What do I see as my ideal future? I want to be the next Joss Whedon, essentially. Successful and talented, always striving to experiment with the format, and happy to dip his pen into new formats like webseries and graphic novels. I'd rather make alright money and pursue really creative projects than make amazing money writing Transformers 17. I want to find success in Hollywood, then come back to Canada to teach future showrunners and give this industry the kick up the butt it needs. Those are my wildest dreams.

I think about the future constantly, which can be really fun but also a really bad idea. In terms of writing, in the next five years, I would love to have established a screenwriting career. One where I'm working consistently enough where I don't need a day job. One where I can write what I want to write, in any number of genres. Commercial or indie. RomCom or dramatic character piece. If something excites me I want to be able to explore it and have a team around me that supports that. I want to be known as a versatile writer. As risky as it is, I like the thought of writing on spec, it's very freeing. Beyond those five years, I could see myself directing down the line, and because I have somewhat of a business background, and I love entrepreneurship, I could see myself producing as well. Of course I have the wild dreams where I win an Academy Award and have enough money to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family, and maybe a house somewhere abroad! On a note similar to Scott's, I've always loved helping other people, especially younger kids and teens with whatever. Since I started this pursuit of screenwriting, I've had this idea of going back to my high school to teach a screenwriting class. That could be a fun experience!

For the immediate future of the next year, I want to generate enough money writing that I won't have to rely on other talents to keep me and my family afloat (currently the bulk of my income comes for comics editing and consulting gigs.) Ideally that will come in the form of either a staffing gig or a spec film screenplay sale. Inside the next five years, I want to be running a show that I created. When that show has run its course, I hope to have sufficient money to be able to finance independent comics work of my own creation (pay artists a competitive page rate, be able to afford self-publishing costs if an acceptable publisher can't be found, etc.) Ideally I'd be able to continue working in film or TV while producing those books--perhaps as a producer helping people in my current situation get closer to achieving their personal goals, but never as a teacher, at least on any sort of regular basis. You're a better man than I, Mr. Myers. Also I'd like to paint more than I do these days, with better art supplies than I can afford at the moment.

Not to be the sour puss among these blooming roses, but the vagaries and vicissitudes of this business are such that that dreaming to me feels like a sure fire way of inviting disappointment, and that too coming from someone who’s been a daydreamer for most of his life. My only intention, ambition, dream for the next one, two, all the way to five years is to write, write and write. To make sure I spend 4-5 hrs a day, everyday - ideating, outlining, thinking and writing and another 4-5 hrs reading (novels, non fiction, classics, craft books, etc), watching films and analyzing them. That is all. I wish to be my only surety in an unsure world. The rest I leave to fortune and hope that through it all I can find the silence I so crave. Cheers.

My outlook tends towards the bleak as well; for years my philosophy has been to expect the worst, on the grounds that if I do in the worst case I'll be proven right and in the best case be pleasantly surprised. That said, I think there is at least a little difference between having a dream and having an ambition. I dream of being 170 pounds of pure muscle, but that ain't gonna happen. I have the ambition to be a self-supporting writer--that is something I've worked very hard to achieve and, even given the industry's fickle qualities, I firmly believe that in 2012 that goal will within my grasp. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with being ambitious (though grand ambition is often tied up in arrogance, which I find problematic)--in fact, I think very little of import gets achieved in the absence of ambition. I'm not trying to get up on a soapbox here--I absolutely understand the desire to control one's fate and can see how setting goals that rely on nothing but yourself to achieve lends a sense of security to someone working in a field where success never comes easily if it comes at all. I just worry that some people I see with that attitude (not you--I have several friends of a similar mindset) set their achievable goals too low and subconsciously limit themselves. I spend most of my life being terribly unsatisfied with my lot in it--if I didn't, I don't think I'd have made what progress I have in pursuing my goals as a writer.

Okay then - dream career! Dividing my time between Hollywood OWAs and writing my own material; and developing TV projects on the side in Britain and maybe in the US. Definitely don't want to direct, but helping to introduce the US writer-producer model to British TV (I think it's only a matter of time), I could see my way to that...

"I wish to be my only surety in an unsure world. The rest I leave to fortune and hope that through it all I can find the silence I so crave." I'm putting this in facebook quotes.

@Scott: my mom was a teacher for 33 years. I think she did feel it was her calling -- teaching can really get in your blood. I TA'd two screenwriting workshops, and started out thinking I'd hate it, but when you see a student's work progress dramatically over the course of 12 weeks, it's an amazing feeling. I don't want to teach screenwriting, but I can absolutely see the appeal of teaching in general. For me: I want to be known as a go-to guy for ultra-grounded, smart thrillers. TV or film. Homeland. Clear & Present Danger. That kind of work is just in my blood. It's what I grew up reading. It's just my thing. Ultimately, I have some spy period pieces that I am just dying to tell, and I want to be in a place clout-wise -- either myself or with future friends/partners -- where I can get them into the proper channels. You definitely need some "oomph" to get people on board with period pieces. So in the coming year I plan to take concrete steps by writing at least two specs demonstrating my smart-thriller skills. Two three-hour blocks of writing, six days a week. Ultra-long term, I plan to go back to school again to get a PhD in history with a focus on espionage. I would like to write a definitive history of the role of the intelligence agency in American society, from G. Washington to 9/11. I would love to work in the CIA's own history division. I would be thrilled if I could just work consistently in this biz. That itself would be a huge accomplishment...

I mainly want to write and work in movies, though if Community is still on the air a few years down the line, I will go do that, if I can. And I want to direct. As soon as possible. I write so that I have things worth making and directing, so that I'm a better collaborator when working with writers, and so that I can explore stories and understand the world better. Somewhere down the line, I may want to produce and help get projects I like off the ground for other people to make, but that vision is cloudy and way in the future. Should be a good time :)

I want to tell stories. I want to write character-based movies that are sweet, or that make people cry, and I want to see those make it as far as the screen. If that screen is just some regional film festival somewhere, that's fine with me. I want to write short stories, enough to fill a book or three. I want to write a book-length memoir, either about myself or my family (I'm thinking the East Boston equivalent of Rick Bragg's "Prince of Frogtown"). I want to quit my day job some day, but I also want to live where I want to live, which is not LA or NY. And I want people to like me.

I want to direct my efforts into a career writing RomComs, both spec and assigned. I love the freedom of the RomCom genre. I read a quote from a RomCom writer, "RomComs are more like RomSciFi--anything goes when it comes to love." Truth! As a RomCom writer I'm allowed to embrace the supernatural, the unexplainable, the madcap, the mystic, whatever the story demands/requires. I have no desire to direct or produce, I want to stay focused on writing. One of the writer/directors featured in the film "Tales from the Script" said, "I have to be asked to get work as a director, but as a writer, I can pick up pen and paper and just write." I want to keep laughing, sighing, giggling, and tearing up when I write.

For the future, I just say yes! - yes to everything. I want to write movies and create TV series. As far as directing/producing, I think if it comes along on the path, then possibly, but now I’m just focused on writing. There’s a particular screenwriter that I admire and who’s path/hard work I try to emulate. He’s done very well for himself but in no way had it handed to him. My stuff is all character driven – indie, wide release, television network, cable – whichever way the wind blows. I once tried to write a high concept film and it felt like I was trying to wear my clothes backward and pretend I’m comfortable. I have a short attention span and enjoy the brevity and conciseness required in the writing of a screenplay. However, I have plans for a book of humorous stories. I'm going to write the whole thing in short sentences for people like me who don't even want to read it. This next year, I will get management and I will sell a product be it a pitch, pilot, or screenplay. Other people do/have done it. So can I. I create my own luck. In five years, I’m working steady on assignment and getting a feature of my own made and Oprah buys this pilot I’m working on now. I talk her into shooting it on location in northern Louisiana and I can put some friends to work back home. Then she flies me back to LA in her private jet stuffed with at least three seasons of backlogged Christmas crap from her expired show. Just a little something nice she wanted to do for me since my show's going to make her network a bazillion dollars. That’d be a great joy, I think. I’ve always wanted to be in the capacity to put all of my talented friends together on a project. And PAY THEM. And I certainly wouldn't sneeze at free gifts from Oprah, either.

I've been standing in front of my mirror accepting an Oscar since I was 8. One of my former film school classmates told me I'd win an Oscar some day. So, my wildest dream? His name is Oscar. How does that look pragmatically? I want to continue writing engaging, compelling, visually enriched, character-driven narratives that are Oscar-worthy. I want to be able to quit my strenuous and exhausting day job. I want to produce my own work and the work of others that I find exceptional. But most importantly, I want to improve as a writer every single day of every single year that passes.