274 Days from Day 1 to The End: A screenplay draft is done

It took me just 274 days to get from Day 1 to The End.

Yes, I’m talking about the screenplay that I have been writing on Wednesdays this year, and documenting for Patreon subscribers. (And for myself.)

Today I wrote that infamous phrase, The End. Then I stared at it. I could hardly believe it. The four beats on the bottom of my monitor were all done, and they were the last of the bunch. I took a photo and sent it by MMS to my husband, ate some cheese to celebrate, and then sat down and put the screenplay in the correct order. Doing that was easier than I thought, and then when I was done, sat in a Victory V, shouted YES! to nobody in particular – the plants, maybe – and grinned.

The feeling of brilliance didn’t last very long. Pleasure at such things is a brief, shining light, and then life goes on.

My next steps are to print it out, and stash it away for 90 days; then, to see if all the beats line up. And, if not, rework it.

So what is next?

In a move that feels destined rather than chosen, my next project will be a book. Just as the screenplay has been a way for me to grow as a practitioner, by cracking the spine of a form that I rarely work in, so too a long works of fiction. Novels, if you will.

My next two books are already planned, as is my next screenplay. They include:

1. An anthology of essays. I have published loads of them over the years, and it’s time to pull them together, make sense out of them, rewrite as/where necessary, and produce volumes of them. It’s about time I gave that side of my creative life some serious love, and the anthology is the only way that makes sense right now.
2. A long fiction work that dwells in the esoteric. I have no idea of that story yet. But it’ll come.
3. A character film in the same vein as Chopper: The last man sentenced to death.

My Wednesdays will continue to be days of creative leave. Even though I am writing this on a Wednesday in the middle of a short week, thanks to public holidays; and even though I love my business and want to work in it as much as possible; and even though there are many people who would debate the sanity of working just 4 official days every week when you are trying to grow a business; I have decided that this is The Way.

It’s taken me a long time to accept it. In fact, I have been at odds with it for a lot of the year. Pressing jobs come up, there’s not enough time in the day to do everything, etc. The paradox is that if I work all the time, the business starts to fail. When I am resting, paying attention to my wellbeing, doing yoga and dance, am relaxed about the world, and am lighting and fanning my creative fires, the business grows.

The next works will be blogged here – some shared only with Patreon fans

While I am continuing to blog here, the real creative insight stuff is reserved for Patreon fans. It’s only fair. As I write the fiction work, then (if it turns out as planned) they’ll get actual, hands-on goodies along the way, like recipes and tools and things. If you’re not yet a fan, you can add yourself for a measley $1 at http://patreon.com/biodagar.