Around this time of year, while parties are raging and execs are conspicuously out of the office, really starting after Thanksgiving... writers start thinking the same thing. "What the Hell am I Writing Next?"
Conventional wisdom dictates that you write the thing that won't leave you alone, the thing that's nagging at you. I did that last year as an experiment and I'm here to advocate that you take a slightly more strategic approach.
One thing that writers struggle with is this idea of their 'brand'. We don't want to be labeled. We don't want to be put in a box. But that's not what a brand is, if you allow it to evolve with you. Look, when you're starting off your career and I would argue even into the middle of your career, it's in YOUR INTEREST to be easily hireable. How do you make yourself easier to hire? Well, you find your own niche. For example, I tend to be, a comedy/dramedy writer focusing on 1/2 hours, writing about people starting over. I can tie that to my personal story, I can tie it to my "brand". But that doesn't mean, that I don't get to do anything else. I recently got hired to write an action/sci fi movie, I wrote a studio holiday movie, and I've been the funny person in drama rooms. Making yourself a brand -- can only help you. You can expand how you define yourself the more you work.
So how are you going to figure out what you should write next? Here's an exercise I would propose to you --
Write morning pages for the next week. 3 pages, as soon as you wake up, free hand. Don't stop writing until you have reached three pages. This is going to help you get into the habit of paying attention to your own thoughts.
Write down your 150-250 word bio. Examine what you're proud of. CIRCLE all the similar things you do -- 1/2 hours? hours? Comedy? Dramedy? Drama? Features? TV?
Write down a short bio about what you do that does NOT involve writing. This one is tough but essential. It's going to help you figure out what skills you may have that you don't necessarily think about. I had a friend who did this and realized that his day job was editing true crime reality stuff that he couldn't stand -- but -- that he could actually parlay that into a drama job, detailing how he understands villains. Try it, see what you come up with. Then UNDERLINE what you LIKE about that bio.
Take a look at both of your bios. HIGHLIGHT whats exciting to you. Underneath it, make a list of all you WANT to be doing. What shows do you want to write on? What kind of features do you want to write?
Underneath that list -- Write down a list of your favorite shows and movies -- as long as you want, but ideally at least around 15-20
At this point, you should have a good picture of where you've been, where you are, and where you want to be. What is it telling you? What you've done doesn't have to define you. But it can inform where you can go next.
I recently did this exercise, took a whole day to just take a look at it and as a last step, I wrote down, 10 ideas that I was excited about.
In examining all of the above, it might be easier to see what you should write that both EXCITES YOU and is ADDITIVE to the overall brand you've started to build, purposely or not...
Start getting excited about your future and what kind of writer you want to be. Here's the harder part --
Say NO to everything that isn't that.
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