Happy Friday!The holidays are here which means this will be the last newsletter of 2021. To celebrate I’ve put together this "clip show" with a quick recap of ten of my favorite practical tools and devices I used this year. Hopefully one of them shakes something loose for you this week.Last week I watched WEST SIDE STORY and TICK, TICK... BOOM. I found them both inspiring for different reasons and both continued my mourning/celebration period for Stephen Sondheim in their own way.I didn't know much about Jonathan Larson's pre-RENT days. During the movie I heard him say so many things I've said out loud or felt, not just when I was trying to break in but even now, like this week.No other way to say it, 2021 was one long cold streak. I took out a few pitches with no success. I got replaced on a project I loved at the beginning of November, a project I went to bed thinking about and woke up thinking about for a year and a half. "Discouraged" is an understatement.I can't help but think about Christmas Eve in 2012. Julie and I were driving from her family's house in Chicago to my family's house in Ohio when her parents' car broke down midway. We were stuck in a hotel in Indiana overnight and while we were there I got a call from my boss at the time letting me know they were ending the marketing campaign that I had been a part of. I was fired on Christmas Eve, no prospects for the future, no way to get anything going for at least a few weeks.So I did the only thing I knew to do. I pulled out my laptop and I worked on a feature script called THE MARGINAL WAY that I was writing as part of a contest sponsored by The Writer's Store. Sure, I knew that maybe there was an opportunity waiting at the end of that process if I won. But mostly I started writing that night because it was a thing that brought me joy. It was one thing I could control, doing the actual creative work. I won that contest a few months later. A few days after that EXTANT placed in the TrackingB pilot contest and gave me my break.It's easy to stay positive when everything's clicking. It's much more difficult when you're back to square one, feeling stuck and out of sync. Full of self-doubt. Hearing Andrew Garfield sing, "Why," about how telling stories and making art is a great "way to spend the day" I'm forced to agree. Because despite the setbacks I wrote some things I'm really proud of in 2021, including 30 issues of this newsletter. Now it's time to rest, recharge and get ready to focus on the next one. Because that's what we do.We write the next one.And the one after that.And the one after that.Speaking of, when I come back on January 7th I'm going to devote part of each week to walking through the entire process of one piece, start to finish. You're welcome to work alongside me if you'd like.If you’ve been here since the first issue I want to say thanks for staying with me and for the support and encouragement. If you just subscribed thanks for checking it out. I hope you find it helpful for your own process.It’s been a few weeks since I said it but for the newcomers, this isn’t meant to be a “how-to,” it’s more of a “how I’m currently” doing it.Happy Holidays, see you in 2022!
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10 Quick Practical Tools in Review (12 minute…
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Happy Friday!The holidays are here which means this will be the last newsletter of 2021. To celebrate I’ve put together this "clip show" with a quick recap of ten of my favorite practical tools and devices I used this year. Hopefully one of them shakes something loose for you this week.Last week I watched WEST SIDE STORY and TICK, TICK... BOOM. I found them both inspiring for different reasons and both continued my mourning/celebration period for Stephen Sondheim in their own way.I didn't know much about Jonathan Larson's pre-RENT days. During the movie I heard him say so many things I've said out loud or felt, not just when I was trying to break in but even now, like this week.No other way to say it, 2021 was one long cold streak. I took out a few pitches with no success. I got replaced on a project I loved at the beginning of November, a project I went to bed thinking about and woke up thinking about for a year and a half. "Discouraged" is an understatement.I can't help but think about Christmas Eve in 2012. Julie and I were driving from her family's house in Chicago to my family's house in Ohio when her parents' car broke down midway. We were stuck in a hotel in Indiana overnight and while we were there I got a call from my boss at the time letting me know they were ending the marketing campaign that I had been a part of. I was fired on Christmas Eve, no prospects for the future, no way to get anything going for at least a few weeks.So I did the only thing I knew to do. I pulled out my laptop and I worked on a feature script called THE MARGINAL WAY that I was writing as part of a contest sponsored by The Writer's Store. Sure, I knew that maybe there was an opportunity waiting at the end of that process if I won. But mostly I started writing that night because it was a thing that brought me joy. It was one thing I could control, doing the actual creative work. I won that contest a few months later. A few days after that EXTANT placed in the TrackingB pilot contest and gave me my break.It's easy to stay positive when everything's clicking. It's much more difficult when you're back to square one, feeling stuck and out of sync. Full of self-doubt. Hearing Andrew Garfield sing, "Why," about how telling stories and making art is a great "way to spend the day" I'm forced to agree. Because despite the setbacks I wrote some things I'm really proud of in 2021, including 30 issues of this newsletter. Now it's time to rest, recharge and get ready to focus on the next one. Because that's what we do.We write the next one.And the one after that.And the one after that.Speaking of, when I come back on January 7th I'm going to devote part of each week to walking through the entire process of one piece, start to finish. You're welcome to work alongside me if you'd like.If you’ve been here since the first issue I want to say thanks for staying with me and for the support and encouragement. If you just subscribed thanks for checking it out. I hope you find it helpful for your own process.It’s been a few weeks since I said it but for the newcomers, this isn’t meant to be a “how-to,” it’s more of a “how I’m currently” doing it.Happy Holidays, see you in 2022!