I think I have a good workplan for my screenplay. I'm not really happy with it and it definitely needs a third and final rewrite, but I think I'm going to enter it into a contest just to see how it does. This guy from my screenwriting class entered a contest and he placed, and his script was not very good. I'd like to have the experience of entering a screenplay competition, and to see how my script ranks.

My screenwriting teacher Julie said my script was good enough into a contest and even pitch in Hollywood if I wanted. I wasn't confident about my writing or pitching ability at the time, but you know it can't hurt to enter a competition. I'd also like to send it to the screenwriting prof at UCLA, who said people from his seminar could send in their scripts and he would review for free. But the UCLA guy will get the third and final version, not this second version. Maybe I'll even get feedback from the contest. I hear sometimes they do that. One can only hope.

I'm taking an online class with this guy who was teaching seminars at the screenwriting conference I went to in LA last November. He also teaches screenwriting at UCLA and is active in selling his own work to Hollywood.

Anyway, one of the homework assignments was come up with a new idea for a screenplay and list the source. I wrote something about Zecharia Sitchin who writes books about aliens seeding the planet earth, and here's the messaage I received back.

"Very interesting stuff, Brenda. I'm familiar with Sitchin, he has a whole series of books on the subject of aliens seeding life on Earth, which happens to be a popular topic in Hollywood development. Unfortunately, the reason these projects are still in development may be because of the present religious climate in the U.S. which may not be receptive to alternative ideas. Food for thought."

So Hollywood is interested in scifi stuff ... I got a good buzz about his message because I'm thinking maybe my story ideas and Hollywood's aren't that far off.

I heard Jimmy Cliff's big hit today, "The Harder they come". Boy does that song bring back memories. I love reggae music! I can't believe I don't own any Jimmy Cliff cds. I love danced to reggae. I still remember that reggae festival I attended in DC in Malcom X park. Dancing to reggae in the hot fall DC sun within blocks of the White House. How cool is that?

I didn't write on Saturday. Actually I didn't do much of anything on Saturday, although I made plans to go out. When I finally got up and dressed, the darn rain would not stop and it was so hard. Not that I care about rain, but it's a drag to be wet. So I sat around and watched the "MI-5" marathon on A&E. I think they call it "Spooks" in the UK. I seem to remember sitting around and watching it last year around this time as well. I love "MI-5", have always loved spy shows and always will.

I loved the ending of the first episode of the new season. This is an only in the UK kind of ending. The head of the Joint Intelligence Committedd (an actor I seem to remember from the Black Adder series) is sitting in a club talking to someone from the PM's government. The head of MI-5 comes in, who is also a member of the club. The JIC guy says to the PM aide, "are you a member of the club, because you're not my guest." The head of MI-5 says "he's not my guest either", so the guy has to leave. The head of the JIC had attempted to take over MI-5 and had failed, but he and head of MI-5 are members of the "club", so despite their recent fight the two remain at least in public cordial friends. It's such a Brit class thing I think. The PM aide who obviously is not of the same class gets shunted aside like trash because class has so much more meaning in the UK. It's the same the same here, but they never show that stuff on TV because the US is supposed to be a classless society. Whatever.

I'm so happy about my writing progress this year. It's going like gangbusters! I finished Chapter 10 today, and I was so happy. I wrote the summary for chapter 10 on New Year's day while waiting for my flight at the DFW airport, and now the chapter is written.

This is new for me; writing a summary of what the chapter is supposed to be about. I usually don't do that, but it's really helped to keep me focus on what I'm supposed to be writing about. And if I get lost in the writing, as I tend to do since I write the chapter in more than one sitting, the summary ends up being a map as what I'm supposed to be writing about.

I even started a rewrite of Chapter 1 since New Year's as well. I edited Chapter 1 on the plane to DFW, and it just was not good. The subsequent chapters read much better, so I decided I needed to rewrite chapter 1. The voice was just not there, as I didn't develop the voice till much later. Since I'm now comfortable writing in the voice, rewriting chapter 1 was easier and I think reads much better. There's a real character now talking.

I'm like, okay the rest of my life kind of sucks right now, but at least the writing part is working. Usually the rest of my life is okay, and writing part sucks, or my life is bad and the writing is bad. It's never been where the writing is better than my life. Is this a good sign? I'm starting to think of myself as a storyteller, and it's a good feeling.