What have I gotten myself into?

Well, November is shaping up to be a very busy month for me. I could have prevented some of it, but no, I am accepting challenges that come once a year. Maybe I didn't have a choice.

First of all are all the things I continue to want to do: begin and complete the Web site design for my film work; begin gathering interviews for my documentary project; try to raise funds for my documentary project; finish my script for my screenwriting class (my next draft is due in three weeks - meaning if I want a complete draft I will need to write around 60 more pages); continue pre-production planning on two short films; write a script for another short film; complete the "mockumentary" of my first video editing project (a music video for Jimi Hendrix's "Red House"); record a commentary for that video; record a commentary for my short film "The Obituaries"; plan webisodes for "The Obituaries"; and on and on.

So, with all that on my plate, guess what I went and did... I entered two contests that have very stringent deadlines this month.

The first is a short film competition sponsored by Apple called the Insomnia Film Festival. It is a 24-hour contest where teams of filmmakers have 24 hours to shoot, edit and upload to the Interweb a 3-minute short film. Oh yes, just 24 hours. I have roped in some friends of mine and we are going to do it. Of course, it isn't quite as daunting as you might think. Everything can be in place prior to the designated 24-hour period: writing, gathering equipment, scouting locations, securing crew and actors, etc. But the actual filming and editing must take place the day of the competition, which is 9 a.m. November 15 to 9 a.m. November 16. This is going to be fun.

The big gonzo crazy thing I've gone and done is registered for the National Novel Writing Month competition. The quest here is to write a 175-page (50,000 word) novel between November 1 and November 30. Talk about daunting. Especially since I've never written a novel before. That's about 1,700 words a day. The goal, according to the Web site, isn't to write a masterpiece. The goal is to write. Just write and write and write. Complete the novel. Then, if it isn't any good, you at least have finished a draft that you can go back and fix later. The creators' contention is that if you don't push yourself, you'll never do it. While there is no true prize, there is the knowledge and relief and probably joy you will feel when finished. I think it's a great concept and I intend to complete it. I have the idea in place and on November 1, I will write my first words. And by November 30 I will have written 50,000.

So, what have I gotten myself into? I think a lot of cool stuff that will make me better than if I just sat around and watched TV for a month.

And that makes me feel good.