writing rituals

i dont really write anything on my laptop until i write on the ole lined paper first.

as odd as it sounds i spend a lot of sleepless nights at this little denny's two blocks from my apartment. coffee my ipod and a notebook normally.

i write short stories though. cant seem to grapple the screenplay process yet. :(

the only good thing about it is the waitress knows me by name and doesnt charge me for the coffee anymore. stupid no smoking laws in california sure know how to blow a rhythym though. i might start throwing some scotch into that coffee though.
 
Yeah, I actually like writing on lined paper first as well. Writing it on the computer is sort of intimidating I think, when you're first starting at least.
 
If you're talking about screenwriting, get yourself a screenwriting program and it will "set you free" to write without the format concerns.
 
It used to be late-night scotch, lined paper and note cards, but since I've had a child that's out the window. So I've had to find a high-tech quick way to get going from time to time. Which now means anytime with a laptop and just get whatever I can out of my head.

I made the paper to digital transition (still hard sometimes) with a product called WritersBlocks, but then switched over to Mac so it was back to notecards.

However, I just found this product called Supernotecards by www.mindola.com that is a cheap notecard programs that can eventually be integrated into a programs such as Word or Final Draft. You can even have notes foramtted in script format, which is amazing. Very powerful stuff. It can take a few days for it to feel more natural.

It's a pretty cool way for us old-school types to be able to plug notes into the computer without being intimidated like Ryan mentioned.

I also agree with Blaine, which is that if we really need to write we will, but for most of us mere mortals humans are creatures of habit and ritual so we have to occasionally fall back to the scotch and smokes, etc. :)
 
Not really, but common practices...


I get a booklet of index cards and write slug lines/ and descriptions of scenes, that way I can organize, delete, move, and add details, set aside, pace, visually on a table etc.

Keep minor details separate ie jokes, small actions ideas, shot ideas etc - they distract from structure overall.

When it's getting close, I also like just writing slug lines on a blank Final Draft document in order w/ the index cards - makes it a lot less intimidating to write IMO, if I have a basic track to follow, even if it's just INT/EXT, DAY/NIGHT.
 
Enjoy early morning air, English Tea, peanut butter on toast. Though I'm not sick of that combo so I'm probably not writing enough.
 
-For a new concept...Ashton VSG Spellbound & several drams of single malt (from Islay of course)...I start off writing long hand

-For fleshing out a script I have been working on...normally Opus X Double Corona -or- Fuente Don Carlos Presidente with either pints of ale or the strongest coffee that I happen to have immediate access to...by now I am cranking it out onto my Dell

-Either way, a big secret for myself would be...the sounds of epic movie soundtracks issuing from my speakers (nothing too highly recognizable, mind ya...)
 
RyanT said:
Yeah, I actually like writing on lined paper first as well. Writing it on the computer is sort of intimidating I think, when you're first starting at least.
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I'm the same way. I do all of my notes/outlining/basic scene-by-scene summaries on lined paper. I like to actually WRITE it all out before I go to the computer.

and on the topic of rituals, I think I have a couple, but nothing big. I can write wherever as long as I have a pen and paper.

Now:
I usually have to have my iRiver with me, containing about 60 cd's. I need to have certain types of music (mostly instrumental) to help keep me in a certain state of mind or mood.

and usually a bottle of water to sip on. maybe a little snack or something.

And I actually found that I do good writing and get very lost from reality while I'm somewhere like a coffee shop where I don't know anyone (like someone else mentioned). I seem to just drift off into my stories.
 
After letting all my anger out and chillion out by some form of method at 23:00+. I often just sit at the pc, relax, few lights on. Everybody asleep except the puppy.
Grab a hot drink, coffee or tea, few biscuits! cant forget the...yeah. And just sit at the pc. I often listen to Amateur film maker, or want to be big time film composers music. It get sme going. I normally have a scene In my head to start off with. Then I listen to the music over and over. And It somehow sorts the scenes out, sometimes i think of one scene, and the music thinks of a way to link it to another scene in my head
So I open up Microsoft Word, write It down, rough script, spell check, complete, go over it again, add more lines, take some out, etc, you know the score.

So for me.
-) Hot Drink
-) Dry Snack
-) One light bulb
-) Amateur Film Composer Music
-) One pistol loaded Incase I fail
 
Red Bull and my iPod. I choose songs that fit the mood of the script. I like the level of scriptwriting audacity that the energy drink/musak combination spawns: Rage Against The Machine for sad, soppy good-byes; piano scores for the little guy getting back at the governmnent. Hey, it's my world.
 
I write best under pressure and attribute this to a past career of deadlines. Now, as I am a university student for the first time in my life it seems nothing has changed. So I usually get involved in a project, agree to a meeting and set a prelim delivery in a couple of weeks and do an outline immediately. Then I always end up not doing anything until the night before the meeting. I get grumpy and write furiously and crash and deliver. There is no amount of noise,traffic or anything else that affects me while I am in this "grumpy" state.
 
wake up at 6am, mainline coffee, write for about 1.5 hours before i go to work. same ritual for editing.

for me, it's important to know exactly what i'm going to try to do the next morning.
 
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