Happy Holidays! Now Here’s a Confession.

Fellow storytellers,

2017 is a wrap, and thank Jeebus. I mean, it was pretty much a trainwreck of a year as far as the planet is concerned. For me personally, it wasn’t so terrible. Made a lot of progress with business ventures and hell, made a movie (we just completed animation this week, yay!). Home life is good, everyone is healthy.

Well, except for one thing that is not healthy at all.

See, guys, I am guilty of something that I think many of you may relate to. Which is to say:

I’ve let my writing fall off a frigging cliff.

Life is as busy as you let it be, and I’ve let it pulverize my productivity like a steamroller in a garden party. And while I’ve worked on a few new ideas and done a chunk of rewrite assignments, in terms of writing, this year has been a handful of nothin’.  Hell, I haven’t generated a new script in probably a year and a half. And as any rep will tell you, that is the number one thing that drives them bonkers — writers who don’t write.

I am 100% to blame. I let it happen. The malaise kicks in when you let your guard down. It seems that the last thing I have time for in any given day is writing. Hell, even in writing this, I’m avoiding working on a screenplay.

So here’s an early New Year’s Resolution. Effective immediately, I am clearing the decks. I am going to stop overloading my schedule every day and I am going to prioritize writing. Two hours a day is the goal.  There, I’ve done it — I’ve put it out there. Hold me to it!

Now maybe some of you can relate. The older we get, the more family and business consumes our time. It becomes all too easy to say “I’ll write tomorrow.” Well, we are creative beings, we wordsmiths, and when we do not exercise those muscles, they get flabby and weak. So if my experience resonates with you, then join me, and let’s bring it.

Wishing all of you a happy holiday season and a kick-ass 2018.

Jim Cirile

Coverage Ink