New Permanent Sections On The Blog

I have added three permanent sections to the blog. Industry Interviews, Inspiration, and Short Stories. I hope you check them out. If not now, then you'll be able to find them forever more on the top left of the blog. 

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What Projects Are You Currently Working On?

I do this occasionally here -- just a chance for us all to share a little bit of ourselves. You are more than welcome to share links but, more importantly; I'd like to hear from you personally on your creative projects. What are you working on or considering working on? What is inspiring you? What obstacles are you facing? 

Share anything you'd like to share about your projects in the comments section; It'll be great for everyone to read, and hopefully very inspiring. It doesn't have to be film based -- and, it doesn't have to be something big; maybe you have a poem you've been working on for a few months, or maybe you're about to start designing birthday cards, or maybe you're writing a screenplay for a studio and you're struggling on the third act. 

Whatever it is you're focusing on, or thinking of focusing on, or struggling to keep momentum with--- tell us about it! I look forward to hearing from you all!

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Twitter Disagreement

Earlier today there was a Twitter conversation between a well known film producer and a very talented screenwriter. I have kept the names anonymous for their privacy, and also because they're fictional.

Producer: Great redraft, but why did you kill the elephant on page 8?

Writer: The film is called 'Kill The Elephant'

Producer: We just got endorsement from the Foundation Of Large Animals. 20 million dollars. The elephant lives.

Writer: But page 9 to page 119 are about getting revenge for the elephant murder. What do you want me to do?

Producer: Sounds good.

Writer: What does?

Producer: Go for it. Keep it alive. Trust me. Need new draft, by lunch time. No rush.

Writer: If the elephant lives nothing makes sense anymore! How can Tasha end up with Andrew if the animal lives?

Producer: Kill Tasha. Kill Andrew. Must get elephant drinking Pepsi.

Writer: You want me to kill the main characters?? WTF. This is going to Fuck up movie!

Producer: lolz

Writer: I'm serious!

Producer: We'll save it in the edit.

Writer: I quit.

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When Everyone Is Together

I'm not a big U2 fan. Although I did see them two nights in a row at Wembley Stadium -- but I didn't pay for the tickets. It's not the kind of thing you turn down.

But the one moment that got me, was exactly the same as this moment. I guess they did it throughout the tour.

This isn't a U2 song. But it's something that everyone knows.

When 90,000 people do something together, in agreement, the result is always beautiful. I remember that night, a few years back in Wembley-- feeling as close to religion as I can get. And you get a sense of it in this video too.

Is there anything better than a large crowd of people singing a beautiful song together?

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Dreaming And Fighting: Inner Battles Of A Writer

A lot has been written about creativity and writers block and inner criticism. And it can be helpful but also, in many ways, It's a lot of nonsense. I've written blog posts in the past on these topics and luckily people have found them helpful, but my regret is that I wrote them in an authoritative tone, like I'm a psychologist or something. My writing has changed a lot in these years, as time has passed, and I've been careful about how I give 'advice' because I think anyone who isn't Carl Jung needs to be careful about giving psychology tips, and anyone who isn't Steven Spielberg should realise they don't know everything about film.

I used to harp on about how we need to beat our inner critics, be positive and all that stuff. But I'll leave all that to the self-help industry and instead I'll speak more personally.

There is part of me that likes to dream, part of me that is determined and strict, and part of me that does the writing. Then there is another part of me that oversees all of this.

I'd imagine you have something similar.

If you want to be a writer, dreaming and having ideas, by itself, is meaningless. That's why you meet so many people who want to share their film ideas with you. They're just daydreamers. They don't have the discipline to write, or to learn how to write, or to suffer through ten years of abysmal writing.

The part of me that is determined and focused is hugely responsible for my often ferocious productivity, which I think you can see hints of in this blog. It's absolutely ruthless; demanding originality, variety and a high level of quality every time. In recent posts you'll see interviews, comedic stories, advice, dreamy stuff, reviews. Part of that is the disappointment I feel when I write something and don't nail it, or when I get little feedback. That part of me, in me, is always determined to do better.

But here's the problem: you can't daydream when your brain is shouting at you to be productive. You can't relax, can't pay attention to those around you and can't even eat properly. My writing is at It's best when I've been able to daydream about meeting a beautiful woman; or had my imagination rip into the notion of setting fire to the local police station while yelling in Norwegian.

But it's incompatible with the side of me that is in a rush to achieve, to work. That side will find any excuse: there's a deadline! You've never written anything good so hurry up and do so! We all die soon! You need to earn money! Etc.

So a huge part of writing is, I think, shutting out or calming the inner crazy disciplinarian.

But without having him there, a day of daydreaming turns into four years of never completing anything.

They need each other.

Writing is, I think, about balancing the two. It's diferent for each of us, it's an individual process.

Writing begins when the daydreamer and the hard-worker allow each other to work. Then there's the part of me that catches it. That says "ah this will be a screenplay about dolphins" or "this is worthy of being a blog post about internal criticism."

For me to be able to write about these sides of my personality, means there was someone there witnessing everything. I've always been good at that-- being able to see the various sides of me smashing into each other. The one who witnesses the creative splurts and the horrible depressions and the months of irritability, has been able to teach me that these phases pass, that they're part of my creative process, and that they're all nonsense. It makes the pain of the blank page slightly easier to bare.

Writing is pleasurable for some. If you're one of them you're lucky. For me, the process is hugely difficult, lonely and demanding.

But that's writing: allowing freedom and dreaming to exist alongside productive urges.

But I count myself lucky. Too many people have no discipline, no drive, no focus. And even worse, some people have no imagination.

One last note: I realize many writers will have no idea what I'm talking about. A lot of writers don't house all these elements internally. Many have mentors, producers, etc, to provide the discipline. Likewise, many people have no ability to daydream, especially if they live in LA (joke). If you can get a colleague or manager or phone app to play one of these parts for you, I recommend it. For those of you like me, who demand doing the whole process yourself, I recommend a good night's sleep and a heavy dose of dreaming.

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