What to write?

Some writers focus on non-fiction, or fiction, or romance, or poetry.

I have no such clarity.

I like writing screenplays, but miss the ability to get inside the characters head. And I dislike the feeling I get that I'm cheating on REAL literature if I write smut like screenplays...even though I totally acknowledge that screenwriting is challenging, and worthwhile, and I love watching movies. I suppose it's just that screenwriting is guilty by association. It's guilty of all the vile things about Hollywood by association: glitz, glamour, a whole industry bent on not growing up. An industry which constantly seeks escape. I like writing screenplays but I don't want to write something which is really only appreciated if it's produced and shown to an audience.

Vs.

I love writing novels because--as my ever-so-wise friend Eric Thompson says--what you put on the page is the final product: what you put down on the page is what the reader sees. Period. End of story. No director, actors, producers, studios, and/or test audiences. Oh, sure, you'll have editors helping you form your work as you craft it, but it's largely a direct route from you to your audience. I love that. But, writing a book is easier and harder than writing a screenplay. Writing a screenplay is an exercise in economy. Writing a book, an exercise in detail.

Then there's the fact that I feel indefinitely torn and paralyzed just by having the option to write either one. I cannot choose. I don't want to choose. I don't think, ultimately, I will or that I must...but when I write one I feel like I'm being unfaithful to the other; or, perhaps, I feel like I'm spreading myself too thinly and won't complete either.

Long Time Gone

It has been a very long time since I posted here on this blog, and actually, awesomely, it was a fairly recent comment that reminded me of the fact.

This, then, is my commitment (hah, for what that's worth!) to blog here more consistently. I'd like to get in the habit of blogging here and over at my other really relevant blog (Abe's In School) at least once a week. Of course, this is on the shortlist of "things to do" along with:

1. reading all the books on my night stand
2. exercising five days a week
3. programming my own projects (rather than the stuff I'm doing for school)
4. writing every day

I'm certainly busy, but I intuitively suspect that there's room for all the above in my life, plus getting good grades and staying on top of the rest of stuff, as long as I apply myself and make a plan.

Making a plan, though, is tricky. It requires determining if I really have the necessary time, and the necessary commitment to actually do any/all of the above.

If, somehow, I managed to carry 12 credits last semester AND work full-time AND get straight-A's, then surely I have the ability to carry 16 credits AND work part-time AND get straight-A's and do all the above...and maybe join a martial arts class (I won't try to spell the martial art that has a reputation for staying out of harms way and primarily focusing on kicks and style. It starts with a T.).

I told a friend of mine how I was reading that one of Montana's most prolific western writers has become very prolific by following, rain or shine, a writing rule. Every day he writes 400 words and edits the previous days 400 words. That's it.

Everyone can write 400 words a day. Crazy thing is that, like interest, it grows exponentially. Okay, so it doesn't actually compound over time, but it does at least sum with itself daily. One day you've only got 400 words, the next 800, the next 1200, the next 1600, and pretty soon...120,000 (novel length). One-hundred-and-twenty-thousand is very doable four-hundred words a time. Okay, so it'd take 300 days to write a novel of that size at that pace, but what the hell, at least it gets done, right? If you wanna complete a novel in six months, 180 days, then you just need to increase that to 666 words a day. I'd probably round up to 670, but then, I'm superstitious (not actually).

Maybe this semester is sunk already, seeing as we're hell-bent on finals week and I AM still trying to wrap up 16 credits with > 3.50 GPA (so I can get another Dean's List letter). However, moving forward I am slowly starting to align my priorities. Every semester from here on out, I'm committed to only carrying 12-13 credits. Such a load will assist me in excelling in school and leave me the time to write, exercise, and pursue other hobbies (like music and programming).

Thanks too to those who've stopped by my blog and left comments even though there hasn't been any activity from me in quite some time. You helped remind me to come on back and restart this blog. Thank you!