Well, hello there, reader. It’s been awhile, I know. I’ve been getting a little distracted with life and letting things interfere with my writing, but I wanted to hop on here and do something I’ve not done before.

I’m going to put myself out there. And by that, I mean I’m going to share my goals for the year with the internet. I’m doing this because

1) I need people to hold me accountable and

2) it might just encourage someone to put themselves out there, too.

It’s too easy to hold your wishes, dreams, and desires close to your chest and think “If I’m lucky enough, they’ll happen. If not, no one has to know.” It’s a lot harder to go for them publicly and risk failure.

I quit my job to write. There, I said it. And with saying it, it becomes so much more heavy. More real. This is not a “sabbatical” or a “vacation.” I am trying to succeed at something that’s extremely hard to break into. I may fail. And all of you will be witnesses to that failure. But I sure can’t justify half-arsing it now, can I?

My birthday is today. And next year is kind of a big birthday for me. I have some goals that I want to accomplish between now and then. Some of them I know I can achieve and some are admittedly long shots. I’m putting all my dreams and wishes out there for your rubber-necking pleasure and my potential humiliation.

Here goes nothing (aka everything):

 

I know I can:

[ ] Complete a 1-hour TV pilot and Show Bible

[ ] Polish my feature screenplay

[ ] Work on marketing my existing book (What They Don’t Know) for sales and potential movie opportunities

[ ] Find a public domain story to tell in my own unique way (public domain = you don’t have to pay for rights because there is no copyright; examples are fairy tales, Bible stories, etc)

[ ] Find some good, original IP (intellectual property, e.g. someone that has a good life story and wants help writing it)

[ ] Enter competitions for my TV pilot when ready, and possibly screenplay as well

[ ] Make at least one contact in the film or TV business

[ ] Write 6 days a week

[ ] Post about my progress once a week

 

I think I can:

[ ] Place in a writing competition

[ ] Attend a writing conference

[ ] Take a trip to LA

 

I hope I can:

[ ] Be askedto LA for meetings

[ ] Get an agent and/or manager

[ ] Sell something!

[ ] Earn an assignment that pays!

 

So this is me, grabbing the bull by the horns and dragging you along for the ride because…you know, accountability. Throughout the year, I will periodically add to this list and hopefully cross some things off as well.

And if even half the stuff on this list happens, I’m gonna need a bigger [metaphorical] boat.