If 95% Of Your Writing Dreams Have Not Yet Come True ... Why Not?
Write, first of all, and then get to work on the questions that follow.
I’m going to share some personal experience at the outset, for credibility’s sake.
Let’s begin this way: 5% of my writing dreams have not come true so far. Allow me to list them, in no particular order:
I have not yet written a studio film that has sold.
None of my books have yet earned New York Times Bestseller status.
I have yet to staff on a television show.
That’s it. The reasons?
All the same. I need to continue working, harder or smarter, until the see-saw tips in my favor. I’ll continue to pivot when I have to. As I know I won’t quit until I take my last breath, or something unforeseen renders me unable to write, I’m not worried.
If I do not establish 100% of my goals by the time all is said and done, I will have lived the life, done my best, and not have a single professional regret.
I’m 95% there so far. I don’t think that’s bad, but I’m still pushing for that golden mile. To that end, keep reading for those goals I have accomplished, then follow my lead and remind yourself that hard work definitely pays off.
A quick note regarding my last goal listed above, about not staffing on a television show: This is a new goal, literally set less than a year ago. And, I thought I had attained it. We were scheduled to shoot a new program in the fall, of which I was the main writer, and our pandemic became our immediate concern and reality. Some things are more important, but it will happen. I have no doubt.
I wrote down my writing goals in full in a New Mexico hotel room in 1989, during a three-day cross-country relocation from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to chase my dreams.
I wanted to be a screenwriter and author in equal measure.
For the subsequent 16 years, less a two-year return to Brooklyn, my average week was expended like this:
Monday-Friday:
Wake up at 6AM
Write from 6–7:30
Shower and grab breakfast from 7:30 to 8:30
Day job — 9–5; Night job — 6–9
Home at 10PM
Sleep and repeat.
Saturday and Sunday:
Attend one of the many film industry-related events around town. Be an audience member and take in everything.
Network wherever I could and meet as many people as possible. Hang out in coffee shops for that purpose. Spend some time in Beverly Hills for the same reason (while parking a mile away so no one would see the junk heap I drove to get there).
Watch as many movies as possible. Switch off with reading books on alternate weekends.
Write for three hours a day as opposed to 1.5.
In the midst, I was finally able to afford a computer. My modem took forever, like most, but I met the internet and we fell in love. From there, I would —
Sign up and attend some screenwriting gatherings, especially those I found on MeetUp.com.
That was it, basically. At some point shortly thereafter, I got tired of being an “audience member” and took proactive steps to change my status. I wanted to be that established writer that people came to see, and I would let nothing stand in my way.
What follows is a list of my writing dreams that have come true, from those 1989 goals:
I have written for and sold teleplays to networks.
I became an Amazon bestselling author with Creation, the first book of my fantasy book series, The Chronicles of Ara (which, in truth, does not mean a heck of a lot but it was a goal).
I have written and contributed to several books outside the above series.
I have been published in a highly-respected literary journal.
I have written and/or produced several independent feature films.
I have not missed a day of writing in the past 10 years.
I have written and published, either in print publications or online, nearly 1000 articles, primarily on the arts, politics, and social issues.
I write full-time, and have done so since 2005.
I have developed screenplays with some of my favorite directors and producers, filmmakers whose work I have admired since I was a teen.
I am a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA). This goal finally happened just four years ago when I was 52. Today, my health insurance is free as a result, and I have a pension — all for sitting down in my home office and pounding keys.
Many highly-established artists (writers, filmmakers, and musicians as samples) who I’ve admired over the years are now personal friends. We all help each other.
I can go on.
But I’d rather talk about you.
I have some questions for you. If you have not yet accomplished your writing dreams, ask yourself the following:
Have I written down my goals?
Do I sincerely believe my goals are attainable? Or am I shooting too high? (Or too low?) Can I adjust my goals if necessary?
Have I strategized and created an actionable plan to meet my goals?
What is the toughest part about my attaining my goals? Do my real life responsibilities all too frequently get in the way? Can I work around them? If not, how will I possibly meet them?
And what of all those people who have succeeded in the arts over the years? They also dealt with children, illness, death, in some cases divorce … how did they do it, and why haven’t I?
Do I believe I am too old to meet my writing goals? Is it too late for me?
How many hours a day am I writing?
Am I targeted in my writing? As in, am I focused on what I want to write, as opposed to being a jack of all (writing) trades? If not, why not?
Similarly to the last point, am I seeing my work all the way through, or stopping in the middle to work on something else?
Am I pivoting in case my goals are not attained?
What do I want to attain once I do meet my writing goals?
Am I afraid of rejection?
Am I afraid of success?
How much will it hurt me if I attain my goals?
Finally …
How much will it hurt me if I do not attain my goals?
I strongly recommend writing these questions down, and keeping daily track of your progress.
These are not, incidentally, simply questions for a newsletter. I tracked my personal progress every single day for nearly 16 years doing exactly the same thing.
And it worked.
Setting the goals, keeping yourself accountable, and keeping track works.
None of this, though, means a thing if you don’t, on a regular and disciplined basis, WRITE.
You know what to do. Please keep me abreast of your progress.
Thank you for reading.
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