I’m on writing vacation until the new year.
That doesn’t mean I won’t do any writing, just that I’ll steer clear of those projects that are likely to suck me in and make me manic to finish them.
Like the novel and screenplay I’ve put on hold. Both are completed first drafts, and both have the potential to mesmerize me to the point that I forget the million and seven other things I should be doing.
But even though I’m on vacation, I’m not silly enough to restrict myself from all writing. I’d go crazy, which certainly wouldn’t promote a holiday spirit.
So this morning I dug out a five page short I’d written for a class. Only one person other than myself has ever seen it, and he was the professor who had given out the assignment.
As I reread it I became increasingly glad it had remained dormant on my computer. I had written it early in the program, before I learned about the proper formatting of scripts. It was a bit of a mess.
Not the story, mind you, only the formatting. I love the story. It’s from a picture book I wrote about six years ago that is due to be published in January 2016.
As I scanned it I clearly remembered the problem I had had cutting the story down small enough to fit into five measly pages.
But now that the arbitrary length requirement is lifted, it’s going to be fun to spread my wings and fly with it.
I just have to decide, do I keep it a short, say under thirty pages?
Or do I really spread my wings and make it feature length?
Hmm. I feel a strange swirling sensation. Almost like-
Darn. I’d better put this one aside, too. It’s chock full of those nasty mesmerizing properties.
Sigh. Isn’t there anything safe to write when I only want to write a little?