Lighting Up Stories
“The question is not whether or not we are capable of making AI more intelligent than us. The question is, will we be able to live with it?” – Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld (2016). This line from the thought-provoking TV series Westworld perfectly captures the …
Like cooking, writing needs essential ingredients. And like cooking, the better your ingredients are, the better is the end result. So what are those ingredients? First Ingredient: A stunning concept The concept is the core idea of your story. It’s the HOOK. The concept of …
Hey, let me tell you a secret: I’m never in the mood for writing. I think about writing all day and night. But, when it’s time to sit in that chair and work… I do something else. Oh, but I have many good excuses. You know those dirty windows need cleaning, right? I saw it in my Feng Shui book. And the bathroom? It gets dirty in a flash…
The problem with chores, well, they don’t make you very productive. And for years, it was killing me; I couldn’t continue working like this.
So a few years ago, I hired a coach (the most amazing one: Pilar Alessandra: https://www.onthepage.tv/product-category/classes/). She gave me deadlines, she gave me guidance, she sent me on the right track. If it’s something you’re considering, go for it.
Through that process, I understood a few things that I’m going to share with you:
And I’m not talking about your bestie who will always be nice to you. I’m talking about a real fierce friend or professional.
With the deadlines set, I had no choice; I had to get my painful words on paper.
Around the same time, I got into a partnership with my co-writer Fiona Faith Ross. And for years now, I’m proud to say that every week, we have to give each other the work we’ve been working on. No excuses.
In that process, I understood another thing:
If I wait to be in the mood to write something, it would never happen.
My mood is lazy. I’d rather have a nap or watch Netflix than write. No one wants to write; writers want their books or screenplays to get written.
But oh! It’s such a nice feeling to get it done though. But to get to that feeling, you have to sweat some of your own blood on paper (or screen). So, I suggest doing this:
If it’s in my calendar, then it’s a date. Treat it like an appointment. If I make an appointment with my doctor, I honor it, same with my friends or dentist. No escape, no excuse.
And, I also do something else:
Like you, I suppose, I have a job. I have children to take care of. I can’t spend the whole day writing (that would be a luxury for me), so I have a time limit on my writing session. Sometimes, it’s 15 minutes, sometimes an hour, sometimes two, but within that time, I…
That’s right. Like you would do on a race track.
I write everything down without caring if it’s any good because most of the time it’s crap anyway. I have to let my judgment go on holiday for a while and I…
I don’t care if what I write is shit; I leave that for the most boring part of writing : the editing part.
If I want to write something good from the first draft, nothing good will come out. And as I don’t have a high opinion of myself, I would erase every single sentence that I write and get nothing done. Instead, I do something else…
I read what I wrote the day before and immerse myself in the story so I can continue. Then I…
The style of music totally depends on your taste and, most of all, on the genre in which you’re writing.
Many writers would tell you to block any kind of distractions, but as I’m a weirdo, I don’t.
I don’t want to stop distractions in case the Universe wants to send me a message that could be crucial for my writing. But do as you wish. It’s up to you.
Coffee, coffee, coffee. Without coffee, what’s the point of writing?
You may replace it with tea if you wish. And when I’m all fired up and I do some heavy work on the page, then I…
I usually write (before bed) a short paragraph of what the next scene or chapter should be about.
That way, my brain will work on it during my sleep, and gosh, I looooove my sleep. And guess what happens?
My brain will have it all figured out by the following morning, and I’d know exactly what I need to write.
Happy writing!!!
In life, there is never a time when you say: I’ve arrived! I’ve always thought that we were all part of a big game. The first time I shared this thought to one of my classes, I had a complete silence and shocked eyes in …
Who’s not afraid of talking in front of random people ? And if I hear ‘Hey I’m not !’ It’s because you’ve done it before. So here is the deal, you have an important pitch, an interview in front of a panel of people or …
Some of my friends told me they wanted to give up on their writing career. I know that they have been working very hard for more than 15 years. They wrote screenplays and published some novels. Yet, they don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
They feel like giving up.
It’s understandable. Burnouts, disappointments, and rejections can drive you to the point where you feel like letting go of your dreams. (See post: How to Recover From Burnout) Especially now when competition is tougher than ever.
Myself, 17 years ago, I gave up on my writing. And I tell you what, during that time, I felt as alive as a zombie in The Walking Dead. Dead inside.
Being a writer is tough. Chasing our dreams is hard but it’s also the only way to feel alive. So before you take a reckless decision, please let me give you 10 things you could try to have your mojo back.
When it rains it pours. When I lost my home, my country and became homeless, I also got sick and soon after, my husband passed away. Indeed, when it rains, it pours. Yet, what saved me was my work and my writing.
Putting all my rage and my despair on paper somehow kept me alive. I surrendered to the process of writing and somehow it made it feel slightly more bearable.
Surrender to your despair, to your sadness, to your fatigue. Don’t internalize it, it’s the worst thing you could do – it will soon become some kind of physical disease. So express it, write it and WAIT.
When you have a bad momentum, don’t fight against it. Instead surf the wave, let it take you where it wants. Don’t swim against the current, you’ll lose. Instead wait until it brings you to that peaceful beach.
I read a fantastic book that should be taught in every school: Why we sleep by Dr Matthew Walker. He explains how detrimental lack of sleep is to our body, mind and spirit such as:
Sleeping is far more important than you think. Do yourself a favor and have a minimum of 8-9 hours sleep. Go to bed early, have a nap. After a week, I promise you, you’ll feel stronger mentally and physically.
And more importantly, you’ll be more creative.
Once rested, it’s time to reflect on what made you feel this way. Be honest with yourself. What triggered it?
A rejection? A nasty comment online? An unexpected bill? A launch that didn’t work (again)?
Trace back what caused your misery and expose it to the light.
Now answer this question: Will it matter in five years time? If the answer is no, brush it off.
Maybe you’re sick of your writing, you don’t feel excited about it anymore. I tell you what: it’s time to try something new.
The idea is to give you a proper break. Trying something new will create new neuropathways and will excite your brain cells. You’ll feel a bit more upbeat.
Soon enough, you’ll get an epiphany while doing paddling, martial art or painting.
I ditched my Instagram. I also switched off ALL my notifications, and deleted most of the apps on my phone.
Do you know what happened?
My stress level went right down. Now, I’m only checking my phone when I’m ready for it and not when I’m told to do so.
So liberating!
Tell me the truth, is your life full of duties?
If so, it’s not surprising that you want to give up.
If you don’t plan some kind of reward in your day, your life will soon become like in The Shining: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy“.
Here is the secret though: you have to plan it. If you don’t, I promise you, you’ll do another duty because there is always something to do.
It can be anything you want but it has to be fun FOR YOU. The idea is to plan each day, five things that makes you happy. You’ll get your motivation back sooner than you think.
Walking is the best sport you could ever do.
It increases your energy levels, improves your mood, your memory and sleep, maintains a healthy weight, reduces stress, strengthens your immune system and so on…
Start with 10 minutes a day and increase the duration after a while.
It will make a huge difference to your health and creativity.
Now let’s talk about your writing goals.
The key is this : One step at a time.
This is crucial. Take baby steps.
When Stephen King was asked: ‘How do you write?’ He replied: ‘One word at a time‘.
Simple. It’s okay to dream big but in terms of daily action, it’s best to have small, manageable, happy goals.
If I tell you, write the best screenplay ever now! Your body and mind will shut down automatically.
Now if I tell you: write a scene, AND it doesn’t have to be good, you have the right to get it wrong but just write it. I’m pretty sure you can do that without a sweat. If you do that everyday, you have the first draft of your screenplay finished in two or three months.
Don’t make perfection a goal. Instead, make daily action a habit.
This one is my favorite mantra. This is the first thing my friend and co-writer Kary Oberbrunner taught me and it changed my life. Take imperfect action.
You don’t need to know all the answers, you don’t need to look perfect, you don’t need to be the best writer in the world. You just need to show up and be yourself.
Do you want results? Do one action a day towards your goal. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it has to be regular.
The more actions you take, the more opportunities you get. It’s not witchcraft, it’s science.
When you look at people who succeeded, they didn’t get successful overnight.
It takes a long time to build a career.
It doesn’t matter when you started writing. My point is these people kept practicing again and over again. They accumulated mini-wins one after another. So don’t look at the big picture. Aim for the mini wins. That’s what makes the difference.
One last word… Writing is an adventure. When we read a book or watch a film, we’re looking for answers to this question: How do you survive in this society?
Of course, we don’t say that out loud to ourselves but this is what we’re looking for.
We also write to understand ourselves and others. And we also write to give our understanding of life to others. It’s an important mission. It’s a calling. So don’t give up on it please, the world needs you.
Ps: I would like to dedicate this post to one of my faithful reader, Patricia, who kindly sent me a very nice email. I replied but my email bounced back. I wish you to get better soon.
Here some mantras you could use to get your mojo back:
If you love marketing and love being on social media, this post is NOT for you. It’s aimed at people who are allergic to it. Like me. I’m a screenwriter and like all entrepreneurs, if I want clients, I need to promote my business. The …
Photo by Choreograph at Pixabay If you’re a parent working from home, you know the drill. It’s when you’re in the middle of an important email that the kids come to you. They’re either hungry, bored, or they broke something that needs to be fixed …
All types of characters are necessary to make a story interesting. The more diverse, the better. Today the light is on the Unfiltered Character.
Unfiltered characters are often direct and surprise us by their honesty.
When most people spend their lives pleasing others in order to avoid any form of confrontation, unfiltered characters do the complete opposite.
And that’s refreshing. Cathartic even.
In other words, they don’t care about what other people think and we love them for that. Furthermore, we would love to be like them.
What would it take to write one?
One of the traits that an unfiltered character may have is anger.
They might be angry at society, at themselves or both.
Usually well educated, they observed the world through special lenses. They see what other people don’t see or choose to ignore.
Concretely, if you want to make your angry unfiltered characters react, create a box for them. Soon enough you’ll get a reaction, as they won’t fit in.
Sometimes, they’re not angry but they know themselves enough to know what they like and don’t like. For example, they know that hypocrisy is not their thing.
In addition to that, they hate time wasters. Small talks, meaningless conversations aren’t for them so if you want to annoy an unfiltered character in your story, create a chatty character that has nothing else to do than listen to his/her own voice. You’ll then create a nice conflict between them.
The downside of being an unfiltered character is they often feel lonely. However, they much prefer to be a loner than being with bad company.
For this type of character, Jess in Gilmore Girls played by the talented Milo Ventimiglia is a good example. Jess is a young man, full of anger, coming from a dysfunctional family.
He’s also the bad boy that good girls normally like. Bad boys are attractive because a sense of excitement comes with them. However what is interesting about Jess is the fact that he loves books, philosophy and is extremely intelligent. The unfiltered bad boy turns out to challenge everyone around him. And we love him for that of course.
I found this extract on YouTube that you could check; an interaction with Jess and his uncle Luke (also an unfiltered character by the way).
Sometimes unfiltered characters aren’t angry. They don’t have time for it.
Instead, they need to focus on their mission and can’t afford any distraction.
They know what they are good at, and dealing with people is not one of them. And oh! Don’t we like them too!
These kinds of characters can be funny to watch because they appear blunt or even mean.
‘I don’t do people’ is often their motto.
There is a reason for it. Often badly hurt, this type of unfiltered character prefers to concentrate on their mission in life rather than face their own emotions. In fact, they do everything to avoid interactions for that single purpose: self protection.
Can anyone relate?
For this type of character, I have in mind the character of Mina, the beautiful surgeon in The Resident, played by Shaunette Renée Wilson.
Watch this extract to understand what I mean:
The cynic can be either way funny or scary depending on the genre.
The cynic has often a dark vision of life. He/She asks questions that nobody wants to answer. He talks about a subject that nobody wants to think about, he tells a truth that no one wants to hear.
Truth is unsettling, isn’t it?
Characters like these make you feel uneasy because they make you think hard on the meaning of life . As they question life and relationships, they mirror our own insecurities.
Jamie in The Sinner, played brilliantly by Matt Bomer, came to my mind for this type of unfiltered character.
Please do not watch this extract if you are under age and if you are sensitive, this extract has strong language and violence.
On a lighter note, an unfiltered character can be incredibly funny, simply by contrasting with the other ‘normal characters’.
While saying out loud what everybody thinks is a great ingredient for your story, being rude to other characters is great for comedies. If you need to add a bit of humor in your story, this is the kind of character that you definitely need.
Let’s take the example of Michel, the (amazing) grumpy concierge in Gilmore Girls played by Yanic Truesdale.
Thank you for reading x
Image by Лера_K from Pixabay What is Burnout? I didn’t know what burnout was until I experienced it in 2017. Before that, I knew what fatigue was. I knew stress, exhaustion and depression but I didn’t know what burnout was. It was so severe that …