My exciting news is that the Word of the Day book is almost completed.
In the Wednesday webinar, we tested one of the book’s new processes: you create your ideal day after first making a cluster of your writing wants and then your writing beliefs.
The technique was very useful and interesting because when we shared, few of us made time for ordinary writing, such as emails, articles, etc.
This led me to wonder if some of the problems are that we don’t give ourselves credit for all our writing, not just the writing on the main book or screenplay project we’re working on. Then I wondered if we aren’t all really busy, and taking stock of how we spend our time before placing more demands on it made sense.
Each of us writers could profit from creating a time log of our lives to see what we were actually writing and determine how much time there was for creative writing. This is almost like a reverse calendar. Instead of deciding how much time we wanted to spend on our book or screenplay, we would keep track of how we were actually spending our time and could accurately infer how much time is currently available.
I’m going to try this myself starting Monday and report next Friday. Meanwhile, if you wanted to try this out, here’s what you would do:
Keep a detailed log in fifteen-minute increments of what you do with your time from when you wake up and go to sleep. Do this for three days. At the end of three days, take a highlighter to see how much actual work you got done on your project and how much time you spent doing other things, including other writing work. From there, you’ll be able to decide what, if any, changes you’d like to make.
I’ll be sharing my own log next Friday, if you’d like to share yours, send me an email, and we’ll figure out how best to incorporate the information into our next newsletter.
Join us at the next Word of the Day webinar on July 27 at 7:00 p.m EST.
I want to give a shout-out to Brian Gadinsky, who completed an excellent screenplay!!! Bravo. He sent me this lovely note, which I’m going to share.
The following is not hyperbole: Marilyn Horowitz changed my life, and it only took her a few months. For ten years (!) I was imprisoned with an idea that I had a deep passion for but felled by a lack of confidence and living with a belief that I had no business trying to write a 120-page screenplay. I felt the pain of that thorn in my side every single day. Whenever I would see a pop culture or news item related to my idea, I would feel ashamed that I was too cowardly to even try. I had googled “screenplay coaches” about a hundred times over the years before wimping out….but this time was different.
Marilyn had me at “roadmap.” What a soothing, beautiful word. Finally, some boundaries…she has a ’system!’ I could take my logline and enter it into the “Marilyn Machine” and “presto change-o”….a finished screenplay! Well, it was not that simple….but almost! Marilyn’s style…her tough yet encouraging and loving tutelage was exactly what a 65-year-old “fraidy cat” like me needed. She plugged me into her system, and I almost instantly became a “whirling dervish” at the keyboard. I was (and still am) astounded at what Marilyn’s magic touch pulled out of me. After ten years of stress, it only took me 10 weeks to write. 152 pages! And it’s GOOD! Whether it sits on my coffee table to impress my friends and family or it wins the next Best Picture Oscar….I really do not care. This is my triumph! I am proud of myself beyond words. Marilyn Horowitz was the greatest gift I have ever given myself.
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
