Goals and Such

It's nearing the end of January, which means I get to check some things off of my 2020 list. I've been working to get a better draft of my TV pilot, but most of that time has been spent working up the show bible, not writing those extra scenes that I need. For coverage, I don't need the show bible, but it does help me see where it could go if the project had a future.

I can also check off the first contest entry of the year. I took a chance on a story I've never sent out before, so I hope I didn't waste the entry fee. Now I'm prepping an application for a residency. The work I'm sending is poetry, but for this particular contest, I have to have a good cover letter to go along with it. Although I think I write a good cover letter, I know how rarely they are read, so I find going through the motions a bit pointless. Maybe that's why all my job applications go unnoticed...

Coming Up in February

I'm dedicated the shortest month of the year for the most frustrating part of my professional life--meeting goals that depend on the actions of others. What does that include? Getting more book sales, acquiring more patrons on Patreon, getting more paid views on Medium, having more reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. I know I haven't tried every possible way to boost these numbers yet, but I do think I'm running out of the most cost-effective (=free) options.

The only other goal for February is to get my Book Spotlight gig back up on Fiverr. Since the posts will now appear here, I need to craft two or three samples before I relaunch. I've been putting it off because I thought I would have moved this blog to its own domain by now, but that's not the case. I'll revisit the idea of moving to a new domain in June. For now, I'm staying put on Blogger.

News and Notes from the Writing Desk: January Edition

January tends to be the time when everyone has that push to do more and find a new rhythm. I'm no different, so there are a lot of plans that have been put into place.

The Cost of Publication

As I've talked about before, I don't really like paying people to read my work. But there are occasions where contest fees and application fees are necessary. I try to keep these costs low. Because there are some great opportunities right now, I'm going to be spending my entry fee budget for the next three months split over three opportunities: two short story contests and one residency application. I carefully considered the fees against the opportunity, the top prize, and confidence in my work. I'm happy with my decisions and can't wait to get these entries turned in. The only hiccup? One of the short stories I want to enter is still technically being considered by another publication. But they've had it since September, so I don't know whether I'm going to get a rejection/acceptance in time, or whether I'm going to have to finally finish one of my other stories that I have been neglecting.

Recent Publications

As promised, I'm starting to write reviews for movies that I watch when I know I should be spending that time doing more productive things. I plan on continuing to review at least two movies a week, so I should be generating plenty of content for Medium this year. So far, I've published "From Cornfields to the Edge of Cool", a review of a 1957 James Dean documentary. I'm still in the process of writing the review for Jenny, a TV movie starring Marlo Thomas and Alan Alda. I will continue to stick to those odd, rare, and vintage titles because I don't watch a lot of modern movies, and those titles have plenty of people out there to review them anyway. I'm using Pluto TV, Tubi, and YouTube to find them, and there are plenty I can't wait to get to, including some light horror. But I'm not taking any chances--I will be watching those titles during the day, even if they are super cheesy when it comes to the scare factor.

In Process

I'm still working on my pilot script. It's going... okay. I'm having a hard time coming up with new scenes to meet my page count, so I may work on the show bible this weekend instead of those scenes. Also, I should finish a new short story to have it on deck, ready to go. I have at least six half-finished, so I have plenty to choose from. Aside from the residency application, poetry is taking a backseat for the rest of the month. I feel creative and energized, so the rest of January should go smoothly.