Into The Ecto @ EltonPruitt.com

My Resolutions for 2009

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:46:45 GMT

A couple of fellow comic book creators (writer/editor Jason Rodriguez and artist Jason Copland) recently posted their New Year's Resolutions online, and their commitment and outright ballsiness in doing so inspired me to do the same.

So, here goes:

Elton Pruitt's Resolutions for 2009

1. Write Sunday through Thursday, every night, for at least 2 hours.

Last year, I got a little burnt out on burning the midnight oil, and pulled back on the time I spent writing for the sake of my sanity (and sleep). But what that led to was a really lameass work ethic. My wife and I have a 3.5 year old son, so the heart of any evening revolves around him. Although her job is incredibly stressful and requires her to work a lot in the evenings, she goes out of her way to give me one Writing Night every week. On those nights, I get to go straight from the day job to the local brewpub, where I write for several hours.

Last year, I wound up in a bad habit of relying only on those nights to get anything done.

This year, it's gonna be a different story. I'll still have that weekly Writing Night as an ace in the hole. But it'll be supplemented by four other nights -- a minimum of 8 solid hours -- and in taking this disciplined approach, I'm going to dramatically increase my productivity.

2. Take it in stride when life gets in the way of writing.

Last year, I tended to get all out of sorts if anything interfered with that sacred Writing Night. This year, now that I've got so many more hours each week dedicated to writing, I'm determined to not let life's little unplanned events get me bent out of shape.

Just last night, some work stuff wound up eating into my scheduled 9:00 - 11:00 writing time. I felt myself starting to tense up and feel frustrated and annoyed. But I caught myself, and managed to relax, and instead of a wasted evening -- which is what would've happened last year -- I wound up starting my writing at 9:30 and getting a lot of good work in in spite of the late start.

3. Don't over commit.

I've always been bad about over committing myself. There are so many stories I want to tell, and so many artists I want to work with. But I'm just not the kind of guy who can juggle a bunch of different projects at the same time and be productive.

So, this year, I've got a plan for the next few months, and I'm sticking to it. And it goes something like this:

FUGUE

PORNTASIA

RIVETED

And when those three pitches are out the door and onto the appropriate editors' desks, I'll turn my attention to something I've thought and talked about doing for well over a year now: Zuda.

There's a wonderful artist I've been talking to for a couple of years now who's interested in working up something with me for Zuda, so by golly, I'm going to buckle down and get the creative fires burning and Just Do It!

But only after I finish what's already on my plate. No more over committing!

That's all, folks!

Short, sweet, and 100% doable: that's how I'm rolling this year with my resolutions, and in the totality of my commitment to writing comics.

What about you?

Testing Deepest Sender

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:24:42 GMT

Making sure I've got Deepest Sender hooked up correctly for quick and easy blog posts...

Fantabulous Weekend Fun

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:02:12 GMT

Saturday night: bridge with the Robertsons for the first time in months. How I wish we could play bridge every weekend or at least more than once every few months. Anyway, Shawn and I lost (keeping our perfect record intact) to the wives, but a good time was had by all. And our newly established quota of one bottle of bubbly per person worked out swimmingly!

Sunday day: spent the early part of the day hanging with my son. Which is always fun, but today was especially so. The highlight for me was holding hands with him, dancing to Pink (and hoping he wouldn't notice and/or repeat and/or be scarred for life by her occasional F-Bombs) for like 15 minutes straight!

What's Going On

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:49:51 GMT

Just heard tonight from another one-time Scryptic Studios columnist who wants to come in from the cold. So my efforts to revive and rejuvenate that site appear to be paying off.

And speaking of former Scryptic Studios columnists, Elizabeth Genco today suggested we be each other's Accountability Partners: someone you know you're gonna hear from every week, finding out what you've done that week and what you're planning to do next week.

That's a good, good thing right there.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

What's Going On

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:36:59 GMT

I don't blog enough (or really, at all) about what's going on with me. Caleb does. Drew does. Elizabeth does.

But me, I've never been much of a blogger. Well, all that changes, right here and now.

What's Going On Right Here and Now

Took the afternoon off work to do comic book writer stuff. Good, good, good times indeed. I don't know when I've ever been so happy and at peace Friday at lunch, than today, knowing I had all afternoon on a workday to don my comic book writer hat and Get Things Done.

So what did I do/am doing? (Weird construct there, yes, but I kind of like it)

First, Scryptic Studios pimpage on a grand scale. I'm glad I got inspired to get back into my columnist role and really take it seriously, and try to help get Scryptic back on the radar of aspiring writers and others in the industry. It's been such a help and inspiration to me over the years, so now I'd genuinely like to give something back, and play a role in some Elton of the Future getting his career off the ground.

So, pimpage-wise, I've posted a "the columns are back!" blurb touting mine and Drew Edwards' latest columns on Digital Webbing, Penciljack, Shadowline, CBR, Newsarama, Comicon, and tried to post on the Bendis board but got some weird error. Gotta try that one again in a bit.

Second, I'm starting to sift through the ginormous threads on Newsarama, Shadowline, Kris' Korner and Digital Webbing about Shadowline's Who Wants to Create a Super-Heroine contest, and collate the relevant nuggets of wisdom and clarification that Kris Simon and Jim Valentino have been posting here and there. That'll serve two purposes: help me to craft the perfect pitch for my own entry into the contest, and give me the raw info I need for next week's Running Up That Hill, which will be all about that contest.

I've got R.E.M.'s DVD-Audio remix of New Adventures in Hi-Fi on an endless loop (best album of their career btw) and drinking this delightfully sweet cherry cola called Cheerwine that Dina brought me back from a business trip to Albuquerque, while munching on Reduced Fat Cheez-Its (they are much, much tastier and crunchier than the regular ones!). And as always, when wearing my comic book writer hat, my magical mystical Boston Red Sox cap is close at hand.

So, there's my first-ever What's Going On blog entry. That wasn't so bad, now was it?