Goals for 2019 - Print Topic

Anyone interested in posting your goals for 2019?  I'm posting mine here as a way of trying to make myself accountable to others -- or maybe having people remind me of what my goals are and  hold my feet to the fire.

My goals are simple, achievable, but also somewhat ambitious.  Here they are:

1.  Enter at least two SS challenges. Entered the first one of the year and then did all five of the writer’s tournament so i feel like I’ve entered six so far — so complete
2.  Get at least one of my shorts produced and filmed, or alternatively (and what I'd prefer) produce, cast, and direct a short film either of my own or another writer.Got my short film "Skip" produced at the beginning of the year. Just entered in Austin Film Festival and Lone Star Film Festival. Check.
3.  Finish a complete rewrite of my feature film, Squeal Team Six.Still not even close
4.  Write a 85-90 page indie feature, or co-write a feature with another screenwriter.still Not even close
5.  Get involved more with the SS Community and network more.Again, get a check mark here.

What about you? What are your goals for this year?

Gary

Great idea, Gary. This thread should be something we return to once one of the goals have been achieved. This way the thread gets bumped occasionally and writers get a reminder of their goals. I'll have a think and try to bump this thread tomorrow.

I suppose it could be a sticky thread? Something that gets turned into a regular thread at the end of the year and a new sticky one for the new year?

My goals are to follow Dena's lead and write 30 pages every week and film at least two short films. If I fail at this, I'm outta here at the end of the year. :)

I want to finish 2 of my features. Keeping it general. Almost done with 1. Have another one ready in line.

Gabe

I'd like to make a concerted effort to return to writing this year. My goal is to treat it like a job. I'm convinced at this point that sometimes that's just what it takes, and the feeling of not being involved in anything creative generally in life makes me feel depressed and unfulfilled. If I can hack it, I'd like to participate in what OWCs I am able to (even and perhaps especially if I don't like the challenge), write a feature that I've been kicking around for years in one form or another, but most of all find the courage within myself to follow through with projects even if they fail and humiliate me. A hyperbolic/pessimistic approach perhaps (definitely?), but I've found in the past few years that trying to cultivate the "perfect" circumstances within which to write just ends up with one (me, anyway) not writing anything.

I like this thread. Hopefully, we can come back throughout the year and tick a lot of these off.

1. Finish the two features I am currently working on -progress is slow - but progress none the less
2. Write at least 1 short every month - lost count of how many new shorts I have now - going to stop writing them outside of OWC though, taking away time from features
3. Participate in all OWC - so far so good
4. Finish 1st draft of third feature - Not even close
5. Complete first episode of Sci-Fi series I have an idea for - On track for this
6. Enter PAGE contest Done - FU PAGE for not putting me in quarters lol
7. Finish personal website Done

1. Finish the current novel I'm writing... this is my third attempt. So far I'm 70k into a children's novel, 60k into a sci-fi novel, and now 20k into a steamy fiction novel of what will be 5 or 6 novelettes. My intention is to also publish each short individually.

2. Produce a radio play. I have a large family, why not use them?

3. Write a new revenge thriller... I sold my first one and I miss it. I need one back in my arsenal.

4. Write a short or two for SS.

I can't think of any more right now.

Superb idea for a thread.

1 - Write my first novel.
2 - Write another feature
3 - Continue writing shorts, getting them produced.
4 - Continue entering competitions, submitting to producers, directors and agents.
5 - Keep writing, and never give up.

This is now a sticky thread, so we can all look at it once in awhile and help each other to stick to our goals. Next year, it will be unstuck and a new Goals for 2020 will be added instead.

So, c'mon you guys. Add your goals here and we'll help push you. :)

My immediate goal is to continue outlining a new feature I’m working on, get I t written and rewritten and sharing it with all of you great writers.

Also, a great piece of advice I read somewhere: Write all of your secondary characters like they think it’s their movie.

January - 30 pages per week (finish STUNG script)
February - rewrite STUNG and start notes for FLOAT
March - 30 pages per week (finish FLOAT script)
April - rewrite FLOAT and start notes on RED ROVER
May - 30 pages per week (finish RED ROVER)
June - rewrite RR and start notes on BAD MEDICINE
July - 30 pages per week (finish BAD MEDICINE)
August - rewrite BM and start notes on The Yule-ogy
September - 30 pages per week(finish Yule-ogy)
October - rewrite Yule-ogy start notes on THE TERRORIST
November - 30 pages per week (finish Terrorist)
December - rewrite The Terrorist and take the last two weeks of the year OFF to celebrate!!

This is a fantastic idea.

1. Complete draft of a comedy feature

2. Complete draft of a thriller feature

3. Complete draft of an accessible horror feature

4. Complete draft of a less accessible/hard R/niche horror feature

5. Start reviewing on Simply again, for gosh sake.

- Complete two features. Complete Two Shorts.

- Get two scripts reviewed on Amateur Friday.

- Complete 50 queries.

- Enter four contests.

- Read at least twelve features.

- Write a script where every line ends in an orphan :)

Quoted from SAC

Hm. Interesting tactic

One goal. Make screenwriting my main source of income.

Hey guys. Hope everyone's been well. My goals are simply to work harder, manage my money better, and of course, be more involved in the community here.

Zack

Quoted from eldave1

Hm. Interesting tactic

Yeah, for some reason that stood out to me when I read. Have yet to put it into use. Yet.

1. Finish first draft of comedy script in early February. Final draft by March 31th.

2. Finish action/adventure script that's already taken a year and a half to write. Post on SS. Watch it get shredded. Recover from the failure by drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Re-write. Have ready to send in to contests.

3. Brainstorm ideas for low budget comedy and/or horror scripts. No more myth epics that take years to write and will never get made. I'm officially done with the action epics. I finally have at least one that's hopefully good, that's it, no more!

4. Continue working on complete re-write of a very old comedy feature.

Great topic!

1. Enter more SS challenges.

2. Complete my TV episode (halfway there).

3. Start a new feature.

4. Get an agent.

5. Have a short script turned into an audio podcast.

6. Convert a short script into a children's book.

7. Have a produced script win a competition.

8. Enter more paid screenplay competitions.

9. Review more.

10. Submit more.

11. Tidy up some old scripts.

I think that's about it.

1. Finish my feature 'Hell Followed', a prequel to 'Pale Rider'

2. Finish my graphic novel script

3. Option SOMETHING!

4. Enter all OWCs - Blew this one: Couldn't think of a damn thing for a Rom/Com.

5. Enter Imagine Impact 2 - Geez, I suck. Didn't enter, just encouraged others to enter.

6. Publish six comics - Posted 'Roar of Borealis' and 'Badman'. 'I Reckon' should post soon!

Quoted from MarkItZero

. Post on SS. Watch it get shredded. Recover from the failure by drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

This ... haha makes me laugh! I often don't post features because I'm a fraidy cat! LOL And I don't have insurance to cover psychiatric visits to get over the shredding. haha

Okay, I'll throw some out there.

1) Finally finish the feature I've been working on for a little over 2 years and submit it to a few comps. THANKS DAVE! - COMPLETED (Submitted to 6 of 6 comps)  RESULTS: 1) BlueCat Semi-finalist     2) PAGE Quarter-finalist     3) Scriptapalooza Semi-finalist     4) Austin Film Festival Second Rounder    5) Final Draft Big Break Quarter-finalist

2) Run a kickstarter campaign to get above mentioned script turned into a comic book series   Kickstarter campaign scheduled for early 2020

3) Enter all 2019 OWCs. - FAILED - Only 2 of 3 entered        Writer's Choice - Jan 2019

     Writer's Tournament 2019 -- Round 1 - 3rd, Round 2 - 1st, Round 3 - 3rd, Round 4 - 1st, Round 5 - 5th   OVERALL - Writer's Choice 1st

4) Have at least one short produced.    COMPLETED A Generous Donation filmed as Memories

5) Write at least 3 of my own new shorts, not OWCs.     FAILED - didn't even manage to write one that wasn't an OWC

6) Finish my horror feature that I started and haven't touched for months.     FAILED - didn't even open the script

I'd be happy if I just get number one done, but I'll try my best to do them all :)

Quoted from Warren

3) Enter all 2019 OWCs.

I will hold you to it! ;)

Quoted from Pale Yellow

I often don't post features because I'm a fraidy cat! LOL And I don't have insurance to cover psychiatric visits to get over the shredding. haha

I know a good and cheap psychiatrist. His name is Jack Daniels and he cures most ailments. But for serious problems I recommend the renowned German psychologist Jägermeister.

Big aspirations this year, for the first time in a while. I'd feel accomplished if three of these are completed by the end of the year:

1. Finish "Andretta" (officially).

2A. Get a final, or near-final, draft of "Housesitters"

OR

2B. Get a final, or near-final, draft of a comedy script I can't talk about.

3. Reach "Fade Out" on an untitled action script.

4. Get a working draft of a noir/horror script.

5. Complete an outline of a high-concept horror script.

6. Make progress on an anthology feature (at least get three of the stories completed).

7. Flesh out the script for a Hollywood-based satire.

These are also listed in order of importance.

All of these goals are great and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of this accomplished! I would suggest that everyone update us on your progress each quarter so you can encourage yourself to make strides. Even checking one thing off is an accomplishment so let’s get to work!

Gary

Quoted from MarkItZero

I know a good and cheap psychiatrist. His name is Jack Daniels and he cures most ailments. But for serious problems I recommend the renowned German psychologist Jägermeister.

OMG and they work in the same office just down the street on the corner!!! Wellness here I come!

I began seriously pursuing a career in screenwriting in early 2017, and now with my writing partner ever since we met in October 2017.
Here's mine and my writing partner's progress 2017-2018, and our goals for 2019:

2017: Wrote 75 pages, finished first draft of first feature script.
2018: Wrote 350 pages, created second draft of first feature and first draft of its sequel script. Close to finishing two features and around halfway done three more.

2019: Complete the previous five features from last year. Begin and complete writing at least six more feature-length screenplays.

UPDATE (1/4):

My writing partner and I have finished the first drafts for 3 out of 5 of the scripts we began late-2017-early-2018, and have began writing 4 new scripts (only the intros - 3-6 pages each).
So far this year we have written 113 pages.
We are still aiming for the completion of 6 new screenplays by 2020, though we'd be happy with 2-3.

UPDATE (2/4):

Over half-way finished a new feature script and almost done writing Act I for two others.
This quarter I wrote 121 pages.

UPDATE (3/4):

Only wrote 20 pages throughout these three months. Finally finished the 1st draft of a feature script started years ago.

UPDATE (4/4):

Another poor quarter for myself writing-wise. Only managed to write 16 new pages.

Quoted from DustinBowcot

So far I'm 70k into a children's novel, 60k into a sci-fi novel.

When you say 70k, do you mean 70 thousand words Dustin?

Quoted from MarkItZero

I know a good and cheap psychiatrist. His name is Jack Daniels and he cures most ailments. But for serious problems I recommend the renowned German psychologist Jägermeister.

There's also Professor Remy Martin.

Quoted from HyperMatt

When you say 70k, do you mean 70 thousand words Dustin?

Yes.

Fantastic idea!

These are my goals for this year:

1) Complete at least two shorts.

2) Write my first feature.

3) Read 20 feature scripts.

Yes. To practice the correct formatting when I write.

A quarter way through the year already (In a couple of days anyway)

Bumping this back up to remind people about the goals they set themselves and see how we are all getting on achieving them :-)

I've edited my post so I can keep track of how I'm doing

I've been coming back and updating mine as well, so far so good. Still lots of time to reach all your goals. Good luck everybody.

I've been out of the loop for a while, but I'll throw my goal out into the universe:

1.  Write a feature.

2.  See goal #1.

3.  See goal #2.

4.  See goal... I could do this all day.

I need to get my vomit draft out of my head and sculpt it to mediocrity.
Only then will I have a chance at anything that doesn't suck.

-Jordan

Quoted from James McClung

Quoted from MarkItZero

I know a good and cheap psychiatrist. His name is Jack Daniels and he cures most ailments. But for serious problems I recommend the renowned German psychologist Jägermeister.

Haha, genuine LOL!

Updated mine at the very top of this thread. On track on 3 of the 5 goals. Nowhere near close on the other two.

Way to go, Hawkeye! I just updated mine: Meh.

Slacking big time. Not much by way of (interesting) excuses. I have gotten back on the writing horse though. I'll take that for now.

So we’re halfway through the year — how’s everyone coming on their goals for the year? I’ve updated mine up earlier in the thread, but I’ve gotten three of the five accomplished. Those last two are gonna sink me though unless I get a move on.

I have too many freelance jobs going at the moment to write anything for myself. Putting in 10 hours on most days. I suppose my biggest goal has always been to make a living from writing which I have achieved. However, I don't feel freelance has enough security. The work doesn't last forever. Even though I've been with this one Chinese company for a year now... the work's probably going to run out one day. I stopped working for the animation company recently because there are only so many scripts you can write for 3-5-year olds before your head explodes. I've got a nice corporate gig now too that involves me needing to know everything about a highly specialised business in 24-48 hours and then write a video script. It's a bit like an OWC only with a couple more parameters (well, hundreds more). But, I enjoy the challenge. Honestly, I just love writing. Screenplays are just one aspect.

I have achieved the goal of not having to buy and sell anymore to make ends meet. That's all I really wanted to do anyway.

Well it's a good time... now that half the year is over with! If I'd have stuck to my goal I'd have four finished features right now! Instead I've finished ONE and started a second and third one. I did option two things.. one pitch and one feature... but no money yet on them. So if it were not for my good husband I'd be a bag lady by now. :) haha

Need to pull up my bootstraps and push on though. Can still have four more by December if I stick to my writing goals! I'm going to try to do it!! Thanks for re-upping this threat... needed it!!

Quoted from DustinBowcot

Congrats - making a living off of writing is a hell of an achievement

Complete two features. Complete Two Shorts.

Done and Done. Completed two features this year.

- Get two scripts reviewed on Amateur Friday.

No luck - but tried.

- Complete 50 queries.

Have done zero - got to get on this.

- Enter four contests.

Done

- Read at least twelve features.

Done

- Write a script where every line ends in an orphan

There is still time to get this
done

So far so good on my goals, have been updating it as I go.

Good to see people getting some stuff done. And Dena, knowing you, you could bust out 4 screenplays by the end of this weekend! ;D

Quoted from eldave1

Congrats - making a living off of writing is a hell of an achievement

Cheers, mate.

Enter 4 short contests.
Complete feature script.
Continue working on format.

Finished the first one on my list awhile back. Then I changed the other goals around a bit (is that cheating?). I came up with ideas for two scripts that I'm really excited about. Simple ideas. So I dove right in to the outlining and studying horror films for one of them. Next year I'm gonna hit the ground running and write them both start of finish.

Here's the goals for remainder of this year:

Study a ton of horror/thriller films. Status: in progress...

Outline new comedy feature. Status: finished!

Outline new horror feature. Status: in progress...

Finish action/adventure script by the end of the year, no matter what, no excuses. Status: ARGH!

Quoted from MarkItZero

Finish action/adventure script by the end of the year, no matter what, no excuses. Status: ARGH!

Sounds promising, good luck with it :)

What a great idea to see where we are at. Let's see what bollocks I promised!

1 - Write my first novel. - Doing well. 50k words out of a planned 80k written.
2 - Write another feature - NOPE! Focusing on a TV pilot instead after a production company (that focuses on TV) recently said I could send them some scripts.
3 - Continue writing shorts, getting them produced. - Yup and Yup! Although the produced aspect has slowed down with several optioned scripts stuck in various stages of production at the moment. I hope at least one of them makes it through to the end.
4 - Continue entering competitions, submitting to producers, directors and agents. - Yup!
5 - Keep writing, and never give up. - Yup!

Quoted from Matthew Taylor

Updated mine at the halfway point - Not too bad I suppose.

My main objective for this year is to just improve my writing - that seems to be going well

Forgot to add - Well done Dustin for getting to a point where you can make a living from writing. I can imagine that involved a lot of hard work and some leaps of faith. Kudos

How's everyone doing?

I have to say that my year so far has been an utter and complete failure as far as writing goes. Even though I had producers waiting for scripts, I haven't even finished one single feature yet. I have one that needs like ten more pages. That should not be a problem. I have no problem writing a ten page script in one day, but for some reason, I just never seem to be able to sit down and finish it.

I've also only made one film so far. Failure there too.

On a personal note though, things have been good for the most part. A couple of family member had to deal with some illnesses, but two more grandkids arrived too, so all in all a plus.

Now, if someone could just give me a giant kick in the but to get going so I can finish this one script!!! :D

Failed. No excuse. 2019 has been extremely positive on the personal front though.

Quoted from Grandma Bear

I have one that needs like ten more pages. That should not be a problem. I have no problem writing a ten page script in one day, but for some reason, I just never seem to be able to sit down and finish it.

Now, if someone could just give me a giant kick in the but to get going so I can finish this one script!!! :D

Get in touch. I may be able to push you in the right direction, Pia, if you want to be.

I’m practicing on how to shorten dialogue. Being long-winded is a problem for me. Writing novels is so much easier.

Quoted from Warren

Okay, I'll throw some out there.

1) Finally finish the feature I've been working on for a little over 2 years and submit it to a few comps. THANKS DAVE! - COMPLETED (Submitted to 6 of 6 comps)  RESULTS: 1) BlueCat Semi-finalist     2) PAGE Quarter-finalist     3) Scriptapalooza Semi-finalist     4) Austin Film Festival Second Rounder    5) Final Draft Big Break Quarter-finalist

2) Run a kickstarter campaign to get above mentioned script turned into a comic book series   Kickstarter campaign scheduled for early 2020

3) Enter all 2019 OWCs. - FAILED - Only 2 of 3 entered        Writer's Choice - Jan 2019

     Writer's Tournament 2019 -- Round 1 - 3rd, Round 2 - 1st, Round 3 - 3rd, Round 4 - 1st, Round 5 - 5th   OVERALL - Writer's Choice 1st

4) Have at least one short produced.    COMPLETED A Generous Donation filmed as Memories

5) Write at least 3 of my own new shorts, not OWCs.

6) Finish my horror feature that I started and haven't touched for months.

I'd be happy if I just get number one done, but I'll try my best to do them all :)

Been a pretty good year, got my main goals completed and a few others are very much in the works.

Didn't do as much writing as I would have liked but what can you do.

Quoted from SAC

My immediate goal is to continue outlining a new feature I’m working on, get I t written and rewritten and sharing it with all of you great writers.

I see that my goal was from Jan 3 and I was outlining a new feature, but I honestly can't remember which one it was so there goes that.

However, I did sell a feature over the Summer. I was pretty stoked about that for, like, two weeks before it wore off and I realized I needed to sell another. And another...

As it's still 2019, I do have another goal and that is to finish the rewrite on my Christmas script and market the hell out of it. Almost finished so that's looking very doable.

Finished everything except the last one. Something came up recently that I had to work on for someone so it slowed me down. But I said no excuses, and I still got a month... not giving up!

It's actually been very close to finished for a long time now. I'm just glad the days of going into a feature without a clear plan are over. Cuz for me it leads to endless re-writing and wanting to smash my computer against the wall.

Can't wait to start on this horror feature next year.

Quoted from MarkItZero

I didn’t see you post your action adventure on SS!

Quoted from khamanna

I didn’t see you post your action adventure on SS!

I changed my goals up, that's the last one I still gotta finish. Get with the program!

One day, it will arrive on these boards, only to peter out like a wet fart.

Quoted from MarkItZero

...only to peter out like a wet fart.

I didn't realize wet farts "petered" out. One would assume they might hang on in a room due to their stink and wetness. Now, the "quick burst," "squeaker" or "tiny gust" -- those I can see petering out. Not to be confused with the "crack in the dam." That one's definitely not petering out.

My end'ish of year update

1 - Write my first novel. - Finished yesterday! First draft done. 80,514 words! WOOO!

2 - Write another feature - NOPE! Wrote a TV pilot and bible instead.

3 - Continue writing shorts, getting them produced. - Yup - Atoll's Edge is being filmed right now in New Jersey.

4 - Continue entering competitions, submitting to producers, directors and agents. - Yup! I've reached the finals of 5 competitions this year and won one of them. These have resulted in trips to Pinewood Studios, Ealing Studios, The House of Commons and Nashville.

5 - Keep writing, and never give up. - Yup!

According to the goals I set myself, I've failed miserably. But considering this will be my first full year actually being dedicated to the craft, I think it's been successful.

My 2020 goal is to simply carry on annoying people with my reviews of their scripts :)

Quoted from MarkRenshaw

Impressive!

When we set new goals for 2020, please remind me of this. It will inspire me to do better. :)

Quoted from MarkRenshaw

Nicely done!

1. Finish "Andretta" (officially). Fail.

2A. Get a final, or near-final, draft of "Housesitters". Fail.

OR

2B. Get a final, or near-final, draft of a comedy script I can't talk about. Still possible.

3. Reach "Fade Out" on an untitled action script. Fail.

4. Get a working draft of a noir/horror script. Fail.

5. Complete an outline of a high-concept horror script. Fail.

6. Make progress on an anthology feature (at least get three of the stories completed). Fail.

7. Flesh out the script for a Hollywood-based satire. Fail.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde

Truly inspiring. ;D

Quoted from Zack

Truly inspiring. ;D

Admittedly, everyone should feel good about how their year went when they look at mine. Everyone found some sort of success. Lol.

I aim low! My only goal was to rewrite my feature and I failed. But on the other hand I failed on just one goal as opposed to some people here.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde

;D

Yeah, baby. Those are my kind of figures.

Quoted from khamanna

I aim low! My only goal was to rewrite my feature and I failed. But on the other hand I failed on just one goal as opposed to some people here.

Respect! That's how I role too, and I'm always achieving what I set out to do. Sometimes as much as 50% of the time.

So in summary; aim low and achieve... go for the low hanging fruits and be winner. Leave those fruits out of reach to the people who'll never be happy.

I'm not taking the piss by btw. It's really my approach.

Quoted from JEStaats

1. Finish my feature 'Hell Followed', a prequel to 'Pale Rider' - SHIT! I still have time...

2. Finish my graphic novel script - Not a chance. I still need to finish my Badman series.

3. Option SOMETHING! YES! I Reckon is almost finished as a 3D animation and Super Scoop should film soon. Success!

4. Enter all OWCs - Blew this one: Couldn't think of a damn thing for a Rom/Com. Although I missed the RomCom, I'm pretty proud of placing in the Writers Tournament (1st in round 5) and entering the other OWCs.

5. Enter Imagine Impact 2 - Geez, I suck. Didn't enter, just encouraged others to enter.

6. Publish six comics - Posted 'Roar of Borealis' and 'Badman'. 'I Reckon' should post soon! Badman: Two in the Bush & 'It's Me' posted too.

Not a bad year.

Nothing like Mark, though. Nicely done!

The year is just about over, how did everyone go with their goals?

I only really completed 2 out of 6 but I still feel like I had a good and productive year with my writing.

Some of why goals weren't even attempted and others will be completed early in the new year. It was a fun exercise and I look forward to setting and completing new goals for 2020.

It wasn't on my list, but 2019 is also the year I got 2 Crappy Mugs, so there is that, thanks Don!

Quoted from Warren

My total number of pages written for the year was 270. Not bad. Less then what I had written the previous year and I didn't complete either of my goals for 2019. Still, I'm happy with my progress.

My results:

Quoted Text

Complete two features. Complete Two Shorts.

Almost done - completed one, other is 75%.

Quoted Text

- Get two scripts reviewed on Amateur Friday.

Fail

Quoted Text

- Complete 50 queries.

C - did 25

Quoted Text

- Enter four contests.

Achieved - did rather well but no winner

Quoted Text

- Read at least twelve features.

Done

Quoted Text

- Write a script where every line ends in an orphan

I wanted to really complete this but I ran out of
time.