It Is What It Is

So, has it all been just in my head ?

I gotta keep working harder. We can build them stronger, faster, better.

“Where my girls at?”

New Script

So, I started work on a new script. Oh, how I love the passion evoked by a budding idea.

Sustaining that passion - well, that’s the rub.

I’m taking my first stab at a completely commercial project. I initially wanted to make it a PG-13 type thingy, as well, but my foul-mouthed, perverted little mind will not allow me to go down that Disney-cleaned-42nd-Street turnaround. Those of you who remember Times Square in the 70’s and 80’s will get my little reference.

But anyway, I am so psyched about my new project, even though the sub-genre has been done thousands and thousands of times before (of course, I have a twist and a way to make it my very own - or at least I hope to).

I know what some might be thinking... then again, if I knew what people were thinking, I’d have broken into this Hollywood playing field many moons ago.

I don’t know the market. I get my weekly Variety and read articles filled with names my ADD will never allow me to remember, and I can connect the dots to trends and money ebbing and flowing in particular directions and then I close the darn thing because my head begins to hurt.

All I know with 1,000,000,000,000...% certainty is that I love writing, and as much as I try to stop (just for mini vacations- a day or two), I CAN’T.

I’ve read books, I’ve gone to school, I’ve networked, I’ve cried, laughed, screamed, and through all of this, the one constant is my head filling with ideas and characters and themes and stories and voices...oops, I was not supposed to mention the voices.

I’m in the early stage of this new script. Having just finished another draft of my labor-of-love script which required a bit of heavy emotional thinking, I’m looking forward to this new project filled with the kind of silliness I like to escape to every so often. As much as I love Syriana, I can’t pass up an old Adam Sandler movie or White Chicks or Rocket Man. I need the yin and yang in my life, including my writing.

Not sure when I’ll have a rough draft of this finished, but I’m working on it and enjoying it

Mind Mapping

I recently started using mind mapping for brainstorming and outlining my story. I’m a visual thinker, and it is opening amazing creative doors for me.

While I’m still outlining, I find myself working it out beforehand using the mind maps. There is so much more clarity. Where as before I had so many ideas running around in my head, I now find myself opening up a mind map and getting my ideas down in a visual format so I can see where things actually connect.

As with all tools, it’s not for everyone, and I’m sure every project will come with its own method.

There are a few programs out there. I did some research and I ended up going with NovaMind. As I’m new to this program, I have yet to open up all the possibilities. There is a screenwriting version, which is what made me go with that program. There are some free mind mapping programs out there, as well.

I also find mind mapping integrates itself perfectly well with all the other tools in my writing arsenal. I’m able to use the map as a jump-off to my outlining, bringing more focus and clarity to the ideas and the story.

I love it when a plan comes together.