Tag Archives: Writing Resolutions

Writing Prompt #23

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I’m temporarily abandoning the rewrite and moving forward on another screenplay.  In an effort to get in the right frame of mind for this piece, I need a little inspiration – my touchstone (by DeviantArtist milyKnight) for Projection.

Knight-Espionage101

Happy Writing!

2 Writing Opportunities

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While on the hunt for writing opportunities, I came across these and thought I’d share.

Collective Lifestyle | Apply to Become Writer – for you freelancers

&

ProLiFic – which looks like an interesting idea and maybe a way to get us to finish our work 😉

Good luck!

 

Bright Ideas

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IdeaLightBulb(jeffbullassite)

Ideas.  Where do they come from?  You’ve got me.

Honestly, I have no idea how my mind works.  The things my mind decides to retain versus what it doesn’t…I don’t know why.  So how could I possibly explain why a line of dialogue or a simple word might instigate an entire thought process that leads me to a new story idea?  I make notes whenever something intrigues me (I’m very fond of the note app on my phone), and I’ve been much better about this as time has gone on because as stated above, I’m not sure I’ll remember it later.  I usually don’t.  Then I become frustrated that I let it slip away.  So I’m always a little surprised when I hear a writer wonder what they should write about.  Isn’t stockpiling a part of a writers bag of tricks?

But on the flip side…I became baffled by some of the things I’ve read about writers doing, such as “idea sessions” where they come up with fifty ideas and then narrow down to a few that seem viable, or hearing about writers that have written upwards of twenty-five scripts.  Then while floating around the internet, I came across Frank L. Baum’s Wiki page, creator of The Wizard of Oz, and discovered what he had done.  Take a quick look at his bibliography, and be forewarned of the feelings of inadequacy that will follow.  When I figured out my portfolio, I was happy that I had eight solid ideas for full-length screenplays with a couple more brewing, but after seeing what some other writers have accomplished…huh, talk about feeling inept.

I keep a notebook with snippets of ideas, lines of dialogue, what-have-you, but even contained within those pages I can’t imagine I have fifty ideas or twenty-five scripts.  I could not write fifteen books based on one idea.  I was thrilled when one of my ideas kept growing and I realized I could write a trilogy and create an entire franchise, but that’s still only three story ideas.  I’ve made a note to myself to seek out idea generator type information, thinking maybe I need help in this area, and saw this article from the aptly named Bitch. Procrastinate. Write. entitled Got no writing ideas? Here’s 11 reasons why.

Then I saw somewhere that a writer’s favorite question is:

What if?

So there’s a starting point.  And another reason I share the writing prompt images.  “If I can help just one writer…”

I’d be interested in getting some feedback on how you all generate ideas, and if I’m alone in feeling this.

Good luck everyone!

How To Survive The Writing Highs & Lows

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TypewriterFontWriterWriters are a misunderstood bunch.  To the outside world, one might think our lives are spent wistfully daydreaming the day away.  That we spend our time living in imaginary worlds, not staring blindly at a blinking cursor on a white screen for long stretches of time while we try to find the exact right words for every single word we want to put down, or the time spent learning and honing our craft, or the mental (and sometimes physical) obstacles we need to hurdle to finish a piece, in addition to all the other things we’ve learned we need to do in order to write professionally along the way.  Writing can sometimes be an exhausting pursuit.

After last week’s admission of current shortcomings, I discovered that I sometimes follow a pattern.  What’s nice about this “light bulb” moment is that I can now use it to my advantage.  Being aware of the non-productive periods can help me lessen them in the future.  All of life is a learning curve.  Sometimes we are made to repeat certain instances until we come to an understanding, learn the lesson, and stop repeating them.  I’ve written about the marathon-style sprints I’ve been on and I’ve written about the dry spells.  There is no more or less passion during either of these times, but there is an ease in which the flow occurs.  This is something that “other” people will not understand.

So, as I decided to stop the madness and get back to work, I had a bit of a serendipitous moment when I found this article entitled, How the Ups and Downs of Writing Can Improve Your Craft.  Again, from The Write Life (who are quickly becoming my go-to site).  The third bullet point in the lows is exactly where I’ve been – finding out what has brought me down and fixing it…the only way I know how – Get back to writing.  I’ve reassessed some of my goals and am making some imaginary deadlines to get me focused again.

I’m not sure where I read it, but I have it on my board, a mantra of sorts that I’ve had to get back into the habit of repeating:

Discipline, Focus, Positive Energy

It is one of my goals to remain positive.  It may sound strange, but I’ve seen a few things that suggest that positivity is a choice.  It’s easy to fall prey to depressing thoughts, or feelings of inadequacy, and I would prefer not to, not anymore.  This recent low has reminded me of that.  So I suppose there’s good in that.

I wish you all the best in your writing endeavors and lots of positive thoughts!

Good luck!