Coming Up in April

Ah, spring. I know the weather said it is supposed to snow soon, but I'm already thinking warm thoughts. I'm also thinking ahead to all of the events coming up in April, along with the projects I've created goals for. Here are just a few:

Camp NaNoWriMo

This is the no-pressure version of NaNoWriMo. I love it because I can set the word count, and I can work on a project that's been sitting around for awhile as apposed to working on something new. This year, I'm going to work on the same project I worked on last year. This time though, I will be finishing it off. I wrote about half of it the first time, and I've been adding to it here and there since. If I exceed my goals for camp this April, you may see another book out with my name on it before the end of the year.

National Poetry Month
Poetry--how I love you. I plan on doing a few things to celebrate National Poetry Month, including bringing back my Poetic Confessions. But sadly, I've ran out of poetry mistakes to admit to, so I'm depending on submissions from you this year. I'll be posting more information about that later in the week. 

You may also be seeing a giveaway as part of the celebration, so stay tuned!

Scriptwriting
I enjoy writing scripts, though I know it would be an extremely tough road to get anything produced with them. I'm definitely not connected to Hollywood--probably not even in six degrees of separation. April used to be the month for Script Frenzy, so I guess this is still a bit of a hangover of that. I just get this urge to write scripts in spring. I have one that I've been working on since the last Script Frenzy took place a couple of years ago. I want to finally finish it.  Once I do, it's off to Triggerstreet to watch people tear it apart (in a totally constructive way). Occasionally members get optioned. Who knows? Maybe it's good enough to get noticed there.

What are all of your writing plans for April?

So Long, Script Frenzy

I woke up this morning to an email explaining that Script Frenzy, the 30-day writing extravaganza, is now done. Dead. Finito. You can read the sad news for yourself here: Important News about Script Frenzy

Well, there goes my productivity next April. I finally won it this year, reaching that lofty goal of 100 scripted pages in 30 days. I finally had something to brag about. In two years, when I'm still nudging people saying, "Hey, at least I won Script Frenzy" there will eventually be the curious look on their faces going, "Huh? What's that?" The thing has been gone a mere few hours and I already feel nostalgic about it. So long, old friend. So long.

New Articles:
Publications in The Oil and Gas Industry

Sense of Accomplishment

Well, after participating for a few years, I finally did it--I won Script Frenzy! Makes me feel accomplished, although I know that the script is merely half the work. There's much more to do, and I'll be sure to worry about that tomorrow, but today I enjoy the feeling.

Since it's the last day of April, here is the last Poem of the Day: Rain

I hope that everyone enjoyed the poetry celebration as much as I did! Of course, poetry is not escaping from my daily work. I am still preparing my poetry manuscript. I'm also putting together two different submissions for chapbook contests. Those deadlines are approaching fast, so I've been sorting through all the poems I've written, looking for hidden gems tucked in the back of old notebooks and written on the back of receipts. Found a few rough ones, but nothing a little poetic polishing can't clear up.

Starting Early

This is just a quick update because I really need to get back to my Script Frenzy pages, but I thought that this article was interesting: Jessica Alba, others, mark National Poetry Month. It's also very appropriate for this month!


Poem of the Day: Moving Boxes

Itching to Grab a Different Pen

This weekend was nice and relaxing. That meant I was able to get a lot of Script Frenzy pages out of the way without much effort. I'm only 1 page behind the daily goal and things are going really well. I can't believe I just may win this year! Too bad all I get is a sense of accomplishment...

The only issue I'm having now with Script Frenzy is that I want to stop writing my comic pages and start drawing them. I know that its still premature to get back into that. After all, the script I'm writing now takes place four books/collections after the first one I wrote (and am still in the process of drawing). But maybe I'll sneak in a drawing or two before the month's over. 

Poem of the Day: You and Me

New Articles:
Exploring Modern Poetry
Girls, Girls Everywhere (movie review of Too Many Girls starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz)

No More Excuses

Visiting with the nephew was great, but now it's time for me to really get back into work. Over the past three days I have completed the bare minimum, but now I am ready for much, much more. Script Frenzy? Yeah, you're back on the table. That pile of books? I'll get them into the finished pile soon. Articles? I've got a title list a mile long. That long overdue poetry book manuscript? Nearly there--publish date still pending, but not for much longer. Yeah, the plate is full but it still feels good.

Poem of the Day: A Letter to God

Script... Saneness?

The method to my madness has slowed me down. The way I write comic scripts is first I write a one line title/topic in a list. That's all good to go--I have a list of 56 ready and waiting. Then, I quickly jot down how many panels are needed, maybe some captions and the general gist of the story. That's not as far along as I would like it to be. Then, I type it all up in Celtx, save it and count it as a page (or more) on Script Frenzy. Looks like that tedious process, along with the nephew's short stay over his spring break, is going to put me behind. I'll have to do a serious catch up on the weekend, but nothing is scheduled so I can feel good about my short procrastination.

Poem of the Day: Your Reflection

It's National Poetry Month!

Well, we've finally made it--National Poetry Month! All month long I'll be featuring my Poem of the Day, Poetic Confessions (every Friday post), and also keeping everyone up to date on Script Frenzy and how that's all going. Are you participating? Here's my little corner of the world at Script Frenzy.

So far I have managed to stay on task the first day of this challenge. I'm doing a comic book script instead of a traditional feature length script which will hopefully keep me motivated. I'm actually working on comics about freelance writing, which chronologically take place after my College Chronicles comics. It's great to get all the scripts done... after April I'll just have to concentrate on drawing them. All 200+ (so far...).

So--what is everyone else doing to celebrate National Poetry Month?

Poem of the Day: A Dying Soul

Getting Ready for the Frenzy

Every other day I forget that April is Script Frenzy. Oh well... at least I remembered today. And not only that, I'm going to keep myself 100% accountable for at least attempting to win this year by putting not only the badge at the top of this blog, but the badge that shows my page count. There. Now if I'm a slacker, everyone will know it.

Marching into March

I knew once I was settled into my tiny little room, I would feel a lot better about my current and future situations. The trick for me is to have a solid plan going forth. I have just that. Although my plans still do not guarantee any type of success, I'm more optimistic than I was just a few days ago.

I also have some exciting news for upcoming features to this blog. Anyone who is a dedicated writer will know that April is an extremely busy month for writers. Not only does ScriptFrenzy take place, but it is also National Poetry Month. I have some very exciting posts and events planned for April--and you can participate too! Once I put the final touches on everything, I will let you all know how to can join in on the festivities.

I also managed to finally publish a new article today: Resources for Vintage Photographs. A great article if you are into family history/genealogy. 

Mildly Amusing Updates

The bird: He's NOT gone. He did it all again this morning, only a little later at 5:30. Well, you know what I did to show him? I got up, took a shower, and strapped my ears to my iPod and got to work. Now all of the work I planned for the morning is complete. Okay... so I could write more and not have to work this evening, but there's nothing on TV on Tuesdays. If I don't hold back some work for after 7pm, what else can I do? I'll probably end up buying something completely unnecessary online. That's why I have to keep the fingers busy.

Script Frenzy: What's that? I've never heard of that... okay, so I'm slacking a bit on this endeavor. No pages yet, but should there should be some words on a page by the end of the evening.

Coffee supply: cappuccino nearly gone! Oh... I think I have more stashed somewhere, I'll just have to find it. And run out for some more sugary, unhealthy Mountain Dew this weekend.

Twitter: I suck at it! I'm pretty much just following major news networks/celebrity people at the moment. And my followers, a whole 4 of them, dropped to just 2 this morning. I told everyone my updates wouldn't be interesting, but jeez...

Finally! A realization

I now know what has been bothering this last month. On the surface, it looked like it was just a bunch of problems at work that built up to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. Now I realize that it goes much deeper than that. I don't really know what I want anymore. I thought freelancing would be a great, flexible job that I could do for money until all of my creative endeavors panned out. But there's a key word I was missing in that thought: job. A job is not a career by any means, and a career is what I want. I just don't know how to get there. I have so many interests, but not enough education or talent for any of them. And I'm tired of just accepting jobs to get money.

This morning was a real wake up call for that. I got an email saying a job had paid me. Most of the jobs I work have a 30 day wait for payment. I looked at it and realized I had just waited 30 days to get paid $1. A single dollar, not worth anything on its own. And while I know that this job was just for a little extra cash, it still seems like a slap in the face. I have a college degree and I'm willing to work for a dollar? It's like I can't see myself having any more talent or success than that. Maybe with my bad attitude and social ineptitude, I don't really deserve anything better than that.

As a distraction, I wrote another page for Script Frenzy. 12 down, 88 to go. I'm still on track with it, but I don't know if I'll see the script through to the end of the month. With work, I probably won't have the time. And I won't consider making time. It seems like a dumb idea now.

I guess I'll take the easy way out and blame this whole bad mood on one of the movies I watched today. It was called Jake's Women, starring Alan Alda. It's about a writer who can't let go of storylines in his head and kind of checks out of life because of it... it's exactly what I described in a post the other day about the writer's curse. The movie spoke to me, but, as always, it was about a successful writer, so in many ways I still had trouble relating with the character. And he had actual real-life relationships to check out of. Me? Not so much.

Don't get me wrong though. I started out writing this post distraught and thoroughly giving up. Now that I see it written out, I have a better understanding of just what I need to do in order to turn out something good in this life... and it's gonna take more than I think I can handle, but why not try? I hate failure, but at it's something I'm used to. :)

A writer's curse?

Script Frenzy progress: 11 pages. All rewritten from before, but it's a start. A pretty good one, considering I only need 3.33 pages a day to meet the goal.

Other than that, things are getting a little crazy. It’s all in my head. I’ll probably sound like a nut, but judge me if you will. Sometimes I get a little carried away with great stories. So much so that I become obsessed with a person, place thing – you name it. I always thought of it as just a writer’s curse – my brain is in overdrive sometimes. But often the fixation becomes so strong that it’s no longer just about the story. It’s more about me. And that’s where the trouble really starts.

If I get carried away with an idea, I want to learn everything about it. Still, it probably doesn’t seem like this is all a bad thing. I’m constantly learning, right? But what starts out as a fun escape from reality usually turns into heartbreak. I usually find something terribly wrong with the person, place, or thing. Then I just get so depressed… and I’m tired of doing this.

All of this imagination in overdrive stuff started when I was a kid, but over the last few months it has progressively gotten worse. It’s just such an emotional roller coaster, I don’t know why I let myself do this. Take this last little blip on the ride. I had a great storyline and it was working well as a story… that’s it. But I got carried away, and now I’m disappointed again. I got rid of it last night... it went straight from the USB key to the recycling bin. If this had been in a different time, I would have just taken it out back and burned it with a match. I guess a virtual burning is good enough. But my mind can't let go of it just yet. This idea wants to stick around.

See? I told you it sounds like I'm a nut.

And to just forget all about this, I tried this afternoon to get back to what's important: yoga, meditation, and a sense of peace. Needless to say, it didn't quite work. The biggest setback was something as simple and stupid as drinking Mountain Dew before my practice. It made it much more difficult to slow my heart rate with all the caffeine coursing through my blood.

And so I continue to suffer from the writer’s curse.

Tomorrow: Interview.

Nervous? Yes and no. I mean, I've already interviewed once for the job... I just have to do it again. I just didn't know that there were two interviews for retail positions. I guess there is. But it's okay... the more experience, the better. At least that's what everyone else says. Since my interview last week until now, I think I've lost five pounds worrying. Maybe I should worry all the time! No, that's not good...

I watched Wingspan last night. It might have only been the second or third time that I've watched it, but it's amazing. I love Paul and Linda's love story and how they made family life work while still accomplishing all of their goals. The only thing missing? Well, a lot I'm assuming. You can't really explain away ten years in 88 minutes. I wanted more gaps filled in. I mean, the Beatles Anthology is around ten hours... and that covers around ten years, more or less. That's what I wanted to see from Wingspan.

Script Frenzy is going well. I'm finally successful at something. I only need 10,000 words by Friday and I'm at 6,363 at this moment. I should be finishing my script and not blogging, but there have to be breaks somewhere, right? Then July comes, and I have to revise. That's the part that gets really frustrating. I have such a hard time revising without collaboration, but I don't want to put my friends through that... who wants to read the first draft of a full length script? I don't even want to do that so I can post reviews on Triggerstreet!