Crank It To 11!

Welcome to 2011! Though last year was so much better than 2009 for me, I’m hoping this new one will be better still. And I’m hoping that it will be a good year for all of you as well. I mean, what if those Mayans were right? If this is the last full year before all of that stuff from that John Cusack movie happens, let’s hope it’s a good one! So get those specs finished and sold and made... and I hope your film premiers happen before December 20, 2012! Just in case.

If the Mayans motivate you to get things done, that’s a good thing. If something else motivates you to get things done, that’s a good thing. The key is to get things done. We have a whole new year to get things done in. Wipe away any deadlines you may have missed and start with some new ones. Or some new projects. Whatever works for you.

I ended the year with a new spec, and am starting the year with a new spec...

Which means the 2 weeks of new Script Tips I had planned to kick off the year with? Not going to happen... but I had almost a full month of new or completely rewritten Script Tips last year, so I’m going to run those and then try for 2 weeks of new Script Tips in February. Heck, maybe even a whole (short) month of new and completely rewritten tips.

Tuesday’s New Script Tip rerun is on making some sort of plan so that you can get something done before those earthquakes and giant waves and flocks of dead birds falling from the sky that means the world is coming to an end. This is a good tip - don’t miss it!

Though I haven’t secured the venue, yet, I plan on doing my first USA screenwriting class in *years* on April 16 & 17 - probably at the Burbank Airport Marriott.

I hope to do a few small blog entries every week, and get around to those epic multi-part stories about people who claim to have urinated with Brad Pitt once this spec is finished. I may squeeze in some Hitchcock entries and maybe talk about some more of my favorite films in January - provided I don’t get too far behind. I hate/love Stephen King for having enough residual energy left after writing an 800 page novel to knock out a couple of short stories. Even if I crank my energy level up to 11, when I finish a script I want to take a nap. But I’ll try to get some new material up here in the new year.

And I want *you* to create some new material of your own. This is the year to crank your energy up to 11 and get some stuff done!

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: That's Episodic! - and a movie starring Jack Black.
Dinner: Pizza with everything on it.
Pages: Did some work on the Action Book rewrite.
Movies: TRUE GRIT in the cinema and John Sayles' MEN WITH GUNS on DVD.