Category: Writing

When one is offered, be certain you’re okay with it being accepted. Because obligation has a way of reshaping everything it touches. 

Generally I don’t want to talk about myself. Not really. I don’t mind mentioning myself when in reference to the subject. But the subject, I am not.

Thus, I came to te realization. When framing out the story, the post, the idea, it has to be about something external. It can relate to the internal, to myself. But the subject has to be what I focus on.

Which I’ll try to implement, I’m sure…

Sometimes, sitting to write takes a lot of willpower. There is no shortage of things that can eat at your attention.

Is it the day to day? Or is it something broader? What should our attention be on?

“Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” – Erica Jong

Is something being fun enough reason to do it? Is it a hobby? Is it something you can enjoy filling your time with?

Does it matter if it has no commercial practicality? Especially if, like many, you spend most of the day chasing financial stability.

It’s good to have something you can enjoy and spend free time on.

Without paying attention, I’ve made it to two months of daily posting. It’s a small milestone, but meaningful.

There’s a purpose for daily posting. Several, in all likelihood. For me, at least.

The first is, and probably the most important: getting into the routine is the biggest part of the battle.

Second, and nearly as important — if I post daily, even if one here and there really sucks eggs, there are so many more coming out consistently that they get lost to history.

Can you go back and look? Certainly. Will you?

Unclear.

Third, and probably the practical reason — this trains me to observe. If I am actively observing, I have things to write about.

If I walk through the day passive, then… I get nothing on the page.

Is this story good enough to read? Is this manual helpful enough? Will this blog post not waste somebody’s time?

I think these are the questions that stall us.

But they are often the ones we should give much less time to.

And focus on the doing.

There are many ways to write something — not just in a mechanical sense, but in a methodological one.

When you write from a viewpoint, you alter your perception to accommodate it.

When we write fiction, we think in terms of structure. It’s storytelling.

That’s not to say nonfiction isn’t — though sometimes it isn’t.

What we write impacts, to a degree, how we write it.

But that isn’t the holdup with writing, I think.

No one really worries, again, I believe, about how they should write something. The question they ask themselves is: is this worth writing?

It’s that time of year again, where I volunteer some of my time to a film festival or two. I’m once again screening features for deliberation, and, per the instructions, I don’t get to share about those that I watch.

Now, I will be seeing movies, somewhere between 5-10 a week, for the next few months. But I don’t get to talk about them.

Which left me thinking about, what are some common things that I see in film festival submissions?

Here’s one thing, that’s universal about indie film making. It is, without hyperbole, easier now to make a film than at any point in history before. The barrier to entry is nearly nonexistent.

Now while that may mean quality varies widely, it is still an amazing time to be a filmmaker.

In looking at goals I’ve set for myself, it’s figuring out what can I balance to ensure that I’m working towards each of them? What’s distracting me from those goals?

First and foremost, the smartphone. What is the phone even for? It sucks you in. The emails. The accounts. The stupid notifications that pop up. But are they stupid, or are we?

Looking through an old journal, found something that, after my friend’s comment, made me laugh.

From an undated entry in journal Oct ’13 – Oct ’14:

“I need to be writing. All of my days are spent w/ wasting time. Being time-poor, mostly of my own doing. Even at the office, my motivation wanes so quickly. I look forward to the show’s end, where I can try to reclaim some of my lost life.”

Looks like it’s a struggle I’ve had now over ten years, and most likely longer.