Go Forth and Procreate

Well, I have been a disaster writing-wise. I read Stephen King's "On Writing" over the Christmas holidays and came to the conclusion that I am afraid of failure. King said that the scariest time is when you are just about to start, and perhaps this is why I have been putting off so much when deep down it is what I would truly like to do.

My solution is manyfold:

1. Enthuse myself with reading about writing, screenwriting and movies - my Christmas wishlist was nearly entirely book-based and I have been reading and musing ever since.
2. Undertake regular writing challenges - I have joined up (again, after being booted out twice now for lack of submissions a LiveJournal writing community - Musemuggers - to be found at http://community.livejournal.com/musemuggers/ . By writing small stuff more frequently, I can build up ideas for the big important stuff - the screenplay.
3. As a side venture, I have associated with some of the musemuggers in person through meetings for http://community.livejournal.com/eleven_month/ . Once a month, they get together and so******e about all things writerly.
4. I have been blogging with Todd Alcott, whose work and ideas I highly recommend - http://toddalcott.livejournal.com/ . I love reading his insights on movies, Hollywood and writing.
5. I have a few challenges at work to overcome this week, and then it is time to start my own version of NaNoWriMo (http://community.livejournal.com/nanowrimo/) - November just was not my month, so I have decided to work at my pace and I can worry about second drafts later, while still tryinng to achieve a good 50,000 words up to 14 February.  There we go, I have a deadline!
6. With a little luck, I have developed something that will be active and ideal for cameras! Something visual will be then distilled from my rough draft to 120 pages of screenplay. I will say that I would like that done by the end of March.
7. I will do my best to get along to the Screenwriter's Festival! (see previous post)
8. Finally, I would like to try my hand at a bit of freelance work - magazines, papers, whatever. Just to get some cred and credit up!

So, those are my thoughts on writing for now. But again, tis the year for Action!