Final Challenge Check In

Wow!  It’s hard to believe we’ve already reached the official end of the 2010 Screenwriting Challenge.  To everyone who participated, congratulations!  You’ve made a huge commitment to your writing life that will continue to pay dividends far into the future.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the fabulous Challenge Party last night.  We had a great time!

Classes start TONIGHT (Feb 1st) so I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you all to come check them out (remember, you can check out your first session for only 20 bucks)

Where To Go From Here

Even if you didn’t do the challenge perfectly, if you’ve stuck with it, you’ve probably found by now that you’re in a pretty good rhythm.  In fact, you may even notice you start to feel strange on days when you don’t write!

Take a moment to celebrate and commemorate your success, and then keep that rhythm going!

Remember, writing begets more writing.  Obey that little clock in your head that says “oh, it’s time to do my pages today!”

For those of you who have struggled to find your rhythm, or are still finishing the challenge, remember, each page you write brings you one step closer to the rhythm you’re seeking.  So the best way to get to where you want to be is to build upon where you are.

Take a moment right now to celebrate what you have accomplished.  Forget for a little while about where you fell short, and concentrate instead on where you succeeded.  If you’re writing more now than when you began the challenge, you’re already a success.

So celebrate the days you did write, rather than bemoaning the ones you didn’t.  Even writing once a week can become the foundation for a writing life.

You may also want to spend a little time examining things that are getting in the way of establishing your rhythm.

Have you been beating yourself up over the quality of your work, rather than keeping the focus on how many pages you are generating?

Are you allowing yourself to enjoy the feeling of success that comes with completing your pages, or are you cheating yourself of the joy of writing by focusing on your failures?

Are there activities that are getting in the way of your writing, favorite procrastination techniques that make writing “impossible”, or small changes you could make to your day to carve out the 15 minutes you need?

Do you have the support you need to get you through the difficult writing times?  Or is it time to sign up for a workshop, master class, script consultation, or hypnosis session?

As you look back at your pages, you may find that you have many pages you love, or there might just be a few.  Focus on the things that you can build on.  It might be just one page.  It might be one line.  It might be a character you’re curious about, an image that resonates for you, or a rhythm you want to explore.

You can use these exciting bits to inspire the next phase of your writing journey.  Some of them may even grow into complete screenplays!  Others may seem useless now, and then surprise you when they pop back into your head as the perfect answer to something you are struggling with in your writing.

Whatever rhythm you have established for yourself, make sure you keep it up.  These three pages you write every day are sacred– one of the few times you get to simply play as a writer, exploring ideas without the need for “usable” pages, “good” writing, or a “finished” product.

Stay tuned for my next newsletter, in which I’ll be discussing some steps you can take to set yourself on the next phase of your writing journey.

If you’ve completed the full 30 days of writing, please drop me a line and let me know about your experiences!