08 November 2005

Vacuuming Before Finals

“So what made you decide to start blogging after years of claiming that it was a pointless self-absorbed waste of time, effort, and energy?”

Simple. I finally have a project that I really really ought to be totally focusing upon, so naturally I flail about looking for the worst possible distraction. The project — “Untitled Romantic Comedy” listed atop the Current Projects list in the sidebar — is something which seems right up my alley, is something connected to some very cool and connected people, and is something which, if I would just shut up and focus, seems the sort of thing which might actually be The Big Break you always dream about as a screenwriter and complain about not being able to find.

So of course I look for something else to do, something totally pointless and, to anyone with any perspective at all, something totally lunatic and off-task.

Do you like the new progress bars on the sidebar?

Yeah, like that sort of thing. I spent 90 minutes tweaking code on that trying to figure out how and why those work, and they finally look almost — almost — exactly like what I’d wish for if I were the sad sort to spend time making about blogs. If I only fritter away a few more hours, I’m sure I can have them even closer to perfect, and that way I can turn in to bed tonight with the security blanket comfort of having a very Good Excuse for having not done a damned thing to move the Untitled Romantic Comedy a few more words or ‘graphs or pages toward some sort of completion.

I badly want/need/hope to get a readable draft of the new rom-com done within the next few weeks. I love the characters, I love the premise, I love the setting, I love the first and final moments (which I’ve already written, a weird work habit I’ve developed over the years, kinda like a kid bounding the outside edges of a coloring book drawing first, then going crazy to fill in the rest with ham-fisted glee). What the project needs is a really tight outline, and that takes focus and effort, things I seem far more eager to devote to things like sorting the spice rack and organizing the DVR playlist and counting my socks and undies and boxing yard decorations according to specific holiday.

This does not seem a very good way to get this golden opportunity rom-com project completed, read, optioned, and sold in short order.

But dammit, I know I can get those progress bars looking even cooler if I just tweak the CSS code a bit more....
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2 comments:

Julie O'Hora said...

C'mon, June. Step *away* from the vacuum cleaner...

Easy now...

Ward's waiting for that script -- you don't want him getting it from that slut, Mrs. Haskell, do you?

aggiebrett said...

Thems might big words from someone wearing a girlie-man hat.

"Progress is being made."

I think (hope/pray/anticipate) that I'm about to enter a productive span of weeks. We shall see,
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