Full Steam Ahead – The Climb #683

Tuesday 5^th January 2021

I try to track my writing and editing. I have a database where I enter what I was writing, the word count and the start and end times to not only give me a log of the number of words written across any given period, but also my writing rate. Through it I’ve discovered that I write non-fiction at around 2200 words per hour, fiction around 1700, and that diminishes over time.

But I don’t know how to track script writing.

It’s proving a very different sort of writing. Whereas for both prose and non-fiction I have to have music on to drive me forward, I find that distracting when writing scripts, and must instead work in silence.

And whilst I’ve only written, probably 5000 words these past few days, it feels like a lot more as the effort and mental focus is different.

I have my script largely complete. I came in a little short of my 30 page target, but going back and filling in some gaps took me over my target.

It’s been my entire focus for the day (except for this evening when I had a couple of hours raiding with the guild) and other than a quick error check and a few formatting fixes, it’s done. I won’t relax until it’s submitted but it will be good to have my first submission of the year already out. It gives a good start to 2021 having completed one bit of writing already.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t think it’ll do well. It’s not terrible. Indeed, I love it. But scriptwriting is a newish format for me and I’m a little inexperienced. I’m sure there are faults I’m oblivious to. The open submission wanted a comedy-drama and I do worry that it’s very much at the comedy end of that spectrum, possibly too much so for some people’s tastes.

But, this was always a practical exercise. I certainly haven’t avoided trying to make this the best script I could, but my aim was to give me something to focus on. I’d wanted to get a script done in 2020 and that slipped to 2021, and here I am with it done (or nearly done – I live in fear of some last minute panic). Timelines have been ridiculously tight but I’d been working on the ideas that form this script since mid last year.

What happens now, in many ways, doesn’t matter. The challenge was to get something submitted, not to get something accepted. It’s been quite freeing to be able to do that with a writing project. I’m quite frustrated with my prose writing currently and have to keep in mind we’re just 5 days into 2021 so maybe I might want to give it a few more weeks before I start expecting 2021 things to start moving.

Of course, once this is done it’ll be back onto the novel and trying to get that first draft completed by the end of January. I also notice there’s a short story submission window in January as well. With the possibility of Warcraft Wednesday getting at least partially delayed into Thursday, it could be Friday before I start getting going on prose again.

There’s also a bunch of tasks that have been ignored over the last couple of days that will need rescheduling and catching up upon.

But you know what? I think, whatever the outcomes, it’s been worth it. Although I reserve to change my mind come the end of the month.