Great advice kills the mood

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  • Great advice kills the mood

    Jules thread on "the slump" got me thinking.

    My problem is there's so much great advice
    on these boards from concept to script
    execution that trying to decipher it all
    is all I'm thinking about and it's actually killing
    the creative mood for me.

    I'm thinking I should go on hiatus from the
    DD pro forum for a while but I'm kind of hooked,
    and I really do learn a lot from you guys. It's
    just that, as I said before, it's all my focus.

    It's like my left brain is so wrapped up in the
    do's and don'ts that my right brain is being
    totally ignored.

    At some point I'm going to have to say enough
    is enough with all the info and just sit down and write.

    Has this weird sort of procrastination happened to any of you?
    The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense - Tom Clancy

  • #2
    Re: Great advice kills the mood

    Oh yeah.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Great advice kills the mood

      Nope. Not me. Never. Now excuse me for a while 'cause I just remembered a thread from back in April that I finally have a response to and have to track it down.

      Midnite

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Great advice kills the mood

        The basic rule of becoming a writer is to write, every day. Write something. Hone your skills.

        There are a great number of reasons to put off writing, DD being but one of them. Diversion is good, even necessary, but when the diversion becomes a replacement for writing, then one needs to consider what his true ambitions are.

        I wish I would listen to my own advice.
        We're making a movie here, not a film! - Kit Ramsey

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Great advice kills the mood

          Originally posted by billmarq View Post
          The basic rule of becoming a writer is to write, every day. Write something. Hone your skills.

          There are a great number of reasons to put off writing, DD being but one of them. Diversion is good, even necessary, but when the diversion becomes a replacement for writing, then one needs to consider what his true ambitions are.

          I wish I would listen to my own advice.

          Very much agree.

          Don't stop writing. Write anything: journal, blogs, poems, short stories, a crazy scene that pops into your brain - whatever, even if it doesn't make sense. Just don't leave it for too long.

          Also, give yourself a pat on the back and a break. You're a writer, not a superhero.

          Write.

          Oh, and check out youtube: thedialogue screenwriting. Lots of great writers on there sharing about how they write, inspirations, starts, projects ..etc.
          You don't ask, you don't get! - Don Carmody

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Great advice kills the mood

            stop asking for advice and do the research yourself

            every time you have a question find a script or several scripts that may answer it for you and read it

            and just like any of artistic challenge... you must practice and hone your skills so don't stop writing

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Great advice kills the mood

              What's happening to you is a normal stage a lot of us go through in our development as writers. At first, ignorance is bliss. I wrote my first screenplay with no realization that there were a million technical aspects to the craft I'd never heard of. Once I became aware of that, I went through a compulsive information-collecting phase. I bought every book, took every class, read every thread I hoped might hold the key. But at a certain point, it gels. Bits of what you've learned from a whole bunch of sources become a part of you. You don't need to go back to every post about dialog to make sure you're on the right track before you dare to write a line anymore, just as you no longer need to think about what your hands and feet are doing while you're driving. You'll know for yourself. You'll get your confidence back, but this time it will be a more informed confidence, improved by what you've read and what you've written.
              Last edited by Joaneasley; 07-05-2010, 08:25 AM. Reason: typo

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Great advice kills the mood

                Originally posted by Logliner View Post
                ... Has this weird sort of procrastination happened to any of you?
                You seem to come to the right conclusion but then appear to invite reasons to disobey it!

                I hope you don't come back to see what responses you've received to this good post!

                Not today anyway.

                Visit us once per day. Half hour at most.

                That's me now.

                Great stuff on this board, but you have to be disciplined. There's lots of funny, informative, witty, wise, and totally useless complaining crap here.

                A bit of sadness, too. When I see writers who've posted into the thousands...

                I have only one more topic to check (that "stupid contests" one) and then I'm off to write for the rest of the day, wrapping up my 4th script in 4 months.

                Anybody can do it. Good luck.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Great advice kills the mood

                  I started writing better when I told myself there aren't any "don'ts" in screenwriting.

                  I write what I want, where I want, and how I want -- until my manager tells me different
                  Quack.

                  Writer on a cable drama.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Great advice kills the mood

                    Start writing. Now.

                    PS: Shouldn't great advice *inspire you*? That's how it works with me, at least. I see some way to do something that I hadn't known existed before, and want to write something that does that.

                    - Bill
                    Free Script Tips:
                    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Great advice kills the mood

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wR_TWdVy0

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Great advice kills the mood

                        Originally posted by Logliner View Post
                        Jules thread on "the slump" got me thinking.

                        My problem is there's so much great advice
                        on these boards from concept to script
                        execution that trying to decipher it all
                        is all I'm thinking about and it's actually killing
                        the creative mood for me.

                        I'm thinking I should go on hiatus from the
                        DD pro forum for a while but I'm kind of hooked,
                        and I really do learn a lot from you guys. It's
                        just that, as I said before, it's all my focus.

                        It's like my left brain is so wrapped up in the
                        do's and don'ts that my right brain is being
                        totally ignored.

                        At some point I'm going to have to say enough
                        is enough with all the info and just sit down and write.

                        Has this weird sort of procrastination happened to any of you?
                        I feel the same way.
                        Everyone is different, but as for me when I really sweat on something I have to cut myself completely from the the outside world (the boards), otherwise my mind drifts in too many directions. In other words, sometimes even good advice clogs my brain and it overloads.
                        Last edited by Olgason; 07-05-2010, 12:32 AM.
                        Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
                        -Confucius

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Great advice kills the mood

                          yep, i know what ya'll are talking about, although i identify most with what joaneasley posted; right on target there. i've become the student extraordinaire... funny, i was in a local coffee shop the other day (doesn't even classify as a starbucks but much better coffee imho...) and a young couple was fighting... not much past 17-ish. anyway, i realized i was "framing" their breakup scene. damn, the dude should have walked out the door instead of taking that crap... lousy actor.

                          yep, i'm finally past the left brain dominance part. thanks j.e. for posting that.
                          life happens
                          despite a few cracked pots-
                          and random sunlight

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Great advice kills the mood

                            I was watching Dead Poets Society last night, and one of the many scenes that stood out was the one where Robin Williams' character gets the students to tear out the whole intro of a poetry book explaining the formula for good and bad poetry. Creativity doesn't have rules -- it shouldn't have rules. There are rules for getting a spec script sold, but that's so far down the line that you can afford to go crazy now and just write. The amount of work a script goes through from first draft to shooting draft is vast, no one gets it perfect first time round. Just write, but ensure you're enjoying writing, because if you're not, how can you expect anyone to enjoy watching it?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Great advice kills the mood

                              And thank you for posting that. I started thinking maybe what I wrote was off in left field and not relevant to the subject at hand. Glad it resonated with you.


                              Originally posted by asjah8 View Post
                              yep, i know what ya'll are talking about, although i identify most with what joaneasley posted; right on target there. i've become the student extraordinaire... funny, i was in a local coffee shop the other day (doesn't even classify as a starbucks but much better coffee imho...) and a young couple was fighting... not much past 17-ish. anyway, i realized i was "framing" their breakup scene. damn, the dude should have walked out the door instead of taking that crap... lousy actor.

                              yep, i'm finally past the left brain dominance part. thanks j.e. for posting that.

                              Comment

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