The temptation was to put off writing my update for November so soon because I had just posted my update for October, but if I’ve learned anything it’s don’t put things off. Time has a way of interfering with the best intentions.

Usually when I’m late posting an update, it’s because I’m having a challenging month, but November was actually much better for the Genius Project than October. As always, the way is simple, but often not easy.

For most of November, I committed to writing at least one page of script a day. If I felt like writing more, I carried on; if not, I stopped. Simple, simple, simple! But it is so easy to get distracted by other things.

Frequently, I decided to check Facebook “just for a moment”. And then forty-five minutes had gone by. Or more! I was most productive when I sat in front of my laptop and opened my checklist and started at the top and worked my way down. If I got in my playwriting for the day, I considered it a great day. So, November was a great month!

Not only did I spend more time on the Genius Project in November than I did in October, but I also increased the ratio of writing to reading. A good sign. But I did realize that I need to increase my output and the time spent on a daily basis for the Genius Project.

My plan from the start was to start slowly with the Genius Project and build up my daily time. If only do an hour a day, this project will take 10 years to complete. But for a good portion of the year, I have struggled to meet the one hour minimum. How do I find more time?

After I posted October’s update, my wife commented that maybe I should track my TV watching. Out of the mouths of babes… My “babe” in particular. It is a great idea. Tracking my time wasters might shame me into spending more time with the Genius Project. Or at least cut down on some of the mindless TV watching. Often, I’ll plan to watch one show, but like a bag of potato chips, I can’t just have one and I keep watching until I’m too tired and it’s time for sleep.

What gets measured, gets managed.

Starting in December, I am tracking my TV watching. I’m not ready to do anything drastic, like cut out TV watching, but it will be good to get an idea of how much time I’m actually spending in front of the TV.

For November, I spent 16.25 hours writing and 19.5 hours reading. I saw two plays: Jack of Hearts and Lady Windermere’s Fan. Lady Windermere’s Fan contains one of my favourite lines from Oscar Wilde: “I can resist anything but temptation.” I have now completed 912.5 hours of the Genius Project and only have 9,087.5 hours left.

On the writing front, I am working on adapting my play Cast Party into a musical and am pushing through getting a first draft done.  I’m trying to take the advice I give to other writer friends:  Just get it done and don’t worry about the first draft.  Or the second draft.  Or the third draft…  Process over product.

Getting the first few drafts done is an important part of the “practice”, but it is still a challenge get a draft completed without stopping and analyzing it along the way. I’m trying though!

© 2015 Peter Gruner