355 Days

2010 was an interesting year. It was filled with big events, and yet nothing much changed. I lost my job when the organization I worked for folded, but it ended up being a great opportunity for me to refocus and think about what I really wanted out of my life. I think I figured it out, too.

In a word, the answer is writing.

It seems silly to think that it took me so long to figure it out. I won a school-wide scary story contest at age 9. I wrote for my high school paper. I had short stories published in college, and I taught a writing workshop. My first post-graduate job was working for a magazine. In my filmmaking, screenwriting came first, directing came second.

Yeah. Obvious.

It took my commitment to NaNoWriMo to really bring it to light. I woke up almost every day in November with a big smile on my face, eager to get to work. Even on the hard days, I always felt accomplished when I came away with words on the page. Nothing else in my life gave me such a rush, such a soul-satisfied feeling. Hitting the 50K mark was a revelation. If I could do that, I could do about anything.

So, my number one goal of 2011 is to focus on my writing. Fiction writing in particular, though I’ve also re-committed to my blogging. Ya’ll deserve more than one post a month.

Does this mean I’m done with filmmaking? Not at all. In fact, in refocusing myself as a writer I can finally free myself to simply write a good script. Storytelling is at the heart of filmmaking.

What about crafting? Am I done with that? Hell no. I need my needle and thread (or needles and yarn) to keep me sane, to keep my hands grounded and my mind clear. Not to mention, it’s just too much fun.

I’m excited to see where this year will lead. There’s a lot of work ahead of me, but I’ve never been afraid of getting my hands dirty and burning the midnight oil. I've already made some headway in this, with some classes and some writing pieces scattered here and there like seeds.

I still have 355 days left in 2011. Let's see how far I can get.