Thursday, September 27, 2012

IDEA PROSPECTOR

Thought I'd revisit an earlier topic I wrote about since it's been on my mind lately.

Striking gold. That's what all writers hope and crave for. To find ways to be inspired. And what goes hand-in-hand with that is being able to get down those thoughts wherever you are. Because ideas don't always have the luxury of finding you when you're comfortably at home in front of the computer.

I've gotten into the habit of carrying a notepad with me. Yep...very old fashioned. There's something about having a pen in hand and scrawling out bullet points or short notes of names, places, and story ideas that really gets my brain working. Probably comes from the years of taking notes in class in high school and college (back before it was made easier to get all the information off a computer). Of course when I write out scripts, it's all typed out on a keyboard. But during the fun part...the brainstorming and conception of ideas…there's something to be said for the tactile feel of a notepad and a pen.

Forget trying to type out notes via text or email off of a tiny phone. And I don't bring my laptop with me when I'm out running errands and grabbing a bite. So it's very easy to bring a small spiral notepad with me to jot down ideas. Because they really are fleeting. And no matter how often you try to remember something in your head by saying it out loud over and over, it's too easy to forget by the time you *do* get to someplace where you can scrawl it down.

Lately most of my writing comes when I'm waiting in line for a movie. I'm fortunate to get a chance to see advance screenings of films in my area for critics and radio stations. And going to these movies takes out a couple hours of time to wait in line to get in. Time I've spent in the past just chatting with those around me, grabbing a bite, or just sitting bored and people watching. But with a notepad in my hand...lookout.

So what do I write? Probably a whole lotta nonsense. But there's gems in there too. Sometimes it's ideas for company pitches, fleshing out plot points for creator owned stories, or laying out and scripting scenes for current scripts I'm working on. And as scattered as the mind can be, sometimes you stumble across multiple ideas for multiple stories at the same time. So it's a bit of multitasking and keeping the ideas straight to where they're needed.

Within the past couple weeks, I've started to flesh out future projects and scrapping some ideas while generating better working ones. Sometimes it really is the mileage of hacking out all these ideas on paper, seeing what doesn't work, and finding the ones that do.

Oh yeah…and I got to see Looper and Hotel Transylvania before they're released to the public. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

2 comments:

  1. I've heard and read a lot about where writers find their inspiration and what gets their juices flowing but standing in line for a movie certainly takes the cake. That just seems like an atmosphere that would naturally heighten one's imagination; movie posters all around you, familiar smells and and sounds triggering memories from your childhood and people discussing favorite plot points.

    I might have to give that a try sometime.

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    1. For these advance screenings, I'm usually sitting out there a good 1 or 2 hours before it starts. So it's nice to actually take "work" with me to have something productive to do. I imagine I'll be doing more of this in the future, if I'm stuck at the mechanics or any number of places around town.

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