In my New Years Day post, I looked back at what I did in 2012. In this post, I lay out my 2013 goals. That is goals for 2013, not 2013 goals.
I finished this film last year and submitted it to the Hundred Dollar Film Festival. If it is accepted, I do have a little work to prepare it for screening. Not a big part of the work for this year, but something I’ll need to do.
I’ve let this project drag on far too long. It has been a difficult project for me to do. In many ways, the delay in this project has stopped me from moving forward. I really need to get this film behind me.
Xtranormal Film/Video
I want to make a long video with Xtranormal. What I really want to do is to make a feature film, but I don’t feel that I am ready. I have written some longer short stories and scripts, but I feel I need to do a film or video to really learn how to make a more substantial film.
In 2012, I made Make ’em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way, which, at a little over 9 minutes, is one of my longer projects. I want to continue my exploration of the capabilities of Xtranormal in 2013. I feel that Xtranormal might be a good way to write a script.
I have had several ideas for what to make. At one time or another, I’ve considered adaptations of several of my stories; Hello, My Name is Bob, The Crying Woman, The Gladstone Barrier, or The Glencoe Project. I’ve also thought I should create a new story.
I need to pick one of these options and move forward.
Stories
I still want to write more stories. If Pete’s Plan sells, then I may start to write more short science fiction stories along the same lines.
I have several longer stories in development that I would like to complete. My aim is to have each of them finished at novelette length.
Felix is another science fiction story. I based it on a H. P. Lovecraft story. This one looks like it will end up shorter than my target; unless I add in more twists and turns. On the other hand, maybe I need to explore the characters more. I have about half of the first draft done.
Heat Wave is also a science fiction story. I find that I have drawn a lot on my personal experiences in this one. Like Line of Taxis, it allows me to explore personal issues at some distance from myself. Like Felix, I am not yet finished the first draft.
Bright Freedom is a story I converted from a feature script I wrote. I have a first draft done. I’ve done some notes for changes to the first draft, but I want to leave the rewrite until I have some of my other projects out of the way.
I want to combine and rewrite my two transportation planning stories, The Gladstone Barrier, and The Glencoe Project, into a longer story. Maybe even a novel. Of course, I want to make them into movies too. I shouldn’t try to do both.
Work Habits
I had a commenter on my look back at 2012 post who suggested that I would be more productive if I set deadlines for my projects. I actually did set some deadlines for 2012, but I didn’t find that they really helped me.
Deadlines have their place, but I don’t like deadlines because I find they stifle my creativity. Most of my better ideas come to me when I was doing nothing and had nothing to do. Deadline change the nature of what I create in ways I don’t like.
Never the less, I recognize that I can be more productive than I am. I believe that the approach I need to do is adopt better work habits. Most of what I’ve read about writing suggests that good writers set aside a certain time every day to write. I don’t think it needs to be a lot of time, but it does need to be consistent.
It is not easy to establish new habits, or drop old habits. I can’t allow myself to give up, but I should accept that I might slip from time to time.