Online Screenwriting Class Starting February 15

Hi,

Short post today, but I wanted to let folks know that I'm going to be teaching an 8-week online screenwriting class beginning February 15. (At the very reasonable cost of $75.00, I might add.)

I've been teaching screenwriting for over 10 years in a classroom setting, and decided to finally branch out online.

It should be fun! Stay tuned for details on Monday.

Di

Creating Your Writing Space

We're in the final stages of building a new home and it's hard work but a dream come true.

Besides the flooring, counter tops, paint colors and the 100 other details that go into the house, I'm also focussing on creating a creative spot to write.

Physical

Creating the physical spot is the easy part. I chose the bonus room over the garage for my writing area -- which I'll be painting today. It looks over trees tops and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful location.

I also purchased an AWESOME bathtub, which the IRS should let me take off on my taxes because I spend so much time in there writing -- especially first drafts.

Mental

Creating a physical location is easy. When you get down to it, you can take your pen and paper or laptop anywhere. What takes work is preparing that mental spot.

I've been spending the last couple months really meditating and preparing myself for this move. This the next big chapter of my life and I want writing to be front and center. When I step into this house, I want to (no I will ) experience that excitement of a fresh start. I'm already looking forward to turning out fresh pages a new room.

Today

This is a short blog because I'm running out to the new house now to try to finish painting, put in a dog fence and oversee the driveway. But while I'm doing this, I'm going to be spending time visualizing the successful and happy writer that's going to live in this fabulous place.

di

Agents Rebecca Ewing (UTA) and David Boxerbaum (APA) speak at NWSG

Not sure who all is within driving distance to Seattle this Friday, but the NWSG (Northwest Screenwriters Guilds) is hosting agents Rebecca Ewing (UTA) and David Boxerbaum (APA).

These two agents have amazing resumes. They've worked for companies like the William Morris Agency and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and today work with and represent some of the top talent in the industry.

It Gets Better

Ewing and Boxerbaum will not only be speaking about the experiences, but will be taking questions from the floor for an hour.

The event is free to NWSG members and only $15.00 for non members. It will be held at the Clear Channel building, at 351 Elliot Ave. West, Seattle, WA 98119.

Even Better . . . Pitching

If you're part of the NWSG, members will get a change to sign up to pitch to these two agents on Saturday. If you're not in L.A., it's hard to find opportunities to pitch to agents like these. So, if you have a script to pitch, this would be the time to join the NWSG.

I apologize for the shameless plug for NWSG, but having tried to get scripts in front of agents for over 20 years, I know how valuable an event like this is.

Have a great week. Write hard!

Diane

Input versus Output

There are days when you write (output) and there are days when you're experiencing life (input). Today was an input day — and I have the chemical burns on my arms to prove it.

My job today was to clean out the garage. I hadn't expected it to be a dangerous assignment.

Cat Litter

First off, I had to deal with at least a dozen half empty cans of paint. You can't take them to the dump unless the paint's dry, which was a problem because tomorrow is dump day. I read on the internet that you can quickly dry paint by adding cat litter. It worked. Only five bags later and two hours of sniffing cat litter dust, the paint is hard as a rock.

Don't Burn Laminate Floors

Next, I learned that although laminate flooring burns, it could be toxic. I apologize for my carbon footprint today. I had no idea how much plastic went into a few planks of that stuff. I tossed them on a bon fire, the wind changed and I sucked up more toxic gas than I would have liked.

Mouse Dust

Last, I moved boxes out of the garage. It turns out our garage is one large mouse colony. Every box I moved sent a plume of dirty mouse dust into the air. The plumes stunk (worse than burning laminate) and I breathed in things I'm sure would keep me up it night if I knew what they were.

Input

I'd like to think this was a productive writing day because I have all these new experiences, but I'm hard pressed at the moment to think of a story where I need a character that through her own stupidity inhales disgusting, possibly toxic, substances all day.

Maybe the next input day will be better . . . and my chemical burns will heal.

Truth is too Strange for Fiction

I love talking to my mom because she's always sharing local stories that start out with something like, "Did you hear about Bob? He was crushed by his tractor." or "You should be keeping those plastic bread bag clips. A teacher in Eatonville is trying to collect 1 million."

Local Flare

Last night's story was a keeper. Mom started out with, "Did you hear about June? She ran over her own foot?"

I shook my head. June's a short woman in her late 60s who recently had a heart surgery and shouldn't be running over pieces of herself. She may be of tough farm stock, but people are only so tough.

Mom said, "June got out of the car to get the mail and left the car out of gear. It started to roll and June went after it." It turns out that in retrieving it, the car managed to run OVER June and she was stuck underneath with the car resting on her ankle.

I asked how June fit under the car — she's not exactly svelte.

Mom shrugged and went on, "It was dark, and the car was in the middle of the road. Luckily, someone stopped to check it out and noticed June's hand sticking out from under the car, trying to get his attention." Mom demonstrated.

Mom went on to explain that had to explain to the young man how to drive the car off her — I assume in a manner that would cause her the least amount of injury.

Remarkably, mom said, June had no broken bones, but her ego's a little damaged.

Collecting stories

I've started collecting these stories because they're both strange and entertaining . . . and I LOVE them. Unfortunately, I can't use them "as is". Truth is stranger than fiction, and that's why readers won't believe your "true story" if you use it straight up in your fiction.

One of my first scripts included a bunch of weird stuff from my home town. The consensus from several agents was "The story's great, but none of those things could really have happened. Could you make it more believable?"

June's story

Now I collect my strange, local stories and piece them out as needed. For example, I already have a use for a hand coming out from under the car, summoning help.

Too bad truth is TOO strange for fiction, because June's is a great little story!

One Way to Come up with Descriptions

Yesterday was one of those creative days — or someone had slipped me something.

Everything looked like something else. I drove past a river and was sure I saw a grizzly bear dipping his toe in the water. It turned out to be an enormous stump, burnt orange from decay, that had no doubt been there for decades.

Up the road I thought I spotted two, 20-foot crocodiles coming down from the top of a tree. I knew it couldn't be true and didn't even stop to figure it out.

What Does it Look Like?

Now that I write this, I know why I'm seeing odd associations. I'm reading a book of short stories by Annie Proulx — one of the best writers out there in my humble opinion — and she always wow's me with her descriptions. Just the dozens of ways she described clouds in this last book has left me breathless.

It reminded me of an exercise a writing instructor gave us in college. He told us that we should constantly be looking at things and coming of associations and descriptions. For example, a branch might look like arthritic fingers or the outstretched arm of a mother to a child. He told us to do this exercise forever. He said it would be hard at first, but would get easier.

It was hard! I practice it once in a while when I'm driving. But as I've been reading these Annie Proulx stories, I've desperately wanted to get back at it and writer better descriptions.

Hallucinations

So I've been practicing, and I think my subconscious (or muse) is also in on the exercise. Even when I think I've stopped trying to come up with descriptions and have turned to something mundane like taxes, the muse is still at it — spotting grizzly bears and crocodiles.

Last night I about jumped out of my skin when I thought I spotted two eyes — 3 feet apart —staring out of the shadows of a fir tree. I didn't check it out, I just locked the door and told my muse to start making some less scary associations.

Learn to Love Your Rejection Letters

Hi,

Hope you're not taking as long as I am getting back in the "writing" saddle this year. I have one excuse, I'm in the middle of a moving and building a house, both of which have to be completed by the 29th. I keep telling myself, "Stephen King wouldn't let a little thing like this keep him from writing."

Loads of Rejection Letters

While packing last night, I came across my rejection letters. When I started writing scripts over 20 years ago, one of the ways I stay motivated was to reread my rejection letters — and I had a LOT! They filled a three-ring binder.

They ranged from the harsh rejection, "NOT FOR US!" to the less painful, "Contact us again after the next draft." My favorite is the tiny rejection letter (1" x 2") that read, "Not interested" on one side and had the agency's address printed on the other.

My Buddies

Since I write for a living now, I decided it was time to move on and recycle the letters. It's not like I could sell them on Ebay or anything. So, off they went. And I was actually sad (still am a little) to say goodbye to them.

Why? They were my buddies for years and kept me writing. I know it sounds strange, but I figured only writers get rejection letters. People who think about writing, plan on writing, consider writing, or talk about writing, do NOT have rejection letters. And probably every famous writer out there has had his share of rejections letters. It's part of the journey. And I wanted to get going on that journey.

In short, every letter confirmed I was a writer.

Granted, getting published and produced is more fun than receiving a rejection letter, but I will always have fond feelings toward those pieces of paper. I may have to dig out an especially nasty one from the recycle bin to keep me company on my next phase of the journey.

di