Posts tagged process
Sketching with a Sharpie
Fun for me is building the first vision of a new script with a marker and a big pad of paper. Jason Fried, from 37signals, reminded me how it also helps to “ignore the details” that cripples many writers early in the process.
Doing the Dishes
A short article by Jack Cheng about “when you really ‘do the dishes’ without hurrying through them, you learn things.”
It reminded me of a piece of advice that I held onto and always wanted to put on a sign: “Do the dishes to do the dishes.” Don’t do them to get them done, do them, and enjoy the process.
Rework
I can’t wait to get my hands on this book. From 37signals: Rework will be in bookstores on March 9, 2010. You can also pre-order it today on Amazon.com.
#2. Confidently start work.
I love this list of ten “mental rules” for solving puzzles that Andrew Bonventre found in the book Solve it! by James F. Fixx.
I think numbers 2, 5, and 8 are my favorites.
Bons Mots - from Andrew Bonventre - Solve it!
(via @michaelSurtees)
Unique Storyboard Method: Receipt Tape
This would be great a way breaking a story using different colored markers for the different plots. The best part is you could rip and move the parts around.
Unique Storyboard Method: Receipt Tape | Duarte Blog
(via Nancy Duarte/thank you @michaelSurtees)
Too Much
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
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.
The Genius of Later
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.
Why the writer crossed the road
Wil Shipley said on MacBreak Weekly that while he was listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s new book “Outliers”that he wondered when he passed his 10 years in programming or what Kimon Nicolaides called the first “10,000 mistakes.”
Those that aren’t writing are frightened about the 10 years ahead. Those that have been practicing their craft most of their life get to look at when it finally worked for them.
The only way to get to the other side is through the work.
Allow mistakes and be courageous in the sucking.
