December 31. 2009
I, along with three friends own a business. We have been in business for three and a half years and we all agree that it is time we expand. Part of that expanding process involves me writing a script. It is one of the reasons(but not the driving factor), why I am doing this blog. We each were responsible for doing something before the end of the year. My part, though very simple, was to set up a meeting to discuss all of my ideas. I figured that it would be a good idea to throw them all out there, in hopes that they might actually like something that I have come up with.
The meeting for this "Presentation" is going to take place on Thursday, January 7, 2010. Which is a week from tonight. Which means I have one week to put all of my scatterbrained ideas in one place. Now, I have been working on this collection process for a while now, but with a meeting actually set it feels much more real. I know all of this seems unnecessarily complicated and dramatic, but that is because for me it is. I am not a fan of sharing my ideas with others, even my closest friends. I am always afraid that the stuff I create is pure garbage. The easy way for me to not find this out is to obviously never show anything to anyone. Next week that will all change.
This is of course a good thing. Without this disclosure of ideas nothing would ever advance for me. I will never be able to move on creatively if I don't express myself to others. Now I don't mean I am going to do public displays of art like Lady GaGa, but I think sharing my thoughts and ideas with some people close to me will be exactly what I need. I am planning on 2010 being a very good year. I am confident that next year is going to be a big year for myself and my friends. We have so much in place already, we just need to find a way to get ourselves out there.
I will end with a promise for 2010. I promise that I will be in a better place this time next year. I promise that I will finish a script by this time next year. Most importantly though, I promise not to quit or ever stop trying to make this coming year the best year of my life so far. It's a tall order, but I know I am finally up for the challenge. Have a Happy New Year.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Day 4: Sometimes you write a song
December 30, 2009
I had this professor in college who I used to talk to on a regular basis. She was a writer herself and we often talked about the stuff we were working on. She was a published author, so naturally she had a much better work ethic then I did. She was a great person to bounce ideas off of and most importantly, she was someone that would help me stay productive with my work. I have not talked to her in a good year and a half, which may or may not be one of the reasons why I have not written anything in so long.
The reason I am telling you this seemingly useless information is because of something she used to always say to me. Whenever I would tell her that I had not written anything in a while, she would always tell me the same thing. She would say to me, "Just write. It doesn't matter what you are writing, as long as you are writing something, that's all that matters". Given, during certain times in my life I have obeyed this rule and have ended up with some truly terrible stuff. Though, if what she says is correct(and I am fairly certain it is), then tonight I lived by that philosophy to a tee.
Since I have been 14 years old, I have been in a band with some of my friends. It is not something we have ever taken too seriously, but recently we have started to record again. The recording process for us usually consists of us sitting around and writing new songs. Then after a while, we might record a song. The lyrics have always been easy for us to come by, which is really the point of this story. I have been trying to write a song now for the last month and for some reason I didn't want to put anything to paper. Whether it was because I was afraid of writing something bad or I just didn't feel like doing it, I was still unwilling to put anything down. Tonight on the other hand was different. I don't know if this whole "Turning twenty nine" thing has anything to do with it, but writing tonight felt like it used to.
Not to say that it was easy to accomplish or that the final product was worthwhile in the least, but at least I was able to write again. This of course is all that she was ever trying to say to me. As long as I am able to stay with it, eventually I might actually write something of substance. For that, I am truly grateful to have had her as a teacher and someone that could at least guide me in some way. Of course, if I would have just listened to her advise in the first place, I might not be in this situation to begin with. Live and learn I suppose.
I had this professor in college who I used to talk to on a regular basis. She was a writer herself and we often talked about the stuff we were working on. She was a published author, so naturally she had a much better work ethic then I did. She was a great person to bounce ideas off of and most importantly, she was someone that would help me stay productive with my work. I have not talked to her in a good year and a half, which may or may not be one of the reasons why I have not written anything in so long.
The reason I am telling you this seemingly useless information is because of something she used to always say to me. Whenever I would tell her that I had not written anything in a while, she would always tell me the same thing. She would say to me, "Just write. It doesn't matter what you are writing, as long as you are writing something, that's all that matters". Given, during certain times in my life I have obeyed this rule and have ended up with some truly terrible stuff. Though, if what she says is correct(and I am fairly certain it is), then tonight I lived by that philosophy to a tee.
Since I have been 14 years old, I have been in a band with some of my friends. It is not something we have ever taken too seriously, but recently we have started to record again. The recording process for us usually consists of us sitting around and writing new songs. Then after a while, we might record a song. The lyrics have always been easy for us to come by, which is really the point of this story. I have been trying to write a song now for the last month and for some reason I didn't want to put anything to paper. Whether it was because I was afraid of writing something bad or I just didn't feel like doing it, I was still unwilling to put anything down. Tonight on the other hand was different. I don't know if this whole "Turning twenty nine" thing has anything to do with it, but writing tonight felt like it used to.
Not to say that it was easy to accomplish or that the final product was worthwhile in the least, but at least I was able to write again. This of course is all that she was ever trying to say to me. As long as I am able to stay with it, eventually I might actually write something of substance. For that, I am truly grateful to have had her as a teacher and someone that could at least guide me in some way. Of course, if I would have just listened to her advise in the first place, I might not be in this situation to begin with. Live and learn I suppose.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day 3: To remake or not to remake
I watched a film the other day that I had not seen in a while called, "The Quiet Earth". It is a science fiction film based on a novel by Craig Harrison of the same name. It is a New Zealand film that I once saw many years back and just recently popped into my head again. I received it via Netflix and found it just as entertaining and engrossing as I did when I first watched it. I am bringing this up because I remember the first time I saw this movie, I instantly wanted to rewrite the script and make a new version of it. Not that I thought the original needed to be improved on or anything, I just really wanted to give it a whirl.
This thought often pops into my head(as it obviously does to Hollywood executives), despite the fact that it seems like a sort of cop-out to creating an original idea. In many ways it is. I can just take this story that I already know and love and just tweak it a bit. Opposed to coming up with something entirely new on my own. On the other hand though, you have immediately set yourself up for failure, as you already have something that can instantly make your story seem inferior. I am still wrestling with the decision of whether or not I should include my remake ideas into my "presentation" that I am still preparing. I think writing one would be an intriguing idea and an interesting exercise on a different form of creativity.
"The Quiet Earth" is not the only story that I have on my remake list, but due to it's obscurity, is probably number one. I have a couple of other film's that I would love to take a shot at but they are much more popular and far more overwhelming propositions at this point. Ultimately I am most likely going to pass on the remake idea for this year's project, but I do think the whole idea of it is very interesting indeed. To remake or not to remake, that is the question; To which I think I already know the answer.
This thought often pops into my head(as it obviously does to Hollywood executives), despite the fact that it seems like a sort of cop-out to creating an original idea. In many ways it is. I can just take this story that I already know and love and just tweak it a bit. Opposed to coming up with something entirely new on my own. On the other hand though, you have immediately set yourself up for failure, as you already have something that can instantly make your story seem inferior. I am still wrestling with the decision of whether or not I should include my remake ideas into my "presentation" that I am still preparing. I think writing one would be an intriguing idea and an interesting exercise on a different form of creativity.
"The Quiet Earth" is not the only story that I have on my remake list, but due to it's obscurity, is probably number one. I have a couple of other film's that I would love to take a shot at but they are much more popular and far more overwhelming propositions at this point. Ultimately I am most likely going to pass on the remake idea for this year's project, but I do think the whole idea of it is very interesting indeed. To remake or not to remake, that is the question; To which I think I already know the answer.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day 2: Sifting through the garbage
December 28, 2009
The problem with writing for me has never been the actual "Writing" part, it has always been the "Sticking with one idea" part. I suppose I am lucky on that front, as I have never been lacking in the ideas department. I literally have notebooks full of ideas, but that is essentially all they are. It is the same thing in all my notebooks. There are many lists of story ideas, usually followed by a four to five page write up of the basic gist of the story. Never much character development, never much more than the first half of the story. It's not that I am incapable of finishing an entire story(though it often feels that way), it's that whenever I begin to really get into a story, another one pops into my head and I start writing that one.
I believe in laymen's terms this means I am scatterbrained. Which is not exactly the greatest attribute to be associated to a writer. In volume, I could probably produce an entire screenplays worth of ideas and dialogue, it would just be scattered across eleven different stories. Which is why I am going to put all of my favorite story ideas together and do a kind of "Presentation" to a couple of friends/business associates at the beginning of the new year. I've never been too keen on working in tandem with someone, but I think that the only way I am going to be able to settle on one idea(or at least only a couple of ideas), is to receive a bit of guidance in this area.
I am expecting this gathering process to take a good week, as I would like to make it a bit more organized than it is at this moment. I will admit that I am a bit nervous with the proposition of showing other people my ideas, but the overwhelming excitement that I am feeling because of it is a far greater high then the low of them disliking any of my stories. 364 days until I have to be done with whatever it is I am going to create, it sure doesn't seem like much time at all.
The problem with writing for me has never been the actual "Writing" part, it has always been the "Sticking with one idea" part. I suppose I am lucky on that front, as I have never been lacking in the ideas department. I literally have notebooks full of ideas, but that is essentially all they are. It is the same thing in all my notebooks. There are many lists of story ideas, usually followed by a four to five page write up of the basic gist of the story. Never much character development, never much more than the first half of the story. It's not that I am incapable of finishing an entire story(though it often feels that way), it's that whenever I begin to really get into a story, another one pops into my head and I start writing that one.
I believe in laymen's terms this means I am scatterbrained. Which is not exactly the greatest attribute to be associated to a writer. In volume, I could probably produce an entire screenplays worth of ideas and dialogue, it would just be scattered across eleven different stories. Which is why I am going to put all of my favorite story ideas together and do a kind of "Presentation" to a couple of friends/business associates at the beginning of the new year. I've never been too keen on working in tandem with someone, but I think that the only way I am going to be able to settle on one idea(or at least only a couple of ideas), is to receive a bit of guidance in this area.
I am expecting this gathering process to take a good week, as I would like to make it a bit more organized than it is at this moment. I will admit that I am a bit nervous with the proposition of showing other people my ideas, but the overwhelming excitement that I am feeling because of it is a far greater high then the low of them disliking any of my stories. 364 days until I have to be done with whatever it is I am going to create, it sure doesn't seem like much time at all.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Day 1: This is going to be tricky
So here's the thing, I turned twenty nine today and I'm alright with that. By that I mean, I am alright with that as long I can finish some stuff up before this time next year. You see, since I was eighteen years old I have wanted to complete a screenplay. Well, either that or a novel, but I am leaning more toward a screenplay at this point in my life. I had always hoped I would have finished one up by the time I was thirty. I am sure I set this date because when you are eighteen years old, thirty is not an age that seems like it will ever happen. In all actuality though, it has come quicker than I could have ever imagined it would. Since I turn thirty 365 days from now, I suppose I should get to it.
How did this come about you may be thinking(Or not thinking, as I have no idea who would be reading this thing)? Well, I just watched the film "Julie & Julia" with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. In my opinion it is a near perfect film, despite what so many critics said about Amy Adams performance in the movie(Since I am in love/kind of obsessed with her in a good way, I thought she was terrific). In this film, a lost 29 year old played by Adams, decides to start a blog about making every single Julia Childs recipe in one years time. I found her character and story to be very relatable to myself, so much so, that I have decided to completely copy off of her idea. Now, this movie takes place in 2002/2003, so if me doing a blog seems a little bit out-dated, that is because it is(Though I thought 2003 was a pretty good year, so this works out just fine for me).
Now here comes the tricky part. The idea I had was to write a blog about me writing a screenplay, without actually posting any of the screenplay on the blog. This brings up the whole dilemma of, "What the hell is going to be on this blog then?". That is what made this entire thing so intriguing to me; I don't really know. I am hoping that throughout the year, that will become much clearer to me. Until then though, I suppose it will just be me trying to figure that question out. Some people say that age is nothing but a number, but to me, it means so much more than that. To me, it is the deadline that I have so desperately needed these past few years. It means that I have one last chance to finish something before more of me is in the past than in the future. Dramatic as that last sentence sounds, at age twenty nine, I still feel young enough to take the chances that I may not feel comfortable taking when I am in my thirties.
So here's to Day 1 of 365, let me for once finish something that I have started.
How did this come about you may be thinking(Or not thinking, as I have no idea who would be reading this thing)? Well, I just watched the film "Julie & Julia" with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. In my opinion it is a near perfect film, despite what so many critics said about Amy Adams performance in the movie(Since I am in love/kind of obsessed with her in a good way, I thought she was terrific). In this film, a lost 29 year old played by Adams, decides to start a blog about making every single Julia Childs recipe in one years time. I found her character and story to be very relatable to myself, so much so, that I have decided to completely copy off of her idea. Now, this movie takes place in 2002/2003, so if me doing a blog seems a little bit out-dated, that is because it is(Though I thought 2003 was a pretty good year, so this works out just fine for me).
Now here comes the tricky part. The idea I had was to write a blog about me writing a screenplay, without actually posting any of the screenplay on the blog. This brings up the whole dilemma of, "What the hell is going to be on this blog then?". That is what made this entire thing so intriguing to me; I don't really know. I am hoping that throughout the year, that will become much clearer to me. Until then though, I suppose it will just be me trying to figure that question out. Some people say that age is nothing but a number, but to me, it means so much more than that. To me, it is the deadline that I have so desperately needed these past few years. It means that I have one last chance to finish something before more of me is in the past than in the future. Dramatic as that last sentence sounds, at age twenty nine, I still feel young enough to take the chances that I may not feel comfortable taking when I am in my thirties.
So here's to Day 1 of 365, let me for once finish something that I have started.
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