[My Leap Year is a 12-month life project (begun 11/01/07) at the end of which I intend to be writing full-time. 365 small steps = 1 giant leap.]
My thoughts have taken a more practical bent this week. I’m starting to see the merit of the middle ground. The truth is, I don’t make gobs of money working at the comic shop. A handful of mid- to low-level paying work for hire gigs could surpass that amount surprisingly quickly. So I’ve started looking around my sphere of influence for potential WFH opportunities that may already exist within my web of contacts and current script samples.
I’ve also been thinking more about our savings and how to have them in optimal shape by the conclusion of My Leap Year, when they could turn out to be crucial in whether I can leave the day job behind for full-time writing. Finances are not easy for me and take a good degree of concentration. That time bites into writing time, but a necessity is a necessity. This also means things like making sure I take time out from morning writing sessions to eat a filling breakfast and that I make sure to pack a lunch. I’ve been buying both those meals all to frequently of late, and that’s $5-$15 5 days a week that could be going into “writer’s cushion” savings.
Today I attended the memorial service for writer Madeleine L’Engle, who authored over 60 books in her lifetime, including the popular and influential Time Quartet. Her works continue to inspire a wide variety of thoughts in me and this service in her memory was no different. But probably my most obvious thought was how I would be considered upon my death. I realized one of the things I wanted to be know for was learning from and collaborating with other influential creative minds of my time. The higher the foundation I build upon, the higher the structure I can build.
In that vein, Vito and I continue forward at an exciting pace on our new project, and another extremely interesting collaboration has presented itself this week.
Here are some more quotations on the “quality > quantity” issue I’ve been mulling over. From my Making Good interview with the Fearless writers:
“What would you say is the #1 mistake you see aspiring writers making?
“MARK SABLE: Hmm…probably turning in a first draft, or more generally submitting something before it’s ready (which I still do).
“DAVE ROTH: Believing so strongly in your work that you don’t listen to criticism and neglect the rewrite process. I see a ton of less experienced writers doing this—they’re happy to have finished something (which they can rightly be), but then mistakenly believe their work is done and the money will just start rolling in. This hurts you on an individual project basis and inhibits your growth. Everyone starts at different levels, with different strengths and different weaknesses, but anyone can improve. Even if you don’t agree with a note or reaction, it’s far more valuable to listen anyway and try and figure out if they are right about some aspect, no matter how small, than simply disregard it entirely. Then go back and rethink what you’ve done and rewrite it, not just a line or a comma, but a true rewrite where you take something good and make it great.”
And from an interview (circa 2001) with Mark Millar in the backmatter of Vampirella: Nowheresville:
“How do you keep readers in today’s fickle market?
“Put the effort in. It’s really that simple. Work hard. Don’t show off that you can write a script in three days. Put the hours in because the readers appreciate it.”
On a technical note, I’ve started tagging my blog entries, making it easier for both you and me to topically navigate this site.
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