Tag Archives: Writing Resolutions

Writing Prompt #61

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I was quite under the weather yesterday and was unable to post anything, let alone get off the couch.  I have refocused my attention on writing the pilot (I still have so much to do, and I like it again!), and thought for this week’s writing prompt I would find something relevant.

I happen to really like the idea of this:

TheDayWeLeftEarth

Are you inspired?  I’m thinking about using this as a prompt for one of the letters my characters write to each other, so I will accept this week’s challenge.

Don’t forget to share your creations from any of the writing prompts you’ve seen here.  I look forward to them!

Happy Writing!

Quote(ish) Monday

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I pinned this tip recently and I like the idea behind it.  Often times I trust my intuition, that first impulse, but sometimes, the pull in two different directions is equal and deciding between them proves difficult.

Coin Flip

I’m not sure why I feel this should almost have a disclaimer, but as this blog is for writers, in general, I intended this quote to benefit your work, not major life decisions, although, it would probably work in that regard as well. 😉

Are you struggling with a story idea, a character storyline, or an ending?  Flip a coin and let me know how it works.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

In Need of a Proverbial (or Actual) Kick in the Backside

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This Discrepant Writer

Boring

Yesterday I started a blog post that was a little on the bitter side.  Quick version: Bad job = poor wages = self-imposed restrictions = bored.  After writing it, I thought on it for a while and decided to wait on publishing it.  That was a good decision, I think.  I don’t want to put that out into the world, and I know you don’t want to read it.  As creatives, we have to keep hope alive, against insurmountable odds, and often times without the support of those who truly understand what our lives are like.  When I was still living in Los Angeles, I had my writer’s group, but since moving back to Las Vegas, I have lost my writer friends, those who “know”.  I miss them.

Work has got me down, and unfortunately, that’s affecting my creative life, which is usually where I escape.  I’ve been skirting the start of the pilot, but I don’t know why.  I have pages upon pages of notes and ideas, and now they just need to be organized and fluffed, but I’ve lost steam.  Hence, the proverbial kick.

I read this quote today, something about people who are optimistic all the time are delusional.  It made me giggle, because although I try to be as optimistic as I can, especially in this space, as writers we are constantly afflicted with a variety of emotional states and the stress of the balancing act of our multiple lives, so it’s okay to not be happy and perky all the time.

I know this attitude shift is mostly because I’m looking for a new job, again.  There is also a teensy bit of regret that I have so few skills other than food and beverage service.  I feel as if I’ve been perpetually looking for a job for the past 5 years.  I’m ever so tired.  I don’t have high expectations, I just want to make decent money to support The Sis while she finishes school, and I’d kind of like to look forward to it.  That should not be asking too much.

I would love to hear from you, my friends.  How do you survive the daily grind in order to maintain your creative life?  How do you maintain your sanity?

Tips, tricks, and inspiration welcome!

Have a great weekend!

*So, this post isn’t that negative, right?

Writing Prompt #60

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Today I thought I would switch up the Writing Prompt Challenge a bit.  I recently found a fellow writer-pinner on Pinterest that saves wonderful lines of dialogue and story related words/snippets of inspiration, and it has caused me to branch out in order to find interesting, inspiring new things.  So for today’s Writing Prompt, I offer you the following:

Don'tBleedOnMyFloor

I look forward to reading your creations!  Happy Writing!

Writing Prompt #59

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Today’s prompt continues the running theme of character.  I feel a visual representation of the images you have in your head as a writer are a great source of inspiration.  I always find a few pictures that help me visualize characters or places better, especially since I can not draw, at all.

EveVentrue-Assassin

If you are interested in finding images that help you better tell your story, Pinterest is a great resource.  I have created a number of boards for creative purposes, such as Character, Environment, and one entitled Inspiration for a variety of images that pique my interest, as well as a board for each of my screenplays.

Take a look and maybe you’ll find just what you’ve been looking for to help in your storytelling.

Happy Writing!

*Image by artist Eve Ventrue, who is quickly becoming a favorite!

Developing Your Characters

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CharacterQuoteIn Sunday’s post, I mentioned how I’ve been struggling to get to know the protagonist of my space odyssey pilot.  I have nearly every other character worked out, backstories in place, and even a number of future episode ideas plotted, but this one character, the main character, still sort of eludes me.

I decided to find ways of getting to know my character better and found two useful tools.  The first is a list of personality traits ranging from positive to negative from MIT.  The second is a list of questions to answer that will help you create a fully fleshed out person, not just a character.  I found two separate sources:

1) Gotham Writers has two lists.

2) Is a link to a page entitled, The 100 Most Important Things to Know About Your Character.  This page incorporates many of the questions from Gotham and then added on.

I have found both tools rather useful.  I went through each character and assigned them all a handful of positive, neutral, and negative traits each to encourage diversity and to better understand them individually.  Not all characters are all good or bad (I’ve written a bit on this before.  Click here.), and this helped me to learn more about them and how they might respond in a given situation.

The questionnaire is a bit more daunting, at 100+ questions, but even just looking over the list allowed me to take other facets of my character’s life into consideration.  There are big things to consider, such as what were her biggest fears or her dreams before arriving in this new world? And there are trifling matters, such as did she secretly have a crush on someone?  Will she be upset that she’ll never know how Game of Thrones ended?  I know I would.  Okay, I threw that one in just for giggles, but you can see my train of thought and how these questions will shape your character.

Novel writing and screenwriting vary in a great many aspects, but knowing your characters is not one of them.  Although many of those personal aspects will not find themselves on the page of your screenplay or even on the screen, and some of those topics may never be visited within the pages of a novel, but as the writer, understanding your characters will help you determine their actions, their feelings, and their responses – and sometimes it’s with this understanding that they help us write the story.  If we know how they will react to a certain situation, it makes the writing that much easier, because we are writing what is in their nature, and not trying to force a situation to work a specific way because it’s what we want.

I hope you find these tools useful, and if you have any other sources or tips, please share!

Happy Writing!

Fun(ish) Fact Friday

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HelpfulTipsOnce again, upon clearing out my email, I discovered this wonderful series of infographics from Good in a Room entitled “Screenplay Writing Explained in 7 Infographics.  I really need to be better about checking my email.  This was an interesting look at the world of screenwriting as a whole and a bit eye opening.  Take a look!  There’s not only great information and tips, but some stats that show what one reader saw within 300 scripts.

And then there was this…

A couple of days ago while scrolling through Twitter, I found this article from Screencraft entitled “How to Survive the Screenwriter Grind“.  I was left with a sort of “ugh” feeling.  I don’t think that was its intended purpose.

*Disclaimer: I did not intend for Fun Fact Friday to be defeating in anyway.  I just wanted to share what I read.  Okay, with that being said…this is my train of thought.

In the first article and the first infographic, of those 300 scripts, it does not say how many are by first time writers.  I think the first story we, as writers, put out in the world, should be one we are passionate about.  I, personally, am not passionate about the horror genre.  I’m not a fan in general.  Horror was the most submitted genre – 49 scripts.  I find this surprising, especially in light of Spielberg’s comments recently about superhero movies going the way of the western.  I nearly roll my eyes every time I see yet another advert for a horror film/sequel.

Now, I did not see Ant-man, and that is in part because I don’t really care for the character of Hank Pym.  Now his girlfriend, Jan, I do like, and she’s not even in the film.  Then I discovered, it really wasn’t about them anyway, and we can’t get a Wonder Woman movie?!  Yes, I am just like the rest of the geek girl squad calling out for a female driven superhero film.  Lynda Carter already portrayed the Amazon goddess and she deserves a return to the big screen!  Because seriously, did we need another Fantastic Four movie?  Or a whole new series of Spiderman?  ((sigh))

But I digress.

Screenwriting is a business.  I understand this.  All screenwriters understand this.  And it is a tough business to get in and stay in.  But what I learned is that until we make things happen, we need to live our lives.  This is something that needs to be reiterated.  We may have jobs we don’t really care for while waiting for the “big break”, but we don’t have to be unhappy in the interim.

I want to be a working screenwriter, so I’ve been taking jobs that maybe aren’t the best to allow me some extra free time to work on my writing, but, and this is a big BUT, I need to be satisfied in my daily life in order to write the kind of stories I want to tell.  At the moment I’m going to a very unfulfilling job and finding escape in my writing.  Now yes, I write fantasy and sci-fi so it’s easy to escape into those stories, but I’m not sure it should be a refuge from the outside world.

Finding balance, maybe that’s how I’ll survive the screenwriter grind.

What are your thoughts on surviving the writer’s life?

The Best of Writing Prompts (#57)

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I was thinking that when I reached a grand number I would do a sort of “best of”.  Instead of waiting for the distant future, let’s do it today!

I have chosen a few of my favorite images from the past 56 for you to choose from, and hopefully you will be inspired to write something and share it here, or use it towards your own work.

AncientDoorway    ForgottenArchway      ShanghaiWoman   NatureOverrunFantasyCastle     Exploring  Mermaidw:Man

Happy Writing!