Sit On It

Isn't it funny what you can do when you just sit down?

I had an unfocused morning.
I think I was afraid more than anything else of getting down to the business of plotting out this script, which I knew I had to do.
I had all of my vices come up for me.
I had the cigarette.
I skipped the sex.
I had some chocolate.  And I just went to TJ's to get two more bars.  Here's my excuse: I needed cash for the cash only dive bar I'm going to later and I didn't want to pay the $4 surcharge to use the ATM there.
That's a good excuse, right?

But at 12:30, Tim and I decided that we were turning our phones off and getting to work.  So I got to work.  I started out with Act One.  I looked at my notes, got my index cards out and started working on each scene.

I did allow myself to listen to a WGA filmed panel with Mike White.  So that was going on in the background as I was figuring out this script.

I got to the end of Act One.  And I froze.  I wasn't sure where I was going next because my notes had taken a big leap.  I have scenes between the last scene I wrote and the next scene I have on my note card.  I needed a bridge.  Not sure what that bridge is yet.

I wanted to get up and move around, but I decided to stay with it.  I stayed seated.  It's similar to something Steven Pressfield says in Turning Pro.  Sit Chilly.  Maintain your seat.  Don't let fear and anxiety move you.  Hold your ground.  This is a literal interpretation of that, but it's a great thing to keep in mind.  And coincidentally, it's one of the chapters in that book that I didn't understand right away.  I do now.

So I sat chilly, I kept going, and figured something out in the script about the use of language and how that changes in each act.  Then I figured out how voice works as a theme in each act.  I wrote that out on one card after I wrote three separate cards that talked about what each act was about.  So now I have a bit more information.  And I think I'm ready to tackle building that bridge.

I went on a walk for more chocolate and now I'm back.  Sitting in my chair.

I'm staring down the ravine.

Sit Chilly.  Just sit chilly.

I am grateful for chocolate.
I am grateful for two and a half hours of sitting chilly.
I am grateful for the time I have left today.
I am grateful for the length of day I have had so far.
I am grateful for my meditation this morning.
I am grateful that I know what to do.
I am grateful that I am sitting chilly in other aspects of my life.
I am grateful that I feel inspired.
I am grateful that Tim and I just pow wowed on his script.
I am grateful to be awake.