Author Topic: The 'How To Write' Thread  (Read 4056 times)

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Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #15 on: February 06, 2013, 09:50:57 pm »
Writer's Plot Generator

And another one.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2013, 09:54:36 pm by Chiprocks1 »
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #16 on: February 26, 2013, 12:26:40 pm »
The 7 Deadly Dialogue Sins

Good stuff to keep aware of when writing your own dialogue.
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2013, 07:22:31 pm »
Script Writing 101-How to Make Page 1 of Your Script Kick Ass

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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2013, 11:37:04 pm »
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2013, 11:48:47 pm »
The folks who do that class have a great catalogue of stuff-- money is really the only thing keeping me from enrolling in more.  Definitely worth a look... the CORE classes though, while they're great I think they're becoming more public tools on the BlackList Forum so you may want to wait before paying money on those.

Neumatic

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #20 on: August 17, 2013, 12:12:28 am »
Just found this: Ten Questions Every Filmmaker Should Ask Themselves.  Took a screengrab of the article for my notes (as I often do when reading things online).  But I'll put the list of ten here because why not?

Quote from: Source I Just Linked To
What does the film say about the world we live in?
What universal themes are explored in your film?
Briefly describe the appeal you think your film will have for audiences (and why)
List ten or more keywords to describe your film.
What emotions do you feel your film brings forth in viewers?
What are your film’s strengths?
What are your film’s weaknesses?
What are the unique opportunities with your film?
What are the threats?
How does your film primarily differentiate or distinguish itself from other work?

Mac

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #21 on: August 17, 2013, 04:37:19 am »
And I guess those questions depend on who your audience is. Kids, teens, families, women, men, couples, etc.
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #22 on: June 08, 2014, 08:00:23 am »
How to Write a Script That Doesn't Suck - Secret to Writing a Screenplay That's Awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCKSZBSJR2k&index=5&list=PLp2e7UfInEgmB-5r4rtQOEsq-H-mNmQhk

I wish this guy would do more videos. It's nothing new, but he presents it in a very easy to remember way and it's not long either. Short and concise.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #23 on: June 08, 2014, 08:02:07 am »
Write Quick & Better: The "Aha" Index Card Method

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ptU71EMvw&index=2&list=PLp2e7UfInEgmB-5r4rtQOEsq-H-mNmQhk

Another good trick using the Index Card Method. Not new and it's something every Teachers drills into their students when getting started.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #24 on: June 08, 2014, 08:04:27 am »
What Must Happen In The First 10 Pages Of Every Screenplay by Michael Hauge & Mark W. Travis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ6GB3rxl48&index=3&list=PLp2e7UfInEgmB-5r4rtQOEsq-H-mNmQhk

Ya know, I've known about Hauge for years, but I have never even bothered to look into his books. I might see if my Library has a copy and give it a shot just to see if he 'Status' as Screenwriter Guru is well deserved. I did like the above clip, which is encouraging.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #25 on: July 04, 2014, 06:54:58 pm »
So after years of getting pestered, I finally took the plunge and downloaded Scrivener (well, I didn't take the "pay plunge" yet, I still ahve the rest of the month to "try it out" but I guarantee I'll be paying).  I was really hesitant about it because it seemed like, well, ONE: each project would take up a lot of space, especially with all the reference I use, so I'm trying to cut back on that, and TWO: It seemed like it would make it really easy to skip steps.  The way my workflow is designed now, I need to have complete a step before I can start another, I need confidence and actual material.  The way Scrivener works, where you have everything at your fingertips, seems like it would be really easy to work out of order and screw the whole thing up.  So what I'm actually using it for isn't so much writing as it is long-term storage of miscellaneous ideas.  Stuff that's waiting for a story and characters to be attached to.

It'll be really interesting to see how the program effects my workflow.  I'm pretty well organized, but I'm also a lateral thinker so I like to have everything separate.  It's not so bad now after one day but I can see these things becoming really convoluted really quickly.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #26 on: July 04, 2014, 07:20:28 pm »
As strange as it may sound, I have NEVER heard of Scrivener until you mentioned it. I did a cursory search and it reminds me a bit of Dramatica Pro that I bought when I first got into serious screenwriting, thinking it would simplify my work process. It actually had a negative impact on my writing. So much so that the idea of ever launching the program makes me ill. Now I'm not saying this other program is anything at all like Dramatica Pro. I just never got anything out of the program when trying to use it. With that said, I will be tracking your progress and look forward to hearing how the program has benefited you in anyway. My problem with DP is that it was so bloated and convoluted in its process that it hinders any kind of creative writing. Well, it did for me anyway.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #27 on: July 04, 2014, 07:30:44 pm »
I feel like I'm putting together a miniature Wikipedia like thing for my big ideas... or rather, the nebulous things that might become ideas.  And the documents actually remind me of the first web pages I made, which I like (I was so god-d*mn prolific back in those days, so I feel like I'm getting some of that energy).

The funny thing is that I feel like I can't imagine seriously writing with this thing, just seriously organizing (it's actually quite calming).  It's a repository for stray ideas, things I can't figure out, waiting for the day when I might be able to.  And I'm very diligent about organizing as I go: folders with subfolders with subfolders, all properly labeled.  Just having a place to put a stray idea about something bigger and then to forget about it knowing it's in the right place... it's a bit of a relief.

Chiprocks1

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #28 on: July 04, 2014, 09:16:07 pm »
The organizing aspect does sound appealing. I know I could use something similar given that I have so much stuff scattered all over the place, be it actual pieces of paper, documents and whatnot on External Hard Drives.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Neumatic

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Re: The 'How To Write' Thread
« Reply #29 on: July 04, 2014, 10:44:59 pm »
Plus, my stuff is segregating by format (pictures, movies, text files, final draft files) and categorized by where they came from.  Now if I have an idea, I can put the visuals into the text file right in there.

Here's something I just threw in:



The actual picture I filed with the other pictures in its' set, in an appropriate subfolder in the proper subfolder on the external drive.  But now I pout a copy of it in Scrivener with a quick note (I'll add others later), filed it as an interesting location.  Then I can figure out what it is, what the characters could do there, etc.  The old way would have just been a JPG file with a whole bunch of others in folders, but I'd either open one at a time or roll through them all.  Just doing this gives me so much more context.

What I love about this is the next time I stumble upon something like this, I can slip it right in there instead of having to go back and hunt for it, and I can remind myself exactly what I was thinking.  File and forget.

I actually need to go back in there and divide my scene ideas into "Work, Play, and Fling" folders (thinking Nip/Tuck structure!) to make it easier for me later on to construct episode plots.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2014, 10:53:04 pm by Neumatic »

 

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