gOInG cRaZY
"Writers write."
Okay, that's too vague for me, 'cause I've been percolating my next script for a couple of months now and I don't have much in the way of written words to show for it. I've got some compelling story elements, but they're not coming together for me, yet.
It's like, I've got this really cool Lego piece... and a Lincoln Log and a stick from a Tinker Toy set...
It's making me nuts.
I've got a few scripts under my belt. I know this is part of the process, etc. But I get lost in my head writing a grocery list, for Chrissake.
Ooh, speaking of lists, here's what I've got so far:
1. A couple of interesting characters
2. An intriguing external story (Task)
3. A Strange Attractor
4. A cool world
5. A universal theme
Not a bad list, I know. I read somewhere -- some quote? I dunno -- that writers see connections that others don't. Or something like that. However it was originally phrased, it resonates with me. Someone who wishes to be a writer might create connections between the Lego and the Lincoln Log -- write in some Crazy Glue and stick 'em together. But a real writer will ultimately find the hidden groove that clicks them into place in an unexpected and yet inevitable way.
And that's hard.
So, I'm going a little cRaZY.
But that's writing.
Okay, that's too vague for me, 'cause I've been percolating my next script for a couple of months now and I don't have much in the way of written words to show for it. I've got some compelling story elements, but they're not coming together for me, yet.
It's like, I've got this really cool Lego piece... and a Lincoln Log and a stick from a Tinker Toy set...
It's making me nuts.
I've got a few scripts under my belt. I know this is part of the process, etc. But I get lost in my head writing a grocery list, for Chrissake.
Ooh, speaking of lists, here's what I've got so far:
1. A couple of interesting characters
2. An intriguing external story (Task)
3. A Strange Attractor
4. A cool world
5. A universal theme
Not a bad list, I know. I read somewhere -- some quote? I dunno -- that writers see connections that others don't. Or something like that. However it was originally phrased, it resonates with me. Someone who wishes to be a writer might create connections between the Lego and the Lincoln Log -- write in some Crazy Glue and stick 'em together. But a real writer will ultimately find the hidden groove that clicks them into place in an unexpected and yet inevitable way.
And that's hard.
So, I'm going a little cRaZY.
But that's writing.
posted by Julie O'Hora at 10:56 AM
6 Comments:
I would suggest that what you are doing IS writing. What most people consider actual writing is just the typing part. But that whole creative bundle of things to do before you type is writing as well, just not the part that any monkey can do. This would be a good time for a zinger analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (crickets chirping) . . . . . . . . in lieu of that, uh, hang in there.
I like pie.
And dammit Lincoln Logs and Legos and Tinkertoys work just fine together.
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B
Not that it's any of my business, but maybe you could try some Erector set pieces that use a battery pack... or jet fuel. Any script with an Erector and an explosion will get you a read.
Okay, you know what? Ignore this. Too much whiskey in my egg nog.
Martian is right. I too like pie.
From Aristotle: genius sees what all have seen, but thinks what none have thought...
...also genius may not only be defined by the ability to make connections between things previously unconnected (also one of the 4 defining aspects of creativity: "coalescence of meaning")
But genius may itself BE CONNECTIONS -- when they do those studies on rats and put one in a cage with a wheel and toy and one in a plain box, the one in the "stimulating cage" has more "glial" cells -- the nerve cells connecting one part of the brain to others...
...and Einstein's brain FULL of 'em, they say.
So...
Genius? Connections? Connected?
GENIUS!
chris soth
milliondollarscreenwriting.com
Beautiful. Thanks, Chris!
Brilliant?
Y'all gonna turn my head. Drop a line if you want a quick look at how I break a story, might give you a jump start.
chris@milliondollarscreenwriting.com
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