Under three headings.... Writing, Web and... The Studio.
Writing
Every year I look back at a list I keep in the front of my current notebook - a cryptic list of titles of projects - and see how many I have moved forward.
This year I have moved 4 out of 8 things forward. The bad news is that 'forward' in this year is another year of no productions. However I don't want to be too harsh on myself (what's the point of that?) so lets look at the good things....
It's interesting that the things that are the most interesting are the ones I haven't taken forward. Part of this is habit (it's easy to sit down and write a spec script) and part of it that all these more interesting and new ideas require me to become at least part producer.
Now I know this is what we are all meant to be doing, and I agree with the general thrust of needing to get behind your own work and make it happen. So in 2010 I will have to do one of these or I will drive myself into a hole of hopelessness dug deep with a spade of cowardice. It's not a nice place to be...
Going storytelling online
So these new ideas pretty much revolve around online storytelling of one kind or another. After the 'write, promote and wait' way of script writing for theatre and film it's quite scary to confront the immediacy of the web world. Scary and exciting are closely related of course and really I am so far ahead of most writers I know on this front because I have been actively creating things online for 13 years now, including some 'hyper fiction' back in the late 90's.
So this is the year that I will make somethings happen on this front...
Web work
So 2009 was the year I freelanced from end to end as a web designer. Actually I did a lot more than that, providing some high-end information architecture expertise to the Sanger Institute as well as building a couple of nice drupal based sites for smaller organisations and charities.
The learning curve is pretty steep though - while it sounds nice in theory there are plenty of down sides to freelancing, not least of which is that it's pretty hard to earn more than what I used to as a web manager in the Public Sector. Actually I came nowhere near it! So I am looking into making the business more profitable and more popular. Adwords, blogging, offering download products and fixed-fee websites are all on the planner for the year. And maybe using a bit of outsourcing to offer some better support to clients.
New directions.... the studio
The thing that I have been excited about is moving my web/multimedia abilities and writing closer together. I was doing some day dreaming a few months ago and figured out what I really wanted. A Film Studio. Or at least the 21stC equivalent. So that's the goal, head up a Studio. Details to be worked out... but the field is open online and it's time to take advantage of it, because it will not be so for very long...
