The Writer’s Diet Experiment, Day 1

Can Lynn Chen get any more talented? In addition to being an accomplished actress and now filmmaker, she runs a food blog called The Actor’s Diet - “The life of a Hollywood actress. Meal by meal.”

And she means every meal. Since I began reading her blog, Lynn hasn’t missed a day. I’m so impressed by her discipline! She writes about her daily journeys through a culinary lens and the result is always delicious.

Considering I’m attempting to not break my own chain of writing every day, I’ve decided to try an experiment. Blog every day for a week about my acting/writing/producing endeavors, a la The Actor’s Diet. I won’t be taking pictures of what I eat every day – no one wants to see that – but I will show you my daily life through the lens of an artist trying to do a million things at once.

Here goes...

I woke up early this morning to finish reading scripts for a NYC Midnight short film screenplay competition that I’m judging. NYC Midnight runs a bunch of interesting writing challenges, including a Flash Fiction Challenge that I’ll be participating in this summer.

After sending off my notes and top five picks, I headed to my day job. I always keep a notebook at my desk to jot down ideas as they come up throughout the day. Today I banged out a few pages of brainstorming on a new law pilot based on my brother’s life. Hopefully CBS-worthy...

I’m a champion multi-tasker, which isn’t always a good thing, but at work it means I can juggle three spreadsheets while listening to/half-watching a Netflix movie in the background. (No need to tell my boss – I only do this in the afternoons.) Around 5pm, I started watching Falling for Grace, a romantic comedy written, directed, and starring Fay Ann Lee.

It was a sweet film with all the elements of a mainstream romantic comedy. Impressive considering she was a first-time screenwriter, producer, and director. And the always fabulous Elizabeth Sung was just that – fabulous!

Then I got a call just before leaving the office that I was cast in a short film for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women program.

It’s a small part, but the projects are always good and I’m happy to support these filmmakers. I was in an AFI DWW short a few years ago called Open Your Eyes that has absolutely swept the festival circuit – 34 awards in 68 festivals. Amazing!

After finishing the movie, I headed off to Rant & Rave at Rogue Machine Theatre, a sort of spoken word/storytelling evening based around a theme. Tonight, it was Politics. My friend Pattie Tierce opened the evening with a hilarious rant about co-dependency in politics. Accomplished actors Jodi Long and Tucker Smallwood also took the stage.

A thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking night, to be sure! The audience was an eclectic mix of fans, artists, and celebs. I sat behind Cristine Rose and spotted Patricia Richardson and Evan Lysacek among the crowd. Hoping I can grace the Rant & Rave stage myself someday soon!

Then home. Phew! It was a busy day. And I’m posting this way too late. This experiment should be interesting!

Click here to read The Writer's Diet Experiment, Day 2