Today (part 2) Jan 1, 2009 Writing Notes Start with one page. If you you want to write, then write. Quit lying to yourself. The reason you tell yourself you can’t write is an excuse. Cut 1 Page equals 3 Scripts Dec 31, 2008 Writing Notes If you aren’t writing and you want to be, this is what you need to do. Tomorrow, start the new year by writing one page of a story. It will take 15 The Pain of a Mistake Dec 31, 2008 Personal It hurts. Feel it, learn from it, and make lots more of them. You become great, little by little, through constant iteration Screw up Dec 30, 2008 Personal Back when I was working in a movie theatre and learning to run the projector, I was given a great bit of advice. I was told that once I got past the Just Write Dec 29, 2008 Writing Notes If I have one goal, it is for you to write. There are no real secrets anymore. The information can be found online and free. If you don’t trust it, Resisting Structure Dec 24, 2008 Writing Notes Acts are containers to hold your story. If you are using Classical Act form, you have 4 containers. Now add another container or take one away. You Quit Making Excuses Dec 23, 2008 Writing Notes Which of these would you rather be? The person who has a “Great Idea” and tells everyone about it and says that one day he is going to write it. or Your Choice Dec 18, 2008 Writing Notes There is no simpler way for me to tell you this: If you want to write, you can do it. It’s up to you. I hear a lot of reasons why people don’t Breaking the Story Dec 16, 2008 Writing Notes Here are two resources to break your story and get writing: Blake Snyder’s 15 Point Beat Sheet Pilar Alessandra’s On the Page Another one is to map The Irving Dec 15, 2008 Writing Notes You can write a script in a week but it doesn’t mean you should. The in-between time of a writing session are often your most creative. You push 2 Years Dec 11, 2008 Writing Notes You have an idea. Great. Get to work. Give yourself a 10 day deadline to build the structure. As Derek Sivers, CD Baby founder said, “If you’ve got Flirting with Breaks Dec 10, 2008 Personal Jonah Lehrer wrote in Music Patterns, and Sine Waves: “music is defined by its flirtation with—but not submission to—our expectations of order.” The First Thing to Go Dec 9, 2008 Writing Notes If you are writing every day, the first thing that happens is that you go very quickly through all those wonderful ideas that you have been holding Why are you still trying to write? Dec 8, 2008 Writing Notes Maybe you weren’t meant to write. That’s alright. I understand. Just pack up your stuff and go home. “But…” “Wait.” “No.” “It’s what I dream about Friday Links - December 5, 2008 Dec 5, 2008 Newsletters Scrumy Intended as a project management tool, I thought it could be used as a way to outline your script. A similar app is the fantastic Backpack This is for when there is nothing Dec 4, 2008 Writing Notes Write. Do the work. This is a part of the practice of becoming a writer. It is about making the mistakes and writing ugly stuff. It is about Why the Writer Crossed the Road Dec 3, 2008 Writing Notes 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 A Part of the Process Dec 2, 2008 Writing Notes How do you know when it’s not working? How do you know when you are struggling and you just need to get out of your own way to make it work? Life Work Dec 1, 2008 Writing Notes I am starting to feel like a broken record but I am going to keep at it while I know that there are the stragglers out there. Why aren’t you doing Friday Links Dec 1, 2008 Newsletters Here are some links of things I have caught my interest, as of late: I Wrote a 120 Page Script But Can’t Write a Logline: The Construction of a Next page