Today's thought:
A funny thing happens in our brains when we're writing our main character. We secretly, on some subconscious level, consent to casting ourselves in the part. They are us, it's our POV, our feelings, our life lessons, and our attitude. But somehow we end up holding back, we forget to include all our flaws and contradictions, and everything that makes us a real person. An interesting person. The MC ends up becoming a version of us, but without any of the life to it. Maybe because, again on that subconscious level, we know it's us, so we kind of want to hide the bad parts a little.
But in the spirit of art as therapy, I think there's probably a lot of value in just admitting there's at least part of you in your main character. And in the spirit of therapy as art, including some of those worst bits of you in there. As a practical exercise, what are your top three flaws, and how could you use them in your story? At the very least, drawing from your own flaws will help the down turns in the script feel more genuine and less contrived.
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Tuesday 19 June 2012
When to reveal your movie's theme?
The point at which your theme should be most obvious to the audience is the end of the movie. It's almost as if your movie intends to sculpt a question that will be answered by the time the paying customer leaves the theatre. Is you're movie sculpted this way?
Wednesday 13 June 2012
Show up for your Muses
One of my all time favourite quotes for creative types is, ‘Show up for your muses.’ Put yourself in the thick of
a creative mind-set so those great light bulb moments can find you.
In Ancient Greece the muses were the goddesses of inspiration in arts, science, and literature. It was their way of explaining that ‘light bulb’ moment where a great idea just pops into your head. They said that at these moments, you were visited by your muse. Pretty cute, huh?
But what we now know is that when we have a light bulb moment that really comes from deep within our own minds. We brew the ideas within our subconscious. This is good news because it means we’re in control. We’re the brewer. But like any brew it takes some ingredients to get you there.
I know so many people who don’t write because they’re waiting to have a good idea. They’re waiting for a light bulb moment. Or they have a basic idea, but they’re not sure what to do with it yet, so they’re left waiting for another light bulb moment.
It can get to the point where you can fear just sitting down with the page, actually trying to make it work, because you feel like nothing good will come out of you. And so you procrastinate. You put your mind onto something else, and of course, what’s going to happen is you won’t have any good ideas because your mind is thinking about other stuff. It’s a vicious circle.
But there’s a cure. Trust that if you take in the problem, if you take in inspiration, your subconscious will get to work trying to make good stuff for you.
Good ideas don’t need to be forced. A lot of screenwriters report that when they are stuck for inspiration on one project, they start working on another and suddenly ideas start popping into their head for both. Some people start watching reference movies. Some people try the old trick of writing out a copy of an existing screenplay. There’s a lot to try. With experimentation you can learn what works for you.
In Ancient Greece the muses were the goddesses of inspiration in arts, science, and literature. It was their way of explaining that ‘light bulb’ moment where a great idea just pops into your head. They said that at these moments, you were visited by your muse. Pretty cute, huh?
But what we now know is that when we have a light bulb moment that really comes from deep within our own minds. We brew the ideas within our subconscious. This is good news because it means we’re in control. We’re the brewer. But like any brew it takes some ingredients to get you there.
I know so many people who don’t write because they’re waiting to have a good idea. They’re waiting for a light bulb moment. Or they have a basic idea, but they’re not sure what to do with it yet, so they’re left waiting for another light bulb moment.
It can get to the point where you can fear just sitting down with the page, actually trying to make it work, because you feel like nothing good will come out of you. And so you procrastinate. You put your mind onto something else, and of course, what’s going to happen is you won’t have any good ideas because your mind is thinking about other stuff. It’s a vicious circle.
But there’s a cure. Trust that if you take in the problem, if you take in inspiration, your subconscious will get to work trying to make good stuff for you.
Good ideas don’t need to be forced. A lot of screenwriters report that when they are stuck for inspiration on one project, they start working on another and suddenly ideas start popping into their head for both. Some people start watching reference movies. Some people try the old trick of writing out a copy of an existing screenplay. There’s a lot to try. With experimentation you can learn what works for you.
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