Rewriting in a big way

I think when I was a newbie writer, rewrites were not really effective rewrites. I might have changed sentences here and there, rewritting sentences so they flowed better. I might have added a character but not one that really helped the story move forward better. Now I know that rewriting takes a whole lot more than just dotting more i's and crossing more t's. Rewriting is really tearing things apart and building stuff back up. It really takes a lot to get to the core of the story and sometimes that means rebuilding. A lot! Even in this rewrite that I'm working on, I have put a scene that was in the middle, as my opening scene. I thought, well, it's a comedy, and that comedic moment happens half way through my story. It's a very visual moment. And we all know that opening with a visual moment is a good idea. So I decided why not? The good thing is you save the other drafts, so if it doesn't work, you can always go back to the older version. I think that was key as a writer for me to learn. That it's okay to play around and try new things. Once I learned that as a writer things became and felt so much more freer. I even got rid of an entire character that I was sure I needed. But people had suggested I might not need him. So I thought, why not try it without him? And by introducing a whole new character, now I have more motivation for my inciting incident and the 2nd act. So ask yourself, what are you doing in your rewrite? Is each scene filled with conflict? Does each character help move the story forward? Do you have some characters that fill up the same spot and purpose that other characters do? Don't be afraid to cut out things and put entirely new stuff in. You just might surprise yourself and see your story flourish like never before.

Taking notes

So, you've written the best screenplay ever. And you're going to meet with your writing group or a producer and get feedback. Of course they'll agree it's brilliant and Oscar worthy. Sure, there might be a few changes, but they'll notice how brilliant you are, right? So...then come the REAL notes. And they're not as positive as you hoped! Of course you want to tell them that they don't know what they're talking about and they must be mistaken. But guess what? They're not wrong! At least not completely. The fact is, we writers are inside our head. And when we put words on the paper, we're sure that what's in our head is on the page. But that isn't always the case. So when you get notes, listen to the person giving them. Write down what people are saying. You don't have to agree inside. You can actually think they're completely way off base. But if you ever want notes again, which you need, you better listen! And get in the practice of just listening with your writer's group. Because when it comes time to get notes from a producer, you really better not argue. No producer wants to hear a writer tell them they're wrong. If they're hiring you, listen to what they have to say or you'll be known as a writer who's difficult. Before long no one will want to work with you again. I'm not saying you have to take every note people give you. In fact, don't. Take the notes and go home and sit on them for a couple days. Remind yourself the story you are trying to tell. Then read the notes and see which ones are helping you get there. If you don't take all the notes but use them to make your story the one you want to tell, then those notes will be very helpful. Sometimes people don't know what's not working, they just know it's not. So that's why arguing with the person giving the notes is a waste of time and truly downright rude. So listen up. I promise you, there's something there that will help your story become better than you ever imagined.

Why do we sabotage ourselves?

So today I banged my funny bone on my kitchen cupboard and it hurt like hell. So what do I say as it happens? "F*@k me!" Really? Why? Why on earth would I be offensive to myself after I hurt myself? I mean, I should be saying instead, "Hey there sweet, wonderful person, you're going to be okay." But nope. I cursed at myself instead, treated myself horribly. Because we aren't prone to being loving to ourselves, are we? We just pile on the pain. Pile on more insults. Like we believe we're deserving of more of them, instead of loving behavior. And as writers, if things aren't going our way, we just assume it's going to keep going like that too. Piling on more misery. For instance if we haven't been writing, then does that motivate us to write? Not usually. We usually just keep putting it off. Another TV show to watch that we heard was good, instead of writing. Another book to finish reading, instead of writing. Friends who want to meet for drinks, we can't possibly blow them off. And the longer we postpone our writing time, the more we figure, well, I haven't been writing, what's another day? It's a lot! It's our lives! It's our dreams! Why on earth do we think postponing going after our dreams is even an option? I mean when we put it that way, it seems like NOT writing is the complete foolish thing to do. But somewhere in our lives, we've been told following our dreams is a waste of time. And no matter how much we try to drown out that voice that said that, it's still there isn't it? Somewhere in the back of our minds. Slowly creeping into our subconscious like a black ooze from a horror movie that eventually engulfs the lead characters until no one's left to survive. Unless...! There's one strong hero! And he fights the evil ooze. Until Part Two of course. But, my whole point, is that we can be the hero of our lives and our dreams. We can be the one that fights off procrastinating when it's time to write, when it's been a while for us to put our dreams first. Because that's what we were put on this earth to do. Tell our stories. And we don't owe an apology to anyone who doesn't get that. Because the ones who truly love us, do get it. And the ones that don't, well, they probably would curse at us when we hit our funny bones any way. So be good to yourself. Be loving to yourself. And put your writing first. Because it's the least you deserve.