Happy, happy day. I’ve now completed the first full draft of the script I’m working on with Tom – definitely a cause for celebration.

If I’m honest, it’s the first piece of writing I’ve actually completed in far too long – but it most certainly won’t be the last.

In fact, there’s already two or three other ideas waiting in the wings, and getting ready to be added to the CeltX project centre.

Of course, I’m sure there’ll be some alterations come back from Tom, but for now well I’m just happy that the first phase of it is completed. It’s taken longer than expected by about a week, and it’s meant that the project isn’t likely to be done and ready in time, which is a bummer – although we’ll still be making it, and if it’s not ready for this one then we’ll have it ready and polished for next time.

Over to you, Dragon…

A couple of weeks ago, Dragon wrote about a challenge to get a short film written, filmed and edited in 30 days – which sounded interesting.

So I submitted a brief idea to him – one that wasn’t written, and actually wasn’t anywhere except in my head. Even the brief was only written down for the first time in the first email to him. Admittedly, the initial plan was to have a completed script that just needed something doing to it – which would certainly have been possible in that thirty day limit.

As it is, the script has been being written by me at any spare moment, and is now just about complete. I’m sure that we’re not going to make the submission deadline of the 15th Sept – and I know that a fair dollop of the responsibility for that falls on my shoulders, as even with the writing deadline (and perhaps even because of it) my mind blocked up solidly for the best part of a week on how the entire thing should progress.

It’s been an interesting challenge already though – and we’ve already decided that the short film will be made from it as well, it’s just that it won’t get in to this year’s submissions. It’ll be getting submitted for next year though, you can be sure. (Well, so long as it actually works as a story, anyway)

It’s also the first time I’ve actually written a screenplay/script – so that’s been a learning curve in and of itself. But it’s certainly got the old creative juices flowing – there’s already the thoughts and plans for at least three other pieces to be done once this one is finally completed and out the door. (Well, out of the email box, to be pedantic)

Once again, the biggest bit of the challenge has been to get myself motivated to do the writing – and on that score, Dragon’s challenge has been a complete winner.

Just have to see how long it continues now, I guess…

So, as listed yesterday, the first year of that five year plan is completed. There’s still some work to be done on finishing off the foundations of it all, but everything is so far pretty much on track, which is a fairly impressive achievement in itself. (well, for me, anyway)

The problem with the next year of the plan (such as it is) is that a lot of it is either

1. Hard to explain
2. Related to business plans, which I (for obvious reasons) don’t want to bang on about here before I’ve got them started
3. Dependent upon other occurrences, or on (to some degree) a bit of luck/chance
4. All of the above

This means that the list is almost certainly going to be rather less exhaustive than last year’s one- and God knows, that one was no masterpiece of detail. So this is more an ‘overview’ than a list, and to some degree I also find that rather harder to keep track of and fulfil, due to the nature of the beast. I’ve got more detailed lists of plans and ideas carried around in an ‘off-line’ format- OK, OK, it’s all in my Filofax, which should probably be renamed “my Book of Lists and Notes”. (MBOLAN, or ‘T-rex’ for short))

So anyway, the basic ‘shell’ list is going to be something like this:

1. Photography
   • Take more photos
   • Put the good ones in the portfolio site
   • Work on a couple of projects/themes
   • Possibly do a redesign of the portfolio site to fit in more with ‘brand ‘image’
   • Submit portfolio site and photos to various interested parties
   • Possibly make more use of Flickr, although that one’s a bit of a “don’t know”
   • Pull more attention to the portfolio site
2. Business
   • Redesign/redevelop business website with a CMS etc.
   • Look at sorting out a proper business bank account
   • Keep generating new work
   • Continue with current work and clients
   • Get new contract – the one with the current place will definitely expire in ’08, due to tax/IR35 reasons
   • Work on developing new sites and business ideas
   • Minimise outgoings, increase incoming money
3. Writing
   • Realistically? Get one solid idea written and done, if only for the head-space
   • Optimistically? Get two solid ideas written and done.
4. House stuff
   • House alterations
     • Bathroom
     • Kitchen extension/upgrade
   • Garden alterations/work
     • Veg patch
     • Front garden/driveway
     • Main lawn etc.
     • Borders, beds, blah blah

And that’ll do for now. Like I said, it’s fairly “open”, but that’s still a fair old list from the look of it. I’m going to be a busy boy…

It’s hard to believe that in one week’s time I’m going to be thirty-bloody-six. It doesn’t seem like ten minutes ago that we were down in Roadwater for me being thirty-fucking-five.

This year, we’re not going to be going away for Fireworks Night. (Guy Fawkes, whatever) Instead, we’re going to see just what our new place is like when it comes to the joys of fireworks. So far, we haven’t heard any – which is a massive improvement on Bracknell, when we were getting them going off from about the start of October. The next village along will be doing a bonfire and firework display, but we’ve seen nothing about anything in our place.

Of course, we’ll still be working on exhausting Hound – we’ll most likely go up to the beach at Wells-next-the-Sea or Holkham, let her run round like a loon, and take a couple of toys for her to chase, catch and return. By the time we get home, she’ll be knackered enough that she’ll sleep through just about anything, on previous evidence.

At the same time there’s going to be a couple of big old posts about five year plans, resolutions and the like – they’ve been fun to write, and have helped me lay out some of the ideas for the coming year. Particularly as one of the checkpoints is just about crossed off already, which is a definite bonus…

Yes, yet a-fucking-gain, the comments system is down.

I’m going to be looking at upgrading/redesigning D4D™ to WordPress 2.0 while we’re away this weekend, I think.

Bloody thing.

UPDATED : And now it’s fixed again. Poxy thing, definitely needs looking at. Grrrr.

Over the year, I’ve had a list of resolutions, and thought I’d do a quick update before the birthday rears its ugly head in a weeks time, as a kind of progress report.

• Photography
  • Macro Lens – yes
  • Portfolio – working on it as a website
  • Talk to Agents/Publishers – spoke to some photographic publishers, which is why the above item changed.
  • Submit work to various places – started off with ImageKind, but no joy yet.
  • Join local camera/photography club – tried, and it all turned to bollocks
  • Look at potential for “proper” photography qualification – looked at it, but nothing that’s viable for 2006/7 academic year
• Work
  • Get the three main sites up and running- two of three, and other ideas too
  • Make them successful – getting there
  • Keep track of how they do – yes
  • Reassess in Jan 2007 – if they haven’t worked, kill ‘em – moving this to various times in 2007
  • Get more smaller sites done and paid – yep, two so far, and more on the way
• Writing
  • More “proper” writing – it’s starting – nothing publishable yet, but it’s starting
  • Longer pieces for d4d? – no, and that idea is back ‘on hold’
• D4D
  • That bloody sweary filter. – nope
  • Installing WordPress 2.0 – nope, and not going to
  • Photoblogging? – nope, but may come up elsewhere

Thankfully, it actually it looks like I’ve managed to get a fair amount done since the last update back in July. And that’s something I’m pleased about – seeing how little I’d got done by that time was quite demoralising. I knew that the work I was doing at the time, and the influence of Arsehole Boss in general wasn’t helping my motivation one jot, so it’s good to see that moving on work-wise has started having a positive effect on everything again.