As If I Didn't Have A Lot On My Plate Already...

Being the insane person that I am always taking on more projects than I should, I just signed up for Zette's Two Year Novel Writing Workshop for 2009 over at Forward Motion. It starts at the beginning of 2009, so I have a little time to decide which of my story ideas to bring out of purgatory to use.

I'm also going to do Zette's Alternative Short Story Challenge. I had already decided to work on short stories in addition to finishing my novel for the 70 Days of Sweat Challenge. I guess I'll just add working on new short stories since Zette's Challenge uses prompt generators.

To finally round out my insanity, I'm going to start also doing Justin's Daily Exercises (aks Zette's Gym). I remember these from WWWWWAAAAAYYYY back in the day, and they're still doing them. These are GREAT for helping you to think outside the box. Some of my past story ideas have come from doing these exercises.

For example today's prompt is STRAIGHT TO THE NERVES... You can click on the link if you want to see the whole prompt. Sometimes I write out a scene or a snippet, or a journal entry from a character's pov using the prompt's situration.

I'm trying really hard to cement my writing habit before the start of next semester. With my new job, I know the semester is going to be a challenge. Plus, I'm going to enter a film short in the DC Short Film Festival next year. The deadline is not until summer, but I've you know how those creep up on you. I'll probably be using some of my short story ideas as short film scripts (lofty goals, I know). My goal in 2009 is 1)to have 6 short scripts to shot from but March, that should give me enough time to decide if I'm going to do animation or digital video; and 2)to submit at least two short stories a month for publication. I've been languishing, so I'm going to submit them and let the chips "fall where they may".

I'll be renewing some of my Associations memberships in January. Everything seems possible when you have a physical check in. Both Horror Writers Association and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have online seminars. Romance Writers of America has monthly meetings and online workshops. DC Film Alliance has TONS of programs all the time.

I'm going to try and stick with this.