What Have You Learned

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  • What Have You Learned

    With the very possible loss of our beloved Done Deal Pro Forums (sorry to sound melodramatic}, now is a good time for us to reflect on and share what we have learned over the years.

    One thing that stands out for me is: there are no screenwriting rules. There are guidelines and suggestions, but there are no hard and fast rules that you must follow to create a great screenplay.

  • #2
    Re: What Have You Learned

    I was reminded of the value of generosity in the thoughtful and helpful advice you shared.

    I learned the importance of having a place to nurture creativity and where one can meet interesting people, and how being open to new ideas and critical thinking can only benefit me.

    I saw real passion--highs and lows, and hope--both buoyed, and dashed-- in your honest posts.

    Most importantly, I came to realize how real a virtual world can become to a person, without too much effort (and never having to brush your hair.)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: What Have You Learned

      Nice.


      Originally posted by SBdeb View Post
      I was reminded of the value of generosity in the thoughtful and helpful advice you shared.

      I learned the importance of having a place to nurture creativity and where one can meet interesting people, and how being open to new ideas and critical thinking can only benefit me.

      I saw real passion--highs and lows, and hope--both buoyed, and dashed-- in your honest posts.

      Most importantly, I came to realize how real a virtual world can become to a person, without too much effort (and never having to brush your hair.)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: What Have You Learned

        The most confident ones tend to be the ones who disappear like tears in the rain.

        Like any writer when they start I thought I was hot s**t. It took a while to be humbled by the craft and life. During my time here I learned the balance of approaching your own work. You have to be critical enough to kill your darlings and be prepared to really dig in to find that diamond in the rough. Along with that you still need to love what you're working on because that's the only motivation at this level.

        So I guess that I learned that I wasn't ready. It will be a shame if the forums go because there are plenty of new writers who have promise but wade right in trying to make a star out of themselves when they don't have the tools yet.

        There aren't rules as such, but a series of principles that each writer must come to on their own. You can be told all this stuff but with structure, characters, dialogue, absolutely everything else, you need to fail and learn on your own to see what works for you. In time all of those lessons will be ingrained and your work will appear effortless.

        I learned that we love to argue but I always respect the passion. Lots of people have been cocky and brash here only to disappear without a trace. I tip my hat to the ones who have taken the hits on the chin and kept getting back up. Perseverance is as important as talent.

        I learned everything about the business side from these forums.

        Most of all I learned that I will never stop learning. We're no masters but we can always strive towards that. Believe your own hype at your own peril.

        There's plenty more but I'll just say that I hope we can build an ark and move this party somewhere.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: What Have You Learned

          i discovered there are a lot more people like me out there on this crazy beautiful marble doing its orbiting thing in space that i could have imagined. trying to find footing on it with all the good and bad.

          i discovered i was not nearly as strange or talented as i had once upon a time believed.

          alas...

          what a big pile of crap that was.

          alas...

          and, once i began submitting material etched into stone tablets long ago before scripts written on paper and secured with brads became fashionable, yawn, i discovered a severe dislike for the word 'alas' as well as other words like 'however'

          and the proper use of punctuation.

          only people who lived three hundred years ago used the word 'alas' in maybe reasonable context and delivery, except for interns and assistants and so on now, who have revived it...and for what!

          i am a lover of good words. 'alas' is not one of them. if you added another 's' to the word, you would have 'salsa.' but alas, no salsa and no chips with alas alone. you will starve on that word.

          starve.

          alas, 'alas' should be retired. unless you can think of a good 'however' not to.

          i can't.

          other than that, i haven't learned much of anything but i keep an open mind to your all's wanderings and peculiarities and such about something such as this.

          good luck!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: What Have You Learned

            I have learned that a forum has so much more value to a beginner than a static website - there is the ability to converse, to discuss and even to argue whereas a website simply states it's case as carved in stone, word of God fact; and that is that.

            long live the forums!
            I heard the starting gun


            sigpic

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: What Have You Learned

              Originally posted by jonpiper View Post
              With the very possible loss of our beloved Done Deal Pro Forums
              Such a shame. Facebook seems to have monopolized forums/groups. Makes for a much more boring ecosystem IMO.
              Story Structure 1
              Story Structure 2
              Story Structure 3

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: What Have You Learned

                Originally posted by Southern_land View Post
                long live the forums!
                Here, here!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: What Have You Learned

                  I've learned that the dream, which often seems like a fantasy, is indeed attainable.

                  I've seen people on here -- people whom I've spoken to, gotten advice from, given advice to -- go on to get managers, get agents, get options, and even make sales. All because of hard work and persistence.

                  It was a constant source of inspiration.
                  "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: What Have You Learned

                    Originally posted by TheConnorNoden View Post
                    The most confident ones tend to be the ones who disappear like tears in the rain.

                    Like any writer when they start I thought I was hot s**t. It took a while to be humbled by the craft and life. During my time here I learned the balance of approaching your own work. You have to be critical enough to kill your darlings and be prepared to really dig in to find that diamond in the rough. Along with that you still need to love what you're working on because that's the only motivation at this level.

                    So I guess that I learned that I wasn't ready. It will be a shame if the forums go because there are plenty of new writers who have promise but wade right in trying to make a star out of themselves when they don't have the tools yet.

                    There aren't rules as such, but a series of principles that each writer must come to on their own. You can be told all this stuff but with structure, characters, dialogue, absolutely everything else, you need to fail and learn on your own to see what works for you. In time all of those lessons will be ingrained and your work will appear effortless.

                    I learned that we love to argue but I always respect the passion. Lots of people have been cocky and brash here only to disappear without a trace. I tip my hat to the ones who have taken the hits on the chin and kept getting back up. Perseverance is as important as talent.

                    I learned everything about the business side from these forums.

                    Most of all I learned that I will never stop learning. We're no masters but we can always strive towards that. Believe your own hype at your own peril.

                    There's plenty more but I'll just say that I hope we can build an ark and move this party somewhere.
                    Amen to most of this.

                    Fundamentals are important. Learn the mechanics of stories and how stories work. In other words, learn how to build the frame of the house before you worry about the wallpaper.

                    Apart from that, find your genre/style and write what you enjoy. I know people say this a lot, but write something you would pay to see.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: What Have You Learned

                      I think I've got the we see thing figured out.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: What Have You Learned

                        The community. I appreciate most the people who have connected with me and shared their work and we pinball stuff off each other. Want to expand that as well.
                        You know Jill you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month, he must have been a happy man.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: What Have You Learned

                          Originally posted by Mark Somers View Post
                          I think I've got the we see thing figured out.
                          Haha. It would sad if the extensive discussions on that subject had no benefit.
                          "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: What Have You Learned

                            The most important thing I've learned is that you have to just write. You can study, you can watch films, you can post and read on Done Deal, you can learn about writing and storytelling any way you want, but at the end of the day, you have to just write or you will never amount to anything.

                            I remember reading somewhere that the art is in the doing of it.

                            It's difficult for me, because I'm a perfectionist. If I'm not procrastinating, I'm getting stuck or bogged down on something, whatever project I start.

                            I've started drinking to try and overcome these inhibitions, and I'm not sure that's the best solution...but I suppose it beats the alternative--just sitting around hoping you will accomplish your dreams one day, without ever doing them.

                            So cheers: here's to sacrifice.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: What Have You Learned

                              Good writing demands a level of raw emotional honesty. It's a no BS "zone" whose gates won't open until you filter out the distracting noise and inhibitions of real life - at least for a few hours each day.

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