writing as another job of mine...

This week began what my writing partner hailed as The Plan to Take Over the World, One Page At a Time.

I've mentioned my writing partner before. She's extremely enthusiastic and highly motivated and very delightful. I'm lucky that we've found each other and I adore her. If it wasn't for her, my writing would have become another thing I did once, or tried to do once, but instead, thanks to her, it is a constant whirring of gears and machinery and excitement. I suppose it's equal in that I've provided her with the essential prodding and poking we need as artists and she's crafted a screenplay while sitting across from me, as well as fits and starts of other things.

The plan is a five pronged attack meant to get me to write more, to think of writing every day, to be inspired to write, write, write. 1)journal writing, 2)at least a half hour of fiction writing per day, 3)meeting with each other regularly, 4)co-writing our screenplay (a whole 'nother story) and 5)getting shit published.

For both of us, that last one has been problematic. I think it is something that the Fiction Department really drops the ball on. If we had to craft full movements for class, then wouldn't it stand to reason that sending them out to a publication should be a requirement as well? I only had to send out one piece as an assignment for a fiction writing class in the four years I spent writing there.

The other problem is that a "full movement" is a difficult thing to come by. I know for myself there is always something more that could be done to a piece. It is rare that I can look at something and say it's finished and there's nothing more I can do with it. I have so many nearly completed things, and a lot of other stuff that's half done. So that is part of the job there is to do, to polish and clean up and inventory all of those things, to get them ready for publication.

Oh, and on top of all that, I have five jobs! And a fairly active social life! And I seem to be busy all the time!

So far it's been going well. I've been enjoying journaling the most. It's a pleasure I hadn't realized I'd missed. Because I mainly blog here, I rarely take a pen to paper. [And my blogging here has been paltry, to say the least.]

The meetings have been crazy. We've already met three times this week with another meeting scheduled for tomorrow. I'm so impressed with myself that I could make it work with my crazy life and that the people I work for are so supportive. I told my one boss that I needed to work a half day and she said no problem and even drove me to my destination! I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.

One of the things we've committed to doing more of is to read books more often. As my general commute has been shortened into ten minutes, my reading has diminished greatly. Not that I could read Faulkner very well on the bus anyway. But I've been taking out time to read and it's been very pleasant. I sit in my chair by the window and read while the sun goes down.

All of this may seem silly or unnecessary or scoff worthy, but I've found it inspiring enough to comply on a daily basis. And that is the real victory. The world will just be the frosting on the cake.