Reay Jespersen

… perhaps not including the weekends. I told Jackie last night about my grand plans, and given that she has trouble getting back to sleep once she’s woken up in the morning, she informed me if I dare wake her up early on weekends, she’d kill me.

Since I’ve no intention of sleeping on the couch Friday and Saturday nights just to allow me to get up early to write, I may have to make the early rising a weekday-only thing. I’m a writer, after all, not a crazy person.

… although…

94.
I went 94 days straight fulfilling the terms of the challenge put forth to me by Tracy: to write at least 100 words for 100 days in a row. You couldn’t double up one day and miss the next, as the challenge decreed: you had to write every single day, and if you missed a day, the 100 days rebooted and started over again.

Well, it was a hell of a run, but I realized this morning that in our long drive from visiting family out of town through yesterday, I came home last night, unwound for a bit, and went to bed. No writing done. I had a few scant story ideas jotted down (ironically, not in themselves reminding me I hadn’t done my needed writing for the day), but not enough to add to the needed total; and frankly, that would be a bit of a cop-out anyway.

However, shattered as I was to have been so close to finishing the challenge cleanly the first time out and then dropping the ball for no really good reason - I mean, I’m very busy these days in various aspects of life, but yesterday I had a about an hour when Jackie was driving when I could’ve been writing instead of chatting, and not once did it occur to me to do so, beyond said story ideas - I’ve actually come through it with a much more positive outlook.

I suspect that a large part of my forgetting to write yesterday was that it had never become a habit, as I was hoping it would. Initially, the notion of making myself write at least 100 words every day suggested that I’d get so use to doing it after that time that it would become habit. Thing is, with my routinely late work hours for part of the week, and then various other things going on at home keeping Jackie and me both hopping (along with the everyday/week things that keep everyone busy), I was just writing throughout the day as I could: sometimes in the morning, a couple of times at work or on the transit ride in the morning, sometimes at night back home… basically, whenever time allowed. I never made it a real priority. Hence, there was no routine put in place. Hence, no habit formed.

I decided that what I’m going to do is combine two different elements in my writing, both of which are inspired by Tracy. First, I’m going to keep a record of how much I write every day. Secondly, I’m going to re-try (and this time DO) the 100 words for 100 days challenge. And finally, my own twist on it: I’m going to get up at the same time every day to write.

Since I can never be sure what my days at work nor my evenings and nights may hold in store, mornings are the only part of my day I have any real control over. Thus, I’m going to start getting up when Jackie does and write even before I eat breakfast. I will do my 100+ words every morning (likely over a set amount of time, perhaps 45 minutes, which would take me up to the time I’ve been getting up weekdays), dutifully record how much I wrote, and then carry on with my day as I normally would, without fear or concern that I need to remember to get that writing in whenever I’m able to.

It was Alex - a Florida resident for a while now, and so sadly distant, but still my best friend - who pointed out some years back that the short stint during which I made myself get up earlier and write before going to work were some of my happiest days. I felt good accomplishing something I enjoyed doing, and it did brighten my day-to-day routine. This plan will also get me back to that place: whatever negative things may be dealt to me over the course of the day won’t be as bad, because I’ll be in a better headspace to start with.

On the downside, it means no more sleeping in. And though I’m not doing it nearly as much the older I get (an aging thing, parents have assured me), I still vastly prefer sleeping in later to going to sleep earlier. But really, if I’m going to give this habit development its due, I have to do this every day, not just weekdays.

The other downside is that in order to get up earlier but get enough sleep every night (something I all too often neglect to give myself), I’m going to have to be going to bed earlier than I normally do. Regularly.

But I’m serious about this. I want writing to be a habit for me - not something I make myself do - and the only way that’s going to happen is to put this plan into action.

I just found out tonight that Tracy slipped on her 100 day challenge, as well. And while I was going to start again today (stand up again, dust myself off, and git back in the saddle, as it were), she’s starting Wednesday and wanted to know if I wanted to start with her, which holds appeal. Thus, Wednesday the 21st (er… one day before I was going to finish the initial 100 day challenge) shall be day 1 of the 100 day writing challenge - TAKE 2!

So I entered two one page screenplays to said competition, each based directly upon two of my drabble stories I thought would lend themselves well to such a medium. Not totally sure when the next set of demo readings are going to be posted online (if any of mine show up, I’ll be sure to mention it), nor when the contest winner will be determinted, but here’s hoping I get somewhere with it.

It would lead to the smallest demo reel ever (and it doesn’t get much more baby steps than starting with a one minute movie to my credit), but one’s gotta start somewhere!

Just to keep you posted, there are three writing-related items of note at this point:

1) A local agency I’d pitched to late last year has recently gotten back in touch with me asking to get a sample of my material.

2) A local group of producers who created and sold the first season of a new series to an international network has expressed interest in checking out my TV series ideas for potentially producing, and are currently reviewing the package of material I sent their way.

3) Barry just sent me a link to a site that has one page screenplay competitions. There are a handful of drabbles I’ve written up that I think would lend themselves well to such tight length constraints. The dealine’s in a week and a half, so I’ve got to get my screenwriting software re-installed on my new desktop and get crackin’.

As night fell, he stood on the edge of the building, watching. Some of the local capes had already paid him a visit, telling him to toe the proverbial company line with either veiled or blunt threats; some even questioning which side of the law he stood on. Which should have been obvious: he only pursued those wrongly escaping the loose-knit net of the law. Criminals, rapists and killers walked free routinely. Their victims deserved justice, and if the law failed to deliver it, he was certainly going to.

Time to get to work.
He leaped from the building.

There was a shy knock on the door. Judy answered it, finding Satan standing on the doorstep.
“Morning, Stan,” she said cheerfully, always having been more comfortable with the truncation.
“Morning, Judy,” Satan said warmly. “Listen, my, uh… lawnmower’s acting up again, and I’m sure you’ve noticed my front lawn…” He smiled sheepishly as she nodded. The neighbourhood committee would have a fit.
“Ours is in the garage,” she said. “Help yourself.” He thanked her and left.
She closed the door, shaking her head. Always loaning to him. Such was life in street number 668, the neighbour of the Beast.

Jed stood on the dropfloor in rank with the other soldiers, all standing in armoured exoatmospheric suits. The computerized voice in their helmets let them know it was fifteen seconds to drop. Those who didn’t already have their visors down and locked did so, and got into drop formation.

Jed and the others would drop through the hatch doors and fall from ultra-low orbit to strike the target far below with extreme prejudice.

Five seconds.

Jed always hated this part. It wasn’t the flight or hitting the ground, but the initial, lurching drop that always got him.

He fell.

He balled up the note paper and threw it into the round waste bin. That wasn’t right. What was he trying to say? Something about cycles… repetition. The former professor left his desk and began a casual pace, letting his mind wander, which always cleared it.
He sauntered past his bed, and past the doctors studying him through the round portal-like window in his padded door.
Ah-ha! He ran to the note pad and wrote down his thoughts.
He studied them.

He balled up the note paper and threw it into the round waste bin. That wasn’t right…

It was just a matter of time, really. Here I was, all gung-ho about having this one main concept in my head (a kids’ book with a brother and sister going on a huge adventure, in the tone of Narnia but minus the religious overtones) and being able to focus on that as my main writing project. And then it happened: other totally viable, appealing ideas popped into my head. And not along the same lines, either. As my brain is wont to do, it went for a wander and came up with something totally different than what’s at hand: in this case, a concept for a horror film. Better still, as a quick check of IMDb told me, one whose name (which is tied directly to the thrust of the idea) has surprisingly never been used for a horror film before. And in fact, while I was writing down the concept for that, an idea for another horror film occurred to me, so I wrote down that one, as well.

So back the old conundrum: to continue with Project 1, which has a lot of promise and cool potential but which has now dimmed somewhat next to the shining star of the newer idea (I am somewhat like a crow in this respect, always getting distracted by and attracted to the sparkle of a new idea), or start with Project 2, which appeals more so will inherently lead to better writing than something I’m making myself do less willingly, but which will leave Project 1 undone? The real hell of it, and this has been proven countless times before, is that if I start Project 2, another idea will come along part way in, and it’s back to square one. It could all be shown in a very small, sad flow chart.

My mind, however, was already made up for me a while ago. Not in regard to the specific Project 1 vs. Project 2 in this case (and did I mention how awesome both ideas are? Because really…), but rather, the decision to stop leaving work undone in favour of a more sparkly idea. As has been demonstrated to an embarrassing degree in the past, that invariably leads to a whole lot more stuff started than finished, which rather defeats the purpose of my wanting to finish writing projects in order to peddle them to publishers and producers. And other “p” words.

So there you have it: the awesome Project 2 will have to wait its turn until awsome Project 1 is completed. Which may take some time, but that’s the way it’s gotta be. That, as the kids these days say (because I’m nothing if not “street”), is the way I roll.

Word.

Just as a note, today marks precisely the half-way point of Tracy’s 100 words for 100 days challenge. I’m still going strong, sometimes just ensuring I make those 100 words minimum (Drabbles, and such), but as often doing more than that (and on occasion, much more; my daytime high thus far is slightly over 2200 words).

I already know I’m going to keep up the daily writing even after the challenge is done, but I’m looking forward to rocking the last half of it.