Projects & Projections

I did well today. I'm moving forward with Outside the Gate (and I'm kicking around other title options). I wrote ten pages, which is actually good in the life of a screenwriter. Of course I'm seeing that I'll probably be deleting 35 to 40 of the first 50 pages I wrote before I halted the disaster. But that's okay. Sometimes the process is that kind of ugly.

Following that, I turned out a couple more paragraphs of my "G Girl" short story. G Girl is a television pilot I co-wrote a couple years ago. I originally had the idea of it as a novel, but a friend suggested TV and offered to help. Nothing may ever come of that script, but it did educate and start me on screenwriting (or restart if that course in college counts), which led to Peoria and the Pit of Demons and now Outside the Gate. Anywho, my recent epiphany is that G Girl must be a novel after all, and I have big plans. I'm determined to write a brilliant bit of popular series fiction and profit well enough to travel the world and support my 100+ pound dog with the best possible lifestyle (which she may already have, as she's stretched out on my bed this very moment).

So Operation: G Girl starts with a short story that I'll get published (such confidence, right? but I believe in the power of persistence), and then I'll use that credit and confidence boost to help land an agent for a novel manuscript. I could be completely nuts, but I've learned the hard way before, and at least I'll be learning.

And that's how I'm wrapping up my day as a writer. I researched some markets for short stories, mainly to get a feel for page length. First and foremost, I have to make sure "G Girl" is the right length for the market I'm going for (consumer magazines). The final wrap-up of my day will be a little reading. (Then I'll be fighting the dog for a corner of my bed.)

This blog can either turn into a how-to for getting published, or a what-not-to-do. Let's hope it's the former -- wish me luck!!!