Wednesday, April 23, 2008

We need you to be creative, go...

I finally addressed the notes for a pitch I'm working on and put it together for the people involved. They loved the new direction and the characters. Now I have to think up 5 story lines to go along with the pitch. Oh yeah and I need them by Friday. The thing that makes this so difficult is that this show hasn't been around for years. It's not like writing ideas for the Simpson's or a show that you know already. It doesn't have it's "voice" yet. In essence I'm creating that voice. It's so hard to write a show that doesn't exist yet.

I haven't really sat down and wrapped my head around it just yet. After years of figuring out exactly what writing is, I now know that coming up with a "problem" isn't story writing. For instance, "The farm must be saved from foreclosure" isn't a good story synopsis. Where as "Farmer Joe's parents were killed by accountants so he must over come his crippling fear of number 2 pencils in order to save his farm from foreclosure" is better. The first one sounds like a story, but it's just an issue. The second one involves character and that characters arc. That's what story must consist of, a person going on a journey to overcome an obstacle, not just an obstacle sitting there forcing people to run around trying to deal with it.

I have all these characters, an environment, and circumstances. I just need to discover the characters motivation, their fears and wants, what they need and how they try to do to get it. And I need to do it in two days, during my free time.

TOPIC TWO
How many fucking "career networks" do I need to be a part of for Christ's sake. I'm on Linkedin and some other one, and then I got an invite for two more today. The only time I ever even look at them is when I get a friend invite. Has anyone ever gotten work off of one of these things?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, buddy, that does sound tough to be creative on cue. If you need any ideas, just let me know. I have a bunch. Like a bodybuilder competes with a hamster and must find the toothbrush of steroids to brush his buttocks and get disqualified for stepping over the line. I got a million of 'em.