Friday, April 29, 2016

May Days

I don't know how I'm going to get all of the work done I need to get done. I'm leaving for Vegas on Monday for my writer's retreat. But I really need to get started on stuff tomorrow. Ideally, I'd get the play started before I leave. Or I would get the pilot rewrite started. Or both. I guess I should really just start taking notes - which I started today. Kind of.

I have the house to myself, so I should be able to get some stuff done. I'm trying to work in coffee shops or at the library tomorrow. It would make me very happy to get all the work I need to get started done this weekend. I realize I need to take it a bit easy because I've been working for two and a half weeks in the writer's room. I basically went from finishing my first episode to pitching and outlining my second episode to getting ready to write that episode. I should be ready to start writing that second episode while I"m gone. But I'm probably going to wait and start it at the end of the week, after I've come back. I need to come back from Vegas with a full play script and a full pilot script. I know that sounds crazy, but that's why I'm getting out of dodge.

I'm not leaving for fun or to drink or to get laid - although some or all of that might happen. I'm going to get shit done. I'll probably head out mid morning on Monday so I can get to Vegas around 1 or 2, try to check in early, and then get to working. I'll work all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'll head out after check out on Friday and then get back to town Friday afternoon. I have to walk that tightrope of not putting too much pressure on myself and hunkering down to get the shit done. It's Vegas, so there will be stuff available to me to do, but it won't be so fun to go outside that I'll feel like I need to be on vacation. Yes, there will the pool and the spa. And there will be plenty for me to do if I just want to grab my lap top at three in the morning and go write. I like that it's a 24 hour town. I'm going to be on call for four days getting my stuff done. I'm glad I'm not leaving until Monday. It needs to feel like Vegas during the week instead of getting the tail end of the weekend. I have to get my stuff done. I need to have my own routine and I need to not have to cook for myself. This is a purely writerly week of getting work done.

I remember when I did this back in May of 2014. I took off to Monterey for the week. It was amazing because I got to stay at Molly's place and I had the run of the joint to get shit done. It really was pretty fantastic for me. And I got the stuff done that I needed to get done. I came back and by the 18th of that month I had a new pilot and a new play done. Come to think of it, I was working on the same play I'm working on this time. Isn't that hilarious? I didn't even realize that until now. This play is getting a lot of personal retreat time love. That's good because it deserves that.

I went running every day. I'm bringing my Cize workout with me so I can do my dance routine every morning. I'm going to try and eat healthy when I'm gone. But I'm going to have a daily routine of sitting down and working from 9 AM until about 5 PM. And whatever else I can get done outside of that will be great. But if I need to take breaks, I'll take breaks.

I'll come back and have a Mother's Day weekend, then I'll have to hunker back down and start on my episode,which will probably be due at the end of that week. I'll turn in the draft to my peeps so they can start on casting and all of that jazz. I'll probably have to reach out to folks soon. I should probably have the casting process start this week so that can be happening as I'm writing. Maybe I should have the first few scenes done before I leave. Yikes! I've got more work than I thought.

We're rehearsing the week of May 16th - with a read through of the script probably on the 16th. Then we're going to stage the play that entire week. Oy! That's pretty nuts. If we can get casting rolling and get the script written this week, then I'll feel like we will be okay. I don't really have a lot of time to work on this and I'm scared that it won't turn out the way I want it to. But that's why we're doing this, right?

I am grateful to have one creative process after another to challenge me.
I am grateful for collaborators.
I am grateful that I get to revisit this play.

April in Bloom

Quick update: I did a page count and I'm at 330 script pages written, plus 144 outline pages written. That's a pretty good number so far. That inspires me to keep going…training for that marathon!

I'm heading to Vegas for a solo writer's retreat so I can get this new play finished. I'm also supposed to be working on a pilot rewrite and my second episode of the show. I can do this! Right? Sure.

I said I wanted to be busy…

And I do.

I am grateful for every project.
I am grateful for being so busy I have to schedule out my days, weeks and months.
I am so grateful every time I open up a check.
I am grateful every time I can pay a bill.
I am grateful every time I can set aside time for my writing.
I am grateful for every breath I get to take.
I am grateful for every break I get to take.
I am grateful for every yawn, every muscle crack, every moment I have to keep going.
I am grateful for the ability to keep going.
I am grateful for the big smile on my face right now.
I am grateful for this computer.

Had to take a mid-blog gratitude break because I really am grateful that I get to be this busy. It's a blessing.

It's an exciting time. I have a shit ton of work to do in the next month, getting ready for this reading at the end of May. Then I was just asked to become a member of a theatre company in town that I greatly admire. And they're also going to do a workshop for a new play I'm working on. What the what?

Everything's coming up roses…

I'm writing the finale of the show I'm working on. I'm seeing my work really come together and I'm really seeing people respond to what I'm doing. It's amazing. I'm full of light and love about it. I'm super humbled by everything that's going on. And I know the best way for me to handle all of that attention is to bury my head back into the work. That's what I have to do. And get ready to get busier and to stay busy.

I'm down.

I am grateful for my artistic community to be expanding.
I am grateful for the love I'm being shown.
I am grateful that I get to go to Sonoma next month and go to the Out in the Vineyard event with friends this year.
I am grateful to be bouncing back gracefully.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Downsizing

A month ago I had my first script I was writing for the show I'm writing on, a ten-minute play festival I was producing for my students, scripts to grade, more time in the writer's room to come, I was working on a freelance non-writing project, and a play to rewrite for an upcoming reading. I was happy to be busy, but I had a lot on my plate.

I turned in the freelance project about two weeks ago...

I finished my teaching responsibilities about two weeks ago…

We broke the writer's room today…

And now I have this play I have left to write for a reading that's happening in less than four weeks. And for some reason, I feel totally relaxed. I'm tired from working on this outline for the past four days straight and for being in the writer's room for the past two and a half weeks breaking four episodes of TV.  I shouldn't feel relaxed…maybe I'm delusional.

I'm thinking of getting out of town for four or five days, maybe going to Vegas to go see my godmother, who just had surgery. But I need to get out of dodge to have some quiet time to finish this play. Writers do this all of the time, right? They have impossible deadlines and get a bunch of shit done. I have a reading at a lovely theatre in LA and I'm going to have a staged reading of this play. I'm so happy for that. I'm excited to work on a new draft of this play.

I'm having coffee with my friend Brian, who runs the writers' group I'm a part of in LA, on Friday to discuss another play of mine that I just finished and that we want to try and do a workshop of soon. I'm very excited about that. It feels like the first half of this year will be about plays and working in TV. I'd like the second half of the year to be about that as well. I have a pilot I want to finish a rewrite of this year. Maybe the summer. It keeps getting pushed. The good thing is that I have a strong outline. I have the feeling I'm going to spend time making it stronger.

And then I'm teaching in the Fall, which is great. I need to beef up my resume. But I'd much rather be working my ass off on a TV staff job. The weird thing is that I'm wanting my life to get busier. I would rather that than have free time right now. I'm not so sure how I feel about that. I was on a show that had a very short writer's room and that was exhausting because I was trying to get other stuff done. And our hours were totally fair - if not amazing. How am I going to survive a TV staff job? I don't know. But I'm going to find out. Because teaching is just as exhausting and it's so little money. It's ridiculously little money. I don't want to make that little. Not for the amount of work I'm doing. But it's good to keep the resume pumped with jobs. I completely agree with that.

The point of this blog is downsizing - not anticipating how much more work I'm going to have to do soon. I'm happy to have some down time that's going to generate more work. Yikes! I have this play to finish. Then I have this pilot to work on before I have the episode I'm supposed to be working on. I'm writing a lot which is making me more of a churner, a generator, a machine. That's fine with me. Now I get to do some of the purely creative stuff. That's where I am right now. I need to appreciate it.

When I had time but no money, I was appreciative for the time.
When I had money, but no time, I was appreciative for the work.
Now that I don't have the gigs, I need to be appreciate for the time again to get these four scripts done. That's all I'm doing this year so far. I have this pilot, another pilot rewrite, a rewritten play, a play for a workshop and another episode of the show - okay, that's five scripts. That would easily take me into the new year. I'd like to do more than that, but right now, that seems like plenty. Downsize. :)

I am grateful for all of the work I'm doing.
I am grateful for the person that work is shaping me to be.
I am grateful for the time I have to get my own work done.
I am grateful for the community of other writers I have.
I am grateful for the writer I have become through the experience of working on the show.
I am grateful for the excitement I feel because I'm working.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The Process of Productivity

Two years ago I made a commitment to a writing schedule that would be rigorous enough to get me ready to write on a high level. And I was successful in that. I wrote eight scripts in two years. And now in this third year, I have a pretty rigorous work schedule. In January, I wrote a rewrite of a pilot. Then in February I wrote a new play because I needed a distraction after finishing a play that took over my life for a year. A friend of mine reminded me that I sacrificed everything to get that play done. I sacrificed my time and ultimately my relationship. Thankfully, that play got me a TV job and a new manager. Now the work begins on getting me an agent and making me competitive in this work place. 

Am I ready for that? I don't know. I know that I like being productive. I like producing a lot of original material. I think staffing is a part of that learning process for me. I do need to be staffed on a broadcast, cable or streaming show. I know that the process will be even more rigorous, but this is the level that the people I want to be standing toe to toe are operating at. 

I also know that if I smooth out my edges, I won't be competitive. I have to staff in order to understand the rigor and the requirements of working at such a high level. But I also have to be writing and getting my plays produced in order to keep my sensibilities awake and alive. The creative without the competitive means that I'm not pushing myself to tell stories faster, learner, and clearer. The competitive without the creative means that I'm not writing to what personally and uniquely makes me an interesting writer. I'm making some observations about my fellow writers - not just in my room - but all around me. When people don't have a "creative outlet" - i.e. when they're not writing their own original material that does not have to do with just writing spec pilots and samples specifically for the purpose of selling or getting jobs, then what they're writing for work or to get work becomes their creative outlet. They need to have ownership of that material because it validates the work they're putting into it. I'm learning that TV writing is pure craft, it's pure athleticism and endurance. You need endurance and athleticism in order to be able to accomplish certain things. A dancer or choreographer can have passion, heart and creativity, but without that sheer ability, the movement isn't articulated as best as it can be. TV writing is pure, direct, muscular linear storytelling. It's the kind of storytelling that's impressive. It's the effort and skill that allows one to execute a triple turn or a grande jette. There's a pure physicality that needs to be impressive. TV writing is that. But without the soul the movement doesn't mean anything. And that soul is the creative part of our being. Writers have a lot to accomplish in order to be amazing. I will always choose a passionate dancer over a technically perfect one. But when I see technical perfection, I can't help but be impressed by it. And when I see both…that's magic.

That's the magic I want to get to in my writing. So the technical jobs I take have to do with achieving that level of skill. But if I don't take that back to my pilot writing, then my pilots can't be as effective as I need them to be in order to get me jobs. 

Hard work is one thing.
Practical experience is another.
Learning the skill of writing is something entirely different.
And the magic, undefinable "it" is yet another thing.
All of these skills need to be working in tandem in order to achieve the great stuff.
Will I ever get there? Eventually. 
As long as I can get paid to get better, then I'll be happy.

I am grateful for the rigor of my writing life right now.
I am grateful for the improvement that comes from doing it and doing it a lot.
I am grateful that I am being challenged.
I am grateful for the time necessary to get better.
I am grateful for work.
I am grateful for multiple projects that are keeping me busy.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Don't Believe the Hype

My friends and I have had conversations lately about the topic that all out of work writers bring up when hanging out together:

When's it going to happen?

And honestly, there's no way to know that. It doesn't help to know that there's no way to know. It's frustrating and plays into our need to control. As writers, the whole reason we started writing is that we wanted to change the story. We wanted to rewrite our stories the way we would have them turn out. So to find out that there's no control over what happens to us and our careers feels like someone took a big dump along the path to our success that we can't help but step in. And every moment we're on that path we're constantly reminded of that lack of control because of the footprint and the stank of that poop that follows us. And even once that smell is gone, it's the memory of the smell and the footprint that we have no control and that there's nothing we can do.

I'm in this place in my life where I understand that worrying does nothing. You get the job whether or not you worry. And you don't even have to stop worrying to get the job. That does nothing too. You can be at a high level of freak out and the anxiety has not gotten in the way of your focus and you get the job. Some people believe that's a part of the process. But here's what I know now that I didn't know three months ago:

Whatever level of anxiety you have when you walk into the writer's room increases at least tenfold once you start working.

Substitute "first break" or "first deal" or "first opportunity" for the writer's room. Yes, anxiety might not stop you from getting that opportunity, but it will certainly be a massive impediment from you getting as far as you want to. At the very least, it will slow you down. And anxiety is just a shitty state of mind to be in. I meditate. I have preached a life of mindfulness and stillness. And STILL, I walked into that writer's room and it brought out every insecurity I have. Sure, my insecurity is less than it used to be. But I had prided myself of getting rid of my anxiety. If anything, getting this first writing gig made me aware of how much work there is still left to do if ridding myself of anxiety is a goal.

Now that I'm happily in the middle of my process of the first job, the next question that attempts to squash that happiness appears: When's the next job happening? And instantly, I'm back to that worry and that proverbial waiting for the water to boil moment. One of my closest friends, also a writer, and I were talking the other day about how stressful it is to wait for our representatives to do something. And I said something that was meant to be helpful about how you can't stress and how you should focus on the good things that are going on. By the way, as well-intentioned as that sentiment is, you just end up sounding like the asshole who doesn't have to worry because he HAS a job. I've been on both sides of that conversation. And usually the person giving the advice - in this case, me - has a big smile on their face, which is supposed to be positivity. But really it comes off as being smug.

Yet, it's true. You have to focus on the work no matter what. Even when shit is presumably going well.  Late last year I had a reading of a new play that I had developed at this theatre company in town. Everyone was saying how great the play was and that it was going to be picked up somewhere by some development organization or by another theatre for production. Even though it felt great to have those positive responses and I felt strongly about the way, I had to shut down the noise. I had been down this rabbit hole before. I would start believing the hype and then I'd have this expectation after sending in the twenty-plus submissions to illustrious places like the O'Neill, PlayPenn, and Sundance Theatre Lab waiting for my moment. I'd be certain that this is my shot - that I had written a bulletproof play, that it was my best work, so that meant that the world had to love it. It's not enough that I love it because I need MASS ADORATION. Then I would be paying attention to those deadlines and I would spend three hours on each personal essay - just to help my chances, but knowing that the essay could be shit because the play is so brilliant. Then I'd get increasingly more and more disappointed as the rejection letters came in because I was so certain this was it and then I'd go on a diatribe over several drink dates with several different playwrights talking about how the American Theatre was shit or that I was just ahead of my time and would be appreciated posthumously. They'd nod and agree because they love me and are my friends and we've developed co-dependent relationships over the years. Or I'd secretly get mad at them for getting my hopes up months earlier when they talked about how this play was going to take the theatre by storm - they never said that by the way, but that's what I interpreted and it still feels better to let someone else take the blame.

No, I had to shut the shit down. So I started a new play. I had a play I knew I wanted to write. My big reading was in September. I read the first ten pages of the new play some time in October, I believe. I went back to that humble place of feeling vulnerable. Of being scared that I had written something awful. I went to that place of being brand new over again and having no expectation. That's a great place to be because that's really the place I live and it's the place I need to live - starting over. Being in the work and not paying attention to what anyone is saying, good or bad.

I walked into my writer's group that morning and got confronted by the guy who organizes our writer's group, who said he loved the play before I had the chance to share it with the group. That was sweet and it settled my nerves a bit. But the encouragement helped me sit through the first 19 pages of the play being read. The play is bold and it's very exposing. It was also a 180 from what I had done previously. That got me excited to keep going and I finished a draft of that script in February, still bringing in pages to my writer's group from time to time. Now it seems that the company wants to do a workshop/reading of the play after reading the first completed draft.

All of that feels good. It really does. I'm not so unhealthy that I can't appreciate and be thankful for any nice thing someone says about me and my work. But now it's on to the next thing. I have a play rewrite for a reading that's happening next month. I've barely started the rewrite. I'm going to be on deadline this week for my second episode outline. I've got to go in the room and be present and pitch ideas. In the middle of all of this, I was teaching and I produced a 24 hour play event for my students. I just finished grading seven 30-page one act plays. I just turned in an employee manual I was editing and that payment is going into a fund for my new computer, which I can't buy until late May when Mercury is out of retrograde.

There are always good things going on and bad things going on. The key - and what I aspire to - is to keep moving no matter what. By the way, that play that everyone loved is seeing no love so far from the greater theatre community. All rejections so far, no semi-finalist or finalist status. And maybe the American Theatre IS shit and knows nothing. No one knows anything, frankly. But that play got me this job and my new manager. And even if it hadn't gotten me anything, I love it. I'm proud of the play anyway. I'm proud of the work my director, dramaturg and actors helped me with in getting the play to wear it needed to get. I'm grateful to the theatre for providing me with eight months of development. Without that opportunity none of the stuff happening now would be happening. It helped my work ethic. It helped me see what was possible in my work. It taught me a shit ton about the importance of selecting the right team.

The thing I am trying to focus on is the experience. All of these opportunities are helping me work better and making me more skilled as a writer/producer/theatre artist. I now know how much work it really takes to do the things I've talked about doing. The path is getting clearer and clear, which makes me focus stronger.

I am grateful for my writing job.
I am grateful for everything that has happened in my life that has led me here.
I am grateful for good friends and good conversations.
I am grateful for discipline and patience.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Being Present, Continuing the Work


That title feels very self-helpy. Maybe it is. I'm not going to shy away from that. Maybe it's because I'm in San Francisco this weekend that I don't feel a skepticism about doing conscious work on myself. I've had so many conversations with guys this weekend that felt very rooted in them knowing who they are. I have had a whole city of men I've been in contact with who reflect back to me an assurance and a brightness in the eyes that indicates that they are living in the moment.

That doesn't mean I should move to San Francisco. That's not where my work is. But I love focusing on that energy and being connected to it. Right now I'm looking out the window at my friend Bill's house and I see the white blanket of cloudiness. I am in a bed full of white. There's a brightness and an awakens that I'm surrounded by: white light. And I've taken in the reflection of that positive energy all weekend. I've got dancing. I've worked my body. I've eaten well. This entire weekend has been about self care and surrounding myself with friendship and love.

It's important to have that self care and self love reflected back and to remind myself that the work is not over. The work is a constant. I decided to look back at a post from January where I set some intentions. I had a list of things I needed to do in order for things to happen. Those things did not happen in order. And it's April and I've been staffed on a show since February, which was the thing that was at the end of my list.

So what now?

We continue…

Stay in the present moment, which was the point of my meditation this morning. Be aware. All of these good things have happened, I have a new manager now. I'm excited for the adventure of it all. I'm finishing up my commitment to teaching next weekend with the project I'm working on with my students. I will have free time to go back to work and get started on the second half of our season. This weekend was all about renewal. I have been running on reserve energy for some time. I haven't had the chance to decompress and release from the breakup in January. I went straight to work pretty much and haven't stopped.

I have a lot to achieve, but it's important to stop and be in the moment. The work is going to continue. I have my next "Challenge" in my Year of Challenges ahead of me, to rewrite a play I wrote two years ago for a reading coming up. I've had one reading of this play a year for the past two years. This will be the third reading. I've learned so much about myself as a writer in the past two years that it will be great to take those lessons and work on the play now. I've got some incredible notes from my dramaturg that I"m psyched about. So I'm ready for that work to begin. But I'm not making any new plans just yet.

I had talked about keeping my launch pad clear for opportunities to come. I don't know what I'm going to be working on beyond April. My show will be wrapping up and I have to have the same fearlessness I had about my life when I had no money. Having security doesn't mean that I should start living my life in a way to hold onto that security with an iron grip. Being open got me hear and being open will get me to the next place on this great adventure. I 'am not going to give up my free spirit for a paycheck.

I've got the play I just finished in February that seems to be getting people's attention. I want to do work on that as well. I trust that the work I have been doing will get me the next job - or the next few jobs. I will work consistently on what I need to and I won't stop. But I'm not going to stress out over where I need to be next. I'm learning to let go of that. It keeps me confined.

I've done well for myself by having the attitude of being open and leaving a clear space for the rocket ships to land. I'm going to stay in that present moment.

I am grateful to my friend Bill.
I am grateful for the love and kindness and friendship I've felt this weekend.
I am grateful that I get to see college friends starting today.
I am grateful that there is self love in my life.
I am grateful that I am going it alone.
I am grateful that I have a free spirit.
I am grateful that I am excited for life.
I am grateful for my Madonna tee shirt and my Divine tee shirt.
I am grateful that I am representing myself for myself to the fullest extent.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

2016: Q2 Goals

Back to the Year of Challenges…

It's April and my goal for this month is to rewrite my play in anticipation for a reading happening in May. Here's the deal. Work starts back up in about a week and a half.

I didn't bring my notes with me to San Francisco, where I am for a few days. So I've got a project that I need to complete so I can get some money so I can buy a new computer by tax time when the school I work at is doing tax free. I can save some money and get a much needed piece of equipment. I can also buy this new computer without busting into any of my writing earnings. That's a great thing.

I have to get that project finished and out the door so I can get a check. I was going to make all of these plans with all of these folks tomorrow, but maybe I should just focus on getting this project done this weekend. Maybe I need to stay up in SF until the afternoon and then drive down to Santa Clara to see a former student and then hang out with my friends. Okay, TMI. but I'm thinking out loud.

But I get back to work on the 11th, so I'd like to get the work project out the door and the play started. That would be incredibly helpful for me because I know that from April 11-22 I won't be doing anything other than working on the show. And that's the way it should be. I'm totally cool with that.

I've got a theatre festival to go to that following weekend. And I'll get to catch up with friends and then I'm basically on my own working on the script. I'll take that last week in April to finish up work on the play and be done with my writing challenge.

May - I don't know that I really have anything set in stone for May. So maybe I can work on the pilot rewrite then. It will be too late for network staffing, but the show I'm writing doesn't really have the sort of structure that would fit for network staffing. I'll probably have to start thinking about a new pilot to write as well.

June - Here's the month where I have set for a non-writing challenge. The fact is that I have another play rewrite I could be starting. I have a new pilot I could be writing as well. I also want to leave the month open for other opportunities to come my way. I'll be fully done with the show by then and I'm open the rest of the year. I'd like to be writing on another show by June. Regardless, I will continue to be busy working on my stuff. If I don't have work I'm getting paid for, I will be writing. My energy will be spent on creating new material, rewriting old material and hopefully having a production at some point soon of another play a theatre is interested in producing. I haven't heard anything.

I'm not planning beyond that at this point because I want to leave my launch pad clear for more opportunities to come my way. It worked so well last time, that I want to continue that pattern. I have committed to the play reading in May. I'm not committing to anything else unless someone wants to do a paid workshop. I love doing readings. But I've had enough readings this year. I don't have any plays I need to work on that are so fresh I need to hear a reading. The new play has taken shape and I want to do some rewriting on it based on what I heard, but I want to take that new draft into a room. And if nothing is happening, I would like to get ready to submit that play for the Fall.

This year is about making a living. I am taking my skills and turning that into a salary. I have gotten much encouragement from the Universe so far this year. Q1 was a great indication of that. Now I want to continue that momentum into Q2.

My weekend away in the Bay Area is about recharging. Actually, I'm here for four and a half days. I'm not doing any writing. I am doing some necessary work tomorrow. But I am here to rejuvenate and to re-inspire myself. I am here to make time for the thing I haven't had much time for lately: friends.

I'd like to find some balance with this new normal of working a lot and getting paid and keeping crazy hours. That's a goal for this Quarter as well and a big Challenge.

I am grateful for every penny I am earning.
I am grateful for every bead of sweat.
I am grateful for every laugh with friends.
I am grateful for every memory.
I am grateful that I can set boundaries and take what I need.

2016: Q1 Review

January through March were an incredibly productive time. A lot happened. Planned and unplanned.

I broke up with my boyfriend - unplanned. And that really started this wave of things that happened. I got a job writing on a web series. I got a new manager. My professional life got a huge jolt of activity.

I met my two writing goals for Q1: I rewrote something I wrote last year, my pilot. And I wrote a new play in February.

I set writing goals for March, even though I didn't have them originally. My writing goal for March was to rewrote the pilot again. I rebroke the story and wrote two drafts of the outline. That's plenty and enough. I didn't formally write the pilot yet. The outline is waiting for me. I'm excited that I finished a draft of the outline I'm excited about. And I do want to write the pilot soon.

Here's the stuff I did do in March. I wrote and wrote my outline for the episode I'm writing. And I wrote several drafts of the episode. And it's turned in. So I wrote a third script in Q1 in March, but it just wasn't the one that I had set out to write. Big fucking deal. I've been incredibly productive.

So here's my page count for Q1: 222 pages in three months. I am thrilled about that.

That's not including outlines or blog posts. That's just pure script pages in draft form. That's in addition to writing on a show, teaching and grading papers.

I have had an incredibly productive Q1 of 2016. And I'm looking forward to what lies ahead on Q2.

I feel like the productivity that I've set for myself and these monthly challenges have really set a pace for my work that's starting to bear fruit.

I am grateful for two jobs.
I am grateful for my students.
I am grateful for my colleagues.
I am grateful that my script turned out well.
I am grateful for the good things that have happened over the past three months.
I am grateful for a new manager.
I am grateful that I'm single.