Tempus Fugit and All That
Is it really seven months since I blogged? A lotta white space. Whoops. The Internet sucks time like a black hole sucks matter. Do I spend so much of my life elsewhere…online? So many interesting hang-outs these days. For movie people, there’s Stage32 and IMDB. Writers and artists have to take time out. They need space.
Formatting Matters
These days, I spend most of my life in Movie Magix Screenwriter 6. Or Celtx. Your project is your private pie-in-the-sky. Unsocial media. Writing is still mostly a solitary activity. Update: since writing this I work mostly in Final Draft 10 to collaborate with a writing partner.
Power Down
What will we all do when the power goes off? Scary question. And offline, I’ve been so busy. Life…you know – that thing that happens when you’ve made other plans (John Lennon) – has taken me down a path. It includes a master class in screenwriting. This medium is fiction, but not as we know it. (Oh, I know, but the old ones really ARE the best ones, trust me.) Actually, it’s quite hard for a “long fiction” writer to unlearn aspects of the…writing… stuff.
Need Space White Space
Riddle: When is “writing” not “writing”? Answer: When it’s screenplay. Did I mention white space? You have to leave lots of it. Space and words carry equal value. Space can even add more weight to your words. It’s hard to do, but your screenplay pages need more of the white stuff.
My tutor is a demanding man: he makes a living out of it. They call him the grim reaper (of scenes). Well, my script has died several times over, but I keep resuscitating it. As the scythe-man says, you plot a series of dots, and other people jump across the gaps and join them together. Too minimalist? Possibly, but screenwriters only have to provide clues.
Learn From The Masters
I’ve also been to the cinema. A lot. But the more I go, the more I have to see. And the pressure doesn’t let up. Summer 2015 is packed with great movies. Seen Mad Max Fury Road, Tomorrowland, Cinderella, [insert faves here]? Don’t relax just yet. There are more must-sees on the way: Insidious, Chapter 3, San Andreas, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genesis, Madame Bovary, Ted 2, Minions, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation…I could go on. (You can find all these on IMDB).
Gimme Space
Shifting the eyeballs from the small screen to the big one is quite exhausting at times. Anyway, back to draft number…
Happy Writing.
First Published 3 June 2015
Credit: Image by Jose Painting and Decorating
Recent Comments