A Writer Prepares

The semester is over. I am no longer a teacher - except for their final projects and grading - and I'm back to being a writer full-time until Jan 10th, when I start teaching my first graduate level course and Jan 19th when I teach two classes - or get someone to fill in for me while I'm in the writer's room starting on January 2nd.

Yes, it looks like next year will be a juggling act between teaching and writing. I'm teaching three classes in the Winter/Spring and working on our show. Wowza! In order to do all of that, I have to be prepared.

I know that it will be harder to work on new projects while I'm in the room. So for six weeks, I'll be stretched thin, pitching ideas in the room and breaking story. I can't wait. But that means I have a pilot and a play that I've started that I need to finish before the end of the year. I want to finish out 2016 with these last two projects done so that I can start the new year with nothing on my plate.

I'm preparing for 2017 by going to Vegas next week to do my second writer's retreat of the year. Last April or May I went to Vegas for a week and stayed at Bally's. I locked myself in my room and got work done the whole time. It was kind of spectacular and amazing. I watched a lot of HBO Now, I ate, I worked and I got the necessary break I needed. I'm going to the Orleans because it's off the strip and easier to get around. There are happy hours and cheap food and nearby cheap and healthier food and Whole Foods. I can just devote myself to getting my work done and I don't have to worry about having to do anything other than write. I don't have to be nice to anyone. I don't have to get dressed all day if I don't want to either. I can wear my lounge outfit and be in my mobile office. I can pace around and try to figure out the next step in whatever I'm working on. I can bring my note cards and I can get all serious and crazy. I'm super excited about it.

I'm preparing for 2017 by going to my WGA New Member Orientation tomorrow and getting a mentor. Also going to my writer's group - which I'll be running from January through April - to hear some new pages from the new play.

Then I'm going to head to see my brother and his family for the holidays. And I'm going to relax while also doing a little bit of work on these two projects. I want to send the new pilot to my manager by the end of the year. And I'll be working on treatments for at least two new pilot projects.

I'm preparing for 2017 by getting rest, by spending time with my family, by enjoying the whole reason I'm on this planet - for them. I want to teach my niece about storytelling - after hearing that she just wrote her 2nd grade autobiography. I'm preparing to be busier than I'd ever thought I'd be by connecting to the people in my life who fuel me and inspire me.

2017 is going to be busy, it turns out. And I can't wait to see how being that busy transforms me like being busy transformed me in 2016.

My intention is growth.
My intention is to work.
My intention is to be open.

I am grateful for my writers group.
I am grateful for my writers room.
I am grateful for my classroom.
I am grateful for colleagues, comrades and community.