I'm an addict

I just can't help it.

I look over the creative screenwriting expo dvds and I just must have them! What great subjects: Theme, creating scenes/characters, etc. with emotional impact, using sequencing, how to adapt anything, everything you wanted to know about structure, guiding your career, how to get by Hollywood readers...oh my god! How can I not buy them?

The sad thing is that after studying this damn art/science/skill/trade and reading probably 30 or more books on it, several lectures (hell giving a couple), I can't think of many things that I still need to be told. I know exactly what I need to do.

Sit down and bloody write.

It's so easy to get wrapped up in new books, dvds, seminars, etc. thinking that it'll be some magic pill to get you past that illusive trouble spot you're in. The truth of the matter is that, deep down, we all want this to be easier than it really is. It's much like simple games like Tetris, Othello, Checkers, etc. The concept is simple, but mastering is difficult. Just about all of us can write, but writing something emotionally engaging is something learned.

All you need to do is introduce the audience to engaging character they will care about. Put that character in jeopardy, then show us how that character's emotional growth during the story enables them to either escape their jeopardy or succumb to it.

All in 90-120 pages... easy, huh?

Everything else, all these books and videos and seminars are just ways to help you break down the process. To make it easier to understand - more palatable - things that make it *seem* easier. Does it? Perhaps. But none of them will replace sitting down and dreaming up a story about an interesting character in jeopardy. There are no magic pills for that outside the boredom of staring at the white wall/white screen/white sheet of paper and sweating blood until the Muse decides it's time to pay you a little visit.

The best thing about the web right now is that you can get so much valuable information FOR FREE from great blogs and web pages. If you're new, just glance at my links and they'll take you to month's worth of sites where you can view, for free, information, stories and advice on my favorite form of writing - screenwriting.

So, when you start jonesing for that new book/dvd/seminar, have a little browse around the web - or stop off at the Scribosphere for a chat on screenwriting to ease your urge, then get your butt back in the chair for some real writing.