Translate

Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

The First Draft to Final Draft: Starting A Screenplay

The fear of writing a script is a mental game. Whether we want other people to view us as capable and worthy of this creative art, the most serious block is the criticism that comes along with our final draft and/or a produced film that enters the streaming and/or the box office market. We can get stuck waiting for the right time to write. We may wait for permission to engage. Your screenwriting dream depends on you taking action to complete script pages...

Truth is, the fear of actually doing screenwriting blocks most writers. If someone tells you, you have no talent, this feedback can break you. Similar to our characters, we can walk around juggling several weaknesses that introduce bad habits into our daily lives. Screenwriting can be as simple as setting a schedule to write your story. No matter the criticism of doing something with no guarantee to be optioned, we stay committed to the process like running a road race.

Commitment is what turns an aspiring screenwriter into a serious artist. Discipline keeps a screenwriter on track to complete their screenplay. Once we start a script, we can see a glimpse of our scenes connecting the dots to the overall story. Our first draft is just a first draft. It is not set in stone for the world to squash our talents, skills and storytelling abilities. Sure, we may not be as good as the best screenwriters in Hollywood. However, the best screenwriters are subjectively ranked based on personal preferences. Moreover, box office returns can help a screenwriter climb up the Hollywood ladder. The media, fans and critics share their personal opinions on who are the best writers in the film industry.

There is no such thing as the best screenwriter in Hollywood. Aaron Sorkin, James Cameron, George Lucas, Paul Shrader, Shane Black, Joe Eszterhas, Scott Frank and other famous screenwriters are one of the best at their writing craft. I am certain they have written past drafts that they viewed as mediocre work. We can become our worst critic, beating ourselves up for the work we have completed, or haven't even started yet.

Remember: You have to start your screenplay. Talking about how great your idea is and how your story will capture millions of people will keep you stuck in a fantasy. Those blank pages require hard work and consistent effort. This is the reason screenwriting groups can delay your journey.

Many people enjoy impressing people, as if they want strangers to be proud of them. They are missing something in life, so they require validation from people who they will never meet. It's sad how many dreams are lost to fear. What is much worse is living to please crowds of people who have no impact on your daily survival. The DJ, singer and sports mentality can fuel competition. If all we live for is to entertain crowds and our stardom has passed or never ever existed, we can enter some seriously dark moments.

Your life is your story structure. Think about all the events that had to take place before other moments could happen. When we are living in the moment, we get too caught up in our emotions that we don't see the blessings in disguise. We don't know that we are dodging bullets to save our future. All we can think about is the pain and suffering we are experiencing in real-time. Sometimes victim mentality gets the best of us. We don't take personal responsibility because this makes us look weak, unintelligent and/or a failure. Someone is always to blame, an excuse. mechanism to shift accountability and appear morally good. Get out of your head, or use what is in your head to start structuring your screenplay.

There is a beginning, middle and end to every scene. It doesn't matter if you start later in the story, this paradigm--beginning, middle and end--is the glue that holds your story together.

Please read the first draft of scripts to your favorite films. Yesterday, I read the first draft of The Pursuit of Happyness. I can honestly share that I didn’t like the original opening. The time machine character is different. There is no stockbroker meeting in the first few minutes of the story, instead Chris talks to a structural engineer. The film opens in Venice, California, where Chris and Linda are unsure about their future with an unborn Christopher swollen in the belly. Writing the first draft probably helped the screenwriter to brainstorm additional ideas. Our first draft is basically a rough draft.

Just remember your first draft may seem strange, bad, poor quality and everything else circulating in your critical mind.

Overthinking is a curse on our confidence. We can self-doubt so much that we will delay living our dream. We can put our dream out of fear that people will criticize us. Nothing happens in life if we don't formulate an action plan. If we get into the car and drive from the West Coast to the East Coast without a plan, our journey may be boring, uneventful and unpredictable. Our stories can begin with taking an unexpected road trip; however, we need a reason that leads up to this decision. Don't overthink your dream as if you need this to happen or else your life is a failure.

If we put our dream on a pedestal, we may imagine all the future possibilities of living this fantasy. The moment reality hits us and our dream is over, we can lose our identity. Instead of celebrating we are unique human beings, we will hang our heads low and feel like failures. You are more than just a screenwriter. You are more than just an artist. You are a human being choosing screenwriting as your future career. It is the dream life you want to live daily, creating the most compelling stories that entertain, teach and/or inspire others.

Read the first drafts to your favorite films. This will show you that even the best screenwriters are still learning with every new story. Be open minded to tell your story a number of different ways with a variety of techniques. We can turn typically boring scenes into electrifying stories through a multitude of actions, inactions and/or crisp dialogue. Nonverbal communication can represent your secret weapon.

The first drafts of professional screenplays that have already went through several revisions and are produced films are sometimes a mess. If we watched the film first, we know what worked and what failed to see the silver screen. Know what you want with your screenwriting career: Act on it right now.

Happy Screenwriting!


Thursday, August 6, 2020

Is it Writer's Block Or Lost Passion?

Writer's block is a killer on creativity. When writers lose focus on the writing process, they defer to daily distractions as an escape mechanism. Washing dishes, searching the web, posting on social media, watching Tv, doing laundry and sleeping are a few activities that replace writing. As a result of these actions, writers question whether they lost their passion to keep writing. Writer's block and lost passion hold the power to starve creativity. There is hope to get back on track...

Writers automatically assume writer's block is to blame for stalled production, lack of effort, poor performance and low efficiency. It is not always writer's block that is holding writers back from moving forward to the next page. It is not always writer's block that is responsible for keeping a cursor flashing on a blank white screen. It is not always writer's block that delays projects from coming to fruition. What is causing writers to get frustrated?

The problem: Inhibited environments represent the source of low interest. If we are surrounded with supportive people who want us to thrive, we will maintain excitement to get work done. We can rely on these people to give us feedback. They will ask about our projects. They will understand that we need our quiet space. They will genuinely care about what we are working on. Unfortunately, most writers are not always so lucky to meet these ideal people. We can take control of our surroundings, emotions and feelings to make positive progress.

Our environment is never going to reflect the way we imagine it. There is constant noise that can distract us. People rarely stop gossiping about irrelevant matters. They have conversations out loud. They don't give us space. They need us to help them with their errands and projects. They want us to listen to their concerns. Writers deal with people sabotaging their dreams because they lack the confidence to speak up; they are pushovers with no backbone to stand tall.

Unfinished projects make us believe we lost our passion to dream. We can't get excited about what we once loved with our entire heart. We start envying people who are actually living the life we believe we deserve. We become jealous to hear that our competition achieved their dream. Meanwhile, we focus on doing too much of everything. We desire quick results instead of investing time, energy and effort into our pet projects. Our patience and perseverance are out of alignment. We keep talking about our projects to get attention. We act fake to make believe we are someone living our dream. We may act condescending to put others below us. Behind the scenes, we drag our feet and hang our heads down low to pity ourselves. Self-destructive attitudes are what block positive results.

Writer's block and lost passion are common excuses that writers use to feel better. Nobody wants to be viewed as uninspired and lazy. Lost passion is essentially allowing little things to get in the way our of big dream. Self-doubts, overthinking, excuses and distractions are defensive mechanisms that protect us from facing failure. We may fear people rejecting our talents and skills because we attach our identity to our dream. We may think that if we fail our dream, we will fail our purpose in this life.

Rewiring our brain to accept criticism is the first step to empowering positive/negative feedback to grow our writing into something beautiful, something inspiring. Hearing the truth saves us a lot of time. We may need to know what people really think. Does our story have potential? Will the audience enjoy watching this movie? What does our film resemble? Do we have a good theme? Sadly, some creative people capable of greatness expect people to always give their amateur and professional work kind compliments. In order to continue on with their passion, they need people to praise their every move. These people only share a snippet of their progress to win temporary acceptance. They treat attention and acceptance as oxygen. However, these writers remain stuck on page 5 of a 100 page script. We should not expect our work to be viewed as great: Life does not work this way.

People struggling with low confidence and low self-esteem require validation and acceptance to stay inspired and motivated. These people need other people to agree with their beliefs. They wait for others to give them 100 percent positive approval to move forward. They want people to praise their effort after sharing their pity parties. They need people to feel sorry for them. They want others to tell them what they want is guaranteed to happen. They need others to know they didn't waste their life away on impossible dreams. They depend on people to always pick them off the ground. They need people to see them, to notice them every day. The truth gets lost in the hay; it is the needle that will take forever to locate.

Athletes playing to win their coach's attention and approval will suffer after striking out, missing shots and dropping balls. Always remember that we are human beings choosing to use our gifts and talents. Win or lose, we are the same human beings. Just imagine all the possibilities, especially if we activate our laser focus to stay committed and not conflicted with what people think.

We either love our passion, or we are doing it for the wrong reasons. Seeking attention to nurse our unresolved issues is the quickest route to depression. Living for the opinions of others will lead to lifelong unhappiness. If we lose our passion, what is the reason for this happening? Did we have passion from the beginning? Are we following our dream just to be recognized as someone who is valuable? Do we lack self-worth? Do we have low self-esteem? Trying our best to pinpoint our lost passion, if this is important to us, will improve our future outlook. Time will never stop for us, so waiting for a better time is an excuse.

Our commitment as screenwriters should focus on building powerful stories into compelling movies. Take personal responsibility for your dream. If you need constant validation to live your dream, you will only focus on what other people think about your actions. Dreams don't work unless you do something to make them come true. It is as simple as starting a script and writing 100 pages. Keep revising your script until you believe the story fits your vision.

There is no right or wrong way to tell a story. Pay special attention to creativity, technique and theme to keep readers invested in your script. Write with conviction to stay on track: Follow your message and share your beliefs. An example of this approach is Jordan Peele's Get Out, a film that aims to convey racism as envying minorities for their physical strength and agility.    

Writer's block is a mental block that involves numerous components. When we sit at our computer constantly looking into space, we are dealing with a challenge much bigger than writer's block and lost passion. We may dislike our story. We may downplay our talents to get compliments. Our passion is what inspires us to take action on something that either happens now, happens later, or never happens at all. Trusting in our gifts and talents can reduce writer's block. Believing in ourselves will give us hope to continue on through the trenches.

If we complain about writer's block and losing our passion, we are accepting that we have problems that are blocking our production. Taking the easy way out to complain and whine about recurring setbacks will never get us anywhere. Sharing all the things that we do to live our dream is a bargaining chip to say people owe us. It is our job to wake up and be inspired. We must maintain our passion to keep moving forward. If we are struggling to start and/or finish projects, we must dig deeper to understand the source of this problem.

There are ways to improve our concentration. We can listen to good music during the writing process. We can enjoy our favorite drink. We can take vitamins. We can go on a walk. We can go hiking. We can purchase a nice pen. We can buy a cool notepad. We can use "focus-based" apps to switch between focus time and breaks. We can embrace distractions to make them a part of our characters. We can change our scenery. We can go to a beach and write. We can go to a motel off of the coast and write without distractions. We can schedule time to write daily. We can discipline our writing life.

Writer's block and lost passion are excuses to justify our lack of effort and low production. After years of making excuses to write scripts, I finally figured out that you must rescue yourself to overcome negative traits. We can get caught up in bad habits that restrict our personal growth. In contrast, we can transfer our bad habits, blocks and problems into our stories. Compelling characters can turn movies into emotional experiences because the audience may see a piece of their life experiences in the movie. They can embrace these personal connections, realizing the writer actually understands their life.

Writer's block and lost passion can mirror what is going on in our real lives. If we work with a co-writer who wants to control our entire story, we must re-evaluate whether to stay for the long haul or leave them behind to grow our dream elsewhere. We can outgrow mentors, teachers and coaches. These people can block us, making us think we are struggling with writer's block, low drive and lost passion.

Being on the same page requires two sides to compromise on one vision. Don't allow other people to walk all over you. They may tell you that they care about your dream and assure you that they will never do anything to harm you. However, their actions may show a darker side to their real motivation. What really matters to them is their dream What they really want is to succeed. What they need is your story. What they are doing is discarding your scenes, ideas and creativity to feed their egos. They may want to be viewed as smart, a genius and exceptionally talented. Somehow, we are letting someone push us back into the crowd.

Negative people find empowerment seeing other people experiencing pain and suffering. Step away from every person you believe is holding you back. If you miss them later on, they are important to your future. If you feel better without them, maybe they are a bad fit in your life. Sooner or later, you need to recognize that you can do what you want yourself. Never think you are not good enough. Hiding from your unresolved issues will delay your dreams. If you are not ready to embrace the spotlight, you have the freedom to step in the crowd and watch the show as an audience member.

Know the difference between writer's block, lost passion, or living a stressful life full of obstacles. Your dream will stop waiting for you to react. Nobody is to blame for your life. You control your dream. You can make or break your future. You can learn from your past to create profound movies with deeper meanings. You can stop listening to people who block your growth. You can change your scenery to restore your interest. If you care about your dream, you will make adjustments instead of resorting to excuses. May your dream come true.

Happy Screenwriting!