I arrived in Vegas around 3 PM, checked into my room, which has two queen sized beds, a desk, a sitting area with a coffee table and a lot of room to dance around in. I usually like two queen beds as opposed to one bed because one bed can be for sleeping and the second can be for working. Working usually means my lap top and me on the bed. Or it can mean taking out my notecards and sprawling them across the bed. My ex happens to be in the area for work and is going to be staying with me overnight, so the extra bed is for him as well this time around. But I like to have as many work areas as possible.
I set up my research books on the coffee table. I put my snacks and teas on the desk. My room has a coffee maker - I don't drink coffee - so I brought non-caffinated teas and sea salt caramels to reward myself when I've done something good. I'm like a dog with treats. I put my toiletries in the bathroom immediately and unpacked some clothes. I like to have everything in order right when I check in. It feels like I'm anointing the space. I'm sitting on the sofa right now. This is probably where I will be perched most of the time I'm here. But if I'm working through an idea, it helps to have many spaces to work in because I've tricked myself into believing that switching locations in a room shifts my brain. It could very well true. But it's also a lie I tell myself. There's also a club chair I can sit in across from me. I've got about four positions I can be in, which is perfect.
I thought I was the only person who did the hotel in Vegas thing. But turns out, it's a thing! My friend Ruth's husband, who's a very well-known and successful TV writer and graphic novelist, does the same thing. I'm sure he holes up somewhere a bit fancier than me. But maybe not. The allure of Vegas is that the hotel rooms are cheap. I'm staying in a casino off the strip, but it's not WAY off the strip and it's not a Motel 6. I stayed on the strip last time I was in town doing this and I loved the deal I got on the hotel. But any time I wanted to drive off the strip to Whole Foods - there's one very conveniently located so that I can go get a morning cup of bone broth or I can stock up on some healthy snacks or raid the food bar on Wednesdays when the price goes down $1.50 per pound - it would take me about 20 minutes just to get off the strip. This hotel is still close to a lot of things, but it's near my godmother, who lives here. It has a movie theatre. It has a TGI Fridays and a Fuddruckers. Not that I love those two establishments, but the great thing about the Fridays is that they have happy hour from 3-7 and again from 9p-2a. That means $6 appetizers and cheap drinks. The other hotel drove up their prices. The chains in this hotel don't really drive up their prices. The resort fee is also cheaper, so the per room fee might be $5-10 more, but the overall price is cheaper because the resort fee is half of what it was at the hotel on the strip. I can travel around more freely. And there are tons of great cheap hole in the wall restaurants close to my hotel. I come to Vegas for my favorite cheap buffet off the strip in Henderson - $9.99 for lunch and $14.99 for dinner. Although I haven't had dinner there yet. But a $10 lunch with a drink plus a two dollar tip, is a bargain. And I can usually get away with two meals a day. Ruth's husband loves it because he can order room service and not have to move. There's something to that as well. But I really love that I can take a break and get some fresh air and come right back to it. Also, I could camp out at the Fridays and use that as another office space. It's all pretty great here.
I went and got a snack at the Friday's. I brought my script and took notes. Then I came back up to the room and did some more work on the script. All note taking right now. I have to fix the opening of the pilot and I have to make sure my story has a clear protagonist. Most of the script in the second half works. It's the first half that needs more push. What will happen - what always happens - is that the script changes entirely because you can't just change the first half and expect it will all stay the same.
Not bad for a first half day of work. Today is Day Two and I'll report more on the entire day later. But I'm up at my computer at 9 in the morning starting my process, which is usually a blog entry. It gets my fingers going. It gets my brain awake. I've already exercised and had two cups of tea. My ex gets here around 1 PM and then we're going to lunch and hanging out. But I've got work to do as well when he's here. I'm not stopping just because he's here. He's not the reason I'm here. The reason I'm here is to work. I want to get a firm idea for the rewrite and then to start rewriting as soon as I can. I'm spending the morning thinking about how to open the script. I feel like that will take some construction. Then the content can flow from that. But I want to set up the context and the world of the story before I introduce our two innocents into the story. I'm pouring all of myself into this rewrite because I won't be able to pick it up again until the Spring most likely. And I want this to be another sample we use.
Okay, back to work.
My intention is productivity.
My intention is work.
My intention is expansion.
My intention is openness.
I am grateful for this hotel room.
I am grateful for the ability to take the time to be here for four days.
I am grateful for the ability to afford to do this.
I am grateful for the ideas I've already had.
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