Yes! This is a late post, but a necessary one! Even when life gets crazy, you need to sit back and take stock so that you can adjust your efforts and be more efficient in achieving your goals!
So to be true, February and March were decent achievement-wise, but they weren’t nearly as productive as my months usually are. Still, I had a little something to report, so let’s get into it!
February 2014
BABY STUFF. Yes, as much as I would love to tell you that I’ve been smashing keys like a crazy person this whole time, most of my February was spent in a deep baby adjustment period. First off, FIRST TRIMESTER is a bitch. You’re tired all of the time, and so many things are changing in your body that all you want to do is just lay up on the couch and sleep.
Which is exactly what I did, lol.
But in addition to that, there were lots of other things I needed to handle, i.e. securing health insurance, going to a ridiculous number of doctor’s appointments, putting together a baby registry, planning and cooking meals (so that I could eat better), reading up on baby stuff, and just plain dealing with “omg, I’m gonna be a Mommy” freak outs. It all took up a lot of energy.
General adjusting to a new life in Cali. Being new to Long Beach means adjusting in so many different ways. Dealing with schedules, space issues, exploring your surroundings, finding your regular haunts, and just figuring out a new way to live took a lot of time and effort.
This was especially true re: moving in with my boyfriend. We had to discover a new level of patience in dealing with each others’ quirks and bad habits. Where few words were written, tons of life experience was gained, and you know that’s going to make it into one of my novels, lol!
Tested for the NY Director’s Guild of America Training Program! Brief recap: the DGA Training Program is a great entry program into becoming an Assistant Director on big budget films. Being an AD is not so much a creative job as it is a “technically creative” job, where you handle a lot of the nuts and bolts of running a movie set!
The program is an intense, mind-blowing experience, and many ADs have worked on big time movies and TV shows like The Amazing Spiderman and Law & Order SVU. So obviously, with my aspirations to be both a writer and producer, I had to apply. The test was a part of this application process, and…
It was INSANITY! I took the test, and I eventually discovered that I did not make it to the third stage of the application process, but it was an awesome learning experience that I will post more about as soon as I can!
Managing the production of the GHOSTS OF KOA Audiobook. This was a huge learning process, and one that is still going on. I realized just how self-contained my world in Ghosts of Koa is, as my actor often relied on me to inform him of how to pronounce dozens of names, places, and made up words (of which there are quite a few). So we had to be in continual contact about the project, which is great! My actor is not only talented but professional as well, and I’m so grateful for that!
March 2014
Volunteering with the Scriptwriter’s Network and the Writer’s Guild Foundation! Pretty much happened (and happens) every Saturday. I got to do write ups and set up / clean up / greeting at some awesome seminars! I’ve learned so much, ranging from developing characters, story ideas, and premise lines to pitching your story idea, to breaking in and launching your screenwriting career. These seminars are so informative, and even better, I’m meeting some really great people and making strong friends who are all on different paths and milestones in their careers. Would not trade it for the world, and I’ll continue to volunteer as long as they’ll have me!
Did a lot of studying of the careers of the writers I want to emulate. There are so many awesome women out there (men too) who write really amazing books in my genre and who also have built up some incredible backlists. Well, guess what? These same writers are achieving some amazing success! So I decided that a key way to put the jets on my own writing career would be to study the careers of these same writers.
Studying others’ success and learning from their achievements, lessons, and challenges is a great way to see your way to your own goals. You see what works and what doesn’t, what readers love and what they hate. Writers like SM Reine, Morgan Rice, JA Huss, and many more all have great backlists, solid writing and release schedules, awesome websites, and great relationships with their fan bases. I hope that following them, and of course, reading their awesome books, will help me reach their level of success!
Did a lot of reading, listening, and studying, period. While I wasn’t writing and also feeling hella BLEH during first trimester, I did get a lot of exposure to information. I read a lot of non-fiction on breaking into Hollywood, research resources for my novel, and also some fiction of works by authors who have caught my attention (SM Reine, Morgan Rice, Sean Platt, JF Penn, etc).
I’m also a MASSIVE fan of informational podcasts. It’s like having a personalized talk radio to me, tailored to my interests, i.e. fiction writing, genre fiction, screenwriting, tv writing, and working / breaking into Hollywood. So while I’ve been a lump on the couch, I have heard some great tips and information that will help me move my career along.
So, only semi-inspiring but it’s been a very educational and emotionally enriching month. April saw me back on my horse for the second quarter of the year, so you’ll be getting an update on that soon too!
So what about you? How did the first quarter of 2014 work out for your creative productivity? Drop an update in the comments below, and of course, in the meantime…
Keep it indie,
<3 Colby