A little Secret

RodThompson

RodThompson

Veteran
I was once in a chat room with a professional screenwriter, and I said, "My problem is continuously coming up with new ideas that are bankable."

To this, he went on a small spiel about how that is the main problem of any creative mind. And it is! Anyway, what he ended up recommending the book I've linked below. It's the Videohound Guide. It essentially gives the title and a quick synopsis of EVERY MOVIE EVER MADE. Lol. Seriously. It's hilaruious some of the junk that's made it to the silver screen, DVD, or tape. Either way, he said that a lot of writers that he knew took some of these synopsises, twisted them, and could create a completely different movie with the exact same premise. I bought the 2004 edition for 4 bucks, used on AMAZON. The link I posted is to the 2009 edition, but honestly, when the titles go back 50 years, I don't think I'm going to need an update to cover movies that were just made.

Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there if anyone is having a problem coming up with something new.

http://www.amazon.com/Videohounds-G...d_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235561772&sr=8-1

Rod
 
Nice suggestion, thank you. Also, sometimes I think I am at the keyboard too much, I wonder what might happen if I went away for a whole week somewhere without anything electronic but my cell phone, to brainstorm story ideas. What might happen if the mind had few other distractions but that of pen and paper (or at least a laptop but no internet) and brain.
 
Get yourself bounced from your virtual hang outs & see how productive you become.

Lots of great books were written in prison for just this reason...Its bad to have a window in front of your desk better a blank wall etc.

Its difficult for the mind to invent if the need to fill the emptyness of the inner void is solved.

DogDay.
 
I think it was someone (Bill Martell?) here who has a quote on his website something to the effect that hanging out on message boards are a great way to avoid writing. =) I know I got so much writing done, wrote my first draft of a screenplay, up at the Caribou coffee shop I hang out at; then they got wifi, and I get less writing done, always the internet for a distraction (case in point-- here i am typing on the net). If I disappear from dvxuser for a while, don't panic anybody (as if my abscence would be noticed!), I am likely actually writing a screenplay! =)
 
I can't write when I'm at work (Navy) so I have little to do but troll message boards. At home, I never take a second glance at them except maybe before I go to bed to check for new messages.

In all actuality, most of my brainstorming and sometimes my scenes come from driving in my car. My wife bought me a digital recorder, much like what doctor's use to record notes, for this very reason. I'm sure I look like a dumbass driving down 64 talking to myself, but I really feel dumb when I listen to a recording of me saying

"Interior...Day...a male dog mounts another male dog in a park. Two small children watch in terror, tears streaming down their faces."

But it definitely pays off for remembering funny things that happen real world.

As far as the message boards, they are a great excuse to NOT WRITE, but they are also great excuses to learn something. As far as my advice above, I think we can all agree that originality died with the wheel (that's MY line).
 
Then there's the classic "script pitch" thing of "Citizen Kane meets Alien" or whatever. Any two movies, the more different the better, lol. :grin:

When I am stuck on a script I get a torrent of ideas for other scripts. I write down whatever I have on them, bits of dialogue or whatever, sounds cheezy but I keep a "writers journal" for this purpose.

A lot of my stuff, going back to stage & novel-writing, is inspired by news stories.

Then I go back to Video Hound to see what others have done w/that premise. I like the TLA Video guide, it covers lots of indies and foreign films.

Cheers :beer: Jeff
 
That book sounds like a good tool.

I can't brainstorm at all sitting in front of the computer. I've got to be outside, like Rod said, in the car or just out on the porch or something. Also, unfortunately, most of my ideas come flooding into my head when I'm trying to go to sleep. And before I got a notepad next to my bed I used to forget a lot of them. I also want to invest in a tape recorder, I think that would help a great deal.
 
I love being in public when I'm thinking of new ideas, or working on a script. The background noise keeps the parts of my brain I'm not using busy so I can focus more on the writing. Unfortunately most public places you can actually sit and not get kicked out have wifi now so the internet does indeed draw my attention away.
 
I'd love to go to a remote retreat with nothing but writers. But a retreat with odd rules. NO WRITING! No discussing any scripts or stories you have in progress right now. No working on them, or even thinking about them.

Instead, the days are spent socializing with each other. Talk about anything BUT writing and stories.

Then at night, everyone gathers around a big campfire with a cup of coffee, cocoa, glass of wine, or whatever. And we just tell stories. Not stories we've been working on or had in our heads. Just stories we make up in the moment. Just like regular campfire stories. Maybe events that have happened to us in the past. Anything interesting. Tell stories for hours on end.

That would fuel my creative furnace!

Good thread!
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
I'd love to go to a remote retreat with nothing but writers. But a retreat with odd rules. NO WRITING! No discussing any scripts or stories you have in progress right now. No working on them, or even thinking about them.

Instead, the days are spent socializing with each other. Talk about anything BUT writing and stories.

Then at night, everyone gathers around a big campfire with a cup of coffee, cocoa, glass of wine, or whatever. And we just tell stories. Not stories we've been working on or had in our heads. Just stories we make up in the moment. Just like regular campfire stories. Maybe events that have happened to us in the past. Anything interesting. Tell stories for hours on end.

That would fuel my creative furnace!

Good thread!
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That's a great idea. Sometimes I could really use some time like that to let my mind take a breather.
 
I'll second (or third?) the idea of a voice recorder. With the digital ones, you can even upload old recordings to your computer so that you can archive them for later mental digestion.

Plus, I also get ideas right before I go to sleep. It's a pain to fumble about with pen and paper. Hitting a big button on a recorder and muttering a few words is much easier for me. Though, I do often have fun many mornings trying to decipher what I uttered the night before!
 
when I studied music we did a similar exercise: lets play in A major but NOBODY plays the note A.....lets play in D minor but leave out the D and the F and so forth....
 
Nice walk with my Bassets and a good cigar. I don't really write anything down while I'm out, I say it out loud to the Bassets as they lumber along on the trail. The cigar imposes a time limit, and settles the nerves. When I get home the tired bassets crash out in a big pile, and I go write stuff down.

I just hit the message boards when I have a random few minutes like this. Home from work and have a pot roast on. Sometimes a :beer: helps the process, but not to get hammered. YMMV.
 
Jeffrey Rice said:
Then there's the classic "script pitch" thing of "Citizen Kane meets Alien" or whatever. Any two movies, the more different the better, lol. :grin:
Click to expand...

Actually, in Alien the guy who the alien larvae popped out of is named Kane. If only the alien could've rode away on a tiny wooden sled.

DogDay said:
Lots of great books were written in prison for just this reason...Its bad to have a window in front of your desk better a blank wall etc.
Click to expand...

OK guys, if you don't hear from me for awhile its because I've robbed at least one bank using a black spray painted super soaker, stowed the cash away, and then went to prison for a few years to write my masterpiece. Once I get out I've got the cash to live on and make my first feature. :Drogar-Smoke(DBG): :thumbup:

Seriously though, I get ideas at the most inopportune times: in the shower, on the can, while I'm at the grocery store, driving down the road, etc... I've just gotten used to being able to remember these bursts of inspiration well enough for a few hours to then be able to get to the computer later on and add a quick description or preliminary logline into my archive of ideas.

My problem is not coming up with ideas, it's deciding which one to focus on and stick with that one idea and leave the other ones alone long enough to get the first one done or at least to a rough draft stage. Then I can set it aside and work on a new one since I find it helpful to take a break between drafts so that I can approach it with a fresh perspective when I'm editing/rewriting.
 
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