A few months ago, I contributed an article to The Creative Revolutionary’s Handbook (now called Ocsplora), a blog started by my friend Nate. The article is called Finally Start Writing Your Screenplay, but as one commenter said
I’ve never had much interest in screenwriting (although I feel like I want to after reading this), but most of what you said applies to any kind of creative effort…
so hopefully the post will be an encouragement to anyone crafting a written work. Check it out and let me know of any ways that you get motivated to write.
Leading up to Christmas, I was feeling that my storytelling reserve was empty. It must have been all of those overlong, self-obsessed New York Story posts that I churned out. So during some free time during Christmas break, I stumbled upon this revolutionary new practice that would improve my vocabulary, fuel my imagination, and teach me from masters of the written word: reading.
I have rarely read for recreation. I read the Lord of the Rings series and a few books like it because, despite my looks, I am a big nerd. People usually mistake me for a small nerd, me being 5′5 and all.
I picked up some good deals at a used bookstore and Amazon. Since Christmas, I’ve read
- Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
- The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman
I spend at least an hour on the subway round-trip everyday; I have plenty of reading time. After looking for the strong points within each storyteller, I’ve felt refreshed when it comes to my own writing. Now I just need to put down some of these page-turners and start writing!
What kind of books or which authors do you like to read?
I’ve flirted with the idea now and again, but last year it hit me: AWSC?-branded Snuggies. Then I realized that a minimum of 3,000 cool points is required to have your own Snuggie, so I decided to write a book.
My high school English teacher, Mrs. Shayman, told me that I should be a writer. Had I pursued this goal, my life might have been starkly different:
- I wouldn’t have studied engineering (and might have had a girlfriend).
- I probably would have worked at the student newspaper (and might have dated one of my fellow beat reporters).
- I woulda developed a more clearer and stinkin’ elegant way with my words (and might have wooed a UF coed to be my steady).
However, in light of my misguided priorities in college, I am blissfully happy with my choice of (non-)career, and with the beloved Cool Fam that I have to show for it.
So, last year, while thinking about our story (which apparently I do all the time), I thought, “It would be cool to write a book about our journey.” Who knows what we would do with it. E-book, self-publish, shop it around. If nothing else, it would be a concerted effort to document our story for our own family legacy.
However, writing a book is no small task, and we never started last year. This is despite little pushes of inspiration like walking through the local Barnes and Noble and seeing the thousands upon thousands of books peddled there. We figured that we could surely match the writing prowess of a few of these published authors.
Over the Christmas break, I decided that to become a better writer, I should become a better reader. So, I read of a couple of books during the break, and I ordered several on Amazon. And I started writing, too.
So now, I’m outlining our lives’ stories little by little, and I’m loving it. Compared to writing my screenplay, this is cake. All of the characters are already made up. All of the plot twists already mapped out. Now, it’s just stoking my memory to bring them back to life.
I guess every year needs a goal, and this is among the biggest for 2010. Maybe on this day in 2011, I’ll be writing about a publishing deal. Mrs. Shayman will be so proud.
I’ve had some time to write lately, but I haven’t devoted much of it to writing. I was just verbally kicking myself over this with one of my friends, and she made a brilliant point:
If you press yourself to write during the appointed time, it won’t happen. Take the pressure off, and the writing will come when it will.
I know this isn’t the case for everyone. Some of you, if not many, can sit down during a free couple of hours and bang out a blog post or book chapter or Communist manifesto that you’ve been meaning to write. However, when I reserve ‘writing time’, it mostly ends up becoming ‘Farmville time’. (JOKING – I’m not a Farmville farmer – not that there’s anything wrong with that (ahem)).
However, now that it’s 11:00pm, and it should be ‘Fiesta Bowl watching time’, I’ve written this epic, unforgettable post.
If you’re a writer/blogger/Communist literary icon, when do you write? Are you disciplined to keep an appointed time, or do you just write whenever it flows?
