So? What now?
With a list of projects and goals for the year, what’s the next step?
Well, hopefully not paralysis. The answer is really about focus, identifying what you want to do and what you need to do, prioritising these and coming up with a plan.
One thing that’s helped me is Adrian Mead’s Making It as a Screenwriter. It describes the steps you need to take, a plan of attack, to become a professional screenwriter. Packed with honest truths, it’s a great tool to focus your ideas and ambitions. Geared towards British screenwriting, many of the ideas it puts forward apply equally to any writing endeavour.
Adrian did a great series of podcasts for the Scottish Book Trust, which give a taste of what Making It as a Screenwriter entails, including the mantra, “If I keep on doing what I’m doing, I’ll keep on getting what I’m getting.”
On top of this you get the warm feeling of knowing that all proceeds from the book will go to ChildLine, to support children in danger and distress.
Not a bad way to start your year.