My goal for the first half of 2023 was to improve my screenplay of Dig Down. I did this by finding screenwriting contests to enter into that provided valuable notes and feedback. This, along with the two script consultations I had in the first five months, provided incredible insights, not just for my screenplay, but for screenwriting in general.
It also gave me a direction to navigate towards next in my screenwriting journey, which was to write a screenplay with a brand new story, not an adaptation of one I’d already written in another medium. While the end goal was clear, the path to get there wasn’t. This meant having to come up with a new idea suitable for a script, and my ideas were growing grander and grander, so that even a novella wouldn’t suffice.
But it was another goal that would at first slow my screenwriting progress, but later lead me towards it.
While my goal for the first half of 2023 was writing, my goal for the second half was to run in my first marathon.
As I mentioned in my bio on this site, I took my first steps towards publishing while I was laid up recovering from knee surgery. I had been dealing with chronic pain from Lyme Disease for nearly a year as it had damaged the tissue around my knee. Rehab had gotten me back my mobility, but I felt my running days were over. The year before I started having these issues, I had run in my first ever half marathon, with plans to run in my first marathon the following year, only for this to be derailed by Lyme.
I could only job couple of laps on the indoor track, and there was a noticeable bob and drastic change in elevation to my gait every time I planted the leg I had had surgery on. I was also noticeably slower, yet was getting winded and fatigued after these two tenths of a mile. Even walking a mile was an effort, especially if I forgot to wear my compression socks.
And then world shut down due to Covid. I was working from home with nowhere to go. It definitely made it easy on my legs, not having to walk around as much to get to where I needed, but it was tough on me not getting to move around and go anywhere during this time.
This was just a couple years after I’d already felt like I was confined to my house because of how bad my knee had gotten. That had been the worst year of my life, and I knew right at the start of the lockdown that I wasn’t just going to watch the days slip by again.
I’d lose my mind if I didn’t get out of the house.
I had no idea that this need would eventually lead to me on the path to running in my first marathon. And that that would have a domino effect, and lead to me developing the story for the brand new script I’d need to write to continue my screenwriting journey.