Can you say: “multi-tasking?”

Here is my scehdule:

— I am working with the fantastic BJ Markel on the editing of my new book. It’s a lot of work, ladies and gentlemen. And Mr. Markel is fabulous! (It’s his birthday Thursday, so send him a birthday greeting at [email protected]!) And spending time editing with him is probably the most fun any human can ever have. The results of sitting together and figuring out how a sentence sounds is a magical experience — that’s how in-tune our brains are. You got your fact checking, your grammar checking, and your logic checking. “What do you mean by this?” is BJ’s favorite saying. And my favorite response: “I… don’t… know.” We are about halfway through the edit however, and Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies just keeps getting better.

— Elsewhere in the Snyder-verse, Mr. Rich Kaplan is on the “blower” getting me set up for my trip to Seattle and Vancouver next month, not to mention arranging the details for the radio show he and BJ and I are putting together. We hope to be interviewing our first guests shortly. I am fielding calls and emails from Rich about these things hourly, and I am more excited about what’s happening every time I talk to him or see a subject line in my email inbox.

–In the afternoons, during my off time, I am working again with screenwriter Mike Cheda (whom I write about in great detail in the first STC!) on our fantastic heist script, Ringers. I don’t think I’ve actually worked on a project with Mike in about 5 years, but when he came over to the house yesterday, we sat down side by side in front of the computer and got to work without a hiccup. We are pros, damn it! And like working with Mr. Markel, the collaboration is amazing.

–Then just for fun, I am reading a lot of scripts sent by writers that I love, and prepping for my New York Master Class next weekend and my appearance at Nelvana in Toronto next Friday, thanks to another friend who invited me — Paul Teolis, animator/writer/photographer supreme.

— And then of course there is the speaking engagement Wednesday for a group I belong to.

— And, and, and…

Yes, sometimes, I feel like I need to step out of my body for a “time out” — but can’t.

So here’s the deal. Whenever I get overwhelmed by the work, when it all doesn’t seem to ever get done, I have to take a breath and just say: Thank you!

If you’re busy too, with job, family, and writing, and it feels like too much to handle, I suggest the same.

The busy are the lucky ones. And when I see the arc of my life from seven years ago or so when I was unsure of what I was going to do with myself, I am so grateful for this overwhelmed feeling. Busy is good. Saying “Yes” to the universe leads to more offers of service, even if the “Yes” is to the question: “Can you pick me up at the airport?”

But if you see me walking down the street and wave hello, and I stare back, it’s not personal. I love you! I’m just thinking about whether that sentence in Chapter Three really needs that exclamation point. I think it does!

BJ thinks it doesn’t.