Tag Archives: Inspiration

Staying Positive

Posted in Posts, Tips by

HappyEmoticonThere’s a reason life is referred to as a roller coaster, or a merry-go-round, because the uncertainty, the highs and lows, and the sometimes nauseating experiences we encounter on a daily basis leave us either winded or reveling in those moments.  And sometimes it’s hard to maintain a positive outlook when everything you encounter is telling you to expect the opposite.  Most of the battle is uphill, with numerous peaks and valleys, and so many twists and turns that you have to wait quite some time to be certain that you’ve made the right choices along the way.  This is also the life of a writer.  And people wonder why we go a little crazy sometimes; between deadlines and submissions and the waiting, our own tendencies to sabotage either ourselves or our work, and the years of hard work we have to put in before we can even be taken seriously…yea, staying positive is definitely a trick that needs mastering.  Here’s an article that may help a bit, 15 Things that Emotionally Strong People Don’t Do.

I’ve always thought of myself as a positive person.  Obviously, as any artist does, I’ve had my low points and questioned if I would ever feel happy again (well that sounded a little dark), because it’s easy to be waylaid by negative outside (and inside) influences and voices that would eagerly delight in our giving up, because it’s easy, and this is why we should be more determined to prove all those voices wrong.  This is why staying positive is such a necessity.  In order to continue down a thankless path, there has to be something that propels us forward.  A reason, a hope, a glimmer of something beyond the darkness, and in order to see it, we have to be willing to stick it out.  How would we ever accomplish any of our goals in the face of such adversity if we weren’t positive (at least in some regard)?

I’ve been (mentally) all over the place the last week.  There’s been a lot going on.  Last week I attended a lecture by a producer whose message was all about “being positive” and creating positive stories, and I left in a great state of mind with a few tools to improve my writing.  The entire time I listened to her speak, I was thinking of my own stories and how they might be altered according to these ideas (and my life, as we are the heroes of our own stories).  I’ll share a few things I learned, in regards to writing:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.  Stories don’t have to be complicated to be interesting.  She used the example of the Disney film, Tangled.  Every character’s want is clear and obvious.

We love to watch a character who is really good at something, or learning how to be good at something.

Audiences don’t care about a character’s accomplishment, but the moment after between the hero and their loved one (and knowing which relationship is the most important is key to the whole story).  We also love a character’s resilience to overcome great adversity or loss.

Learn to end your story where it is satisfying, not necessarily happy.

Since taking this new outlook on my career; trying to make industry connections, joining writer’s groups, trying to be more social in general, and taking chances, I’ve discovered that the dark cloud has lifted.  The knowledge that I’ve taken control of my life is empowering.  A lot is still left out of my control, as a screenwriter I can not achieve my goals alone, but doing what I can to achieve some forward momentum has helped reiterate this positive mind set.  Then a friend called, inviting me to be a part of a new animated series he’s working on.  I’m so excited by the prospects of a “real” writing job that I had to share.  Hopefully, this is the first step at that turn in the road that I will look back on one day and remember “this is where my new journey began”…Let the uphill battle continue!

I wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors!  And remember, stay positive! 🙂

Reminiscing

Posted in Posts by

BalloonsToday is my birthday.  It goes without saying, as with the passing of the new year where I might reflect on unkept goals, that I will reflect upon the current state of my life.  I’m another year older, and I’m working harder than before to get where I want to be, but I have to wonder where I would be if I hadn’t decided to take this chance; moving to Los Angeles to become a writer.  For those of you who have been following me for a little while now, you know I am working at becoming an established, professional screenwriter in Hollywood.  This is not what I thought I would be doing when I was growing up.  When I was a kid, I thought I’d be a teacher, or an artist of sorts (I always liked to write and tell “stories”, some of which got me into some trouble), or maybe an astronaut.  I’d definitely be married with at least four children, living somewhere nice in a house with a picket fence, and where the kids could build forts in the wild.  My life would be “settled”.  It’s strange how things do/don’t work out.  I look at some of my friends, their grown up lives, and wonder, “Have I veered off track?”.

I’ve written about this before, about not comparing lives.  What works for some does not work for all, and neither should it.  If I had married when I was younger, stayed in the church life, had a family, and started a career of another sort, I have to wonder what kind of person I would be now?  Would I be happy?  Would I still be writing?  Would I still like to play video games?  Would I be content in the life I had built, or have a nagging feeling that I did not follow my dreams?  Do dreams change?  I love the line at the end of Tangled (the Disney movie) about how they each became the other’s new dream, which is a lovely sentiment, but as with all princess stories where the end goal is to catch the prince, is that the best message?  I think I’ve grown a bit cynical in my “old age”.  Yes, I do want my own happily ever after, but now I want it wrapped with a different bow, one of my own making.  This is something that has come with age — knowing yourself better.  I’m not unhappy about where my life is, but sometimes I just wish I would have realized earlier that this is what I really wanted to do.  But then again, who knows if I would have had the nerve to do this.  Life is a series of events and decisions that makes us who we are today.  Maybe now I am the best version of myself to accomplish this dream.

I thought about this woman I know, a professional with a family.  She has no hobbies, no further goals, her movie watching and book reading are limited, and I have to wonder if I’d be more like that at this point had I followed a similar path?  To each their own, but oh, how boring that sounds.

I was reminiscing this weekend…I think I was about thirteen or so when I knew I wanted to be a writer.  I was writing a romance novel, of which I had no actual knowledge by the way.  While vacationing, I left my pages on the balcony and a wind picked them up and scattered them to the world below.  I went from floor to floor in a panic, trying to gather all the pages from the balconies I could see them on.  I never did recover them all.  I’m not sure exactly why this memory came up, except that I am much older now, and finally working at making that little girl’s dream a reality.

I also thought about my first love.  I would have married him at twenty-one years old.  He broke my heart, letting me go to follow my dreams, and although it took some time to get here, I have to thank him for that.  He had a great impact on my life.  We shared some extremely romantic moments that I refer to in my writing still to this day.  He was a good man, and I hope he is well, wherever he is.

I don’t really have any tips or words of wisdom from all this, take from it what you will.  It was basically a ramble as I reflect on my life, but thanks for letting me do it.  If you have a dream, I hope you’re brave enough to follow it.  Today, again, a friend told me how they admired my passion.  I’m glad I have people in my life rooting for me to succeed.  I hope you all do too.  If not, let me be the one who says — “I admire your dedication and passion!”  I wish you all the best of luck!

Have a great week!

Candles

A Ramble

Posted in Posts, Tips by

Yes, you read that correctly.  I’m going to ramble a bit.  I realized something last night while sitting in my writer’s group…There’s this thing that happens the longer you remain idle…you become even more idle.  It’s a perpetual cycle, and it’s hard to start up again when you’ve been motionless for so long.  Take me, for example.  Until I mentally (and subsequently, physically) decided to do more with my life and my career, I hadn’t realized how much I needed time away from my living space (and the living objects within it) to accomplish some things until I joined a few writer’s groups as part of my New Year’s resolution (one in particular – Writers Blok).  For two solid hours, once a week, I get “me time”.  I can focus without interruption, without constant noise, and me yelling at my dogs to stop play-fighting to just write.  To prove my point – since beginning to write this, I’ve been interrupted at least three times by my very sick sister to make her food or tea, I’ve had to intervene on my dogs’ crazy antics…I’ve lost count, and I’ve been sidetracked by other randomness a few more times.  Most writers like to sit somewhere and work, but as we’ve established previously, my laptop no longer works, so for quite a while now, I haven’t been able to leave my environment to work, at least not on anything new.  Unless I’d like to use the old standard of pen and paper, which unless I’m taking notes or making an outline, does not make for a conducive writing experience, not for me any way.  So, since joining this new group, I’ve been going through drafts of my scripts sent to my iPad in order to review them and make notes.  (Last night, I did learn from another writer about some writing apps that might be useful.)  Then I come home and write on the new stuff, inspired by the solitude and being surrounded by other writers eager to accomplish their goals…except for last night.

Everyone was so relieved I was home; my sister was finally able to go to sleep, after worrying where I was when the writer’s group ran an hour over (this is LA, after all), and the dogs needed dinner and my lap to finally find some peace, which of course meant I couldn’t sit at my computer, so I accomplished nothing (well, nothing further).  We have our routine and when that’s interrupted, everything goes south.  So what I realized is, regardless of my technology-challenged status, I need to get out of the house more.  Not only for my sanity and creativity, but for the randomness that occurs when you’re out and about.  Last night on my way to the group, I saw a man jogging wearing two different shoes.  Why?  A woman waiting for the cross walk, holding her yoga mat, was doing stretches.  Was that the most opportune moment?  A woman driving next to me, who could barely see over her steering wheel, nearly caused an accident because she was driving well under the speed limit and hit the brakes when there was no one in front of her.  Ma’am, please get off the road and save us all the rage.

So back to that light bulb moment…now that I’ve started to take part in some events, I have two more this week, I realized how much I’ve been missing out on.  All that time being idle did me no favors.  And to top it off, I’m a bit of a flake.  So when the day of some event arrives, I am easily swayed into not going.  Usually by my own volition.  But, when I decided to change my perspective, the easier it became to do things.  I still have that lingering thought, that little voice that whispers it would be easier to just stay home, not worry about parking, traffic, being on my own and not knowing anyone, and all the other little doubts that make it easy to chicken out/flake.

So why am I sharing this?  Because if I can do it, so can you.  As a writer, and a screenwriter at that, a lot is left up to us in order to achieve our goals.  I have to do a lot of leg work in order to get my work out in the world and seen.  So I can’t be idle.  I can’t stay home because it’s easy, I have to get out, meet people, network.  We must be like the characters we write – bold, daring, adventurous!  If you’re struggling, remember to write down the goals you’d like to accomplish and create a path on how to achieve them.  Don’t let fear, idleness, or doubt hinder you.  A friend told me today that she admired my fortitude.  It’s new for me, to be this determined, but the positive things that are happening because of this mental shift are just fuel to continue forward.

I’m sure I could ramble on, but everyone is finally asleep, so now I can work…I wish you all success as you journey toward your own goals!

Moving Forward on The Journey

Posted in Posts, Quotes by

LiebsterAwardImage2

I recently read a quote that said, “How can you expect the universe to give you what you want when you’re not clear on what it is that you want?”.  Or something to that effect.  When I made the conscious decision to change things this year, they started to change.  When I made my goals clear and started acting upon them, the universe began to respond.

On Saturday, I met with a group of women with different pursuits in the entertainment industry and am meeting with two of them further to discuss collaborations.  Then I received a lovely message that another blogger, aspecialkindofunique, had given me The Liebster Award (which I will work on tonight).  This award recognizes new bloggers with under 200 followers for their content.  Thank You!  Thank You!

See, all it took was a little mental kick in the butt to start making things happen!  I have my writer’s group tonight and then I’m attending a meeting with a career coach later this week to learn how to further my career goals.  All of this has been a huge confidence boost and a great motivator to keep moving forward.

So thank you to all of you who have been supportive and encouraging as I start this new phase of the journey, progress!

Here’s to making good things happen!  Good luck!

A Little About Character

Posted in Posts, Tips by

We’ve all heard the phrase, “write what you know”.  Obviously, this is not a literal writing tool or we wouldn’t have the vast array of stories we do.  What it all boils down to is character.  Your characters must be real, believable, and encourage our sympathy or disdain (I mean who doesn’t love to hate a character?  Have you all met Joffrey on Game of Thrones?).  And for some reason, this is sometimes hard to do.  We are people.  We are surrounded by people everyday, and yet when writing them down, they somehow lose their substance.

The same for dialogue.  Why is dialogue so difficult to write sometimes when we talk everyday?  Another topic for another day.

I was having a conversation with my younger sister about dating habits.  And it sparked the idea for this topic.  There are different mindsets depending on age.  The teen years are all hormones and angst – Everything is a tragedy.  The twenties are about exploration and self-discovery – It’s all about the chase, the idea of someone.  The thirties are about settling down and grown up responsibilities – There’s little patience for games.  The forties are about finally being comfortable in your own skin…etc.  Knowing the age of your main character and your audience might ease the storytelling process as many factors will already being in place, but obviously, don’t rely on those as crutches.  No two people are the same, even from the same family.  A great variety of personal, societal, and cultural differences separate us and unite us in our differences, no matter our age.

I’ve always been a people watcher.  A trait among most writers, and a useful tool to build an arsenal to peruse come story time.  I used to go to this tourist trap on the weekends with my best friend where we’d sit on the patio of our favorite cafe with our cappuccinos and watch the droves shop.  Sometimes we’d make up stories, back stories, what-have-you for the strangers we found so fascinating; that’s his mistress, they’ve been married for three days, he’s afraid to tell her he gambled away their vacation money, etc.  Experiencing more of life, knowing a variety of personalities adds to your knowledge bank and might help when fleshing out your characters.

As with any research, if there’s something you want to know about for your character, find the right avenue; speak to someone with the insight, read a psychology book, and definitely read The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.  Find a family member, friend of a friend, or colleague that might be able to help you.  Go sit somewhere where a cross-section of society might converge and listen, watch.  Just remember, it’s the character that draws us in.  No matter what the story is, no matter where it takes place or when, if we don’t care about the character’s struggle, we won’t care about the rest.  And it doesn’t always have to be a “good guy” we’re invested in.  There are plenty of anti-heroes (Rick from The Walking Dead) and likeable/redeemable “bad guys” we’ll follow (and who doesn’t love a bad boy?  Why else is Loki of the Thor movies (and The Avengers) more popular than the title character?  This would be wonderful opportunity to post another Tom Hiddleston picture, but…).

So explore the variety that is human nature.  There’s lots to choose from.  This might be where that “write what you know” phrase comes in handy.  We already have a wealth of character information at our fingertips (family, friends, exes), and in some ways, our characters are extensions of ourselves.  There is some facet of us in them.  This is what we know.  We just have to be brave enough to put it on the page.

Best of luck and have a great weekend!

New Look & An Interesting Article

Posted in Posts, Tips, Websites by

I’m going to try this new look out for the next week and see how it “feels”.  I’d love some feedback or ways to improve.  What do you all think?  Yay or nay?  I’m not sure yet…

So the article I read, “What to write about when you don’t know what to write about” from ItStartsWith might be helpful for when you’re staring at that blinking cursor upon a stark white, blank screen.  If you need some inspiration to just start writing, anything, this article may help get those ideas flowing.  Sometimes I feel if I’m not working on one of my scripts than I’m wasting time, but writing anything is always good.  It keeps the mind sharp, continuously active and thinking, and ideas come from the most unexpected places.

I’m not going to go on and on today, like I sometimes do, because I’ve been playing around with themes all afternoon, it’s now 11:45 pm, and I haven’t written a word (except for what you see here).

Best of luck everyone and have a great week!

Keeping The Promises You Make To Yourself

Posted in Posts, Tips by

There’s this phrase, a joke really, about how “you’re not really a writer unless someone sees you doing it”.  Family Guy had a cutaway once of two guys writing in a well known coffee shop where one of the guys asks the other to watch him as he writes.  There’s a bit more to it, but you get the gist.  The reason I bring this up is because I don’t go anywhere to write, but after attending my first writers group tonight, I can understand the appeal.  I don’t need the outside validation to prove to myself that I am in fact a writer, but the two hours of solitude I was able to partake in tonight was wonderful.  I sat in a little restaurant with about 20 other writers, put in my ear buds, and just focused on my work.  I don’t want to say that I liked the fact that I had no dogs or sister demanding my attention, but the little respite was welcome.  When I came home my sister told me to take two hours everyday and go to said well known coffee shop.  But my laptop is now ancient, and I suppose I could use a pen and pencil the old fashioned way, but I actually type pretty quickly, fast enough to usually keep up with my train of thought, except when my hands are cold, like they are now, and I keep shivering and hitting the wrong keys, and having to go back and fix every other word…

So attending a writers group was one of the many items on my new to do list.  A way to meet people and network and be held accountable.  As I’ve mentioned, time sometimes gets away from me and I don’t get any screenwriting done.  So I joined a handful of groups in an effort to find multiple slots of time each week to get out of the house and work.  Doesn’t that sound strange?  But, when dirty dishes are staring at you, or a Netflix marathon seems inevitable because it’s a little cold and gloomy outside, and you’d rather snuggle on the couch with your dogs or significant other then sit at your desk and “work”, getting out may be the only answer.  I think a laptop might help me as well.  Then I could snuggle and work.

One of the other  items on my list is to be more creative, in any capacity.  I’d like to learn to draw, more than balloons and stick figures.  I’d like to learn to sew, more than stitching my dogs chew toys because they are aggressive chewers.  I used to decorate cakes, so this weekend, for my sister’s birthday, I made this — IMG_0887

I don’t have any of the proper utensils to actually decorate cakes, so I’m pretty proud of the results.  My friends were impressed, so I’ll probably give this another try.  Valentine’s Day is around the corner, as is my birthday…perhaps I’ll make my own cake…

So my point is this.  Those resolutions, whatever they are, try to keep them.  Start small.  Let them build upon each other, and when you look back in three months, six, the end of the year, you will be so impressed with the progress you made and you can be proud of your accomplishments.  If you’re a fellow writer, I would recommend small page/word counts to start.  1,000 words a day or 10 pages, etc. may sound easy enough, but there’s a lot of life that could get in the way, and if you don’t hit that mark, you might be disappointed.  So start a little lower, build momentum, and add to that word count/page count every month or so.  If you get on a roll, you may write more one day, then you can celebrate.

One thing I’ve learned along the way is to celebrate your achievements, great or small.  You finished that chapter you were struggling with…treat yourself to something.  Finished the first draft on your novel…treat yourself to something big!  Your treats could be anything; a celebratory walk around the corner for a bit of fresh air, and to revel in the moment of your success.  Maybe it’s a new keyboard, or a pen, whatever.

It’s easy to let things slide (I know this better than anyone), but come the end of the year, you want to be able to look back and feel good about it all.  This is what is propelling me forward this year.  I don’t want a repeat of the last one, or two.  Remember to write down those goals and post them where you can see them.  The constant reminder helps.

Wishing you all the best!  Continued success!  And be sure to look around in the coming week as I make changes to the blog…another item to check off that list.

It’s Always All About The Writing

Posted in Posts, Tips by

TypewriterFontWriterI’ve been playing hooky.  (Doesn’t that word look strange?  Maybe it’s just me.  I find it odd that I rely on words and yet, sometimes, a word will just look wrong.  Hooky is just such a word.)  I have to be honest, I just haven’t had any impulse to write the last week or so.  I can blame the holidays, the melancholy that sometimes takes hold around this time of year, the fact that I’ve been a little depressed over the writing contests and the fellowship I didn’t advance in, and a slew of other creative sucking outside influences, but I’ll woman-up and say it’s all me.  I’ve sat down, stared at the computer, and then…nothing.  I know we’re supposed to write even when we don’t feel like it, and it’s a great way to escape reality, but I’ve been losing myself in books, movies, and video games, which are all creative outlets, some with inspiring effects, but, they aren’t writing, and I know that.  I should also know better.

The other night while I lay in bed, my mind finally free to roam because I was dozing off, I had a strange, dark, sort of twisted story idea.  I grabbed my phone, used that note app I’m so fond of, and jotted down what I had just envisioned.  It was a big jump in my mind, something I had heard while watching American Horror Story — there was a line of dialogue that sparked this chain of ideas.  I’m always surprised at where the ideas come from.  And I know this is a story idea I will want to explore.  I’ve been lucky, so far, that I haven’t had a lot of lag time between ideas (that I want to expand on).  I tend to have a vision of one scene, and I go from there.  The first images I have are usually strong ones, that make an impact, which I know, in turn, will make a compelling story (at least I think so).  I try to write everything down right away, because as I’ve noted, my memory is horrible.  I’ll have this idea or a bit of a scene or dialogue, not write it down immediately, and then it’s out the window.  I’ll rack my brain for days trying to recall what it was, but, it’s usually gone.  I even try the trick of walking into the room where I had the idea, or try to recreate what I was doing, saw, heard, etc., but my mind is like a bottomless abyss where ideas fall, never to be heard from again.

Then I saw this article about choosing which story to write next and thought I’d share it.  If you have too many ideas and don’t know where to go, Script Magazine offered this advice, which can be utilized for any writing, not just scripts as the title suggests.  I think this also helps in relation to the “branding” idea I discussed recently, when you’re trying to build a portfolio of your work, and loving the story your writing.  It all comes back to passion.  Which has made me rethink why I’m not writing.  Maybe it’s a lack of passion.  I’ve let a lot of those outside influences dictate my mood, which is always a creativity killer, but sometimes life just gets in the way of productivity.  I did not meet some of my year end goals, another thing to add to my current state of mind, but then I thought, “the goals are meant as a challenge”.  “They are meant to be inspiring, not to encourage a defeatist attitude.”  They were a little inflated as well, so as the new year lingers on the horizon, I will keep those goals in mind, set new, attainable ones, and work a little harder to achieve them.

And this is what I wish for all of you —  Don’t set yourself up for failure.  Try to remain focused.  Try to maintain discipline.  Stay positive.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and a productive one at that!  Continued well wishes to you and your writing!  And thank you all for your encouragement by following my ramblings and encouraging me to continue to work on my dreams!

xx, Rach

Disappointment

Posted in Posts, Quotes by

I didn’t get the fellowship.  I’m a mixture of disappointment and mild relief at the knowledge that now I can move on.  The waiting game was growing tiresome.  I had other things to keep me occupied, but the continuous wondering and worrying whether or not I was moving forward was becoming a burden (if you can believe).  So after a few tears, I’ve decided not to wallow (too much) by shrugging off the rejection and pouring myself into my work.  This is one of the unfortunate sides of the business I’ve decided to take part in — rejection — a lot of rejection.  I have to keep telling myself that this is only the beginning.  I’ve only just begun to send out my work, but it was not for me alone I wanted this opportunity.  *I need to make note of this, for my future self.  Since moving to LA, I’ve struggled to find steady work, a “day job”.  My younger sister has been supporting us and that in itself is an enormous burden.  Her job is unsatisfying, and she is left to shoulder great responsibility while I try to achieve my goals.  Since the fellowship offered so many benefits for a new writer, including financial support, I thought (perhaps foolishly) that I could relieve some of the pressure.  So here I am again…square one.

And then the thought dawned on me, “I am not alone in my struggles today”.  So in an effort to be optimistic in order to move forward, I’m going to post a few uplifting quotes from LiveLifeHappy.com.

Just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing.  Every great success requires some type of struggle.

Don’t rush anything.  When the time is right, it’ll happen.

If you never go after what you want, you’ll never have it.  Live without regrets.  If you want it, fight for it.

Wait for what you deserve.  Don’t settle, just be patient.

Don’t let something tear you down.  Allow it to help you move on to something better.

There’s always something good coming.  Remember that.

Sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right.

I wish each of you success in whatever you are hoping to achieve!  And know you are not alone in your daily struggles.  There is an entire creative network, hopefully, cheering you on and supporting you.  If you don’t have a support system, like a writer’s group, make that one of your “to do’s” for the new year.  As I’ve stated, and you’re well aware, writing is a lonely business.  Finding others like us is instrumental in making our solitary lives more bearable.

If anyone would like to offer some words of advice and encouragement, not just to me, please feel free to share.

Best of luck to you all!