one-month strategic plan

focusing is SO DAMN HARD. i spend more time coming up with new ideas and researching old ones, than actually working.

i need to make a rock-solid plan and then stick to it. darn, does that mean i have to right now? ok, here goes.

to do:

-rewrite bride of christ opening chapter. i'm told it needs to be 'more visual, more shocking.' bleh. the hardest thing is, i'm still struggling with the voice. do i want to be objective and narrative, or can i employ my snarky, holden caulfield voice at times too? then they'll tell me, 'less abrasive. we want to like the character more.' double bleh.
-plot out a STRAYS season, then write the pilot. SO MUCH WORK!!

-brainstorm a plot idea, then write a sample 'mad men' episode. that's how to break in, i always hear. copy an existing show to show your skills before you try to sell a new idea as a no-namer. plus, i've watched 17 or so episodes in the last few weeks. now's the time.

-write some short stories from my vast reprotire of undone ideas. submit them.

so. it's friday, August 29. i have a 3 day weekend. plan out a mad men story by tuesday morning; review the episodes and take notes on names and specific dialogue. research some early '60's demos. ooh! i have an idea! research when the feminist movement started; maybe draker's stay at home wife could have a run-in with some outspoken women and start to think outside the box! i like this!

ok. so start writing the episode two hours every night; have it done by october 1st. meanwhile, get up at 8am every day, and submit 2 short stories for publication by october 1st. and work on bride of christ two hours every day, after work; send three great chapters to my agent by mid-september.

whew! i need a cigarette break and, oh i know, this calls for...a random old typwriter posting!!

hint, hint to the universe

this is my book wishlist right now.
i just ordered
no one belongs here more than you by miranda july. she lives in LA and her best friend is in my writing class. i wish i could be miranda's friend, too. she's out of control awesome.

UPDATE: 10/16

I ended up thumbing thru Dear Diary at the American Apparel warehouse downtown (long story) and it's pretty much lame, so never mind.

Also, I have jealousy issues with the author, who is my age, and just happened to have held on to her teenage years diary. Damn my parents and their irresponsible foreclosure while I lived on the other side of the country and couldn't save all my childhood stuff from being tossed in a dumpster, thereby prohibiting me from seamlessly squeezing my lemons into profitable lemonade, dammit!

Starting to write Short Stories

i never got that genre .... all i can think in terms of are grand, swooping ideas that will take years to do and, suicide and psychosis narrowly avoided, win me a pulitzer at 50.

since i'm sick of waiting around for all that fun, i've decided to take the million or so crazy, weird stories already floating around in my head and compile a short story collection.

for inspiration i just amazoned elizabeth gilbert's (eat, pray, love) first book, Pilgrims. google says: A superior collection of stories about women who are as tough as they look, though perhaps not quite as tough as they think they are.

exactly where i'm coming from, and since i've had a lot of people randomly tell me that eat, pray, love makes them think of my writing, seems like a great author to observe. so far, the stories kick ass, and i already have a list of about 10 stories i want to write.

i can't wait to assault my agent with more unsold, dubious ideas.

STRAYS

spent the weekend revamping a tv show i started creating last fall. can't BELIEVE it's almost been a year since i went back to it.
really loving living each moment fully these days. time flies, cliche, cliche, cliche, bla, bla, but it's SO true.

so STRAYS is a tv show about 4 young artists and their struggle to make it in LA. they're girls - an actress, writer, musician and costume designer who are best friends, and you guessed it, they live in venice beach! in two adjoining beach bungalows.
think entourage (without the success) meets sex and the city (younger, hotter, literally hungrier) meets californication (but better writing i hope) meets friends and seinfeld (without the comedy focus) meets (and here's where the dreams get big) sopranos, six feet under, and mad men (writing quality ;)

i've learned so much about dialogue and character development in the last year, through trial and error and observation, and i think this could be good.

my roommate works at william morris and wants to pitch it around.

it's so fun working on this, because every single moment is pretty much inspiration.

intro to the memoir

Dearest Author of Certain Renown:Sorry I've taken so long in getting back to you. I've read it; it's good, very good. Right on the money. You've nailed the narrative style for this sort of writing.My delay is that I'm taking the liberty of editing it a bit. As an editor I'm slow, very slow.Back to you soon,Peter

my mom's boyfriend Peter, an unemployed architect and yale graduate with time on his hands and literature in his soul, has offered to look at my latest 2 sample chapters for BRIDE OF CHRIST.

it's so good to have some help. i really respect his opinion.

a little background: Bride of Christ is my memoir. Although I've completed the original manuscript, the sample chapters provided to editors thru my agent have gone thru 4 edits. This fourth, i feel, is the one. I think I'm finally getting what they want across without compromising my integrity or losing my voice.

enjoy the cheesy yet perceivedly desirable sensationalist cover i made once upon a time.

i'm here to write

I may not be very good at it, the publishers might want endless variations on something i invariably and belatedly realize was hopelessly wanting, but it is a saving grace, this writing, my soul's silver tongue that seeks solid ground after so much tossing in this flawed vessel.

two pieces of good news, soul. there's dramamine and the writing can only get better with time.

in this rampant, loveless city of perpetually youthful angels, the latter's reality is a rarity.

i'm working on a novel, a memoir, a script, and want to write more short stories. i also intend to regularly procrastinate by posting pictures of writerly things like this old typewriter advertisement.

and so the journey from optimistic novice to whiskey-drinking pessimist continues. may as well try and get published on the way.