On October 21st I set myself on a new creative routine. I wrote an article about it, mapping out the step by step of my gloriously productive mornings. It’s been a little over 2 weeks, and here’s what actually happened…
7:00am
Goal: Wake up, play with Squishy the cat, feed her, make coffee
What actually happened: This happens every single day, that’s for sure.
7:30am
Goal: morning pages for 10 minutes. More about that write here.
What actually happened: This is going as usual – every single day I write down whatever comes to mind, or whatever I’m worried about, including but not limited to: running a small business, dealing with imaginary love and internal wars, the future, the past and rarely the present. Lately, I’ve added what I’m thankful for and that’s served to keep me grounded instead of complain-y. I’m also working on my movie every day, so, these pages have consequently turned into a way to talk to myself about the story and the characters. Something like, “I’m not sure this would serve the story” or “I feel that the part about the elephant is irrelevant to the major themes of…” My morning pages are going better than ever.
8:00am
Goal: write 2 pages of screenplay as fast as I can
What actually happened: I’m not gonna lie, this is not happening every day, but it is happening every other day, which is a huge success for me. Since I put it in morning routine, I feel a crushing guilt when I skip a day and I up the pages to 4 the next day. So far, I’ve written 30 additional pages. Of crap. That’s right, they’re not exactly “good” scenes, or rather, they don’t DO anything. After 50 pages (which is 50 minutes of movie time!), nothing has happened, and it’s been agonizing. Until… something did happen. It was breakthrough. I started back at page one and finally, the story is moving. I have so much material that I’ve already written, that these pages are moving much faster than before and I no longer fear the blank page. This would have never happened if I didn’t push myself to just write-forward instead of re-read and think and wonder why I’m not figuring it out.
8:30am
Goal: exercise (4x per week) – for some super sexy idea-generation.
What actually happened: This is the only thing that is negotiable on the routine, although it happens 4 times per week more often than not, especially since I found a way to stationary bike and write! I suggest stationary bike for everyone.
9:30am
Goal: get ready to go to the best job in the world at FADE IN:
What actually happens: Woohoo. Still the best job in the world.
Happy writing, everyone!
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