When You're In The Moment

When you're engrossed in the movie; when the song gets you high; when the book has you screaming through the pages -- for the briefest of moments, you get to drop your identity.

Your personal history is irrelevant. Your broken heart; the money you owe; your deepest insecurity -- they're all gone and non-existent.

Great art lifts us above the self-definitions and outside of the boundaries which rule our everyday lives.

We get to dream. We get to be kids in the front row.

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The Party

I always think I'm not invited. 

I was on my way to a party a few days ago; and halfway through the journey my brain went into a panic. 

I was convinced that I was invited by mistake. That maybe the text reminders were for someone else with the same name as me. 

That kind of panic I can handle, because I've been doing it all my life. But then it got more insane. 

I suddenly had a bigger worry ----- what if there is no party? What If I got it all wrong? What if I turn up, knock on the door; birthday card in hand --- and I got the wrong day? Or maybe there is a gathering but it's not a birthday..?

My brain couldn't cope. Complete anxiety. 

I scrolled through all my text messages, desperate to see the word 'birthday'. It wasn't there. 

WAS IT HER BIRTHDAY? WAS IT TODAY? WAS I INVITED?

I arrived at her place. I knocked on the door. 

I heard some voices; it sounded party-like. A good sign. 

And then it hit me. What if everybody hates me? What if they want to talk about my film work the whole time? What if they don't even mention my film work? What if they don't talk to me? What if I don't talk to them?

The panic reached fever pitch. I was about to walk into a house full of people who would see me give a birthday card to someone when it wasn't even her birthday. And then they would all hate me because somehow they all had access to my deepest insecurities and would use them all against me. 

This is why I hate going to the party. I lose all rationality. I get scared. 

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KITFR Screenwriting Program Begins Tomorrow

For one week, starting tomorrow; the following readers of the blog, all of whom are writers (although not all of them identify in this way... yet) will be taking part in the Kid In The Front Row ONE WEEK Screenwriting Program.

Anthony Abatte, Texas. 

Cheryl Beading, San Francisco, California. 

Chad Brown, Studio City, California

Lesya Hearst, Ukraine.

Kim Nunley, Oakland, California.

Matt Zurcher, Pennsylvania.

For one week, starting tomorrow; these six writers will be penning their own short-form screenplays -- with my assistance. The purpose, more than anything, is to get them writing. To get their visions to the point of completion. Will the scripts all be perfect? Probably not. Will they get made into movies? Who knows. That's not the point of this exercise.

The point of the screenwriting program is to get writers writing. At the end of the week; I will publish all six screenplays. If any of the writers don't complete their scripts by the deadline, Sunday 10th June, then I won't publish their scripts and won't take them seriously as writers again.

I will be on hand to assist them in any way I can. They may not need me. Or they may be stuck on a blank first page and need some motivation. Or maybe they'll need someone to brainstorm with; or they'll need help overcoming self-doubt. Who knows. Whatever it is; my plan and hope is to see six completed scripts, based on their own original ideas; all completed by next Sunday. They will retain full ownership, and credit, it's their babies --- I'm just sitting in the passenger seat, trying to egg them on.

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Be a Part of the KITFR Screenwriting Program!

The deadline for entry is TOMORROW! This is a free opportunity to work with me to help get your short screenplay written in ONE WEEK! Apply HERE.

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Note to Self

Focus.

Write. Or take things in.

Get inspired. Watch 'Inside the Actors Studio'. And Oscar speeches. Listen to podcasts.

Read screenplays. Watch movies. Find writers, directors and actors who resonate. Learn about their style, their journeys, their technique.

Learn more about how to write. Read writers and articles and books that challenge you. Discover new words.

Write down new ideas every day. Sometimes force ideas out, other times be content with having no ideas.

Dream. Sit in a room and do nothing. Ignore the urge to check your phone. See what the moment you're in has to offer.

Look at the sky, look at people, close your eyes.

Spend whole days writing. Spend whole days reading. Spend whole days in the cinema. Spend whole days discovering some place new.

Don't be a hack. Don't write within your comfort zone. Believe you can write whatever needs to be written. Don't be afraid that you can't be technical enough or funny enough or mainstream enough or artistic enough. You are enough. More than enough.

Have fun. Writing should be joyful, there are no rules.

Be in pain. Writing hurts because you care so much.

Write and read and discover people who are like you. Commit to doing better. To doing your best work.

Do your best work at every moment that you can.

Follow these steps, for they're what you really care about in regards to your art. The time for distraction is over.

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