On Dec. 31st, I made a commitment to write every day, so this semester, I signed up for another writing class at Valpo. I took Creative Writing two years ago, and that’s when I wrote a few of my first posts: Stolen Miles, Self-Doubt, Sonnets and Marathons, and What do you See?  

I write when something really impacts me or eats at me. It’s my way to find peace . . . along with running. I sort things out and often see beauty like never before. Sometimes I vent, and there are journals all over this house. Some are hidden for a reason – those need to be burned if I ever get hit by a bus.

So I signed up for COMM 590: Short Screenplay Writing with Prof. Charlie Anderson. Charlie is loaded with great stories of his experiences as a writer in LA, and I love learning about the film industry and my son Brendan’s work and aspirations.

The syllabus clearly outlines a path to completing two short screenplays each written for a ten-minute film. On Wednesday, our assignment was to turn in three loglines – 27 word descriptions of a potential movie. (The logline term is new to me, so I feel like I’m talking like an expert here.) My wheels were spinning.  I narrowed my list down to three topics: Kevin’s diagnosis of Retinoblastoma, my father’s illness, and a grandmother’s FaceTime relationship with her granddaughter – not too autobiographical.

My classmates, on the other hand, had loglines that entailed the discovery of a magic pendant, a secret spy mother, a Syrian refugee camp, and exotic travels. Imaginative worlds of good vs. evil and vivid depictions of dual personalities, clandestine behaviors, and global perspectives prevailed in the college students’ minds. Suddenly, my ideas seem mundane and ordinary, but I signed up for the class, and now I have a draft of  a screenplay due in three weeks.

I’ve been up for two hours in a quest to work on this project, and so far I’ve cleaned out my van, balanced my checkbook, sorted the laundry, emptied the dishwasher, and written this post.  And since the sun is up now, I think it’s warm enough to take Watson for a run.