Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Tumult

My brain's going a million miles a minute tonight. Can't seem to slow down and get myself to bed.

I'm sitting at this crossroads trying to figure out what to do next. I suppose the wise course is to wait until Dec. 5 when I'll know if I've made the cut to the final round of the Writer's Arc fellowship. But, my brain is spinning with all these ideas, things to do...but I can't focus on one...I keep flitting around from idea to idea, like one neuron firing right after another, never stopping long enough to really work through a story.

Look, over here's the graphic novel idea you have...

...and over here a comic series (both to be turned into features someday)...

...but wait, what about that half finished comedy you have lying around...

...nope, work on the horror spec...

...or the dramedy...

...or the new TV spec...

...or rewrite the other one you have...

...or the pilot, you must work on the pilot...

...or the [blank]...

Nope, just swirling around in the eddy of imagination, spiriling down into the pool of paralysis.

Okay, now I can go to sleep. Maybe. I'll do a crossword puzzle.

7 comments:

aggiebrett said...

Wait — so you're saying that your mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought, cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives?

Aaah.

Write down all the good ideas in a file labeled "Good Ideas" and then come back to them next week or next month or next year when you have time and need a boost. Yeah, half of them will surely suck once they no longer have that "any port in a storm" draw of giving you a semi-legitimate "out" from focusing on the writer's Arc stuff you know deep down you ought to be thinking about and focusing upon, but some of the ideas will still be shiny enough to attract your attention come that day when you finally have time to concentrate and follow through.

Do nothing. I'm a big fan of doing nothing.
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B

MaryAn Batchellor said...

Rent a video. Make sure it's a complex, hard to follow one that requires your full attention. You'll be asleep in no time.

Cunningham said...

Shawna,

Deciding which project to tackle next is like sex, start at the head and work your way down.

Which Idea did you come up with first?

Grubber said...

Drink too much........can't hurt.:)

Tim Clague said...

Or the boring way:

Which one is most likely to get picked up?

Tim Clague
PROJECTOR FILMS
My Blog

Dave Olden said...

Ah the curse of a writer's mind. It woulda been the same dilemma counting sheep leaping over the fence... no,

... they tunnel their way under the fence -- no,

Better the smorgasboard of ideas you get.

DaveO

Anonymous said...

I am salivating waiting to get to my next project (and yes I have ruined many script pages in the process and hint: don't salivate drinking Code Red Mountain Dew)...any one of yours sounds like a great jumping to point