I’ve decided to get back to my roots and write more. Sometimes I’m so busy moving around from one thing to the next that I have to make a conscious effort to sit down and remember what’s important. Production can be as complicated as you want to make it, but at its core it’s just about figuring out how to translate something already written to an audio-visual medium. I’m not saying that you need to have everything 100% nailed down before you start production; all creative work necessarily evolves during the creation process, especially when it’s a collaborative effort. I just want to reiterate that storytelling is the foundation for video production and other dramatic art-forms from traditional plays to modern TV shows or webcasts. Having the best crew, talent, and gear isn’t worth much without solid writing behind it all. With that attitude, I’m diving back into prose before I move ahead with screenwriting.

I think Graham Greene says it best, “To me it is almost impossible to write a film play without first writing a story. Even a film depends on more than plot, on a certain measure of characterization, on mood and atmosphere; and these seem to me almost impossible to capture for the first time in the full shorthand of a script.”

I’m going to post a new writing exercise each month. Bring your results to the monthly Writing Circle meeting so we can share our progress.

Writing Exercise #1
(Length: 1 page)
This exercise was suggested by John Gardner.

Describe a barn from the P.O.V. of a man who just lost his son in a war. Don’t mention his son, war, or the man himself.

REMINDER: !!! The October meeting has been postponed to the 12th instead of the 5th. I’m gonna be out of town. Sorry folks. !!!