NaNoWriMo‘s not really my thing. I don’t tend to read novels at all, and to me, the idea of forcing myself to write about one thing for an entire month sounds like a whole new level of hell for me. I love the brisk clip of a scene, the exchange of words, how a well-placed object in a room can change the tenor of, well, everything. I love how a word is more than a word, how it has to work on a visual level as well as an aural one, how the tightest of paragraphs can crumble under the weight of one wrong phrase.

Therefore, Script Frenzy.

I’ve written short plays in my time, but I’m going to try something that I’ve been meaning to do for a long time now: writing a graphic novel. Under the guidelines, comic book/graphic novel scripts are acceptable — if you look at how they’re generally written, you’ll see why they are — and I’ve already planned out the general direction of the piece. It’ll be intensely personal and very detailed, and those who know me and what I’ve been through in my life will be able to see where I’m pulling from in general. I can bust out a hundred pages on this in my sleep; the challenge here will be time-management more than anything else, since I’m hoping to have quite a few of my weekend nights spoken for (more so than March, anyway). I’ll need to average about four pages during the weeknights, and up to seven on make-up days. Spring Break is next week as well, which means Lor’s going to be all up in my business, which’ll leave less time for creative pursuits.

I don’t know what it is about this year that makes me feel so optimistic. Last year, my SF plans fell through since my friend I was going to partner up with pulled out due to various life complications, and my attempt at NaNo was… well, not even half-hearted. This time, though, I’ve got a partner-in-crime to help keep me on track (and I’ll do the same for him, too!) and a clear plan of attack, so I think I can triumph this time around. Hell, if I finish this one early, I’ve even got another idea I’m kicking around for now.

Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, though! Onward and upward, with just one more day until go time!

I can’t wait to write again.

I left 2010 behind in very much the same way I came into it: quiet. However, the circumstances behind my silence could not have been any more different; while the first moments of the year were surrounded by hymnals and general discomfort, its final seconds saw me hunched over little plastic ninjas and the cardboard village they were protecting.

Oh, and content.

In all seriousness, the past year was the most important one since my daughter was born. There was unrest and upheaval, heartache and heart-mending. Above all else, though, there was change. If there was anything that I learned from the multitude of experiences I had last year, I would say that the most important lesson was that yes, I could make it through whatever came my way.

I know that sounds cheesy, and that’s because it is. I imagine at this point the romantic comedienne du jour will continue her voiceover as the camera pans over a big city, establishing the setting for her story of how she learned to love herself.

I’m not a comedienne (I’m more of a straight man myself), and I certainly haven’t learned to love myself. I am, however, learning how to live. This year has already been chock-full of setbacks, with just as many high points to make those setbacks particularly poignant. I returned back to California for some more firsts, went on a trip with Lorelei, and spent my fair share of time on trains and buses. I helped someone move out of the house we shared and watched him become happier than he’s been for a very long time.

I am changing. The people around me are, too — growing older, taller, wiser. There are faces that I never expected to call my friends, and people that I thought would be beside me on this journey that aren’t. I am beating things instead of laying down like the roadkill I always told myself I was.

I have plans, goals.
I know everything will work out for the best.

This will be a good year.