So in 2014 I wanted to do a 365 challenge. Do something every day of the year. A friend of mine last year did one submission a day. Suzan Lori Parks wrote a play a day. And another friend of mine posted a self portrait every day in 2013.
I decided that mine would be less specific. I want to spend one hour per day on things that directly pertain to my writing career. Whether that means writing or editing a play, applying for a fellowship, submitting a play to a theater or staring out the window drinking tea and daydreaming about fishing on the susquehannah in July… I resolve to spend at least one hour per day "being a writer." This blog will help me to track my progress, and my reactions to the project.
A few thoughts. I have read that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something-- anything. That's a lot of motherfucking hours. So if I can clock 365 this year, it's probably a lot more than I clocked in 2013, and I'll be on my way to 10,000. Something else I read: resolutions are more likely to be kept if they are NOT talked about. This feels backward to me, because what about moral support and fellowship and all that. But research shows that the opposite is true. So, I will talk about it as little as possible, and not attempt to get any kind of attention for the project. It's an agreement with myself, and if I fail, I'm only letting myself down. And it's sort of awesome because I don't need to cite sources, and I don't need to be funny or smart or entertaining.
The rules: I can't binge write. Or rather, I can binge and probably will, but only one hour counts per day. The goal is not about cumulative time, but the act of sitting down each day. It's about getting into the habit of setting aside time for what I really want and love to do. About making sacrifices for it if need be. Saying no to the cappuccino at Jack's Wife in favor of clocking my hour. It's about focusing on the process of becoming a better writer rather than sitting back and waiting for my "career" to "take off," whatever the fuck that even means. Another rule: (and I stole this one from Leah) it counts as "today" as long as I haven't gone to bed yet. So if I sit down at midnight, I'm still good for the day.
So Day 1. I sat down at 10:20 and began some formatting/editing on Foreign Bodies, my fourth full-length play. (One: In Her Stocking Feet, Two: Win, Lose or Love, Three: White Sangria, Four: Foreign Bodies, Five: Birthday Boy) I realized that the copy that I submitted to Juilliard's Playwriting program was a formatting disaster. I'm going to try and get them to let me submit a fresh copy. I don't know whether I'll just ask or whether I'll try to please migraine insanity. When I submitted my app, I was in the middle of a pretty nasty migraine hangover. I don't think well, and I can't focus. Often I can't see properly. So hopefully that story will have a happy ending.
Goals for the year:
1. Finish a solid rewrite/edit of Foreign Bodies and send out as soon and as often as possible
2. Workshop/rewrite/edit White Sangria for the production in May
3. Hear Birthday Boy out loud, and do a major edit
4. Write Coronado Heights in its entirety
5. Aprox one submission per week
6. Write Bzar pilot
7. create "Only in New York" web series
8. Write NY Fringe fest play starring Justin Timberlake or Jimmy Fallon? DUE FEB 14
Alrighty. That's about it. One day down, 364 to go.
