2021 NYR: Mid-year check in

Welcome to mid year! In an unexpected twist, I’m still in my childhood home in Colorado, but not for long, because… Quinn and I got an apartment! For a bit more per month than we’d hoped, but in a great location (an 8 minute walk from Vinny) with amenities we really wanted. We’re moving June 29th, with zero furniture and probably not quite all our stuff, but it’ll be nice to be on our own again (though we’ll miss CJ and the garden and all the space Colorado affords)

Start every day by reading. Check! I have literally started my day every day this year by reading. Sometimes it’s just a page or two on my Kindle app, sometimes it’s a full twenty minute sesh. It’s nice to not start my day on Twitter or email or Slack; highly recommend. Because my progress is fairly slow, I’ve mostly been continuing to make my way through Outlander book 5, The Fiery Cross. There’s a lot to like (the day to day of living on Fraser’s Ridge, with the two future women figuring out how to use 1700s tech to make penicillin and interior plumbing and syringes), but there’s also a lot to dislike (y’all… the amount of rape is too damn high).
Take 2 full days off work a month. So far, so good, barely! May has been much better due to Mother’s Day weekend presenting an obvious reason to be in the moment and my brother visiting for the first time since Christmas 2019, so if I was trying to be a real stinker I’ve technically banked enough days off to get me through two more months of ALL WORK ALL THE TIME. But I’m trying not to be a stinker or a workaholic this year. Also, if you want to check my work, my days off have been: January 16 & 31; February 20, 21; March 22, 27; April 5, 17; and May 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, and 23.
Cultivate 2 non-monetizable hobbies. Have gotten back into painting already, which has been SO GREAT. I have a mood tracker app now for some reason and even after a shit workday, if I paint for a little while it has a huge impact on my mood, especially if I paint outdoors. I also learned how to plant a garden/pot flowers, which I hope to continue in LA.
Save $3k. It’s amazing what you can do when you aren’t paying NYC rent. I’m gonna try to exceed this savings goal by as much as possible, especially given our new apartment is maybe a little bit of a stretch per month, plus our new car (and gas and insurance) payments. But that’s why you have a savings account! I’m better at tracking my budget now, too, so I think I’ve got this.
Make progress on my physical health. Part of my morning routine since being in Colorado (see #9) has been taking my mom’s dog for a walk every weekday morning. We also have helped a lot in my mom’s garden, take the dog for walks in the park, and home cook nearly every meal. It’s not enough, but I hope that my new apartment’s two floor 24 hour fitness center will further push this goal forward.
Finish a new pilot. Done!! The Crossriver Case Files is an adaptation of my best friend Rachel and I’s childhood detective agency, with an imagined future where we are estranged but then find ourselves living in our hometown again after the murder of our favorite teacher. It’s been getting pretty good feedback so far, and I really love it, and I hope something happens with it.
Submit to (or prep for) 2 writing contests/fellowships per season. I’ve really blown past this estimation because the first half of the year is kinda fellowships/contest season, so I’m not sure how much more I’ll submit to. Especially once my living expenses go up again (screenwriting contest submissions are EXPENSIVE). So far, I’ve submitted to:
1. February: Stowe Story Labs (ACCEPTED! See ya this week, Stowe!!), Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest
2. March: Script Pipeline First Look, Austin Film Festival, WarnerMedia Fellowship
3. April: Ubisoft Fellowship, Writer’s Assistant Training program
4. May: Black List X Women in Film Episodic Lab, Scriptapalooza Fellowship, WeScreenplay TV Contest
Make at least one room in my new apartment feel permanent. Well, I’m not in my new apartment yet, but I will be soon.
Develop a morning routine. I have absolutely developed a solid morning routine which will need to be tweaked once I get to LA, but I hope the work I’ve already done will provide a solid foundation. I wake up, read a bit, do my skincare routine (a single product, it’s still me after all), walk CJ, make coffee/breakfast, head to work. The only real thing that I’ll need to swap is walking CJ (sad!) but I’m confident I’ll figure something out.
Only say yes out of interest or excitement, not out of fear. I’ve said no to a fair few things this year that any other year I probably would have said yes to. It’s not that I don’t think I would have gotten something out of them, but I’m nearly (gasp) 30 and I’m tired, y’all. The boundaries have been really good for me, and they’ve opened me up to making progress on the things I’m really passionate about, which has been really exciting.