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Finishing Second Taught Me Valuable Lessons...

My Dad's 70th Birthday!

The Turkey Trot race held on the military base every November always made me anxious. Around the fall season in the late 1980's, I remember training harder to stay in better shape. My Dad put excessive pressure on me to win my age group in the Turkey Trot. There was this one classmate I could never defeat-- Brian Davilla. Somehow, Brian always surged ahead of me to win our age group. He claimed the first place prize: A turkey and recognition. Furthermore, he also defeated me in cross-country and track races held at the junior high school. Finishing in second place taught me valuable lessons in my life.

We all have wants, needs and desires. Sometimes we may disguise our help as caring for people so they don't make the same mistakes as we made in our unresolved past. However, we may hide our ulterior motives, our secret agendas away from the world. We may want to win. Winning makes us feel good. It gets us attention...

In those Turkey Trot races, I wanted to make my Dad proud of me. I really enjoyed running across the base with only the road ahead standing in front of me. If not for anxiety, I would have won so many competitive races. The high expectations to win dragged my confidence into the mud. Overthinking doomed me. Self-doubting convinced me that I would strike out before stepping on home plate. We all want to hit that homerun. Clapping, cheering and standing ovations can give us a dopamine high.

That adrenaline rush creates an instant surge of natural energy inside of us. Text message dinging... A DM from someone you like... A phone call... Going up to talk to someone you desire... What goes on in our mind travels way back to the past where we programmed these moments to matter. Social media likes...  Comments... Reposts... Follows... Subscribers...

Dopamine highs can cause us to experience a false sense of security. We may miss living real life trying to impress family, friends and strangers. We may need that instant gratification. We may want to feel appreciated. The large crowds jumping up and cheering for us may feel like an addictive drug. EDM beats can mimic the heartbeat of people on a dopamine high.

Once we stop winning, the crowds slowly disappear. People stop talking about our past victories. Most of our friends leave us behind. They move on to start new friendships. Attention is short lived. We should not live to win every moment. It's impossible to be on top of the world; we must also embrace losing races. Failure is important...

At one point or another, we have imagined giving an Oscar acceptance speech. What I end with is, Dad, I hope I made you proud. I only heard my Dad tell me he was proud of me once: Joining the Air Force and receiving his letters of encouragement in Military Basic Training. My Dad helped to get me through this challenging experience.

I know my Dad cares about my life. I realize my Dad is proud of me. He doesn't have to remind me. Actions matter... I always wanted him to see me as a winner. I wanted to share my victories with him. I heard my Dad make passive aggressive comments such as Tiger Woods or Michael Phelps' Dad must be proud of them or my best friend's Dad raised really successful sons. Why do we focus so much attention on what other people think? We start putting our meaningful relationships second. Chasing attention represents a temporary solution to feeling self-worth, appreciation and accepted.

We can waste our entire life on trying to please other people. We can get nervous asking someone we like on a date. We can fear outcomes that set our failures in stone. Or we may celebrate getting into the perfect relationship. Nothing in life is perfect. If we set impossible standards on our happiness, we will eventually meet unhappiness. Filling voids to be fulfilled will create artificial moments. Winning is mirage...

Finishing second taught me what really matters: The simple moments when I went camping, fishing and sporting events (football, baseball and basketball) with my Dad is what I celebrate. Winning the big race eventually becomes a distant memory. Meanwhile, the high emphasis we place on becoming successful at every turn puts our self-care second...


Happy Screenwriting! 

Lack of Support and Understanding: Why Writers Do What They Do?

Have you ever tried to include family and friends in your writing process? Share ideas with them? Tell them how you will write your scripts? However, you are met with eye rolls, sighs, unsupportive comments and criticism. Why do you have to justify the reasons you are a writer?

Some writers may feel they need other people to support their ideas. They attempt to open up with family, friends and even random strangers to prove their stories hold value. Once people realize you what you haven't done, they will stop listening to you talking...

Truth is, these people get tired of hearing about your dreams. Writers who have have yet to discover lucrative opportunities are judged with heavy criticism. They hear rude comments... They deal with passive aggressive behavior. Unsupportive people may have ulterior motives to hold you down. If you dream, you may accomplish success. If you accomplish success, it is possible you may leave...

Another way to look at it... If writers spend as much time living real life instead of remaining stuck inside a fantasy, just maybe their dream will come true. Some writers must understand that attention is overrated. Chasing after people to validate your dream will make you unhappy.

Just try to understand this: Screenwriting is viewed as a dream. What people think: Unsuccessful screenwriters are basically living in the clouds.

Do you take jobs that give you flexibility to live your dream? Work as a restaurant server? A ridesharing driver? Delivery driver? Barista? Content creation? Data science? Falling further behind? Struggling with a financial storm? There is a reason we may follow this pattern. You may hope that extending your dream can give you another chance to make everything right.

It goes much deeper than just wanting to achieve dreams, become famous, gain social status and/or get rich to experience unlimited freedom. You have a true reason you want your dream...

Whether you want to draw attention to yourself.... Whether you want to prove people wrong... Whether you want to appear successful... Whether you need value to feel self-worth... Whether you have a purpose to change the world... Whether you aspire to make people think that helping others is why you spend so much doing it... Whether you want to be popular because you did not have this feeling growing up... Whether you want compliments to boost your self-esteem... Whether you aspire to carry out the will of God to serve this world... Only you know why you want to do it.

Rewiring the mind to reflect on your dream is important. It is what can/will remove all focus off of why you need support and people to understand your journey as a writer.

Why do people want to feel good? Why do people want to feel happy? Why do people desire love? Why do people need acceptance? Why do people live for others?

Follow your dream because you find happiness taking the steps. Be excited about doing the work because you love your creativity. Be proud of yourself. The moment you make your dream all about what you are missing inside, you will find many unhappy moments. If you transfer what you are missing into your stories, you will reach an audience who can understand why you do what you do...

Ultimately, writers create what people watch... In return, they may feel proud of their work. They can make a living creating stories. It is possible: There is this small piece of them that may need this attention. If you surround yourself with supportive people who understand your journey, you will have a strong foundation to develop your ideas. If you tell stories about your challenges, struggles and hardships, people will listen to you.

The love, the time, the effort, the energy, the passion you give your dream will give you what you need inside. When people watch what you created, they will support you because they will know you understand real life. Create stories that mirror real life and solve these inner problems: Conflict/Resolution. Writers plant themes in every story. They want to send a message out into the world. Look further into why you do what you do...

Through the course of this life, you will change your motivation many times. Instead of questioning why you lack support and why people do not understand you, look deeper into your motivation. Why do you need your dream? You will eventually realize that you are your best support system. You are enough.

Don't wait to do what you love to do later on. The people you may want to prove wrong will be long gone. If you want people to hear your voice, tell stories that matter right now. Happy screenwriting!

React to Your Screenwriting Goals

Never allow great opportunities to slip away. Fear plays a major role in delaying progress. Failing to live up to our dreams may bury the perfect life we imagined in our minds. Getting criticized for doing what makes us happy can sink our ego. You'll never know the future unless you try.

Seize control of life to move forward. Truth is, negative distractions can pollute our mind. They can suffocate our creativity. Being comfortable is a curse on the screenwriting process. Setting goals will inspire us to reach milestones. React now to become a working screenwriter later.

Screenwriting Techniques

Movie scripts are documents. They function as a blueprint to turn an idea into a film. Directors rely on scripts to shoot scenes that are eventually edited together and packaged into films. There are so many useful screenwriting techniques that writers can use to narrate their stories.

Some stories can benefit being told from beginning to end without any disruptions. Writers enter a conflict, show the fire starting and resolve the conflict with a simple message. But if you want to get creative, you can enhance your script to create page turners. 

Flashbacks give us backstory. The proper method of using a flashback is to build enough value into characters so that we understand the significance of their past. Writers can open with a partial scene of a narrative they want to tell. Throughout the story, they can revisit this scene to move this key moment further along. The character may reflect back to this moment in their dream, in the middle of a conversation, in a coma and/or while they are driving.

We see a glimpse of the protagonist hanging on a moment that motivates their choices. We enter their mind through these flashbacks. We watch moments that already happened to explain backstory.

Series of shots and montages can turn dull moments into spectacular events. Have fun being creative in your storytelling!!!   

Suggestions Not Judging: Creating compelling characters

Screenwriting is a creative art that requires criticism to make progress. In order to become a professional screenwriter, we should accept constructive criticism as helpful feedback that can give us solid ideas.

Getting stuck in our comfortable ways to protect our ego can/will hold us back. There are vulnerable writers who view suggestions as judging their character.

Judging is unfairly criticizing someone without having all the facts present. A woman with tattoo sleeves is viewed as a stripper. "You are weak for allowing everyone to take advantage of you," is a negative statement. "You are terrible with your finances," is making a poor judgement of someone who does not earn as much at their current job. "Your finances will be the reason we will not get funding," is another inconsiderate judgemental statement if someone is not the sole reason for this potentially happening. 

What is not considered judging is telling someone that if they did not allow a certain person they complain about often to interfere in their life, they would not have to go back to a bad situation. We can tell them that if they gave more effort, they would have already accomplished their dream. The trigger word that sparked this person: Effort. They believe they have given a lot of effort. Truth is, they lost their passion to create. They allowed stress and pressure to rule their life. For this reason, they would constantly reach out for help. Unfortunately, they never applied valuable advice to better their life.  

Some people just need attention. They thrive off of sympathy. They need to be heard. They rely on another ear that will listen to their problems. They want us to blame other people. We're not supposed to solve other people's problems. Unresolved issues can block these people from taking actions. 

Whatever unresolved issues these people are dealing with come to the surface. They immediately get offended, switching the spotlight back to you—deflecting. They will attack your lack of effort. They will tell you to give up on your dream. Instead of appreciating your advice, they will consider your advice as judging. 

Unresolved issues can spark low confidence, insecurities, shame, lack of success, low self-worth, depression, unhappiness, vulnerabilities, self-consciousness and inferiority. It is a multi-headed monster that can unleash fury on us without notice. 

We must think of positive words to not offend them. We must compliment them to stroke their fragile ego. We must give them false praise to boost their moods. 

Just think about the value of life experiences. Our interactions with people who struggle with a wide range of challenges are useful to expand our screenwriting. No moment in life can ever go wasted. We can use everything in our past to create compelling characters. 

People fear getting judged because they secretly know they are doing these negative things. If they already shared their indiscretions before, it is not judging to bring these topics up again during their "complaining and whining' storms. Being honest to help pinpoint the source of problems can empower people. Overly sensitive people who feel guilty inside feel judged.    

Confident people don't worry about judgmental people. They don't focus on what people think and say. They concentrate on urgent priorities that can/will improve their current situation. Schedules and deadlines replace overthinking to maximize time. 

Good screenwriting is recycling real life events to build characters. We meet certain people for a reason;  there are no accidents. Taking notes to save the past can work magic in our future scripts. 

Many people feel judged. Many people never seek counseling. Many people get triggered over internal pain. We can't control what happens outside of our lives. People have a right to act any way they want. It is not up to us how they live their lives. If they waste our time and energy returning back with the same problems they refuse to confront, re-evaluate your relationship with them. 

When people accuse you of judging them, they hold your opinion on a pedestal. If you mention being disappointed, they will take this to heart. Be careful what you say to vulnerable people. Recycle all past experiences to infuse your script with valuable content to teach people. 

What are we about? What is our message? How can we save people from making costly mistakes? Make your screenwriting a learning experience to spread true wisdom. 

Happy Screenwriting! 

    

Applying Talent To Get Work Done

Screenwriting is a craft we can develop. If you remember the saying, practice makes perfect, you will recognize that becoming better at what we love to do can improve our lifestyle. Good habits deliver consistent results. Rewarding effort motivates us to spend time on projects, jobs and tasks.

Applying our writing talent to make a difference is the first step to push our screenwriting forward. We need to be writing, writing, writing! Withholding our talents/gifts for financial gain can/will influence our passion. Spending countless hours on social media to discuss screenwriting delays production.

The fear to finish a script is connected to uncomfortable change. People who lack confidence worry about criticism. They feel unworthy without attention. They stress out watching other people get ahead. Sometimes, these people just need someone to complain to so they don't feel alone--even worthless. Insecurities can block us from climbing up that tall mountain. Overthinking is full of self-doubts that delay our production and stall progress.

What talented artists forget is that they possess what many people lack: A gift. People who are not as talented must work harder to make an impact. For some ungodly reason, talented artists are uninspired to apply their gifts. There is a big reason people never accomplish their dreams. They have unresolved issues originating from childhood that manifest into mental disorders. If left untreated, these internal problems put these people in inferior roles. They accept poor treatment because they believe it is deserved. Their sense of worth is extremely low. Nevertheless, they believe people look down on them.

No matter how much time we spend to help someone succeed, they can keep coming back with the same exact problems. They never apply what we teach them. They self-sabotage daily. They follow a self-destructive path. They put themselves down. Working hard to confront internal challenges will help us overcome setbacks.

How to gain a competitive advantage:

• Apply yourself to increase luck. 
• Work hard to get your work out there. 
• Stay humble to avoid overvaluing your worth. 
• Be patient. 
• Balance is everything.

Happy screenwriting!