WHEN YOU’RE CHANGING as a writer, you might change in big, BIG ways—but certain things about your personal style might need to stay the same.
Currently, I’m in the second category mentioned in Write There (Part I): that of changing both genres and platforms.
For the past nine years, I’ve developed and expressed my style as the fear of writing expert—the “no critiques allowed/this is a safe place to explore your creativity” lady—and the prolific generator of writing prompts that give you a fun storyline to work with.
My chief genre up ‘til now has been self-help for writers. My platform has been my book, Website, workshops and online writing course.
But now I’m moving into new territory; reinventing myself as a screenwriter. The screenplay is my new platform. My new genre—at least for my first screenplay—is time travel/adventure/romance.
There’s a lot to learn! Not only about my new craft but about myself in relation to this new story-telling platform.
My Tele-Class “Ah-Ha!” Moment
Recently I attended a tele-class about asking carefully targeted questions to structure the genre of your screenplay. I’m a great believer in asking questions to help explore my characters and their dilemmas, and the tele-class was being taught by a respected screenwriting teacher, so I was looking forward to learning some insider secrets.
But I was not able to last the distance. What this call (re)confirmed for me is that these kinds of writing systems are too cerebral for me.
I know they work for others . . . but I am not those others. I have to know what’s right for ME.
What works for me is to write my first raw draft from a deep well of passion, plus an organic knowledge from within of what my story is about.
Once I have my first draft, I can go about finessing the structure (and other important elements) during my rewrites.
I’m a stickler for structure, professional presentation and rewriting my story until it’s the best it can be. So it’s not as if I repudiate the more technical sides of creative writing (in fact, I’m always reading how-to books about my new field). But, for me, it would kill the realness of my story to think in terms of “Act II Part II relates to Act II Part I, but not Act I or Act III.”
That’s just how I am.
The Silver Lining
Even though I knew in my heart I could not adopt this teacher’s writing system, I did not consider my time wasted. Sometimes, learning what’s not right for us can be just as valuable as finding where we fit.
It’s the same thing, if you get right down to it. The secret is to avoid using situations such as this one to make judgments about yourself as a writer.
I could just as easily have said, “I’ll never be good enough as a screenwriter! This kind of technical-sounding talk goes right over my head!”
But not only is that not true (I can pick it up easily when it’s presented in a style that resonates with who I am), that kind of self-talk can be cruelly self-perpetuating.
Recognizing I didn’t belong in that tele-class not only freed up my time to get back to my screenplay, my Ah-ha! moment even led (in a round-about way) to more self-acceptance for my own blogging style. Not to mention some deeper thinking about ‘style’ that led to more self-expression as a writer.
Sometimes, it pays to be in the wrong place at the right time.
