8 Seconds of Awesome

Too Much

Thu, 14 May 2009 07:14:00 -0600

There is a line you have to be careful not to cross once you move past writer’s block and get going again. It is the line of doing too much.

Once you realize that you can do this, that it is not hard, that it is actually freeing, you begin to take on more. It is a good place to be but a dangerous one as well.

You have waited so long, you now value the lost time and are trying to reclaim it. Now you risk bogging down again but this time you are at the opposite end, overwhelmed by projects.

Overwork can be as bad as no work. Take a step back and relax. Embrace the time and relationships you have reclaimed. Doing the work is about enjoying it at a regular sustainable pace.

Good writing.

Good journeys

Fri, 01 May 2009 22:14:24 -0600

I have been thinking about you a lot lately.

I want you to be writing. I want you to be overcoming the fears that may be holding you back. I want you to be discovering that all it requires is a little bit of effort on a regular basis to accomplish amazing things. I want you to quit waiting for the right time and embrace now.

This blog, at present, is about taking those first steps to becoming a writer.

I won’t wish you good luck because it is not about luck. It is about the journey, taking a step at a time, even in fear, towards your destination.

In only seconds (maybe 8), you can discover how awesome you can be.

Know Your Limits

Fri, 01 May 2009 07:07:33 -0600

So often, the talk that surrounds writing is about getting you to do the work and extend your skill, craft, and abilities. Something freeing that I have discovered in the past year is knowing your limitations and working with them.

Are you able to do it all on your own, or is it better to work with a partner? Even though you dream of a high level of writing, is it better to realize, in this moment of time, you just don’t have that ability within you? Perhaps you are struggling with a story that is too far out of your grasp and you require help on it?

Sometimes, we need to accept the fact we can’t do it alone, even though our stubborn side refuses to listen.

Limits can go the other way as well. Sometimes, we set our bar to low, perhaps for easy money or because of a fear of failure. We need to be always willing to push ourselves into uncomfortable territory or what might seem an overwhelming situation, to prove to ourselves what we are capable of doing.

Limits are never static. They change as we change. They are a part of us. Identifying them can work to our advantage.

The Genius of Later

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:12:48 -0600

Your first pass of a story is the closed-door session. It is the story session. It is about you listening and writing what you hear.

The challenge is to keep yourself out of the way. You need to ignore the nagging voice in your head that questions what’s going on the page. You have to put it off by telling it, “Not right now. We’ll sort this out later.”

Avoid challenging the story too much in the early stages. Let it play itself out and allow yourself to discover it. Afterwards, go back and clean it up.

The guts of your story happens in those early days. It is in the many rewrites afterward, that you’ll discover the genius of what you were trying to say.

To you, the one not writing

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:26:00 -0600

There are no tricks. You likely know the basic rules. Reading a bunch of books won’t help you start.

You need to start writing. Do it lots and do it often. After writing, look at it after a few days or months and figure out ways to improve it and make it better.

Show it to people. Listen to what they think you wrote. Don’t argue. Decide what will make it better.

Enjoy doing it. Otherwise, you are doing it for the wrong reason.

Start young while time is on your side.

Don’t get caught up in your own headgames. They may only lead to not writing.

Not writing is not your goal. Writing is. Don’t forget it. It’s amazing how many people do.

Priorities and Sacrafice

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:53:00 -0600

What do you sacrafice when you get too busy?

A lot of people make the excuse that they don’t have the time to write but find plenty of time to do other activities.

What do you place as priorities over your writing? Some put watching movies or television ahead. Or playing video games or going for drinks with friends? How about those trickier ones, like reading books, or working?

Where do your priorities lie? If writing isn’t near the top but you want to be a writer, what does that mean?

Do you really want to be a writer?

Get out of your own way

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:01:47 -0600

The worst thing you can do as a writer is to start second-guessing your decisions. It leads to fear, worry, and eventually blocking up.

When writing, especially in a specific genre (read: tried and true), the desire to bust the cliche and move into new territory is always high. But what happens if you don’t have anything to fill the void.

Two options come to mind: embrace the cliche or make something up.

Either option is worthwhile. The cliche is familiar but it also lets you know where you stand as a writer. This doesn’t mean you are going to stand still at this point. With practice, you will move past it, and have the opportunity to do it right another time.

If you make it up, do it fast. Don’t question it. Write it, get it down, and move on.

You may end up with another cliche, so refer to the above.

The other possibility is you break the cliche by inverting it, subverting it, building on it or just tossing it away. This is the edge of where creativity happens.

Make a choice, get out of the way, and write.

The most important step

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:29:06 -0600

The biggest challenge when you begin to write is to get past the notion that things are supposed to look a certain way.

Often, the questions beginning writers ask are: How do I write a slug-line? How do I do a voice-over or a person speaking off-screen? How much description do I give of a place or person? When do I capitalize words, sounds, or names?

Formatting is a skill that can be learned with time. Similarily, it is pointless worrying about how to get an agent or a producer to see your script even before you have one ready to show.

The most important first step is to start writing and start finding the action of your story: Somebody wants something but something is in the way. This is how they try to get around it and either they get it or they don’t. Then what happens?

Remarkable Stories

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:47:07 -0600

Be willing to dream big. Push out the incredible stories that you have locked inside. Don’t let your remarkable stories be lost.

Write today.

When we lose faith, we forget

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:05:33 -0600

If you are a writer, one the best feelings in the world amounts to either one of these:

Tapping at the keys on your keyboard
Moving a pen over the page.

So simple and so powerful because other processes build from it.

It gets our brains working. We start imagining, we start problem solving. Our emotions connect to the words and we get excited.

But when we lose faith in ourselves, we forget about this . We worry about failure and the fear that we are going to make crap.

It is no longer about the process and all about the result.

But writing is about the action, not the result.

The best solution to conquering the fear, is to pick up the pen or to sit at the keyboard and begin to write through it. Write through the fear and the crap and bring it back to the process.

Everything else will come with time.

The Only Choice

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:31:03 -0600

Here is your choice: Write or don’t write.

If you want to be a writer, this is a no-brainer but why is it people who say they want to write don’t do it?

This is about your opportunity. Right now is the time because you can not be guaranteed that it will be there tomorrow.

You have to carve it out, find the time, and fight for it. This is a battle that you must win if you want to write.

The choice is simple. You need to write today.

Timing

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 11:26:18 -0600

When the stories not going, it may not be the time for it. It could also be that you are avoiding it because you are scared of screwing it up.

You need to make the choice whether or not you are willing to let it happen. It means you need to be willing to break.

If you don’t feel it’s the right time, put it to the side until then. Now, pick up the next project and get to work. Don’t stall or else your mind is fooling you into believing you can’t write.

The Right Time

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:03:57 -0600

Are you waiting for the right time to pursue your creativity? How about more time? Or more money? Maybe, you are waiting for a different job? Are you a student and you are waiting to finish school? Or your head isn’t in the right space? You need to get through some stuff before you write.

If you are waiting for the right time, you will miss your time.

The only right time to start is now.

Finishing

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:55:45 -0600

Not finishing the script, story, or book is almost the same as having an idea that you never write.

It takes up space in your head as you think and worry about it, or altogether avoid it.

You need to let go trying to make it perfect and just make it complete.

Possibility

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:37:37 -0600

Yes, someone could hate your work. They might tell you it stinks, that you have no understanding of story, structure, character, plot, or dialogue.

It is only one person and their opinion.

Mastering story never ends. Doing the work never ends. If you can’t accept those two possibilities, then quit wanting to be a writer.

If you choose to write inside a closed system, you will never discover yourself as a writer and grow. Take the risk, show your work, get feedback, and refine your skills.

Sink or Swim

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:16:55 -0600

You want to write but you aren’t writing.

You’re in the water and not getting out but you aren’t swimming either. You’re sitting in the shallow end, treading water and sinking.

Writers write. If you don’t like the idea of writing, then why do you want to do it?

Quit wasting your mental energy and time and get out of the pool or start swim now.

Your one big, huge talent

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:11:24 -0600

If you truly feel that writing is your talent but you are not doing the work, then quit making excuses.

Don’t waste another second. Sit down and start writing. Today.

Write three pages or 30 minutes, whichever comes first.

Do it every day. Practise. Show your work. Improve.

No more excuses. Quit lying to yourself about why you aren’t writing. Catch yourself and get back to work.

The Greatest Fail

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:50:57 -0600

No one sets out to suck. You try your best and you see where you end up.

But what if you flipped it and tried to do the worst story possible. Toss out all your knowledge and common sense. Ignore what you like or what you believe in.

The only rule is to stick it out until you finish it.

Once it’s finished, look at it. You have a completed a full story, albeit a bad, broken, and ugly story. And, somewhere inside of you, you know you could have done it better.

The trouble is that you never let it out because of fear.

So, quit worrying about perceived failures and write because the Greatest Fail would be not writing at all.

"It's not there."

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:00:42 -0600

The question is never do you have anything to write. It is do you want to write?

If you do, sit down at the page and write. Starting out, commit yourself to 15 minutes in a day. I am sure you can find that. You have 96 opportunities in the day to choose from.

Write anything. Just keep the pen moving across the page or fingers hitting the keyboard for 15 minutes.

Do it everyday. Do it until it comes because it will.

You might ask, how long will it take until it comes? Well, how long have you wanted to be a writer? Or, how much do you want to be a writer?

It took me over 15 years and it all came together in a moment of no longer giving excuses and just making myself tell a story that lasted 120 pages.

I am hoping you have either three reactions:

1) “You’re right. I have been making excuses and now it’s time to write.”

2) “I know you’re right but… (insert excuse here).” We are good at playing mindgames, giving excuses. Realize that is all that they are and get on with it.

3) “You’re wrong.” Good. Prove it to me. Commit to my experiment. Do it for a month. If you really want to write, you will be doing it for a lot longer than a month. In 30 days, send me an email, telling me why you aren’t writing.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Still looking for more reasons you aren’t writing. Send me a note.

Reiterate and Refine

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:00:42 -0600

Whatever you are working on right now is not your final version.

The only final version that exists is the one that is bought, paid for, and is committed to film or printed on paper in a book and sold. Until that moment, there is always the opportunity to change it.

So why are you worrying how it looks now?