hey, we're already in the third week of 2021!
nope, i didn't post an end-of-2020 entry, nor a hopes-for-2021 entry because, really, if the saga of 2020 taught us anything, it's that the world as we know it is often totally inexplicable, and usually has its own weird and wild agenda. "best laid plans..." and all that.
so, instead, here's an update on the state of affairs with me at the moment!
* i have not yet begun rewriting the screenplay i finished in december. i'm letting it stew for a bit. instead, inspired by a passing comment from a friend of mine, i started to reread old screenplays i'd written back when i was writing them regularly. there are five completed screenplays, each one rewritten at least a few times (one underwent more than 20 rewrites!)... and you know what? some of them are pretty good. i wrote them anywhere from 13 to 25 years ago, and i think i was a much better screenwriter back then. it just proves that spending time working specific writing muscles pays off... and those muscles *will* atrophy (and churn out terrible screenplays) if left unused long enough.
* amongst the old screenplays, i also found an outline -- which i wrote but have absolutely no recollection of writing! -- for a spec script for a long-gone sitcom called Less Than Perfect. the series ran on ABC for a few seasons in the early 2000s. (as an aside, i just now discovered TONS of full episodes have been uploaded on YouTube!) i never wrote the actual script, and it would be useless now (since any specs need to be for series currently airing), but holy crap. that outline was excellent. and i rarely if ever say anything like that about my own work. i read it and thought, "wait... *i* wrote this?!?! ME?????" i did. no memory of doing so, but i wrote it.
* further to the discoveries-amid-the-scripts discoveries, i also found a few notes from a woman who was one of my network-PR contacts at ABC when i worked at the entertainment magazine. she was great and fun, and always happy to shoot extra scripts (for ABC shows) my way so i could read them and learn. i hadn't thought of this woman in years and years, but finding the notes made me wonder whatever happened to her. so, like anyone else these days, i googled. turns out, she's now a very fancy, very accomplished production executive at VH1, and has created a number of successful TV series.
* all of the above pieces of my life's puzzle made me realize a few things. firstly, that despite wondering whether i should bother with screenwriting at this point in my life of just resign myself to marketing copy for the next 15 years, i actually *can* write stuff -- fiction stuff, screenplay stuff -- that isn't awful. i also remembered a conversation i had decades ago with another friend (also a successful TV writer/producer in L.A.), during which she asked me why i wanted to write movies when TV series were a much better bet. i remember her saying that TV writers have much more control, and the satisfaction is much more immediate, since films take years to get made while a TV script you write could be on the air and seen by millions within a couple of months... sometimes even less than that. and, after going through these piles of old writing, i realized how much hard work i'd put in all those years and years ago, only to seemingly abandon it all.
* SO. instead of rewriting the terrible screenplay (which i'll do eventually), i'm going to turn one of my other film ideas into a TV-pilot script instead. it's an idea that i thought could work either way, as a movie or limited series, and everything i've read of late indicates that TV is the way to go at the moment. the wealth of streaming services alone have opened up countless doors for writers, especially women writers. so, why not see if i can get something made for the small screen instead of the big one? as such, a spec pilot will next on the to-write agenda, and i'm hoping i can have a first draft done by the end of february.
* in other news, gracie is bored. really bored. this is not good. bored cats can develop behavioural issues, such as excessive grooming (yup) or excessive sleeping (check!), and they can get fat and depressed. i'm trying to figure out what i can do to get her more engaged and entertained, but -- despite a number of different approaches (gleaned from numerous "what to do if your cat is bored" articles) -- have been unsuccessful so far.
* i haven't decided whether i'm going to continue the photo blog while we continue to be in lockdown. i'm not sure there's much point, creatively. i've grown bored taking photos on my walks because it's the same series of routes, past the same houses and stores and trees, day in and day out, and i don't want to keep reeeeeeaching to find something halfway worth photographing. i haven't been to downtown toronto since march 2020. haven't used public transit since then, either. my world has grown somewhat small, and i find increasingly challenging (not in a good way) to create interesting shots. plus, we're now entering the greyest time of year here. so, we'll see.
