Day 6 #trust30 - Screenwriting

Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

I've always wanted to send one of my feature film scripts to agents for production.

Standing in my way is:

• Several scripts in revision stage that I have not continued working on recently.
• My fear of success.
• My fear of failure.
• My fear that I will be too attached to the script and not want it to be butchered by a re-write by someone else or a bad director.
• My attachment to my stories and characters
• The time I have to finish the scripts.
• Wanting to send it out now even though they are not ready.
• My lack of networking skills.
• Not getting paid to write for a living yet.
• Questions in my mind about how I should go about doing it rather than just trying different approaches and seeing what happens.
• Not being willing to use the contacts I have to progress even though I would happily help someone in the same position if I had an in.

Plan:

• Start working on a feature script once Nanowrimo for the summer is over.
• Research all the different ways I can send scripts to agents, using all the documentation I have saved and downloaded over the last months.
• Give my script out to those who know how to read a script and ask for feedback or join a screenwriting group that I trust.
• Decide who my feature would suit before sending it out in a cold query.
• Enter the script into festivals.
• Copyright my work.
• Start asking friends who they work for and if they know anyone who knows anyone who could pass on my script. Maybe do this in return for a favor for them so that they don't feel totally used and abused by me.
• Work harder to get paid for writing articles (as you already know you can hint hint!)
• Start working out how I can best network and how I could feel comfortable doing this.
• Meditate on my fear of success and failure.
• Ask myself what would happen if I did succeed/ fail...what would my next steps be?
• Pick a script that I feel is most marketable and work on that one first.
• Pitch the script to film friends and ask them which one they would be most interested in seeing/ making etc.
• Use the time i have left here in Oman to FINISH (or at least try and finish) revisions on a feature. Don't waste it away on blogging challenges like this one (which is great, but which takes away from screenwriting).
• Meditate on giving away my script and watching it go nowhere. 
• Meditate on non-attachment to my work.

I shouldn't be waiting for anything, but I'm waiting until mid-July I reckon.

That's my goal for now.

Don't only read about it. DO IT!

I love websites such as thescriptlab.com where you can find almost anything you may have questions about regarding screenwriting and sometimes even get a bit of inspiration for your work.


I tend to find, however, that the more I look at these kinds of websites the less writing I actually do.  I get so caught up in 'learning about my craft' that I forget to actually practice it.  It's also a great way to procrastinate when you are trying to avoid the actual work involved in 'writing'.


It's not the websites' fault, of course!  It's definitely mine.  I especially love it when I collect website upon website in my favorites folder that I believe will help me write better, when in actual fact they end up piled up in the 'go back to it later' folder.  I admit it - I rarely go back...


While I really do intend to read and learn more about my craft and use these websites as tools for improving on the skills I have already acquired, I can't stress enough to new screenwriters that the best way to learn about screenwriting is to write and to let others (who naturally have a respect for the craft) read your work.  Find someone you trust and allow them to comment on your script.  It's amazing what you can learn!  Even if it is just to correct your grammar and spelling mistakes!


Just because you're facing a blank screen alone, doesn't mean you should think of screenwriting as a solo-mission in which you have to reach the award level having done everything all by yourself. Just as filmmaking is a collaborative medium, so is screenwriting.  Without others to point out when you are telling instead of showing, or writing dialogue that only robots would say (great if you're writing the next big robot blockbuster) how will you ever improve?  Sure you can visit a screenwriting blog or website that gives you tit-bits on how to improve the dialogue or write correct format, but you still need that human being who is willing and interested and believes in you enough to sit down and keep turning the 90-120 pages of your script.


While reading about screenwriting may get the juices flowing or allow you to discover things you never knew about the screenwriting process, you do need to find yourself a writing/ reading buddy - someone who is kind, but honest and who can really help you take your script to the next level.  Otherwise you may spend a lot of time and money writing what you think is the 'next big thing', but which ultimately becomes the 'next big rejection'.


One warning about those writing/ reading buddies to end - if your writing/ reading buddy tells you that your writing sucks, find another writing/ reading buddy. Ultimately that kind of reaction tells you that they suck!  Everything has potential!


And don't give up.  Keep Writing! :D

2011 - an explanation...

While doing #reverb10 prompts this December, and trying to figure out what I'm going to use this blog for I decided that starting 1/1/11 I'm going to get back to basics in terms of screenwriting and do what I love to do most.


I'm gonna listen to some flipping fantastic music (randomly chosen from iTunes) and whatever comes up is what I'll use as inspiration for a scene in a script.  Any scene, any character, any screenplay.  Maybe no one will even read this stuff, but that's fine.  It's like my 750 words of the day in screenplay format.  Each entry will be the length of a song and that's it, no more, no less.


Maybe it'll grow into something quite different but at this point I just need to write so this is what I've come up with.  


These scenes are from my head and seeing as I'm sharing them with the world feel free to steal a couple if you so wish.  Or steal the whole lot and make it into something amazing.  It's my current writing 'gift' to the world in the hopes it will keep me going when the writing gets tough and those voices in my head tell me I'm crap and should quit while I'm ahead.


And on that note....

Betserai the script - 2010 Oregon Film Awards Bronze Level Award

Just found out today that Betserai the script won a Bronze level awards in the short screenplay competition at the 2010 Oregon Film Awards. Quite a shock to find this out after being told on Withoutabox.com that my script hadn't been accepted to the festival!

Another good placement keeping the dream and spirit to write alive.

Hopefully more good news to come soon for script and film. I'll keep you posted!

Mother and child relationship barriers

It's amazing to me how when I'm writing a script so many pieces of inspiration offer themselves up to my mind (or maybe it's just that I'm open to those ideas due to the themes in the script I'm writing).

It's so inspiring to read articles that offer up the exact reasons why a character may do something that I myself can relate to but can't quite understand the motivation behind.

This is especially true for my latest character Fiona, a mother who gets up one day and leaves the family home, including her children behind. This is still very much a major taboo subject in our culture. While the father may get up and leave behind scars irreparable, a mother leaving her children is almost a life penalty worse than death itself. With all that nature and nurture that we are brought up to believe is inherent in women, it's also amazing how many modern women are telling their stories with unabashed truth about how this female trait has escaped them.

This latest article on Oprah.com, while focusing more on romantic relationships, delves into the mystery why we more often than not make enemies out of the people we love and cherish the most.

Fear is a theme I appear to deal with most in my scripts, so it's helpful to read someone's writing that recognizes where this fear may come from and why we are so quick to pander to it.

Why It’s Hard to Trust Our Instincts and How to Start

Why It’s Hard to Trust Our Instincts and How to Start

It's funny how Buddhism creeps into my life in ways that seem opportune and coincidental. Everything seems to be falling into place right now in ways I never believed would happen.

My trip to Savannah this summer almost didn't happen for personal reasons, but a little voice in the back of my head (and my mom) convinced me it was the right move to make so I jumped in with both feet and then the most amazing opportunities opened themselves up to me. All the experiences I had this summer enabled me to learn how much I've changed through my practice of Buddhism and strangely enough how my life is mirroring that of my latest script character to enter my mind. Everything I have dreamt up and wanted her to be is mirrored in the changes I have made for myself and the dreams I haven't dared to believe would come true until now. I didn't force the dreams either for myself or my character, they simply opened themselves up to us and we stepped inside rather than thinking and questioning, and all the usual things I do to rationalize the steps I take towards the future.

This leads me to conclude that Buddhism is opening itself up to me in similar ways. It's not that new ideas and concepts suddenly appear at the right time, but that when I finally take heed of certain ideas, they appear to me because I am ready to see them. I am ready to open myself up to them and accept them in order to move forward in my life and also with my writing. I am not a religious person in any way, but the more I practice (or do my best to try!) the more my life improves. I'm not saying that I don't suffer and that my life is perfect - right now it in no way is - but everything in my life is perfect in that this is where I am right now and that's what my focus should be in order to live a good life. As I accept the moment new opportunities appear - such as my plan to move back to Savannah - and problems I had with my characters and how their lives would unfold start to open up to me. This is where faith and intuition give me the motivation to keep on writing; not to give up. I have faith that although it may take time, the answers my characters pose will come to me, and that often in the moment if I don't have all the answers to my life's questions, how can I necessarily have answers to my character's lives' questions as well?

What I do know for sure is that I should keep writing. I feel it in my soul in the same way that I know I should move back to Savannah; in the same way I know I'm finally in love with a great man and that my life needs to move towards that now; in the same way that whatever happens will happen, but that I can do my best to make the choices I instinctually believe are the right way to go in the future while still doing my best to live in the moment.

Reading Joyce Carol Oates' 'The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art' is a great book to read if you're struggling with the writing process.

The Interpreter - Movie Review (spoiler alert)

I have to admit that this film interested me purely from a TCK standpoint.  I've been meaning to watch it for ages, but only just now got the chance through Netflix now that Macs can also watch instantly online.  For that function I am very grateful!

Nicole Kidman's character in this film, Silvia Broome, fascinated me.  It was great to finally see an ATCK character up on the mainstream silver screen.  I was shocked, however, to learn that none of the writers of the film have a personal connection to Africa that I could find, yet they managed to write an ATCK character who did not feel like a stereotype of what they thought a white African woman would be like.  Of course it goes without saying that they are excellent screenwriters, but when it comes to a character like Silvia Broome I doubt writing her was second nature seeing as you don't come across many white African ATCKs in the US, even these days.  

Silvia blended in very well with her surroundings in New York and at the UN allowing her to pretty much hide her true self and cultural identity.  Even her accent (although most of the time Nicole Kidman just sounded like her Aussie self to me) was hard to link to a specific part of the world, a difficulty with most New Yorkers as so many are not native to the city.  This blending worked extremely well in terms of portraying an ATCK character in a movie.  Had the screenwriters read Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken?  I would be shocked if they had, but did they realize how on the nail they were with Silvia's Hidden Immigrant characterization?

Maybe the idea of hidden immigrant is obvious to those outside the TCK circle making it a natural and fitting choice to make Silvia one in the film.  Or could it be luck that they happened in on a very important detail of this character's life and characterization simply because she worked at the UN and left a dangerous secret life behind her in Africa making her inherently secretive and not what she seemed?  I am inclined to believe the latter, but if the prior is true then I would be very impressed.

Personally, the film's success seemed due to the fact that the filmmakers were willing to focus on the life of a white African woman who struggles with her identity, culture and home country in a film.  It helped me figure out some important points in portraying a character such as Silvia Broome in a film.  The writers were not scared to show Silvia's roots in a foreign country and how that culture influenced her character and choices through personal nuances that created a character that is multi-dimensional.  I think the writers did an amazing job and Nicole played the character perfectly with her calm exterior overriding an interior life full of sorrow and heartache and experiences hidden and misunderstood by those around her in New York.  

Although this theme of the struggle of identity and belonging has been widely explored by filmmakers, it has not been explored as much in terms of TCKs and is something I hope continues especially for the sake of the growing TCK community.  We can no longer hide from the fact that skin color, accent or historical nationality point to almost little to nothing in terms of a persons true personal national identity or culture.  This is especially when faced with the fact that most people do not grow up in a vacuum of one culture that determines their identity anymore.  We are all a mixed bag, TCKs more than others, and should be forthcoming about telling our stories without fear of being misunderstood because I believe much can be learned from cultural chameleons such as ourselves.

As much as I enjoyed this film I do have one issue with it.  This issue relates to the question of whether we really need another film about a white woman who needs to be saved by a white man from the conflicts of Africa.  Unfortunately most mainstream films made about Africa or with a focus on Africa have white people as protagonists.  There are many African films that don't, but the mainstream western world has not had as much exposure to these films perpetuating stereotyping and racism that has been and can still be inherent in the film world.  The question of whether or not white protagonists living in Africa, or with a connection to the continent, really need more screen time is something I have been struggling with when pondering the films that play out in my head.

As a white woman who grew up in Africa I would love to write a film that I could connect to in terms of my history and the struggle it often was to be white in Africa.  The question is how to do this without audiences misunderstanding the motive behind the film, especially because so many other people in Africa have to struggle so much harder just to survive day to day.  I don't wish to write films in order to gain sympathy for 'those poor white people struggling in Africa', but want simply to tell the tales of life as a white person in Africa, as an African, for good or bad.  

I do also hope to write stories that tell the tales of all those who have lived or do live in the Africa I knew, but I don't always feel I have the understanding or personal experience to do all these complex characters justice in written form right now.  However, I do feel I can write about what I know.  This is growing up as a white girl in Africa, going to school with kids of 42 different nationalities.  It was a privileged life and not one that many people will be able to or will necessarily want to connect to.

Ultimately no matter what I write, one reality is that the subject matter may not be a familiar one and the characters not necessarily from the same culture or social class as the audience.  Hopefully though, I can still create films that connect with the audience emotionally just as was done in The Interpreter.  Silvia may have been a white woman from Africa but she was still human and therefore, I believe, universally connected to everyone.

One thing The Interpreter did a great job of that I am very thankful for is the job of bringing an African subject to the forefront of Hollywood.  There are so many and varied African tales to be told, all of which we can learn precious lessons from that it's about time we saw them up on the screen.  Whether people appreciate them or not is another matter.  Hopefully audiences will leave the theatre feeling like Sean Penn's character, Tobin Keller, at the end of the movie; enchanted by another character who he doesn't quite understand but is draw to by the depth of spirit and character under the surface, often hidden away, but when drawn out, beautiful and full of wisdom and hope for the future.