What to Write When Your Expecting... A Deadline

A totally really encounter that I didn't awkwardly make by texting myself

As you stray farther from the version of you that first wanted to get into writing, you may begin to ask yourself, "How do I keep writing? What should I write?" Is there a right or wrong answer to this? No, there are never bad stories, just lost connections and boundaries pushed too far.

Here picture this, it's 2016 I'm (your friendly narrator) sitting in my social studies class thinking to myself. "Man, I can't wait to write the next blockbuster. It's going to have action, thrills, and explosions." Nice, right? To think that three years later in college, I would be going from drooling over Blockbusters to becoming crazed over the French New Wave and slice of life films such as The Before Series. Then I would say, "No, the film isn't about all these grand sets and budget; it's the grit and people!" You could see this in my second production class when I made a payed homage to the French New Wave. I even went as far as to have it translated into French twice, first by a professor and second a classmate who felt they new better than the professor. Non the less, it was a joy to make.

"Something New to Come", A still from my French New Wave Project, starring Sammi Misterka

I've finally gotten it haven't I? Not quite, I'd say I'm still far from the answer, but that's okay. It's safe to say I saw the "film bro" nature of both sides and eventually decided it was something I wanted to stray away from. Though, I think fazes are crucial for a writer; it's how we begin to shape our voice. Knowing the lengths, we want to go will help us design the chemistry of our stories.

Though in class, it felt like I was an intelligent student. You had plenty of people writing sci-fi scripts that made Star Wars look cheap. Our professors always say, "No one wants to buy an expensive script from a nobody; keep it cheap!" Keep it cheap? Who do I look like, Louis Malle? To craft such a successfully light and complex story takes years of learning. Keep it cheap; what's the fun in that? Now don't get me wrong, if you're looking to get your script produced in an indie nature, keep it cheap, for your sake at least, or maybe not. Hear me out; even Orson Wells once said, "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations," and he after all is known for one movie! It's good to have wild things in a script because how would you shoot that with 100 bucks and Go Pro? That's the fun, find out.

Now, back to stories. I've found myself in my latest stage, one I'm hoping to be in for quite some time. I see it as a fantasy stage. I've completely let go of my French New Wave Craze and decided that the nature of our reality is not truly important to grasp humanity. It's the people. Over the last two years now, I've been writing scripts with non-linear plots, historical fantasy, and Magical Realism pieces (Thank you, Jared French). They are fun and wild. Instead of asking myself, "How do I make these people interesting?" I'm asking, "How will I move this plot?" It's brought an inverse before the plot was simple and the people needed so many complexities, but now, the people are already complex, and the story has to bring them out into the open.

Jared French's breathtaking Magical Realism piece "Evasion"

It's fun finding our perfect story, but don't get hung up on the need to be perfect. Just get hung up on the need to tell stories. If you could take away anything from this, it's that you should never worry about your capability to tell a specific story. Your day may come someday; just be respectful of others, of course and have fun in your many stages of writ