.  Alrighty then.  I definitely need some transition time to stick a toe back into the project—I really should know what the hell I’m writing about.  I also need to wrap my mind around the male lead character I’m stuck on.  Oh, yeah, that’s right.  I’m stuck on him.  Okay, it’s all coming back to me now.  Focus is on a proper bio, timeline, intention and arc.  I’ve got to make the remainder of this week all about revisiting the project and nailing down my other lead.  Then I’ll begin pages on—wait for it—Monday.  As I said on Day 86:  Mondays, Mondays are when I start everything.  That also happens to be the day I started the editing crusade as well.  It’s a sign!

So, here’s the new game plan:  I take the rest of this week to do the aforementioned prep work.  I begin pages on Monday, June 4.  I write two pages a day five days a week for the next three weeks.  I will then, theoretically, have a “first words on paper” draft and complete my writing crusade on June 22.  Piece of cake.  Remind me I said that next week when I can’t get myself to write one sentence let alone two pages!

Until tomorrow, create from what you have…self-imposed deadlines.

Kelli Joan Bennett is a filmmaker, actress, writer, entrepreneur, advocate for creative thinking and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Think Outside The Box Inside The Box Media. Follow @FromWhatYouHave