Time to Write

Capture your ideas quickly or else!

"You have about ten minutes to act on an idea before it recedes back into dreamland so when  you're excited about an idea, start writing about it immediately." -- Buckminster Fuller

This is especially important if you have an idea just as you are waking up or falling asleep. Often those ideas are the most creative because they carry a little of your dreaming self. 

If you keep a notepad by your bedside you'll be less likely to let an idea escape. Some people prefer to use their phone to record their thoughts, either in a notes app or by recording a voice memo. 

Remember not to judge your idea as soon as it pops up--that stops the flow. Sure, many of these ideas will not be worth pursuing, but if even one out of ten has value, that makes the process worthwhile.

PS: If you're not familiar with Buckminster Fuller, check out his Wikipedia profile. Born in 1895, he was an inventor and visionary. Long before most people gave it much thought, he advocated using renewable energy and doing more with less. He hoped for an age of "omni-successful education and sustenance of all humanity."

Why you will hate your writing at some point (and what to do about it)

It's a fact of the writing life that at some point you will hate your project and will feel like giving up on it.

It's important to know that this is natural--and not a reason to give up.

This can happen at any point in the project but usually, it happens when we're about halfway through the first draft. At the mid-point, it sinks in that what we've written doesn't match the pristine, perfect version of it we had in mind. Also, there's still such a long way to go. 

This is when we may be tempted by another pristine, perfect vision. "Write me instead!" it cries. "I'll be better!" Spoiler alert: it won't. It will have the same or similar issues and you'll hit the same point again.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP ON YOUR PROJECT

Here's the process I recommend for when you feel like giving up on a project:

1: Step away from it for a week or two. During that time, don't work on it or even think about it. If you've been working hard, take a break. Read some books, see some movies, go to an art gallery or museum, spend some time in a park. See some friends you haven't seen for a while. Eat some ice cream. 

2: Return to the project, go somewhere other than your writing desk, and look at it as though somebody else wrote it. Make a list of its good points and weaknesses. You may be surprised to find that during your break from it your subconscious mind was still working on it and now presents you with some new ideas that will improve it.

3: Decide: If a good friend was working on this, would you advise them to give up?

If not, return to it, refreshed and with a better idea of what it requires. Ideally, finish the draft before going back to make changes in the first half. However, if you now have a  new approach that changes the first half in a major way, go back and do a quick new draft of the first half, too.

If yes, get a trusted outside opinion. Someone who approaches it with a fresh eye may well be able to suggest the fix that eludes you. 

If you still feel like quitting it, go ahead---but not before you think about what you have learned. What was wrong with it? How can you avoid making the same mistake in your next project? When I say dump it, I don't mean throw it away. Put it in a folder and when you've finished your next project go back to it. You may have gained a new perspective and want to take it up again, or you may discover you can use part of it in a new project. Or you may never want to see it again. Either way, you'll know that you gave it a fair shot.

Need a Good Title for Your Non-Fiction Book or Newsletter?

In a previous post, I wrote about how the Oberlo Business Name Generator can be useful for coming up with a fictional name or a business that appears in your screenplay or novel. The same tool can be helpful if you're trying to come up with a good name for a non-fiction book or newsletter.

You just type in one word you'd like to have in the title. The Generator comes up with 100 combinations. 

For instance, I'm thinking of publishing a creativity newsletter, so I entered the word "Creativity." Here are some of the titles the Generator came up with, some more mainstream than others:

Power Creativity

Black Sheep Creativity

Creativity Precision

OneMan Creativity

Retina Creativity

Affinity Creativity

Creativity Signals

Simply Creativity

Jumpstart Creativity

Immersion Creativity

Scribe Creativity

High Voltage Creativity

Creativity Road

CreativityGram

Creativity Frontier

Creativity Fix

Creativity Driver

These could work equally well as titles for a book about creativity.

WANT SOMETHING LESS OBVIOUS?

If you want something less obvious, see whether any of the words that were combined with your keyword could work by themselves. In my example, "High Voltage," "Jumpstart," "Signals," or "Retina" could all work as trendier creativity newsletter titles, or as main titles for a book, and you could use a secondary title to connect it to creativity.

A Brainstorming Tool for Writing for Children

I've already posted about using the free Oberlo Business Name Generator to come up with the names of fictional businesses in your screenplay or novel, and for coming up with titles for a non-fiction book or newsletter. It's also a useful brainstorming tool if you write for kids.

For instance, I was thinking about writing a story in which a young child explores a pond and encounters magical versions of all the type of creatures that hang around ponds. I wanted to come up with fun personalities or identities for each creature. To start, I typed "frog" into the Generator. Here are some of the combinations it came up with:

Rock Frog

Frog Chef

Daydream Frog

Sidekick Frog

TopDog Frog

Singular Frog

General Frog

Thunder Frog

Hip Frog

Everlasting Frog

Frog Doctor

Covert Frog

If those don't give you some ideas for the kind of frog the child could encounter, you're not a writer! And I'll bet you can think of other ways that the Generator can fit into your brainstorming as well.

 

All About Fake Business Names for Your Screenplay or Novel

If you ever need a made-up business name for your screenplay or novel (e.g., the company for whom your protagonist works), try using the Oberlo Business Name Generator (it's free). All you have to do is type in one word you want included in the business name. For instance, let's say that I want my protagonist to run a barbershop. Here are some of the names the generator came up with:

Galactic Barbershop

Paramount Barbershop

BlueRibbon Barbershop

Deuce Barbershop

Mainline Barbershop

Barbershop Island

Luxury Barbershop

GoodLife Barbershop

Freestyle Barbershop

Perfection Barbershop

Brilliant Barbershop

Progressive Barbershop

LET THE NAME MATCH THE SETTING OR TONE OF YOUR STORY

Once you have a good selection, narrow the choice by considering which ones best match the setting or tone of the story. A sci-fi story might feature a "Galactic Barbershop," while a noir-type story would be better served by "Deuce Barbershop" and a comedy might find material in the difference between the aspiration suggested by "Perfection Barbershop" and the lack of that perfection in actuality.

CAN YOU USE AN ACTUAL BUSINESS NAME?

When you find one you like (examples below), Google it to check whether it actually exists.

It's OK to use a business name that is common--for instance, I'm sure there are plenty of "Curl Up and Dye" salons. But avoid that if you have set your story in a real location and that business name is in use in that location.

Be especially careful if your fictional business is dishonest or disreputable!

 

How to Worry

How annoying is it when people tell you not to worry?

Very, right? It's almost like saying, don't be so tall or so short.

Simply willing yourself to stop sure isn't enough. However, I ran across an idea that might help:

Therapist Jenny Taitz tells her clients to schedule a 30-minute or two 15-minute sessions of worrying. You can worry about several things or focus on one. You can list the worries and jot down ideas for how you might deal with each one, or you can just review the worries. 

I tried this quite a while ago and I did find it helpful. It doesn't totally free you from worrying the rest of the time, of course, but I found it easier to dismiss the worries when they came up outside of the appointed times. I found that one fifteen-minute period was enough, and I set a timer so that I wouldn't get lost in thought and go over the time limit.

There's certainly enough to worry about these days and if you find yourself being overwhelmed, give this a try. Feel free to let me know how you get on, either in the comments or at [email protected]. Good luck!

 

 

Dealing with being stuck writing a scene

I happened across a question someone asked on Reddit about what to do when you get stuck in the course of writing a screenplay. The following answer is by "Hotspur Jr", a member of the Writers Guild of America (I'd credit him or her with their real name, but I don't know it):

This is what they do when they get stuck on how to write a particular scene:

"Write down what you know.

I need the scene to do X, Y, and Z. I need the scene to do blah. I'd like these three characters to be in the scene. The scene needs to feel like this. I'd love it if she said a line like "this". It can't happen at the beach house because of X. It needs to feel different from the car scene. The scene is difficult because of Z.

Just keeping writing down everything that you know about the scene. I do this in an open OmniOutliner document.

And at certain points, I'll just start sketching the scene out in an outline document. What would THIS version of the scene look like? I rough it out, and then look at what I roughed out.

Why does this not work? It doesn't work because of X and Y. What if I changed X to Z?

Rough it out again.

Repeat as necessary.

There are two things this does.

The first is that it takes that vague feeling of "This isn't working," and it breaks into concrete problems that I can fix. It takes what's in my subconscious and lets my conscious mind take a crack at it.

And the other thing it does is occupy my conscious mind with concrete tasks so that my subconscious is free to zoom around, put weird ideas together, and come up with aha! out of the box solutions.

It's also a scientifically proven method for trying to solve difficult conceptual problems: don't try to solve the problem. Just talk about the problem without specifically aiming for a solution. In this case, the "talking" is the conversation I'm having with myself by writing stuff down. (Writing it does is important. What you write down is not, but the fact that you're writing it down stops you from going in loops).

Lastly, there's one more step, and it's very important. After I've done that for an hour or two, I go do something else. Play a game of chess. Go for a walk. Pick up my guitar. I mean, why do y'all think I post on reddit so damn much?

Something that takes my conscious mind off the problem entirely. This is, again, a tool that is scientifically proven to work."

Good advice!

If you're low on creative energy right now...

If you're low on creative energy right now, you're not alone.

As I write this, we're in the middle (?) of the pandemic and everyone I've talked to says they're feeling lethargic. Most are finding it hard to be creative.

I don't know whether that's the effect of prolonged anxiety, the lack of stimulation because we've all been penned up so long, or something else. Probably it's a combination of factors.

I did a little informal survey for tips on overcoming this ennui and here are the top ones that came up:

1. Don't be hard on yourself about it. That only adds pressure to what already feels like a pressured time.
   
   
2. Reconnect with the creative work you've found inspiring in the past--works by your favorite authors, painters, musicians, etc. It could also mean re-watching a favorite film or TV series.
   
   
3. Set yourself a small creative task every day. For a writer, this might be composing a haiku, the opening sentence of a story or screenplay, a colorful three-word description of a character. If any of those inspire you to keep going and turn it into something longer, go with it.
   
   
4. Add a creative element to the next email you send to a friend--like a haiku or a doodle.
   
   
5. Take a walk and look for one interesting thing to photograph. I've been doing this and I've added one of mine below.

If you've found any other methods useful, let me know in the comments or to [email protected].

Our creativity is one of the most useful tools we have for getting through these tough times, let's not abandon it!

The two things you have to know about your screenplay or novel plot

Screenplay and novel plots are ambitious, complicated things. I've found that making sure you know the answer to two questions is helpful from start to finish.

 

1. What's the story about?
   
   
2. What's the story REALLY about?
   

 

WHAT'S THE STORY ABOUT?

This simply means, what's the basic idea?

It's similar to a logline, but since the latter is designed to get somebody else interested in the story, it needs to be carefully crafted. That's not necessary here. All that's required is a simple statement like:

"It's about a husband and wife who let their divorce turn into a force that destroys both of them."

"It's about a group of middle-aged male friends whose attempt to re-create a wild night they had when they were in high school ends in disillusion about their past."

"It's about a superhero who has to give up the love of his life in order to keep saving the world."

Notice the elements: the protagonist(s), the conflict, and the outcome.

The answer will guide you through the rest of the process.

If you developed the plot of the first one, for instance, you would check that every major scene revolves around the husband and/or wife, that whatever they do keeps escalating in destructiveness, and that by the end they've both been destroyed (financially, emotionally, or literally).

Sometimes this kind of simple statement reveals that the story is flawed, and it's good to find that out at the start rather than after you've written the whole script or novel. 

For instance: "A man turns to crime in order to raise money for expensive medical treatment for his child but is able to return to the honest ways he prefers when he wins the lottery." What's wrong with this, of course, is that the solution to his problem comes out of nowhere instead of somehow being the result of his struggles.

WHAT IS IT REALLY ABOUT?

Here we're talking about the theme. If you don't decide on one it's more likely you'll lose your way in the writing process.

The three elements (character, conflict, outcome) will point toward the theme.

If the divorcing couple is fighting over who gets what, the theme might be that greed is destructive.

If their conflict stems from a desire for revenge because each thinks the other was responsible for betraying them, the theme could be that revenge is destructive to both parties.

Since the story about the middle-aged men ends badly, the theme could be that it's better to look forward rather than back.

If your story was, "By recreating a night they experienced when they were in high school, a group of middle-aged men rediscover the sense of fun they'd lost," the theme could be that it's never too late to experience the fun of youth."

Which one is right? Whichever one you believe.

If you have a story description for which you can't identify a theme, that may be an indication that the story is flawed.

Going back to the earlier example, what's the theme of, "A man turns to crime in order to raise money for expensive medical treatment for his young son but is able to return to the honest ways he prefers when he wins the lottery?"

I can't think of one.

If the ending is that he gets caught but not before he's paid for the child's treatment, then the theme might be, "No sacrifice is too great for the life of your child."

If the ending is that he gets caught and then it comes out that the child's illness was misdiagnosed and he never actually needed expensive treatment, then the theme might be, "Life is a joker and the joke is on us."

WHICH COMES FIRST, PLOT OR THEME?

Some writers start with a theme they consider important and fashion a story that fits, but in my experience, most start with a character, a moment, or the seed of a story, and then figure out what it's really about.

For example, I'm working on a script about a small group of people who go to a personal development retreat, struggle with their inner demons, and end up getting not what they want but what they need.

The theme is that when you try to find yourself, the person who turns up may not be the one you want to meet.

Note that this story, like most, could be a comedy or a tragedy. Because my experience is that life is a combination of the two, so is my story. 

WHAT IF YOU'RE NOT SURE OF THE THEME AT THE START?

Sometimes it happens that you're not sure of the theme at the start. That's fine, just develop the story until you figure out its basics, especially the ending. When you've done that, the theme will emerge.

AREN'T THESE THEMES SIMPLISTIC?

Yep. That's why you build a story that represents a more sophisticated embodiment of the theme. The theme should be so well clothed in the story that the viewer or reader is not aware of it until much later--if at all. We're telling stories, not preaching sermons. The theme will have an impact on the subconscious level even if the reader or viewer never thinks about it.

"Love conquers all" has spawned a million stories and there's room for a million more. There's also room for stories which suggest that "Love can't conquer all," for those writers who believe that.

KEEP THEM VISIBLE

I recommend that you write the answers to the two questions on an index card or a sticky note that you keep visible as you write. If you get stuck, go back to these and the chances are you'll find your solution.

 

How to find your creative voice, according to Ira Glass and Andy Warhol

Writers are advised to "find your own voice," meaning, express yourself in a way that is authentic and unique to you.

One who managed that is Ira Glass, the creator of the radio series, "This American Life." He started out wanting to tell the stories of ordinary people. This set him apart because usually the emphasis is on interviewing famous people.

There's the first lesson: find something you want to do that's different from what most people are doing.

He says he didn't even know what it would be to be a reporter, he just understood what it would be to talk to regular people. He says, "And it was really a puzzle, how do you do that in a way that would be compelling and exciting to listen to?"

Lesson two: You'll probably struggle for a while to find how to do what you intend to do.

He notes, "You really have to be a soldier, you really have to fight and get in there and just make stuff, just force yourself to make stuff. It's really hard to do."

Lesson three: The way to discover how to do it is to do it. Expect obstacles, and persist.

Although now "This American Life" is a hugely popular radio series, it took time to build an audience and not everybody got it at first. Getting backing can be a challenge. Glass says, "The more idealistic and idiosyncratic the project, the more cunning you have to be about the business side of it."

Lesson four: Be prepared to be as creative in marketing what you create as you are in creating it.

Finally, he points out that it took ages for him to get good at what he set out to do and adds, "I wish somebody had told me that's normal."

Lesson five: That's normal. 

You can watch a four-minute video of Glass discussing these points here.

Another person who went through that process with huge success was artist Andy Warhol.

ANDY WARHOL'S PERSPECTIVE

Andy Warhol also had good advice on this topic:

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."

He also said, "There is beauty in everything, just not everybody sees it."

Ira Glass found the beauty in the stories of ordinary people, and he helps us appreciate it, too.

Maybe that's what finding your creative voice is about: figuring out your way of helping people see the things you see but most people don't. 

It's clear that finding your creative voice isn't about a flash of inspiration. It's a trial-and-error process and it never ends...and it's what makes writing worth doing.

 

How Albert Einstein can help you rewrite your book or screenplay

Do you get stuck when you set out to do another draft of a screenplay, novel, or other creative project?

Albert Einstein allegedly said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them."

He wasn't talking about writing, but I think it applies.

When we write fiction, we're in a kind of dreaming state. We imagine what might happen and what people might say. It's a highly intuitive state, unless we are slavishly following a formula or template (not recommended if you want your work to be original).

If we stay in that state when we try to figure out how our first draft could be improved, often we'll either draw a blank or come up with something that makes the work different, but not necessarily better. 

The trick (thanks, Mr Einstein) is to move to a different level. In this case, the critical level.

The creative level vs. the critical level

The writing process is subjective, the critical level is analytical.

When you write, you're on the inside, in the moment with your characters. When you critique, you're looking at them from the outside and you can take a step back to assess the big picture.

How to switch levels

One way to change your mental state is to change your physical state first. 

• To snap out of the creative state, do a bit of movement--a brief brisk walk or a few stretches
  
  
• Move to a different location, even if just across the room from where you write
  
  
• Change your body position. Instead of sitting upright in a chair, lean back in an easy chair

Another strategy is to make the material seem less familiar, more like it's something someone else wrote since it's always easier for us to be objective about someone else's work.

• Print the script rather than viewing it on a screen
  
  
• Print it on different color paper
  
  
• Print it using a different font from the one on the screen
  

Remember you're a critic now, not a creator.

• Just like a professional critic would do, start by considering the totality of the work and identify any big problems. Read through the entire script and consider whether it has any major issues that will impact multiple scenes. Jot down your conclusions. For instance, a review I read recently said that the film couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a comedy, a satire, or a drama with amusing moments.
  
  
• Next, go through the script scene by scene and note weak points, inconsistencies, or other issues. For instance, when I go back to the first scene in a screenplay I ask myself whether it immediately creates a question in the minds of the reader (and, later, the audience). If they're curious, they'll want to continue reading or watching. 
  
  
• Don't try to solve these problems. A critic's role is to point out the good and bad points of a work, not to fix it. If a solution occurs to you, go ahead and note it but do not make any changes in the script--doing so will flip you out of the critical state.

Time to go back to the creator's state

When you've finished making your critical notes, go back to your usual work station and get back into the creative state. You'll have a list of things to fix but not how to fix them.

For instance, maybe one note is that the opening scene, an argument between the protagonist and his father at the dad's apartment, is too talky and doesn't make a visual impression. Now you can imagine how it would play out if, for example, it took place in public, or if the father showed his anger physically. Because you'll be tuned back into the characters, you'll think of options that are what they would actually do, not an arbitrary solution.

Keep shuttling back and forth

You don't have to wait to make all the changes before you go back into the critical state. You can take a printout of an individual scene to your critic's easy chair and assess whether the problem has been solved. This back-and-forth continues until you've made it the best you can.

Warning: don't do this just in your head!

Resist the temptation to think that it's just as easy to make the mental switch without the other changes I've suggested above. Yes, some people can do it, especially after years of practice, but it's difficult and often trying to create and judge at the same time leads to writer's block.

 

Be upstanding for your health!

According to Science Daily, "Studies have linked prolonged sitting with health concerns such as heart disease, cancer, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Research shows that breaking up long periods of sitting with movement at least once an hour reduces those risks, while regular exercise at other times of day does not."

In other words, you can't make up for that long session of sitting by going for a jog or a walk later. 

Since writers tend to spend long sessions at the keyboard, it's a risk particularly applicable to us. Here are some suggestions for how to make sure you get up and move for at least a minute or two every hour:

• Use an app on your phone or smartwatch. Mine reminds me with a silent (vibrating) alarm and keeps track of how many times in a day I get up for at least a minute per hour.
  
  
• Use a similar app on your computer. Some offer badges when you stick to the break schedule, or make it part of a simple game.
  
  
• If you have Alexa or the equivalent, give it the task of reminding you to stand at the start of every hour.
  
  
• Link it to something you do frequently. If you keep a bottle of water handy, stand up to drink from it, or make some of your phone calls while standing.
  
  
• Break down the task you're working on into chunks that you think will take about an hour each and get up and move in between each chunk.

The bonus is that moving around a bit may also refresh your brain. For even better results, when you stand up, take a few deep breaths and stretch.

Three Dark Writing Moments More Common Than You Thought

Most writers would agree that while writing can be a great joy, it also carries its share of dark moments. When we're in the middle of one, it's easy to assume that we're alone feeling that way. Members of a panel of screenwriters discussed some of the darker moments they've experienced:

Noah Baumbach (writer/director, "Marriage Story") said for him it's starting each new project feeling overwhelmed and like he's forgotten how to write.

Rian Johnson (writer/director, "Knives Out") said it's the moment on every project when the initial excitement for the idea wears off.

Taiki Waititi
(writer/director "Jojo Rabbit") said it was when he was pitching "Jojo Rabbit" and nobody understood the tone he was going for.

Hmm, dark moments when you're starting to write, in the middle, and when you're done and trying to sell the script. One for each phase of the process!

So what's the solution?

I don't think it's trying to fight these feelings.

It's accepting that they are normal.

That it's not just us. 

That they'll pass.

...if we just keep putting down the words. 

 

Your weakness can become your strength

What if your weakness could also be your strength?

In the previous post, I wrote about Dana Terrace, who persisted with an idea for a TV series that her colleague called dumb. The Owl House was renewed for a second season by Disney before the first one even aired. 

In an interview in the L. A. Times, Terrace mentioned feeling left out when she was a kid because she was kind of an oddball. She patterned one of the series' main characters on herself. She says, "He's just a little guy that wants to be big, so I always related to him. He's tiny and no one takes him seriously. He just wants to be taken seriously."

The reason I wanted to revisit this topic is that I think it demonstrates not only the power of persistence in the face of discouragement but also how we can turn what other people see as a weakness into a strength.

This is especially so for writers and artists because supposed weaknesses make great material. People will relate because everybody feels defective in some way, even the most apparently confident ones.

I did something similar in an animated series I created, called Norman Normal. The premise was that Noman is the only normal one in a family of superheroes. Even his baby sister and his dog have powers.

I think this mirrors the feeling of a lot of kids that they're surrounded by parents how have all the power and other kids who are smarter, better looking, or more talented. Of course, it was always Norman who came up with the solutions or was able to help his superhero family win the day. I hope some kids watching the show were comforted or inspired by that.

TURN IT AROUND FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Sometimes we avoid writing about our weaknesses and fears, even in the form of fiction, because they make us uncomfortable.

I'm suggesting that if you face your weakness or your fear and turn it into art--a script, a novel, a short story, a painting--you may end up creating your most powerful and appealing work. It could even be your most profitable work--56 episodes of Norman Normal were produced and because I had a good "created by" deal, it was quite lucrative.

This process can also be therapeutic, as I discovered when I wrote a play called "Killing Mother." (No, my mom never saw it.)

You don't have to make the work directly autobiographical--in fact, usually it's better if you give yourself a lot of leeway to fictionalize so that you can serve the story instead of being bound by the limitations of reality.

At the moment, I'm doing this with a screenplay called Leaving It Behind, about a criminal facing the end of his life. It was triggered when I had to have open-heart surgery and considered the (admittedly slim) chance that I might not make it. I'm not a criminal nor do I have a terminal illness (the operation went well) but the story incorporates a lot of my fears and thoughts at the time.

Maybe you're already doing this, but it may be worth checking whether there's anything in the darker corners of your psyche that you might turn around by putting it at the heart of your next project.

Brainstorming Strategies: What would (X) do?

One of my favorite brainstorming strategies is imagining how another person might solve the problem or approach the task.

I'll give you a personal example. I'm thinking of writing a film or play about how political polarization affects a family, with a Christmas family get-together as the setting and occasion. How to give it a fresh angle? How would the three people above approach it?

BILLY WILDER is noted for his witty approach to comedies like "Some Like It Hot," and "Seven Year Itch." I imagine a Wilder-style approach would be a smart comedy, maybe told through the eyes of a recent addition to the family (the new spouse/partner of one of the family) who, to be accepted by everybody has pretended to agree with both sides--and of course runs into big problems when the whole family gets together.

MICHAEL MOORE is noted for documentaries like "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11." He might take a mockumentary approach to the event, perhaps with a psychologist stopping the action to explain what's going on and, if it's a comedy, getting it totally wrong; or maybe the shrink has been hired by the patriarch of the family to intervene and bring peace to the family but of course screws it up and only makes it worse.

STANLEY KUBRICK is known for "2001," "Eyes Wide Shut," and "The Shining," among others. Although there are moments of black comedy in his films, I think he'd be more likely to treat it as a dark psychodrama, perhaps leading to the total breakdown of one of the family members, with deadly consequences.

Of course, your "X" doesn't have to be a film-maker. It could be anybody whose way of thinking you're familiar with and admire. The next time you're stuck or just want a bit of extra inspiration, try the "What would X do?" method.

 

 

 

Unleash your Creativity by Writing from Within

Drawing from Within: Unleashing Your Creative Potential is a book by Nick Meglin that has a lot of great thoughts about drawing that apply equally to writing: 

"We make the mistake of looking outside ourselves for validation of what is, in fact, an inner experience. We look to others for approval, for them to tell us how good our work is before we can feel good about having done it!"

Of course, we want to sell what we write so eventually others will have to think our work is good, but worrying about that too soon can cripple your creative process.

Meglin adds, "The wonderful paradox is that the work that is sincere, personal, and created for one's own satisfaction is what is most often celebrated by both critics and the public alike."

"People learn to draw through the experience of drawing."

"The goal is not to make a pretty drawing, a neat drawing, a good drawing, etc., but just to draw." A good thing to keep in mind when doing your first draft.

AND IF YOU'RE TOO CRITICAL OF YOURSELF:

"We must focus our energies on identifying that part of ourselves that 'finds fault' with or 'disapproves' of our own work--that voice which tends to be self-deprecating, insecure, and negative. And we must learn how to cognitively reframe these negative voices and turn those destructive energies around."