Time Mining

Not so very long ago, the "big studio" system used to stick writers in a room with a typewriter, reams of paper, and little else. Like monkeys in a cage. At least that's what I've heard. I imagine there wasn't much a writer could do in such a circumstance but...write.

Now, with everyone being plugged in and logged on, today's writer faces a threat to his very creativity and attention -- the massive time-suck known as the Internet.

Between life, work, email, instant messaging, social networking, and mind-numbing slack-jawed web browsing, keeping your head in the game is absolutely impossible sometimes. I know you're reading this thinking, "Not me, brother. I have that Mr. Miyagi kind of focus." But even you, sensei, can fall victim at any time.

Merlin Mann, offers a simple solution that socks you right in the nose as soon as your web browser pops to life. Leo Babauta of ZenHabits has a few additional tips for keeping your dreams on track. (And believe me, you'll want to check out the other random bits of coolness on both of these sites.)

Since a lot of these suggestions are good for just about any task you happen to face, I thought I'd offer six simple time-making ideas specifically for writers. Are some of them tough to do? Sure. Do I do all of them? Not all, but some. At least it's a start.

1. Set a deadline. Even if it has no real-life monetary significance, you can invent a circumstance where your family's survival depends on getting that draft done on time. Hey, you're a writer...make it exciting.

2. Put the desktop on the deskbottom. Having all those reminders, pingers, and alerts flashing like a marquee across your screen can easily send you into an ADD nosedive. Applications like JDarkroom and Writeroom let you hide everything except your writing screen. These are two splendid tools that black out the desktop, leaving you with nothing but a lean word processor and your awesomeness.

3. Make down time the write time. Stuck in traffic? Pull out a pad and pen and get some stuff on paper. Got time to kill on the bus? Pull out the laptop and get tapping. I take the bus to the office, so I already have four allocated hours of me-time that I can spend reading, writing, or thinking about story ideas.

4. Rise and shine. This one's a no-brainer and has been covered by other screenbloggers out there, but it makes perfect sense. If you want more hours in your day, create them. My day typically starts at 5:00 am, and while I'm usually more in a mood to punch a rooster in the mouth than write, it's uninterrupted time I wouldn't have otherwise. NOTE: I've found that a 20-minute nap in the afternoon (Pzizz is great for this) does wonders for your mental state and keeps you from sleep-deprived insanity.

5. Group therapy. Sometimes, a little peer pressure is a wonderful thing. Except when it involves jumping off something or tequila. When you don't feel like writing, get others to give you a pedal to the posterior. Writers groups keep you writing because on one wants to show up at another meeting with no pages to show. Find one in your area and join. No groups around? Start one.

6. Kill your television. Go ahead. Unplug it. Sell it. There's nothing on anyway.

7. It's up to you. I'm leaving this one blank because this list is all about making time for YOU. Now, close this and go write.

Making Progress

One of my favorite screenwriting bloggers, Dave Anaxagoras, recently updated his blog. Changed the design, the categories, revamped the entire thing. It really looks fantastic now and is much easier to get around. Unfortunately, he seems to have dumped some pretty good articles during the transition. One of those lost posts explained how to create a progress bar that you can easily use on your own site to track your writing. And if you're not a writer, you can use it to track the progress of just about anything else. If you look over to the right, you'll see mine. They let others know not only what I'm working on, but the varying degrees of productivity -- or procrastination. C'mon, you all know how that goes.

The progress bar is über-easy to set up. And if you know even a little CSS and HTML, it's that much easier. Here's the code, followed by the inevitable explanation...

CSS:

.prog-border {
height: 17px;
width: 205px;
background: #113355;
border: 1px solid silver;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

.prog-bar {
height: 13px;
margin: 2px;
padding: 0px;
background: #C9DDEC;
color: #113355;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center;
line-height: 13px
}


HTML:

<div class="prog-border">
<div style="width: 75%;" class="prog-bar"><em>75%</em></div>
</div>


First, add the CSS code to your current CSS style definition, which should be found either in the header of the page's code or in a separate file. You can also change the colors to match your site if you feel the need.

Then, paste the HTML wherever you want the bars to appear. When you're ready to update your progress, simply change the percentages in the bar's HTML code. (The version I have here has a slight issue with the bar width once you get to 100%...and you WILL get to 100%, right? When the bar width is set to 100%, it extends past the frame. So, I use a 98% width to show a nice and neat 100% bar.) 

And there you have it. Now you can proudly display the fruits of your never ending labor to the world. Oh, and when you're done, be sure to visit Earl Newton's excellent collection of short films, Stranger Things...He's the one who asked me about the progress bars.

The Six Things

meme |mēm|
n. an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.

My wife, who has a great blog that blows mine out of the water, asked me the other day what a meme is. Since I spend a good amount of my time online, I knew some examples of popular memes -- Chocolate Rain, Diet Coke + Mentos, The Numa Numa guy...the list goes on ad infinitum. However, I couldn't come up with a concise definition of one.

So, to better help me understand the concept of memes, my darling spouse has seen fit to tag me with the infamous "Six Things" blog meme. And not one to be a party pooper, here goes...

Six Things People (Generally) Don't Know About Me:

1. I knit. Let's get that one out there now. I don't knit often, nor do I do it very well, but I do knit.

2. I almost dropped out of college in favor of culinary school to become a chef.

3. The only film I've ever had to hide my eyes from was Jaws.

4. My friends and I used to play baseball in a cemetery. First base was the grave marker for an 11-year-old boy. I always thought of him as part of the team.

5. I was the one who loosened all the bolts on Eric Costello's bike.

6. I'm still embarrassed by the horribly awful John Fogerty impression in a college acting class. Only a handful of you know that.

There you have it. And to make sure I don't get to have all the fun to myself, I've tagged Dave Anaxagoras, WriterDad, Joel Haber, ScreenwriterGuy, Will Martell, and Andy Coughlan.

On Writing: A Review

As the final section of Stephen King's "edutaining" book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft came to a regrettable close, I was struck head-on with the sudden urge to sit down and write. Anything. I just wanted to put something on paper. My head was swimming. And believe me, when a storyteller of King's caliber is finished with you, you'll want to write, too.

Now, I normally don't need to be coaxed into writing, but I've always had one weakness as a writer and it's the same fear that cripples most every person at some point in their lives — the fear of failure.

I would sometimes — usually the closer I got to the end of the first draft — feel like the stuff I was writing was complete bullshit. Like my fraudulent attempts would rat me out as a hack. But for this, Stephen King has a solution: Fuck fear. Shut the door and just sit down and do it.

On Writing is a how-to in two very distinct parts which, after a while, start to blend into a pretty good life lesson. Parts of the book chronicle King's struggles as a young writer, overcoming a lower-class childhood and subsequent years of substance abuse. And then there's the infamous accident. The one that almost killed both him and his writing career. But these passages aren't merely bio-fluff. He uses his own backstory to illustrate the things every writer needs to keep going — Passion, determination, discipline, love, and a healthy refusal to heed unwanted naysaying advice.

The other parts of the book are devoted to the process and mechanics of good writing. What to do, what not to do. You'll want to read this section a few times over. There are so many great nuggets of wisdom in there that I can't list them all here. And why would I? You'd really be missing out if you don't read the book, and you'd really kick yourself if you don't listen to the audio version of this book. King narrates it himself, at times coming across like the little cartoon devil that sits on your shoulder, egging you on. “You know you want to write, don't you. So go ahead. Nobody's stopping you.”

Here are a few of my favorite highlights:

• Always be truthful in your writing.
• Get rid of adverbs — as many as you can stand to part with.
• Write the first draft with the door closed; write the second draft with the door open.
• Equal parts writing and reading is the best training for a writer.
• Make sure you have a well-stocked toolbox before you sit down to write. (The tools? I'll just say Strunk & White's Elements of Style is in the top tray. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest.)

I've never read any of Stephen King's novels. Seen the movies, but never read the books. And, truth be told, I've never really considered writing a novel myself. After reading On Writing, however, I just may have to read a couple of his works. And maybe, just maybe, thanks to Stephen's kind advice, I'll try writing one, too.

Stephen King: On Writing

I just started listening to Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I'm only on the first chapter, but it's already completely enjoyable. He goes into detail about the events in his life that shaped him as an artist, as well as some essential advice for writers of all levels.

I'll post a full review once I'm done.

Baby Got Backup

Every writer with an overabundance of mushy grey stuff in their head knows that the words they write are golden. Even the stuff that will eventually get the red pen is worth saving, because in the end, the mountain of success you're standing on is actually a big steaming pile of mistakes.

Since most writers have now forgone pen and paper for a screen and a keyboard, having a reliable file backup system is not only crucial, it's job security. Of course, you could just dump your docs onto an external drive every couple of days, but when you need to go back to find a passage you deleted three versions ago, you're stuck.

That's why a version control system is such a great idea for writers. Typically, version control systems have been the mainstay of software programmers because being able to track the modifications among many versions of a file makes collaborative development infinitely less stressful. But writers need a similar system. That scene you axed last week could find new life if it were simply moved to a different part of the story. But since you've deleted it, it's gone. And after a week's worth of banging out page after page, there's no way you could recreate it.

Luckily, Rachel Greenham has laid out a great file management tutorial for writers of any type and genre. It uses an open-source system called Subversion that tracks complete information about every version of a file, from the modification date to any changes from a previous version. You can even add comments to the version record, in case you want to tag it with an idea without having to write it in the actual file.

The tutorial is primarily written for Mac users, however similar solutions are available for you Windows users as well. Also, bear in mind that setting up this system requires you to let your geek flag fly, but hey...you're a writer. I'm sure you can figure it out!

George Carlin: R.I.P.

Damn. First Sydney Pollack, now another of my favorite performers has passed away. But George Carlin, who died yesterday, wasn't just a performer. The man was a walking middle finger in the face of a close-minded establishment. From his rants on child safety to the classic Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television, Carlin knew what buttons to push to get us thinking and reacting to what was going on around us -- and most often, to us.

Here's a few samples of the man at work: (WARNING: NSFW...or children)

On children:


On germs:


On the ruling elite:


Thanks for thinking out loud, George. We'll miss you.

Read My Wife...Please!

Okay, I don't know if she's doing this to make me look like a total slacker (not difficult, I assure you), but Shelley, my wife, has started a blog and it's already kicking butt! It's called Eclectic Eccentricities, Etc. and it's all about our family's adventures, with a generous helping of her brilliant philosophipolitical musings. So, if you ever wonder why I haven't posted here in a while, check over there and you'll probably find out.

In her inaugural post, Shell discusses the concept of SOS. Not the distress call, but Shiny Object Syndrome.

"Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) is the art of being right in the middle of a great project when something new, fun, and alluring comes along. At that point, the 'old' project becomes boring, mundane, etc. You long for that new project. You fantasize about it. Finally, you give in."

I can say both from experience and from talking with other writers that SOS can quickly derail your current project. In fact, I'm going through this right now. I've been at kind of at a sticking point with Left of the Dial for the past few weeks. So, I'm shelving it for a while. In the meantime, I'm going to start on a sci-fi script that Shell and I have been knocking about for years. It's based on a short story and has an incredibly cool hook. More about that...in the future.

But, I wonder...is it wrong to drop my current script in favor of this "shiny object"? I'd have to say yes and here's why: The new story is so enticing and attractive to me at this particular moment that it's providing me the momentum to crank through all the mind-sucking pre-writing tasks, such as research, story development, outlining, etc. I figure if I can remain jazzed enough about it, I'll be in good shape when the actual script writing comes around.

It's not that Left of the Dial wasn't an attractive story. It's just that I've hit some walls with it and I need to distance myself from it for a while so I can come back to it with a clear and non-biased viewpoint.

So, what am I waiting for? Get writing, me!

A Break and Sydney Pollack

First, just wanted to let everyone know I'm still around. I've been completely slammed with work and family goings-on, but have some new things planned for the blog, so stay tuned.

Second, one of my favorite actors passed away yesterday evening. Sydney Pollack was a classic triple-threat: director, producer, and actor. I've always loved watching him on screen - he always had an air of being completely in control, most recently as the cool-headed legal eagle in Michael Clayton. Of course, his portrayal of Dustin Hoffman's agent in Tootsie was an equally great performance.

Left of the Dial: Still In the Oven

I've always thought of myself as a very patient person. My wife even accuses me of being patient. I don't stress out in traffic, I don't need to buy the whatever-it-is right away, and I don't even mind having to stand in a line once in a while.

I always thought that my collectedness applied to my writing as well. However, after posting what I thought was a pretty decent version of Left of the Dial to Triggerstreet, I'm finding out that the opposite is true.

I waited for eight or nine reviews to trickle in -- see, patience -- before I assessed the outcome. I thought the suggested changes would be somewhat minimal, but I was completely shocked to learn that:

1. The story was almost completely devoid of conflict. How the hell did that happen? I thought there was plenty going on in there. However, the overwhelming consensus was that the main character, Tom, had nothing on the line, nothing to fight for, and nothing to lose. And they're absolutely right.

2. The female lead was introduced too late. Yep, I'll give them that one. Jackie, Tom's love interest, doesn't show up until page 40. Too late for the reader to care about what happens with her and waaaaay too late for Tom to hold an interest in her.

In short, I rushed the story, I rushed putting it up on Triggerstreet for review, and as a result, I have critiques on a broken story that should never have been submitted. I've since been amping up the tension and conflict in the story and have vowed not to resubmit it until I've checked it and asked myself, "Why should I care about this?" and "What's he fighting for?"

Thankfully, John August addresses this problem with his usual wit and expertise.

On The Page

If you're like me, you've been wondering why there aren't many good screenwriting podcasts to choose from (except, of course, Creative Screenwriting Magazine's excellent Q&A series and The Grim Reader's informative, but sporadic, episodes). Well, I'm pleased to announce that Pilar Alessandra, script consultant and director of the popular writing program On The Page, has a fantastic weekly podcast just for you.

It's called On The Page (didn't see that one comin', did ya?) and it's for all manner of media writers - film, television, online, everything. Pilar and her co-host, Matt Belknap, a reader for Imagine Entertainment, cover the ins and outs of writing, outlining, story, getting your script seen, and more recently, the business side of writing. Pilar, Matt, and a weekly featured guest also answer listeners' questions, which you can submit to inquire@onthepage.tv.

The best part for me, however, are Pilar's 10-minute writing exercises - quickie assignments that will really push your writing to a new level. Here's a sample:

Episode 9:
Prevent your dialogue from being too "on the nose". Go through your dialogue-driven scenes and replace dialogue that states a feeling out loud with an action that conveys the emotion.

To get a list of past exercises, just email Pilar at inquire@onthepage.tv.

You can subscribe to On The Page in iTunes or, if you use another podcast-catching app, use this link.

Also, if you're in the LA area, you'll definitely want to attend Pilar's classes and workshops. Being on the other coast, I haven't taken them myself, but they come very highly recommended. Check the schedule at OnThePage.tv for more information.

A quick note from Pilar: If you mention 120-Page Monster, she'll take $25 off the registration cost! Thanks, Pilar!

Enjoy!

Finding Inspiration

Leo Babauta, the mastermind behind Zen Habits, has launched a new site, Write to Done, for writers looking to improve their craft and art.

A recent post covers finding inspiration for your writing. Personally, I usually get the spark at some pretty unexpected moments -- walking to the bus stop, scrubbing a dirty stew pot, or cuddling my 1-year-old into a reluctant nap.

One of my favorites from Leo:

People watching. This is an interesting activity for any writer. Go to a busy public place and just sit and watch people. They’ll amuse you, inspire you, fascinate you. There’s nothing more inspiring than humanity.

So, where do you find the inspirato?

Ira Glass on Storytelling

This American Life host Ira Glass discusses the elements of storytelling. Enjoy!

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:

Oscar Post-Game

Now that the Oscars are done (Zzzz), I thought I'd share my thoughts about the outcome of the two screenplay awards.

First, of course everyone with body jewelery and a well-worn pair of black canvas Chuck Taylor All-Stars knows that Diablo Cody took home the award for Best Original Screenplay for Juno. And to be honest, I wasn't really surprised. With all the buzz about her past and one-stroke discovery, the media was able to paint a real Cinderella in Tinseltown story. Don't get me wrong, I liked Juno. It was fun to watch, hip in all the right places, and occasionally a character surprised me. Did I think it deserved to win? Probably not. The main beef I had with it was that everyone in the film was written in the same glib, hipster voice. Except for one: Paulie Bleeker. Bleeker seemed to me the most real character in the whole bunch. But nonetheless, I congratulate Cody.

Personally, I was pulling for either Lars and the Real Girl or The Savages in this category. Both were strong scripts and I feel had more depth than Juno.

Best Adapted Screenplay? Didn't read any of them yet so I can't comment at the moment. Maybe in a later post.

Post-Strike: Did We Really Win?

Now that the strike is over and everyone is licking their wounds and getting back to work, there's something that's been itching my brain lately. Most of the coverage I've heard about the settlement has said that it's a win for the writers as well as a win for the producers. The writers now have permanent access to residuals from online content and the producers can get their moneymaking machine rolling again.

At first glance, the internet content agreement seems like a pretty important victory, especially with services like iTunes and Amazon offering downloads of movies and TV programming, not to mention the monetization of the free episodes (with limited commercial interruption, whatever that means) available online from the major networks. But what percentage of viewers watch episodes and movies online right now? Not much. At least not enough, in my opinion, to justify a strike based so heavily on the internet download issue.

Remember early on, when the DVD residual issue was on the table? Remember when that same issue was withdrawn by the Guild because "[the production] Companies said [it] was a stumbling block"?

A stumbling block? Well, yeah. Duh. That's why you call for a strike. Because of stumbling blocks just like this. At first, the WGA asked for a four cent increase to the existing four cent residual for DVD purchases. But when the AMPTP freaked out over the DVD issue, the Guild did a little freaking of their own and withdrew it, choosing instead to focus on the internet residual issue.

According to Roger Smith in a recent episode of KCRW's The Business, the Guild really missed the boat by championing the internet issue over increased DVD residuals. According to Smith, the estimated revenue from all internet media (including online rentals, online purchases, and ad revenue from online episodes) for the last year of the current contract (2011) is about two billion dollars.

The estimate for future DVD purchase and rental revenues? About 17 billion.

It's a pretty simple assumption that more people are currently purchasing and renting their media on shiny disks rather than shiny computers. Moreover, since the AMPTP was completely unwilling to negotiate with the WGA unless the DVD residual issue was taken off the table, that pretty much shows you where the money is. Nevertheless, you have to at least applaud the Guild's ability to think of the writer's place in future technologies and developments. I just think it's the right victory for the wrong issue at this time.

On a completely different tangent, here's a insider's view of what the producers were working on while the writers were striking.

The When and Where of Writing

Study Hacks has posted some pretty interesting stats on the basic behavior of writers. Seems that we typically like to write in the morning (around 7 or 8 am) and we like to write in isolation.

Some of the writers stated a staunch preference for putting their writing area far away from their living space, even a ramshackle cabin in the woods in one example. For me, this would be an ideal writing space.

Personally, I do find that I can get a lot of writing done early in the morning, especially on days I take the bus to work. Although I typically sleep in on the weekends, that's a habit of mine I'm planning to change. I figure I could get a few hours done on a Sunday morning easily. I just have to break the weekend habit and just do it...Because the Nicholl deadline is right around the corner.

Light Notebook = Light Wallet

The recently released MacBook Air promises a lightweight portable that is thin enough to slip into an interoffice envelope. The perfect thing for writers on the go, right?

Wrong.

Sure it's thin, but there's no optical drive, you can't change the battery, and there's no firewire port. And to top it off, it's both slower and more expensive than Apple's basic MacBook, which to me is perfect for writing wherever.

$700 extra for skinny? Count me out.

Write That...Not That...But, Yeah.

After reading a couple of books from any of the "screenwriting gurus" (I won't mention names. You know who they are.), does anyone else feel like this poor writer?



In a recent episode of Creative Screenwriting Magazine's writers podcast, either the host, Jeff, or one of the writers he was interviewing made an offhand remark that three-act-pushing guru books are basically crap and you should just write using whichever structure or method is right for the story. The audience applauded this wildly.

With so many examples of movies that work, but don't follow the traditionally taught structure, why are the "gurus" still in business?

New Year, New Stuff

You know, I could start off with my list of New Year's resolutions that will most likely never come to fruition. Or I could start off with a blathering apology for not posting in so long.

Instead, here's a list of things I've come to realize since my last post...

1. There's a reason I don't work from home. It's spelled C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N.

2. Scientology is almost kinda like Buddhism, but with with more bells and whistles...and lights and dials and electrodes and crazy actors. Okay, maybe it's nothing like Buddhism.

3. Good aim is absolutely essential when chopping firewood.

4. Casablanca really is one of the best screenplays ever written. Really.

5. I must never again pick out movies for my wife and me to watch. Bug was a prime example of this rule.

6. My current screenplay needs more conflict. Much more conflict.

7. Bill Forsyth really should start directing again. But only if he can make something as good or better than Local Hero.

8. There are certain days of the week when all the idiotic drivers converge on the road to randomly cut me off. I haven't yet figured out which days these are.

Speechless Campaign

SpeechlessWithoutWriters has launched an online video ad campaign that shows what movies and TV would be like were it not for the vital pens of writers. A lot of celebrities participated and most of the spots are really good.

My favorite, though, has to be this one from Ed Asner...


Damn, that guy can act!!