David Thurston has... » Submissions

…a plan of action.

David Thurston — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:43:13 +0000

I was originally going to call this another resolution, but I realized that’s not really what it is. Resolutions are things that you want to get done in the coming year, and the reason a lot of them fail is that people have goals, but don’t really have a pathway planned out towards achieving those goals. So, for 2009, I’m going to have Writing Days. These are going to be days where writing is my job. Clock in, do at least 6 hours work in some kind of writing, then (and this is the important part) clock out again. These aren’t necessarily days I’ll specifically take off from work, January’s will probably be my employer-given day off on MLK Jr Day.

Now, I can already hear you. But David, you’re saying, don’t you normally work an eight hour day? Part of the goal will be to ramp up. January: 6 hours. Feb: 6.5 hours. By May I’ll be taking an 8 hours writing day. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to, but it’s something I want to get used to.

Follow up to yesterday: submission is safely being whisked off towards Los Angeles.

…a submission printing!

David Thurston — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:33:26 +0000

I’m writing this while waiting for an edited version of Sleep to print out. Once it does, it’s going into a nice big envelope along with an SASE for a trip out to Los Angeles to be considered for Writers of the Future. Been so long since I’ve submitted anything that I’m reading the rules three, four, and five times over to make sure I haven’t done some stupid thing to get myself eliminated from competition without a word being read. Especially the rule about the fact that the story must never have been previously published, a rather important distinction for anyone who knows the history of Sleep.

No name on the work except the cover. Check.

Page numbers. Check.

Manuscript format. Check

SASE. Check.

Printing has completed. Now it’s just working up the nerves to head down to the car and get me to the Post Office. After this one heads off, the next project will probably be a big edit of The Dorman, a story that I think has a lot of good potential, but also needs a really strong editing pass.

…New Years Resolutions

David Thurston — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:48:16 +0000

I resolve…

…to prepare submit each of the seven stories from my previous entry for publication (at least one in the remains of 2008).

…to complete a full editing pass of Conqueror Worm and send out query letters within two months of this completion (not necessarily in 2009, but no later than the end of February 2010).

…to outline and draft an entire 42 minute script for an episode of Arkham on my own.

…to submit Arkham to a spec pilot contest, like People’s Pilot or Slamdance’s Teleplay Contest. Glad to see you’re back, Slamdance!

And, if there’s time among all of that, there’s a few other projects I’d like to do, but won’t call Resoultions, as I suspect the above will take up plenty of my time but I hope…

…to finally update the look of this blog from template to my own little corner of the interwebs.

…to plot out an original feature-length screenplay for contest submission.

…to plot out a spec script for contest submissions.

…to finish worldbuilding of Capsule in hopes of approaching next Nanowrimo much more prepared to actually write it.

There we go. Keeping myself honest yet again.