Know what my self-assigned homework was yesterday? Watching Pirates of the Caribbean. Tomorrow I plan to read the screenplay. In between I brainstorm character backstories.

For my day job - I almost wrote "real job" but then I remembered that I now have two real jobs - I had to write a paper on critical pedagogy that was between 700-1200 words and in APA format, a task that is every bit as boring and time consuming as it sounds. For my other job, I had to watch a Disney adventure movie so I could take notes about the tone and pacing.

I also swiffered.

Now I'm on vacation. I'm taking a class online so I have to do work for that, and the yearbook needs another couple of days of work, so I'll be doing some of that and I have to grade essays that were turned in this week to give back on our return to school, but since I don't have to spend any time yelling at kids or making lesson plans, I can now get back to screenwriting.

This is actually the toughest time to get to work, oddly enough. I haven't had a regular writing schedule for a while - I just wrote on the weekends whenever I could. And since I've had the script out gathering notes, I let myself relax and not write for a few weeks while I waited and then digested the suggestions a couple of people sent me.

So I got out of the habit. I have to establish a schedule again. Get up, do some chores, check the emails, do my coursework, work on stuff for my job, then screenwriting. After that I can work out or go to the store or walk the dog or whatever. But it helps to have a set schedule even when it's not a paid position.

I think far too many people only write when the mood strikes them, but it's no way to get things done. If I want to be a paid screenwriter, I have to practice being a paid screenwriter.

So I'll start that tomorrow, right after I finish staring at my cute dog and watching The Biggest Loser. Today is celebrate being on vacation day. Tomorrow the work week begins.