Screenwriting 101--YIKES

Just started my screenwriting class at Gotham Writer's Workshop.  So far, I don't know which genre to lean towards.  It is certainly challenging to try to look at writing from a whole new perspective.  I look at my writing from the "inside out,", now I have to approach it from the "outside in."  Visual, visual, visual...is what it is all about. 

The great thing is now I have an excuse to watch MANY movies and not feel guilty that I should be writing instead of wasting time on watching mindless television or going to the cinema.

I initially picked the genre of comedy for my script.  What the hell was I thinking?  When I can watch anything, I usually grab a cup tea and biscuits, plop myself down in my comfy recliner, and engage in some delightful English murder mystery--Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Midsummer Murders, and my personal favorite, Inspector Lynley.  Well, either that or Hitchcock.

So again...comedy?  We'll see.  I might have to rethink and come up with some great mystery/suspense.  We'll see, I guess.  This should be interesting!

Living Simply...NOT An Easy Process

I really have too much crap.  God, I feel like I am drowning in it.  I ponder about people that lose their homes to fires and floods and think how absolutely horrible it must be for people, but maybe they can start fresh.  After all, humans are resilient creatures and there is no doubt that they will start over and build new lives. They are also not burdened by possessions. 

No, I do NOT want my house to burn down or be submerged under a great flood, not seen since the days of Noah.  On the other hand, I wish that can just get rid off all this crap without having to analyze every single piece that I own and ask the unavoidable question:  “Do I need this?” and then spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out if I do.

Why do I want to do this?  Because I am unhappy, as of late.  I want to work on my novel, yet when I sit down to do this, all I see and can focus on is the chaos around me.  I have the unexplainable urge to clean and organize, yet I have no space to put everything.

My husband and I used to live in a 500 sq. ft. apartment.  I used to complain how small it was, but really, it sure was a heck of a lot easier than living in a bigger place. (Less cleaning and less space for you to buy things.)  DON'T get me wrong, I am not trying to be ungrateful, on the contrary, I am so blessed to even HAVE a home, especially in these uncertain times.  I just think it deserves the same respect of being clean and organized so that its beauty can been seen without being hidden by things.

I am attempting to limit my items to 100 personal things.  Things are going slow, but I am making progress.  Six garbage bags of clothes and bags to donate.  Now on to the shoes….

Of course easier said than done!  But for me it is an essential step to freeing the mind, and a clear mind lets my me hear my muse a little better!

Timeless Beauty

The ocean never gets tiring for me.  The sound of the surf, the lonely beauty of the empty beach, and the blue green water that is endless.  I enjoyed this quiet and absolutely RARE time of solitude on my trip to the shore.

I wish I could put a desk right here and never leave. 

Soon fall and winter will be upon me and I will have to wait to enjoy the water once more.  Not being a fan of the cold and especially being cold near an ocean lends to the notion that I better get plenty more visits in!

Learning About Myself

I just completed an online workshop about Personal Essays.  I loved it!  I do journal everyday and have kept one since I was a child.  I particularly enjoy pulling out those old ones of so long ago. I laugh and sometimes cry at the person I was then; grateful for the improvements of now.

Taking this class was hard as I would have to open private parts of myself for strangers to read, but came to enjoy it and was so sad to see the class end.  I learned that as human beings we all struggle with the same things:  love, loss, fear, death of loved ones, etc.  It just changes form from one person to the other, but we can learn so much from each other if we are willing to share.

I think I will take the advanced class.  It's interesting to dig around in ones past, no telling what you might find.  Things have away of burying themselves so deep you fool yourself into thinking you didn't put them there in the first place.

Virginia Woolf Was Right! A Woman DOES Need A Room Of Her Own

My husband created a little writing office for me.  It's nice to have my own space instead of just writing on the couch, on the recliner, etc.  Now I can look out the window and take in the beauty of the big oak tree that sits in my backyard, while enjoying the sounds of children running and playing--their laughter is contagious.  

The moss green walls, the mahogany bookcases overflowing with knowledge of the eons, the little oak desk, and my stacks of journals all keep me company.  Such a delight and a small piece of heaven in this crazy world.  Thanks honey!

My muse seems to be on vacation

Where's Agatha?  On vacation I surmise due to fact that I am feeling totally burnt out!  I am working on several pieces, not to mention my class in script analysis just started.  Now I have to take some time to watch a couple of movies and write an outline about them.  Should be interesting.

It's been hot and humid in my neck of the woods.  How I long to just lay on the beach with a good book and read someone else other than myself.

I think I just need sleep....and Agatha to return.  It is hard to get the sentences just right.  Oh yeah, I named my muse.

Never Took A Writing Class Until Now...

I am a writer who never took a writing class. I know...I know. And I call myself a writer? Yes, I do. I may not have majored in a writing degree, but I did major in History. If you didn't know it,  history majors write till their fingers wither and disintegrate; in my case I have tough fingers!

All I did to obtain that wonderful little certificate, called a degree, from a big university was to write, write, write.  And if that were not enough, write some more.

My first big job reaffirmed this notion.  Soon after I was hired, I was handed a large stack of papers to research and in two weeks I was responsible for writing a federal grant.  Yikes!  I was told later that I was hired because I was a history major and it told my supervisor two things: I could write and I could research what I wrote.

Of course, there is that part of me that wanted to actually take a writing class. Just to see...maybe I was missing out on some fundamental that would make me a better writer.

My schedule is pretty full, thank the gods for the internet and online classes! I have been taking writing workshops from Writer's Digest and just signed up for Screenwriting at Gotham Writer's Workshop. Do I like them? You bet I do!

My advice to the newbie writer, or even someone who just wants to "brush up" on their skills....go for it.