Married… Buried: Let Go The Ones You Love
by Jaden
Oh, you lovely romantics, I’m not talking about marriage in the spousal coital sense of marriage (though some of my points apply), I am talking about marriage in the creative writing sense of betrothing your ideas.
When a person first starts writing, they think every thought is precious and should go untouched. It is a common problem.
Marrying unfitting ideas is shoveling dirt on your characters’ graves. Let your characters breath. Be open to change.
The sooner you let go your first ideas, the sooner you will break ground to better ideas.
One time, I went to a panel discussion with the writers and voices of The Simpsons, a television show that I respect more than any other for its unending exploration of ideas and mastery of comedy. As I have witnessed with successful projects, the writers were a glowing, happy, excited bunch of people, even after ten years of working together.
The best advice I received from The Simpsons team was that of being able to let go of ideas, even the ones you love. If not every one of the twenty writers in the room is on the floor laughing, the joke does not make it to screen.
Here, you have a room full of writers throwing out joke after joke, each time being met with rejection. Each joke has to be focused on the main story of the episode, in line with the overall theme of the show, and truthful to the characters.
Maybe one guy has lots of good jokes and another guy only interjects one fantastic joke every so often. Each writer has their own strengths and weaknesses. Not every joke put on the table will be accepted. Quite the opposite, everyone has to agree for the joke to survive.
When you are writing alone, there is no one to disagree with you. If you are in doubt about something you have written, that means it is probably really bad, so cut it. As hard as you think you are on yourself, Hollywood will be much harder.
It is irrational to think every thought you have is ingenious. No professional writer thinks this way. All professional writers cut massive amounts of ideas and wording.
Anyone scared to edit will not write an interesting sellable script.
Your first ideas are going to be common and unoriginal. Don’t marry your ideas. Don’t marry your script. Be open to change. Explore every possibility until you have found exciting and unique ideas.
You will know when your story and characters really click, they will take on a magical life of their own. Don’t tell your characters what to say, let them tell you.
When creative writing, escape your ego. Let your mind travel to a strange preternatural place. You might feel a little crazy, but therein lies enchantment.
Liberate yourself from inharmonious ideas to allow your story and characters to flow freely.
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5 Responses to “Married… Buried: Let Go The Ones You Love”
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What an awesome article! I said it before, we, your readers are going to enjoy a lot of your ‘inside’ info- but much more than that, it’s YOU- it’s your way with words- you can be very inspirational at times, challenging and provocative at others, critical and direct to the point at other times. That’s why this site of yours is a treasure full of surprises.
It really makes sense that once you write something, you should not be afraid to start all over again. You said it so perfectly:
“When you are writing alone, there is no one to disagree with you. If you are in doubt about something you have written, that means it is probably really bad, so cut it. ”
When I started doing movie reviews, I was afraid, even hesitant about being critical with the movies that did not impress me. But when you write something and it’s not honest and truthful, it will be yourself who will remind you that yes, you need to stop writing those untruths!
JED - Thank you so much! It means so much to me, especially coming from a great writer and visionary as yourself. If you don’t mind, I would like to pull your quote for my BIO page, ok?
Yes, I also struggle with being too nice -vs- truthful -vs- unnecessarily cruel. It is hard to be respectful of someone’s hard labors and yet an honest critic at the same time. For me, that has never stopped being a challenge when writing about actors or films. When are you saying too much? When not enough? I try to bring each thing back to this: Is what I am saying benefiting anyone? If it’s not, trash it. If it can help the filmmaker or actor or others to improve, then say it. For me, I want to affect life positively, not negatively, that is my guide for writing: to teach, to share, to learn.
Thank you for this. I had such a problem with being able to let go of ideas that I held to close to my heart, believing they were going to “make” me. If I wish to be a creative writer I have to trust in the fact that I will always be able to improvise new ideas, build off of old ones and throw away dead ends.
It used to be impossible to walk around without a miniature notepad in my back pocket; fearing that I would conjure up some crucial plot twist and ultimately forget it. Upon reading this I have realized that sometimes it is good to let it go and let it flow. Being in the zone as a writer does not entail forcing yourself to elaborate on schemes, themes and development. They should come naturally to you and flow from your body to the pen, or keyboard or whatever you prefer to write with/on.
SHANE - Keep the notebook! Notebook is essential to developing ideas. You don’t want to forget moments that might work great in some story somewhere. I always have a notebook on me. Hang on to all those passing thoughts, just don’t force them into stories where they don’t belong. Skimming back through ideas, with time, certain ideas will get stronger and build, while other ideas will seem silly or boring (let those ones go). Coming back to notes and projects after time helps to better judge them.
Hi Jaden!
That would be awesome!
and this:
“For me, I want to affect life positively, not negatively”
well said! I think a lot of writers want to have a purpose- even a noble one. And what’s one of the best things that a writer can do? To bring about positive change to an individual, or an enterprise. You’re quite right, if what you’re writing/posting on a blog will not benefit an actor or a filmmaker, perhaps it’s best not to publish it anymore. But criticism can be done objectively, without malice or huidden agenda, and that’s the best way for someone to reflect and change his ways- for the better.