Tag Archives: Quotes

Quote Monday

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After the big revelation in my last post, I needed a couple of weeks to recuperate.

Anything I wanted to say in the aftermath was tinged with bitterness.

I couldn’t look at, let alone think about posting another positivity quote. It felt false. Still sort of does.

I needed space. And to get my head on straight.

I’m not sure if I’ve shared this quote before, but it feels like the right choice at the moment. There are a great many things out of our control, but on the flip side, there are so many things we do have control over, and making a choice, coming to a conclusion, one simple action can lead you on the path towards better things.

Taking my own advice, I’ve made some decisions on how I will pursue my goal of becoming a professional screenwriter.

And I’m going to put it out into the universe in an effort to manifest it, and keep myself accountable.

After a polish on the screenplay, I am going to employ the services of a screenwriting coach. I’m going to face the music, face any hard truths, and come out on the other side with a plan.

It’s the one decision I hope will lead me to where I want to be.

What’s a decision you’ve been wanting to make, but haven’t yet, but are ready to?

Here’s to taking chances! I wish you all the best!

Quote of the Week

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This isn’t the quote I was originally considering for today, but when I came upon it, it just struck a chord within me. I suppose this could be a Writing Tip as well.

This is one reason I need to return to the writing prompts. They encourage me to try new styles, to write something other than what I’m already familiar with. Reading helps with this too. I’m reading an Anthony Burgess (author of books such as A Clockwork Orange) right now and it’s a total slog and I want to quit, but now it’s a challenge. There has to be a purpose to the randomness, and because I’m trying to read outside my “normal” realm of genre and stories, it’s like I’m being stubborn. It’s going to pull down my reading average and I probably won’t make my annual reading goal, but I will finish it.

Experimenting with our writing is a great way to challenge ourselves as creatives and grow more adept in the craft. I’ve read that screenwriters should have at least one story outside their genre in their portfolio to show the higher ups that they’re capable of more than the brand they’ve developed. It’s about breaking from comfort zones.

This quote was probably more purposefully written about life, and we need that too. It’s how we get ideas – by experiencing more facets of the world around us. I know for most of us, we’re quite content to stay home and live vicariously through our characters, we’re writers, after all, but we need to fill the well in order to draw from it. (I say this happily enjoying a quiet day at home with no desire to leave the comfort of my living room. 🙂 Eh, there’s always tomorrow.)

Happy Writing!

Quote of the Week

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I had this video of Tom Hiddleston’s “greatest life advice” saved on YouTube and finally gave it a watch this morning. The title was catchy, but let’s be honest, I was watching it for him. But then the video barely showed him, although it did let me listen to him. I feel like some second place prize analogy is relevant here. As he spoke, this was the line that struck me the most because I realized this was the lightbulb moment I had a couple of months ago verbalized by this delightful man.

About two weeks ago, I literally uttered the phrase, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Gracious. I still roll my eyes in retrospect, but I’ve discovered it’s true. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I felt like I had time. Even a few months ago I was still in that deluded mindset.

I think I might be having a mid-life crisis.

Living with The Sis all these years has kept me young. Not only does she support my passions, she encourages them, and vice versa. I’m lucky in that, but maybe, to some degree, that has added to the delusion. I don’t really feel my age, except in the mornings now when my joints crackle as I arise from bed, or when I have caffeine later in the day and it keeps me up, or when I have one more cocktail and feel crappy the next morning because I don’t bounce back like I used to. Yeah, I definitely feel my age in those moments. But it’s when you don’t feel the weight, the burden of time passing, the pressure to pursue your goal with some tenacity lessens.

I’ve always said I was a late bloomer, so here I am, finally…come to the conclusion that time is finite.

Whatever it is you want to do, do it. There will never be the perfect time, and waiting for it won’t help you get any closer to that goal. Obviously if there are some restrictions, financial or the like, the pursuit may be slowed, but there are a number of other things you can do in the meantime. As writers, we can write, but if for some reason that’s not working at the moment we can continue to learn. We can read, we can find a class, join a writer’s group, or watch videos with professionals discussing the craft. If it’s some other pursuit, creative or otherwise, there are starting points for all of them.

One life.

This conclusion is something we all come to in our own time. I’m not trying to force my own revelation upon you, it’s just that I wish my youthful arrogance had not caused me to brush off those pearls of wisdom from my elders, you know the ones – how time flies and how youth is wasted on the young – those are actual life lessons, ones you only come to on the other side, and they’re ones I wish to give you honest insight into in the hopes that you will reflect and decide how you want to pursue your own goals.

There are so many things I want to do, and have put off under the guise that “I’ll do them later”, but am now realizing I might not ever get the opportunity to. Another wasted pearl that I am now learning the truth of, “In the end you only regret the things you didn’t do.”

For Tom Hiddleston, he learned early on that his approach to becoming a professional actor wasn’t working for him, and so he changed his perspective and then pursued his goal relentlessly (and could he be a better example?). I wish that for all of us. Sooner than later. So that we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. 😉

If you want to listen to how Hiddles inspired me today, here’s the link.

Happy Writing!

Quote Monday

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I did it.

I finally wrote two of the most encouraging words for a screenwriter:

Fade Out.

The troublesome third act, the one I’ve been complaining about (for years) has finally come to a conclusion and I feel a sense of satisfaction, for the first time.

There has always been something off about the third act, no matter how many versions I tried, it was never right, and then I got that advice at AFF, and although that was nearly two years ago now, it finally all came together. Whew.

The two years is not ideal, nor acceptable in the real world – I still have the luxury of being a non-professional – but it is apparent that the time was necessary to get it right. It’s also apparent that I need some fellow screenwriters in my life.

When I wrote those two little words this morning, the feeling of accomplishment was such a relief, rather than the feeling of depression I recently felt at the end of the other story I had been working on. This has been my baby, for longer than it should have been, but after a rewrite or seven, I look forward to watching it go out into the world. It’s long overdue.

This particular story is special to me. It has changed so much over the years, but the heart of it has always remained the same. And I have high hopes for it, so it is with some trepidation that I’ll send it out, crossing my fingers that it will be well received, but that’s later.

For now I am going to relish the moment. Maybe do a little celebratory dance.

I often see these quotes that say to “trust the timing”, etc. and I sort of thought it was all bullish*t, but a few things needed to happen to get me to this place, and I wouldn’t be the writer I am now without that journey. I am planning to rewrite all of my scripts in order to prepare for next year’s submission season, and the ideas I’ve had, I’m not sure I would have had them prior to all this. Well, I suppose that’s obvious as I’m having them now…so here I am, spewing the same line.

If you are struggling, find someone you can bounce ideas around with, and trust that the story will find its way.

I wish you luck! Happy Writing!

Quote Monday

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A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I had felt this mental shift towards my writing. I suddenly felt this desperate need to get my work out into the world. Maybe it’s because I’m in a terribly monotonous, uninspiring kind of job, and at my age, I thought I’d be in a different place on so many levels. Maybe it’s because I feel another birthday looming on the horizon, and again, I thought my life would be different at this point.

I have long struggled to maintain focus and momentum where my writing has been concerned. I think this was a byproduct of my youth – thinking I had time. Another one – believing I had to be inspired to write.

I’ve always been a late bloomer, doing things in my own time. That’s why, after so many years of aimlessness, I think it finally clicked. I had to get here to know it’s not where I want to be.

I feel it. It’s different now. I’m different now.

After I pulled myself out of the mild depression I was experiencing from finishing one of my stories, I turned my attention to the troublesome 3rd Act of one of my screenplays that I have labored with many, many times. This is the act I didn’t know how to finish, for some reason have never known how to finish, but came to me during the quiet, meditative state I was in during one of my yoga practices recently.

It’s flowing, and I’m feeling satisfied with it, for the first time. Now that’s a feeling to relish.

So many things had to happen for this to come about. I had to meet a certain writer at AFF who gave me sound advice. But I had to be at a particular point in my life to be able to attend. And he had to be standing in front of me while waiting for our coffees so that I could be bold enough to speak with him – something I may not have been brave enough to do had I not taken the soul-sucking job that helped me develop certain skills.

I had to experience more of life because this isn’t a story I could have told in my twenties.

I had to realize that saying I’m a writer doesn’t mean as much as being a writer because it was just lip service for a long time because I was embarrassed about whatever job I had and it was a way of making myself sound better.

Some of this is for one particular story, but it all boils down to this:

I had to finally decide that my writing matters.

You don’t have to wait until you’re in your forties to come to this realization, but as I mentioned, I’m a late bloomer. This is my journey, and goodness, has it been a long, rough ride at times. I think, for those of us who struggle, we just have to come to this conclusion for ourselves, and I believe much of this comes down to timing. No matter how many quotes your read or pin to your wall, or how many experts tell you the same thing, we have to make the decision, when we’re ready.

It’s a state of mind. It’s perspective.

Some people are fortunate to follow their path without much hesitation, while others have to find themselves in a low place, maybe even a place of desperation to discover if their passion, their art matters. However you come to the conclusion, I hope you grab it with both hands and run wild!

Best of Luck! And Happy Writing!

Quote Monday

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I’m currently reading Chuck Palahniuk’s Stranger than Fiction and I came across this text in one of his nonfiction essays. Among stories about public sex acts and learning not to care what people think of you while dressed as a dog, I discovered this nugget that, truthfully, was the most startling thing I’ve read so far.

The worst part of writing fiction is the fear of wasting your life behind a keyboard. The idea that, dying, you’ll realize you only ever lived on paper. Your only adventures were make believe, and while the world fought and kissed, you sat in some dark room, masturbating and making money.

Chuck Palahniuk

Why did this unsettle me, you ask? Because until he said it, until I read it, I didn’t know this was something to worry about.

And then my mind spiraled.

I am a homebody, an introvert, a writer of sci-fi and fantasy. I know as a writer I have to get out and experience the world in order to have those things stored in the “bank of creative tidbits”, but honestly, sometimes I’d prefer not to make the effort, and I know that’s a shortcoming. I have plenty of interests to keep me occupied but if I only ever run in the same circle, I’ll never learn and grow, experience awe or displeasure. I’ll never be exposed to new ideas and new things by experiencing them firsthand.

It wasn’t until I read these words that I started to wonder about the subjects I’m drawn to and the stories that resonate with me – they’re lives I’ll never lead.

I’ll never be a woman with a mythological god as a best friend. I’ll never be the woman traipsing across the stars in an alien space ship in search of her sister. I’ll never be a spy. I’ll never save the world.

These are adventures I can only have on the page. They are unlikely, imaginary scenarios, and that’s why I write them, so I must be content with those adventures that are available to me, and as writers, we can’t forget that. We need to get out, we need to observe and feel so that we not only live, but can also create.

And maybe not worry that we’re living vicariously through our characters.

I may not be as daring as Chuck Palahniuk, willing to put myself at physical risk or in compromising situations to experience all the different facets of humanity, but I can make more of an effort to have a wider understanding of the world around me. We may not learn, see, and do everything we want – there’s so much more to explore than once person could ever do in a lifetime – but there’s no harm in at least attempting it.

That was my takeaway, at least – be more willing to get out (of the house).

Happy Writing!

Quote of the Week

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For many writers, myself included, we find, from time to time, that we may not be exactly where we hoped we’d be by a certain point in our lives. I made the discovery this morning that this winter it will be a particular number of years since I graduated from university. I had big dreams for my career as a writer, and yet here I am, all these years later, still working towards that goal.

I have family and friends who are supportive of this long held dream – I think a lot of it is surprise, at this point, that I’m still trying, so it’s no wonder that every now and again I think, “What the hell happened?”

I see these positivity messages that Vera Wang didn’t enter the fashion industry until she was 40, Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at 50, even Samuel L. Jackson was 43 when he landed his first major role in Jungle Fever as if all of this was meant to make me feel better that though I’m now closer to Julia’s age than Vera’s there’s still time.

And it’s hard not to compare to other’s who are finding success, especially when they’re younger, and yet, all of our journeys are different – their struggles, their life, their direction is not mine, not yours, and as long as our vision of the destination is clear, we’ll get there…in our own time.

So keep hacking away at that goal, little by little, because any amount of progress is progress.

Happy Writing!

Quote Monday

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In the last couple of weeks, I’ve come across a number of articles related to the topic of when to consider giving up on your writing. Most of the titles were decisively click bait but I was intrigued that this was a common theme making the rounds.

It got me thinking about my writing and my shortcomings in regards to my career thus far.

I am now of a particular age in which my job prospects should be more of a priority. I am smart, educated, and capable of doing more than I am currently interested in doing but the thought of a “real” job makes me uncomfortable, in part, because I know that I would have to put those particular obligations above those I value more, because…paycheck.

I want to be a writer (or so I keep saying), and now that we’re settled in our new home in a new state and I have a (mediocre) job lined up, I’ve been able to write. For days. It has been an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction to see the words I’m thinking stream from my fingertips to the screen, especially in light of the barren wordless wasteland I found myself in until now.

I have not given my career a proper chance, and I still have passion, so the thought of giving up is not an option I’ve truly considered. Since reading some of those articles, I did think, “What would it take for me to give up writing?” and could not think of a single thing. I’d like to be considered a professional writer, and I know I would be disappointed should that never happen, but I don’t think I would or could ever give up writing all together.

And neither should you.

If you feel the same.

I’ve taken long breaks, which I always regret, but I perpetually feel the urge to want to write. It’s like a shadow, always lurking in the recesses of my mind, my fingers itching for the feel of the keys beneath them.

Most of the articles ended on a similar note.

Only we can hold ourselves responsible for the goals we set and reach. Only we are capable of writing in our own particular voice, and if we want to keep using our voice, then the thought of giving up shouldn’t even cross our minds because the alternative is silence. Stifling our creativity.

If you’ve been considering calling it quits, really think on it. Ask yourself if you would miss it. Try to remember what it is about writing that you enjoy. Maybe you don’t think you have anything to say – what topics compel you to want to act? Try your hand at a different style. Read.

If after all this you find that you don’t have the desire to continue, only then would I recommend taking a break but I would never suggest giving up. Maybe the passion has fizzled, but I believe if it once existed, it’s likely to return.

And don’t you want to know what happens next?

As a writer, the answer should be a resounding YES!

So should you need more of a pep talk, send me a message. If you have any words of wisdom to share with your fellow writers, please leave a comment below.

Good Luck & Happy Writing!

Quote Monday

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MM029 - whatever you can do or dream you can, BEGIN IT. boldness has GENIUS, POWER AND MAGIC in it! - Quote Only - FB 1200x630 - DTK Coaching - Master Life's Work

We, as writers, have an opportunity, unlike many others to use our voices to say whatever is on our minds in unique and creative ways. We can use allegory or alternate universes to explore ideas or expose unspoken truths.

When I began my writing journey, I wrote fluff. I wrote romances without any substance, or real world experience. I tried writing mysteries without any true suspense. I was young. I didn’t know what I wanted to say or why I wanted to tell a particular story. I just knew I wanted to tell stories.

It wasn’t until I returned to university, after a decent hiatus (from both education and writing), and discovered screenwriting, that I realized I needed to use my words to convey something; that the stories I was investing my time on needed to have depth, purpose.

Whatever creative medium you are using to express yourself, be bold! If you’ve been debating whether to begin something new, marvel at the magic such an idea carries with it. Sometimes, I’ve found that the excitement of a new project brings with it a renewed sense of purpose, and in these trying times, it’s nice to have something to look forward to. And with that energy, perhaps new ideas will form for yet even more stories, or lead you to finishing an abandoned piece, or fixing a plot hole that’s long troubled you. The possibilities are endless.

Happy Writing!