It's the end, but the moment's been prepared for

Turns out yesterday was the last teaching day for my MA Screenwriting course. Typically, I missed the morning session to have a meeting with mentor Adrian Mentor, so that left the afternoon session. Amongst other things we talked about our plans for once we'd handed in our final projects. Some people weren't sure what to do next, others cheerfully admitted they'd done the course mostly for the experience of doing it. Me, I pulled out my five point plan plotting the way forward for the next two years. Sometimes I can't help wondering how thin the line is between driven and too driven. But I figure it's better to make a wholehearted effort than to do something half-cocked, if that isn't too mixed a metaphor.

Adrian had some interesting things to say in the morning. Like the MA course, the mentoring programme is rapidly winding down. I'll feel more than a little bereft when these come to an end. They've taken up a lot of my time since September 2005, and I've made so much progress thanks to the discipline they've forced upon my writing. Sustaining my drive to succeed as a writer will be crucial once I've lost these external imperatives. Two years ago I was making a comfortable living from writing in every sense of the word. Now I'm a lot poorer, but significantly better as a writer. I need to set fresh benchmarks for myself, to ensure I maintain these challenges. The last thing I want to do is slip back into old, lazy habits.

So I'll be maintaining the blog. It started as a journal to chart my progress during the MA course. 909 posts later, it's become part of my daily routine. The blog's put me in touch with many other writers, some starting out like me, others more advanced in their careers. With the loss of my weekly encounters with other students at Screen Academy Scotland, I'll be needing that virtual network of colleagues.