Διήγημα Fractal: "Βιβλίο χωρίς συγγραφέα"

Του Θανάση Πάνου στο Fractal, Η γεωμετρία των ιδεών

…
Αυτό το βιβλίο το μίσησα. Ήθελα να το ρίξω στη φωτιά.
Ναι παραδέχομαι ότι αυτό το βιβλίο με έκανε να νοιώσω ανόητος. Δεν με χάιδεψε, δεν με ντάντεψε, δεν ερχόταν σε καμία σελίδα του να με συναντήσει ευπρόσδεκτα ή να προσφέρει παρηγοριά. Τίποτα μέσα του δεν έκανε την πραγματική προσπάθεια να μου γελάσει να γίνει ευχάριστο κι αυτό με μαστίγωνε συνέχεια προσφέροντας μου μια εκνευριστική αίσθηση κατωτερότητας. Έκανε υποτονικά μια επιτομή της ευφυΐας μου και με περιφρόνηση συνέχιζε σελίδα-σελίδα να μου υπενθυμίζει την άγνοιά μου.
Το διάβαζα εξοργισμένος με την ενόχληση ότι δεν αποκάλυπτε λύσεις, δεν πρόσφερε θεραπεία στην επιμέλεια μου. Ξαφνικά όμως στη τελευταία σελίδα ένοιωσα την έλλειψη της πλήξης. Ακρωτηριάζοντας συστηματικά στην αφήγησή του αυτά που ήθελα να ακούσω για την αιώνια αγάπη, για τη νίκη του καλού, την ελπίδα και την αναμονή για ένα καλύτερο αύριο, παγώνοντας όλες τις αξίες και τα πρότυπα και κουρελιάζοντας την νίκη της ζωής απέναντι στο θάνατο με ξεγύμνωσε.
Χώθηκε σελίδα-σελίδα αθόρυβα στο μυαλό μου και το αναποδογύρισε επιδεικνύοντας την θλιβερή ματαιοδοξία μου. Τελικά κατάλαβα, ένοιωσα όλα τα μπαγιάτικα που συσσωρεύονται μέσα μου με την υπόσχεση της βοήθειας των τυποποιημένων λύσεων ή το χάιδεμα των αισθήσεων. Αναπάντεχα αυτό το βιβλίο με συνέπεια και ακρίβεια ανατόμου ανάδωσε την σχιζοφρένια του αναγνώστη να χάνεται σε μια ιστορία, να αντιμετωπίζει την πραγματικότητα σαν ξένη ή να προσπαθεί να δραπετεύσει από αυτή με την ταύτισή του με τον ήρωα του συγγραφέα.
Το βιβλίο αυτό που θέλησα στη πυρά να το ρίξω γιατί ως βιβλίο δεν θέλησε να παράγει συλλογικούς καρπούς, πανομοιότυπους, συνειδητοποίησα τελικά ότι θριάμβευσε αποσυνθέτοντας τα στερεότυπα και τις αξίες, τα κριτήρια ομορφιάς και του νοήματος, τα συμβατικά συναισθήματα και όλα αυτά χωρίς να προσηλυτίζει στη δική του θεϊκή πόλη. Απλά, σε καλούσε σε μια πόλη που γελοιοποιούσε την ψευδό-ηθική και ήταν σε θέση να αγκαλιάσει ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι της πραγματικότητας, όπως η φαντασία, η ψευδαίσθηση, η παραίσθηση, το παράλογο γιατί όλα αυτά είναι ανθρώπινα.
Η τελευταία σελίδα του, χωρίς καμία λέξη είχε μόνο το σχέδιο ενός νεκρού ζώου, ενός πεινασμένου παιδιού μέσα σε μια φύση νεκρή και πάνω σε ένα δένδρο τον Miles Davis να παίζει μοναχικά την τρομπέτα του. Ήταν ο « χώρος» που έκλεινε το βιβλίο και αποχαιρετούσε ρουφώντας τον αναγνώστη σε ένα ενιαίο αισθητικό αποτέλεσμα με αφετηρία και χωρίς τέλος. …

 
ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΕΑΣ
…
Ο διπλά κουτσός λαχειοπώλης
σερνόμενος με τον κορμό του
κραυγάζει την τύχη την καταραμένη:
«και ποιος έχει λεφτά για πέταμα;»
Της ίδιας γενιάς άλλος ρακένδυτος,
ρωτούσε αυστηρά:
«έχετε διαβάσει αυτό το βιβλίο;
Δεν είναι για γυναίκες και παιδιά
είναι ένα εξαιρετικά πρόστυχο βιβλίο»
Είναι το είδος του βιβλίου στα χέρια ενός
που αποκαλύπτει ότι είναι χωρίς νόημα
μα αυτό δεν είναι τίποτα…
«εδώ υπάρχει ένα αληθινό βιβλίο
είναι χονδροειδές μέχρι ακόλαστο
αν το αγοράσεις θα το διαβάσεις!»
Αν εξαιρέσεις το αισθητικό πρόβλημα του χώρου,
η καταδίκη του ακαδημαϊσμού ήταν ευχάριστη
από την περιγραφή της ρητορικής αυτής απάτης:
«έχετε διαβάσει αυτό το πολύτιμο βιβλίο;»
Η έλλειψη χώρου με έσπρωξε
πάνω στα απλωμένα χέρια του
και στη ματιά του που ανίχνευε
τις σκέψεις μέσα μου…
«ιερό! ιερό! αυτό το πολύτιμο βιβλίο»
άνοιγε τα χέρια να με αγκαλιάσει
ζητώντας την ίδια ανταπόδοση,
γνωρίζοντας ότι είμαι ο συγγραφέας.»

Πηγή: http://goo.gl/w1pwLl/

Σκέψεις στο έργο της Άλκης Ζέη

Προσωπικές μου σκέψεις γύρω από το βιβλίο του Μιχάλη Αργυρίδη για την Άλκη Ζέη, «Η τέχνη του να μιλάς στα παιδιά με έντιμο τρόπο» θα συνοδευτούν με παραδείγματα γύρω από το έργο της καταξιωμένης συγγραφέως. Κριτικά σημειώματα του Μιχάλη Αργυρίδη για τη συγγραφέα συνόδευσαν, το 2004, τον φάκελο της υποψηφιότητας της Άλκης Ζέη για το διεθνές βραβείο Άντερσεν! Ή Άλκη Ζέη στο χώρο της παιδικής λογοτεχνίας, έχοντας βαθειά γνώση της παιδικής ψυχολογίας αναφέρεται στον έντιμο τρόπο για τον οποίο κάνει λόγο ο διάσημος ψυχοπαιδαγωγός Bruner, δηλαδή ότι στα παιδιά μπορούμε να μιλήσουμε για τα πάντα αρκεί να βρεθεί το μέσο, η φόρμα της γλώσσας και ο τρόπος να καταστήσουμε τα μηνύματά μας δυνατά στο γλωσσικό και νοητικό επίπεδο των παιδιών, ο τρόπος που αποκαλείται έντιμος. Έτσι η Άλκη Ζέη τολμάει να αφηγείται και να καταγράφει μέσω των ηρώων της, τις τραγικές ιστορικές καταστάσεις που…σημάδεψαν δυσάρεστα την κοινωνική ζωή του τόπου, χωρίς όμως να σοκάρει ούτε να προκαλεί αποστροφή. Κατοχή, Εμφύλιος, επέμβαση Άγγλων ιμπεριαλιστών, εκτελέσεις Ελλήνων αλλά και συλλήψεις αντιστασιακών από τους Ιταλούς, όλα αυτά περιγράφονται με χαρακτηριστικές τεχνικές στα βιβλία παιδικής λογοτεχνίας. Ας δούμε όμως κάποιες από αυτές τις τεχνικές και τις αναλύσεις του Μιχάλη Αργυρίδη ειδικότερα.
Η Άλκη Ζέη χρησιμοποιεί την τεχνική της αντικατάστασης, με αναφορές τόσο στο δικό μας κόσμο όσο και στον κόσμο των ζώων. Αναφέρεται για παράδειγμα στις εκτελέσεις Ελλήνων από τους Γερμανούς την περίοδο της Κατοχής, κάνοντας λόγο για το περίπτερο με το σκοπευτήριο που υπάρχει στα πανηγύρια. Σημαδέψτε ίσια στην καρδιά λέει ένας ήρωας με νάζι, ώστε οι παιδικοί αναγνώστες να βιώσουν την πραγματικότητα λίγο πιο ανώδυνα. Τα βιώματα είναι χαρακτηριστικά, ένα παιδί ετοιμάζεται να γιορτάσει τα 10 του γενέθλια αλλά η μητέρα του αποφασίζει ότι αυτό δεν θα συμβεί για να κάνουν συμπαράσταση σε ένα συγκάτοικο λόγω της εισόδου των Γερμανών στο Παρίσι. Η Άλκη Ζέη χρησιμοποιεί τον κόσμο των ζώων. Καθώς αυτά είναι απροστάτευτα στα χέρια των μεγάλων, τους κάνουν να αναπτύσσουν το ένστικτο της προστασίας, αισθάνονται υπεροχή αλλά και σιγουριά. Τα ζώα λειτουργούν επεξηγηματικά αλλά και ανακουφιστικά. Για να δώσει σε ένα παιδί η συγγραφέας την ευκαιρία να εξοικειωθεί με την ιδέα του θανάτου γράφει στο βιβλίο της για τον Ψεύτη παππού: Αν φύγω και δεις ένα πουλί να πετάει, μπορεί να είναι η ψυχή μου. Ο παππούς για παράδειγμα με μαύρο πουκάμισο και λευκό φουλάρι έχει αντικατασταθεί από ένα πουλί με τα δικά του χρώματα.
Τα παιδιά πρέπει να διατηρήσουν την ψυχοσυναισθηματική τους ηρεμία και να μην τρομάξουν, δεν πρέπει επίσης να ακούνε ψέματα. Οι παιδικοί λοιπόν ήρωες της Άλκης Ζέη είναι τολμηροί, σκανταλιάρικοι, ανυπότακτοι, φτιάχνουν δικές τους λέξεις και δικούς τους κώδικες, παίζουν με λεκτικές ποιητικές συνθέσεις. Θα θυμάστε για παράδειγμα το παιχνίδι με τις λέξεις, Κοθέ Κολω Κοέ Κονα Κοπο Κοτή Κορι Κονε Κορό. Στις συλλαβές της έκφρασης Θέλω ένα ποτήρι νερό, τοποθετήσαμε τη συλλαβή Κο και δημιουργήσαμε ένα γλωσσικό κώδικα. Τα παιδιά παίζουν με πολλούς και διάφορους τέτοιους τρόπους, είναι επίσης πειραχτήρια. Λέει η Άλκη Ζέη αναδεικνύοντας το χιούμορ και το πείραγμα, ένα κοριτσάκι έχει τα γενέθλιά του και τα δίδυμα ήρθαν και τις έφεραν ένα μπουκέτο με γαϊδουράγκαθα. Ανακαλύπτει διαφόρων ειδών φόρμες η συγγραφέας. Στο βιβλίο ο Ψεύτης παππούς, Δεκέμβρης 1944, αναφέρεται στους Άγγλους ιμπεριαλιστές, σε διώξεις, συλλήψεις και εξορία στην Αίγυπτο, χρησιμοποιώντας πάλι ζώο. Ένας φροντιστής στο θέατρο, δηλαδή αυτός που φροντίζει για τα αντικείμενα που θα χρειαστούν οι ηθοποιοί σε κάθε σκηνή, συλλαμβάνεται, δέχεται επίθεση με βρισιές, τον ψάχνουν, για να τους παραδώσει τα όπλα. Ποια όπλα? Ρωτάει με απορία. Αυτά που γράφει στο χαρτί, λένε οι Άγγλοι, βγάζοντας το από την τσέπη του. Ήταν ένα σημείωμα, γιατί επειδή έπαιζαν ένα έργο σχετικά με την αντίσταση κατά των Γερμανών, ζητούσαν χειροβομβίδες, τρία αυτόματα και σταυρωτά φισεκλίκια. Διέθετε βλέπεις τα…όπλα!
Αυτές και πολλές άλλες μεταφορές, εναλλαγές αλλά και συνθέσεις βρίθουν στα βιβλία της Άλκης Ζέη η οποία διακρίνεται για την οικουμενικότητα και την καθολική αποδοχή του έργου της. Οι τεχνικές αυτές αν και με όρους παιδικής λογοτεχνίας είναι πολύτιμες και στο εφηβικό και νεανικό βιβλίο και σε πολλές άλλες όμως περιπτώσεις…
Φωτό: Άλκη Ζέη
Μενέλαος Γκίκας

Kill Your Outline: A Screenwriter’s Guide To Discovering Your Character, by Jacob Krueger Studio!

Young writers often get obsessed with writing for the audience. Even in the earliest drafts, their focus is on sneaking in tons of exposition about their characters, layering themes or symbolic motifs, or carefully outlining the mechanics for a surprise ending they think will be the key to selling their script.
It’s no wonder that this happens. After all, these are the things that film scholars rave about and film studies classes teach– complex psychological portraits and deep thematic importance, screenplay structures, beat sheets and outlines.
So why do movies written this way so often come out flat? Why does it seem like nothing is happening, when the writer has put so much effort into building the psychological life of the character? Why do all the themes and motifs just feel like smoke and mirrors? Why is no one reacting to the surprise ending you’ve worked so hard to craft?
It’s not because these things aren’t important. They are. It’s because you’re focusing on them TOO EARLY.
At the beginning of the process there’s only one thing that’s important: the profound journey your character is undertaking and the irrevocable changes in your character’s life that go along with it.
Thematic ideas are not something you impose on your script. They’re something you discover as you get to know your character. Story structure is not something you plot out before you’ve written a single word, it’s something that reveals itself to you as your character’s journey unfolds.
Until you figure out your character’s journey, exposition will only slow your movie down, no matter how profound, exciting, or psychologically fascinating your character’s past may be.
“But what about my outline?” you may be thinking. “I already know my character’s journey!”
No way. Not likely.
If you think you already know your character’s journey before you even sit down to write your character, it’s probably not a very profound journey. How could it be? You don’t even know who your character is yet! In fact, if you can predict your character’s journey before you even start writing, the chances are the audience can too.
What could be more boring? Not only for the audience, but for you as a writer.
Your outline may make you feel safe, but great writing is not about painting by numbers. It’s about stepping into your character, and taking a profound journey with her.
Kill your outline.
Get to know your character.
Decide out what she wants more than anything, and enjoy coming up with the most exciting, challenging, and inventive ways you can to make it hard for her to get it. Ask yourself, what’s the best or the worst thing that could happen at this moment? And see how your character reacts when it does.
Forget about exposition or setting up things for the audience. You’ll have plenty of time for that later. For now, just let your character be herself, say what she would say in the situation, and do what she would do.
Forget about how it all fits together or what it all means. Instead just follow your character as she strives to get what she wants against impossible odds. Notice her specific behaviors. How she talks and acts differently than anyone else in the world. How she responds to things in unexpected ways. Notice how your dialogue suddenly feels more real and your characters actions more motivated and specific.
Notice how your character’s journey reveals itself to you.
Notice how a big surprise you never saw coming seems to bubble up from nowhere, and actually surprises you.
Of course, this is only the first step. There will come a time when you do need to focus on your audience. When you need to set things up and pay things off, layer in theme, and hone your structure.
But not right now. Right now is the time to keep your focus on what’s really important.
Trust your character.
Kill your outline.
Ready to learn a new approach to screenwriting?

Who Is Steering Your Creative Ship?

by, Jacob Krueger

 

The Captain And The Navigator

If you imagine your writing as a ship, then you can think of your subconscious, creative brain as the Captain, and the conscious editing brain as the Navigator.
Having a good Navigator is a vital part of keeping the ship afloat. After all, it’s the Navigator who reads the charts, plots the course, adjusts for winds and currents, and makes sure you arrive in the most efficient way possible. The Navigator makes the plans that make the Captain’s goals possible. Tell the Navigator where you want to go, and the Navigator will get you there.

 

The Trouble Occurs When The Navigator Starts To Think He Or She Is The Captain

 

Imagine your terrified Editing Brain Navigator, clinging desperately to the helm in the middle of the storm, seeing the rocks ahead, and not knowing what to do about them: frantically pouring through screenwriting books, planning, outlining, writing character backstories, building image systems, refining your hook, organizing around a theme, obsessing day and night…
But no matter what it does the rocks just keep getting closer. Because your editing brain doesn’t know how to steer the ship.
Unlike the Captain, the Navigator has no idea how the intricate inner workings of the ship actually function. They don’t know how to run the rigging, manage the emotions of the crew, or make the millions of instinctual decisions that make the difference between survival and destruction.
And yet, most of us continually put the Navigator in this position. Mostly because, just like the terrified Navigator, we’re unaware that the Captain even exists. Or unwilling to trust them if they do.

 

Learning To Trust Your Creative Brain

It’s only natural that we’d feel this way. Our entire education system, since we were in kindergarten, has taught us to ignore the instinctual, creative side that actually governs 90% of what we do, and to focus instead on the editing side of our brain– the part that thinks before we speak, second guesses our actions, and prepares us for a role on the Henry Ford assembly line of life.
This same mistake is repeated by almost every screenwriting book on the market and almost every screenwriting guru on circuit. More and more and more education for the editing brain, until it thinks it’s the only brain on the ship.
And the next thing you know, you’re completely blocked.

 

This Is Where Writer’s Block Comes From.

Just like in any enterprise, when you travel too long with the wrong person at the helm, there’s usually a mutiny brewing. And of course the same is true when it comes to writing.
Your writer’s block may take the form of complete paralysis. Or it may take an even more insidious form– dull, flat, boring writing– the feeling that there’s something inside you that’s dying to come out, but that it’s never making its way onto the page.

 

Put Your Creative Captain Back At The Helm

Unlike your conscious editing Navigator, your subconscious creative Captain doesn’t give a hoot about Archetypes, Structure, Format, Symbol or any of the millions of other informational ideas that gurus preach and film professors salivate over.
There will be plenty of time for that later. But first you need to learn to steer your ship.
That’s why my screenwriting workshops begin with mind opening exercises, designed to help your over-anxious Navigator retire to its cabin for some well-deserved rest, and put your creative Captain back in control.
Gradually, you’ll learn how to balance the two sides of your writer’s mind, so that both Captain and Navigator to work together in harmony to develop and craft your voice as a writer, discover the story within you, and translate it to the page.

I-N-G, These 3 Letters Are Not Your Friends

By, Jacob Krueger


Want to revolutionize your writing in three letters or less?  Do a hunt through your writing for these three letters:
I-N-G.
No, I’m not talking about the internet bank. I’m talking about the three letters that turn verbs into nouns (gerunds for you English teachers) grinding your story to a halt and creating static, and usually non-specific images.
-ing words (gerunds for you English teachers) create static images in your writing.  Verbs create a sense of action.  So sometimes simply by switching an -ing word to an active verb, you can change the whole feeling of your action.
It’s not that gerunds are bad in themselves. If you tried to cut every gerund out of your script you’d probably go crazy, and your script might not be any better for yourtroubles.
At the same time, gerunds can often be red-flags for missed opportunities in your writing. So if you’re using a ton of gerunds in your action, you may want to take a closer look, and make sure you’re getting everything you can out of them.

 

The Difference Between Verbs and Gerunds

Movies are active, and they’re told through exciting images of exciting characters doing exciting things in exciting ways. And because movies are told in the cuts between scenes, they work best when we’re cutting from one big moment to another– big changes, big decisions, big choices your characters make.
Unlike the active verbs that capture the unique ways your characters pursue their objectives and react to problems in their world, gerunds suggest states of being, continuing action and static images– the opposite of the specific moments that truly capture your character and make your movie feel like it’s happening NOW.

 

Is all this really so important?

In a word, yes.
At first look, there might not seem to be a big difference between phrases like:
Elizabeth is standing/Elizabeth stands
Mary is running/Mary runs
John is dancing/John dances
But the big problem with gerunds is not just that they can often feel static. It’s that their very nature can make it difficult to isolate the specific moments that capture your character’s journey. You may feel like you’re writing actions, but oftentimes you’re not. You’re writing states of being.

 

And that means you’re not thinking in movie time.

“Elizabeth is standing” tells us Elizabeth’s placement– as if she was a static figure in a picture. As a writer,your job is not to be a set decorator. And let’s face it– it’s hard to visualize placement of stuff in a room you’re not even seeing.
“Elizabeth stands” doesn’t exactly capture the Academy Award for excitement. But at least it can suggest that a choice is being made– that she stood up for a reason. That she is no longer seated. That something is happening.
“Mary is running” suggests that Mary is in the process of running. But this isn’t what your director is going to shoot. What she is actually going to shoot is a bunch of cool moments and specific actions that when strung together capture the feeling of Mary’s run.
When you write “Mary is running” you’re not thinking like a filmmaker. You’re once again thinking like a set decorator– setting the scene, rather than capturing the moments.
If instead you forced yourself to capture the moments that say “Mary is running” and the actions she takes as she runs, you would learn all kinds of important stuff about your character.

 

Mary is doing more than just running.

You might visualize the awkward way her arms flop as she runs. You might imagine the slap of a flip flop against the pavement. You might see her stumble over her paisley skirt and tumble into the mud.
Or, you might imagine the rhythmic thump of Mary’s 300 dollar running shoes. Feel her rock hard biceps strain against her moisture-wicking running shirt, hear her heart rate monitor sound an alarm, and see her ignore it and quicken her pace.
These visual moments would not only be a lot more fun to watch than “Mary is running”, they would also reveal so much more about who Mary is, what she wants, and the unique way she pursues those desires.

 

Revolutionize your writing.

Each specific moment you create in your action becomes something you can riff on later in your script, to capture your character’s journey in powerful ways.
The moment when the first Mary struggles to get the stain out of her paisley skirt, or trades it for a pair of running shorts, or jumps effortlessly over the mud puddle she once dreaded.
The moment when the second Mary hears the heart rate alarm sound and stops running, when her bicep strains against a hospital blood pressure cuff rather than her running shirt.
In this way, you can transform missed opportunities into transformative moments that create a visual language for your movie, capture the unique spirit ofyour character, and drive the action of your story forward in exciting ways.
Keep a lookout for those three little letters i-n-g.  And notice what it does for your writing.

Branding yourself as A Writer by J Krueger!

Many of the questions I’ve been getting recently from my students have been about what kinds of scripts young writers should focus on writing.

Is it true that you should start out writing thrillers?  Is it okay to write an indie drama or a movie based on your own life?  Is it true that you shouldn’t write a TV spec script if you’re over 30?  If you’re working on your second script, does it have to be in the same genre as your first one?  Should you write the screenplay in your heart, or the one you think you can sell?

As different as these questions may seem, they all boil down to some common concerns: How do you brand yourself as a writer and communicate exactly what you have to offer to  a producer?  How do you present the right kinds of screenplays to showcase your talent, break through the walls of Hollywood, and get producers to perceive you the way you want to be perceived?  And how do you write the right scripts to launch your career, while holding onto your voice as a writer.

What Hollywood Wants You To Believe
 
It seems like every day, there’s another screenwriting guru offering a different “sure-fire” plan to sell your script.

But the truth is, nobody can tell you how to sell your script.

Hollywood is a fickle lover, whose tastes change by the minute.   What’s popular one moment is out of vogue with the next clock tick.  And anyone who pretends to know different is probably trying to sell you something.

If you’re going to break in, you’re not going to do it by timing the market, pitching some half-baked “commercial” idea, or playing by the same rules everyone else is following.

You’re going to do it by honoring the unique voice that distinguishes you as a writer, writing material that demands the attention of anyone who reads it, targeting the producers who are most likely to respond to you as a writer, and building the long term relationships with them that eventually lead to a sale.

Selling-out is for professionals
 
While it’s true that producers do buy half-baked scripts all the time based purely on their commercial appeal, they don’t buy them from emerging writers like you.

If that’s the game they want to play, they have hundreds of choices of sell-out-scripts from professional writers with existing relationships, and far more impressive pedigrees than yours.

Breaking into Hollywood as an emerging writer means inspiring a producer to take a chance on you.  And it’s far more likely that they’re going to take a chance on a young writer with script they love, than on one more aspiring sell-out with a script they don’t.
 
It all starts with the script

If you think about the most successful writers in Hollywood, they all have one thing in common: a unique and authentic voice that is common to all their writing, regardless of the genre, and distinguishes them from any other writer.

This is the writer’s brand.  Not some external idea that’s imposed on the screenplay, or a hot marketing idea derived from some get-rich-quick book.   But the writer’s unique way of looking at the world, and expressing themselves in words, action and dialogue.

Your brand is inescapable.  Because your brand is you.
 
Think about successful writers like Aaron Sorkin, Quentin Tarantino, PT Anderson, Nora Ephron, Diablo Cody, Charlie Kaufman, Woody Allen or the Coen Brothers.

These writers didn’t choose their voices, artificially brand their voices, or artificially manufacture their voices by following some external formula.  They found their voices by writing the world as they saw it, and writing the movies they wanted to see on the screen, exactly the way they wanted to see them.

Your brand as a screenwriter isn’t some genre aesthetic, or something you impose on your writing to please the fickle tastes of Hollywood.  Your brand is who you are at your most authentic.  The unique way that you see the world.  The things about you that you’re afraid to express to other people.  The things you got picked on for in high school.  The things that are weird, embarrassing, ugly and beautiful about you.

These things—the very things we try to hide away in our everyday lives in our quest to be “normal”—will be the same things that ultimately lead to your success as a writer.  If you can learn to express them honestly on the page.

Learning to write honestly is the hardest challenge.
 
If you’re like most people, since were in second grade, you’ve been taught to do things properly, not to stand out, and to present yourself in a way that is acceptable to other people.  Before long, it becomes so natural for us to subvert our primal impulses and conform to the expectations of society that we don’t even realize that we’re doing it, at every moment of every day.

This urge has probably served you well in your life. If you followed every impulse you had at every moment, you probably wouldn’t have a lot of friends.

But you’ve probably met some people whose true self just seems to shine through a little more brightly.  Who seem to be able to be true to their impulses, even as they get along with the people around them.

And if you’ve spent any time with people like that, you’ll notice how powerfully others are drawn to them, and the lengths perfect strangers go to in order to spend time with them.
 
These are people who have mastered both the art and the craft of life.
 
The art of being true to yourself, and the craft of presenting that truth in a way that others can understand and connect to.

This is also the task of the writer.

Learning a process of writing that reconnects you to your instincts.  And then learning to present those instincts in a form that others can understand.

This is also the art of branding.  Noticing the natural voice, and the natural instincts, that already exist in your writing, and then shaping them into a form that can make producers salivate.
 
Where to begin?

While it may eventually be helpful to your career to have more than one screenplay in the same genre in your library, or to write a project that has obvious commercial appeal, finding your voice as a writer begins with following your passion.

Building a career in Hollywood is a long game.  And in playing that game, you’re going to write a lot of scripts.  Some of them are going to sell.  And some of them are not.  And some of them are going to get passed on when you write them, and then become the hottest thing on the market 10 years later.
 
You can’t control Hollywood.  You can’t even predict it.
 
But you can control yourself.

Avoid the teachers who teach you how to conform to the rules, and seek out the ones that push you to find your own voice and inspire you to bring it to the surface.

Choose the projects you’re desperate to write.  Or the ones you’re afraid of writing.  Because those are the screenplays that are closest to your heart, and to your truth.

Gobble up every bit of learning you can get, and then allow yourself to forget it, so that you can follow your instincts and respond to the unique demands of each individual project, even as you hone your craft as a writer.

Keep writing, and keep pushing yourself, until each script is so true to your vision, and so important to you, that you know it was worth writing whether it sells or not.

Pitch your screenplays to the producers whose work you love, and whose tastes match your own.  And put your focus on the relationship, rather than the sale.

Before long, you won’t have to think about your brand anymore.  Because your brand will find you.  It will be present in every word you write, and shine brightly through your whole library of work, and every interaction you have with a producer.

Meditative Writing, Classes by Jacob Krueger Studio

MEDITATIVE WRITING

With Jessica Hinds

Wednesdays, 7-9pm
6 Weeks
April 10-May 22 (no class May 15)

Learn to tap into your deepest instincts as a writer, and connect to your writing at its creative source. This 6 week series of 2 hour meditative writing sessions will help you break through writers block, so your writing, and unique voice, can flow effortlessly. Designed for writers of all genres, including Screenwriters, Playwrights, Novelists & Short Story Writers.

Price: $350.00

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” – Pablo Picasso

There was a time when creativity was easy—when you were a child, driven by an endless desire to create, and no fear, no judgment, and no internal censor whatsoever.
The goal of meditative writing is to return you to that time, when finding your voice as a writer was as easy as being yourself, and raw creativity flowed as effortlessly as inspiration.
You’ll learn to banish writer’s block forever, find inspiration in an instant, and discover the heart of your story and your characters, by tapping into your own voice as a writer, and your deepest creative instincts.

How Does It Work?

Each session begins with a short guided meditation, followed by a series of carefully crafted meditative writing exercises, designed to transport you out of your everyday life, and connect you to the emotional truth of your story and of your characters.
Over 6 weeks, you’ll build a writing practice that allows you to get your pages flowing at will, recover the joy you’ve always felt with writing, and write from your most connected place every time you sit down with your characters.

 

Who Should Take Meditative Writing?

Whether you are brand new to writing, or a seasoned writer looking to inject energy back into your writing, meditative writing will change your writing life forever.
Designed for writers of all types, including screenwriters, playwrights, poets, novelists, and writers of any other genre, here are just a few of the many benefits of this approach:

• Uncovering the Real Emotional Underbelly That Drives Great Films
• Discovering Your True Voice
• Creating More Provocative Dialogue, Images and Action
• Developing an “Inspiration on Command” Writing Schedule
• Injecting Joy Into Your Writing Process
• Getting in Touch With Your Characters
• Finding the Heart of Your Story
• Discovering Theme
• Natural Subtext
• Opening Up Your Creative Side
• Learning How To Write Even When You Can’t Find a “Quiet Place”
• Connecting Yourself To Your Characters and Story Even If You Are Working On Assignment
• Writing Cooler, Bigger, More Intense and Compelling Scenes
• Learning To Love Your Weirdness and Understand Its Value
• Relaxation
• Confidence
• Focus
• Banishing Writers Block Forever
• Fun!

Answers To Common Questions

What’s the Difference Between Meditative Writing and Your Other Classes?

Unlike our other classes, which focus on merging the art and the craft of writing, Meditative Writing allows you to put the craft and all your conscious goals as a writer aside for awhile, and concentrate only on connecting to the emotional truth of your writing and your characters.  Each class is devoted entirely to writing exercises, so you’ll leave each time with tons of powerful raw material that you can hone and refine throughout the rest of your writing week.

Can I take Meditative Writing and a Write Your Screenplay Class or Personal Training at the Same Time?
 
Yes, in fact we highly recommend it, and even offer a $100 discount for students who wish to combine meditative writing with any class of 4 weeks or longer or with our Personal Training One-on-One Mentorship Program.  To take advantage of this discount, email us or call 917-464-3594.

What If It Doesn’t Work For Me?
 
Many writers find that their writing is instantly flowing with the very first session of meditative writing.  Others find it more like yoga or learning piano, a practice that requires repetition and patience.   You may find at first that writing in this way for 15 or 20 minutes is enough to get you started… but over time everyone progresses to longer and longer periods of deeply connected writing. You are welcome to discuss your progress with your teacher anytime before or after class.

What is the Guided Meditation Like?
 
The guided meditation used in meditative writing simply requires you to close your eyes and be led through a series of visualizations that will open you up to your subconscious.  You will be awake, aware and totally in control the whole time!

Should I Take This Class Online?
 
Writing classes are about trust, community, and real-time give and take between student and teacher, so we’ve designed our online classes give our online students the same personalized experience as the students in the room.  Our LIVE video stream allows you to see and hear everything as if you were with us in person.  You can even ask questions via our online chat and get them answered instantly by the instructor.  Plus, we keep video-on-demand replays of every session online for a full month after the class ends, so you can watch and rewatch them on your own time and your own schedule.  All you need is a computer and a high speed internet connection.

What If I Have To Miss A Class?
 
As with all courses at Jacob Krueger Studio, you never have to worry about missing a class, no matter how busy your schedule.  Whether you take Meditative Writing in person or online, you’ll have access to unlimited video replays for a full month after the class ends, so you can watch and rewatch anytime, from anywhere in the world, and use these techniques every time you sit down to write.

By LeoDiCaprio Foundation related with Creating A Sustainable Future, Leo joins the Jury of the 'Date with History' Contest!

April 17, 2012 - A diverse group of organizations and individuals have joined forces behind the ‘Date With History’ online youth video speech contest, designed to encourage young people from all walks of life and all over the world speak ‘truth to power’ and inspire urgent action from decision makers and leaders gathering at the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil this June.

An open public vote online will determine regional finalists in the speech contest, following which the ultimate winner will be selected by a diverse jury of over 20 individuals. The jury includes more than a dozen respected youth leaders from around the world, Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth, actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, actor and activist Hayden Panettiere, former Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, Brazilian actor and activist Sergio Marone and even noted high level names such as Jose Maria Figueres, President of the Carbon War Room, Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General, UN Industrial Development Organization and Co-Chair Secretary General's High Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All and UNFCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. The jury also notably includes Severn Suzuki, who delivered a moving speech at the 1992 Earth Summit as a 12 year old and is still remembered as ‘the girl who silenced the world.’

More than 120 Heads of state and government will attend the Earth Summit, in the midst of a convergence of crises unlike any seen in our history. Public pressure may well stimulate attendance by key actors, such as President Obama, who are still undecided about attending. The diverse range of organizations involved in the ‘Date With History’ initiative including TckTckTck, Climate Nexus, the UN Foundation, Music for Relief, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Canadian Council of Churches, David Suzuki Foundation and UNESCO Etxea are hopeful that engaging young voices will help to ensure the conference elicits decisive action from governments.
About the Date With History Contest

“Date With History” is organized by the Global Campaign for Climate Action (www.tcktcktck.org), Climate Nexus and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Contest participants aged 13-30 can upload their 2-3 minute speeches at http://datewithhistory.com or via the Mobli™ app http://datewithhistory.com/mobli (using the category @datewithhistory). Once the submission period has closed on 6 May, the most popular speeches from each region, as determined by the number of votes online, will be shortlisted as finalists. A jury made up of prominent individuals from around the world will review the short list and select a winner on May 15. The winner will travel to Rio and deliver his or her vision in person, have the opportunity to witness events on the ground and engage in activities with youth involved in the official process.

For more information on the contest rules and how to enter, or to access the full jury list, please visit http://DateWithHistory.com. The following language versions are available: Spanish at http://CitaconLaHistoria.com; French at http://RencontrezLHistoire.com; Portuguese at http://EncontroComaHistoria.com

By Pen Densham's "Eyeshot" Powerful Network, 7 Basic Plots for Story Utilities Improving Creativity!

THE SEVEN BASIC PLOTS
BY JOHN LEARY
Every story utilizes one of seven basic plots. They are:
1. Man v (Wo)man
This, the most typical story, is about the man who has an argument with his wife one night over whether she will make his lunch for him to take to work the next day. He likes a turkey sandwich and a piece of fruit.  He has a job but she can’t find one, so he thinks she should make his lunch. He doesn’t realize that she can’t find a job because she is a mean sort of person, and not many people like her. Worse, her face is covered in stains and she doesn’t know how to end conversations in the office. He insists that she make his lunch, not realizing that the cramps she feels when reminded of her unemployment are sharpened by his expectations of subservience. They argue, agendas throbbing like a stubbed toe. At last, too embarrassed to resist further, she makes his lunch while he sits at the kitchen table drinking a beer. That night they sleep in separate parts of their bed. In the morning he wakes up and checks his email before getting into the shower, and sees that he has been asked to take a client to lunch that day. He will not need to take his lunch after all. He feels a rush of tender feelings and guilt, and he is able to share a few of these feelings with his wife. They embrace. She promises him that she will keep his lunch in the refrigerator, safely stored, so that he can take it to work the following day. By the time he returns home from work that evening, his wife has not yet decided whether or not to remove the Ipecac-laden pudding that she tucked between his sandwich and apple. Ipecac is a very strong laxative-purgative.
2. Man v Nature
Wash the car and it rains. Go outside without an umbrella and it rains. Try to have a little vegetable garden in that fenced-off part of the backyard, and the plants get attacked by snails and crows, and then it never rains. Pissed off, you open the refrigerator and a Bengal tiger jumps out. You wrestle it to the death and have a beer. A homebrew you made from plants you gathered around the neighborhood.
3. Man v Environment
 A man eats too much fast food and the growth hormones the hamburger-cattle eat cause him to grow enormous breasts. He wants to open a dry cleaning business in his backyard but the neighbors prevent him because he can’t figure out how to dispose of the cleaning chemicals without infecting the ecosystem. He tries to grow a lawn and his neighbors all offer conflicting advice, so he ends up with the only front yard on the street covered in brown stains. He paints the trim on his garage a brick-red color and one of his neighbors comments that the color looks “like a monkey’s ass.”  One of the neighbor’s kids, a five year old boy, stands in his front yard in his underwear holding his ears, jumping up and down and screaming, for several hours a day. No one seems to complain. Zoning laws can be so arbitrary, so fickle. The man applies for a permit to open a muffler repair shop and the permit board turns him down. Some days, he just wants to cry. This story never has a happy ending. Either the man goes mad and hops up and down on his front lawn holding his ears and screaming, or he becomes just like the neighbors. Exactly like them, down to their fatty white teeth.
4. Man v Machine
Same as #1., but this time the wife is a robot.
5. Man v The Supernatural
The Green Ghoul chases the meddling kids down the staircase, heading right for the trap, but then one of the kids falls backwards and to break his fall he hits the switch on the giant fan and by mistake it goes into High Speed Reverse. This is the fan that was supposed to blow the Green Ghoul along a bubble-laden path, straight into the washing machine. Instead, the fan crashes into the ironing board and the kid and his dog are sitting on the ironing board and they fly out one window and then in through another, and they bump into the Green Ghoul, who steps onto a roller skate and slides all the way across the room to where he crashes into a suit of armor. The kids grab the Green Ghoul and unmask him to reveal Mr. Shipley, the owner of the “haunted” amusement park.
6. Man v Self
A man finds that whenever the NASDAQ 100 is going to have a positive day, he wakes in the morning with his left ring finger engorged with blood, so much blood that he can not bend it. The same thing happens whenever the American National Security Advisor appears in a television commercial or video. After much trial and error, he realizes that the only way he can cure this affliction (which, through a complicated series of introspective scenes, is revealed to be a metaphor for “modern life”) is by doing something that is explained in graphic detail with his daughter’s Little Mermaid action figures. Every night under the bedcovers, he plays and sings sea-songs softly. Then one night his wife and daughter surprise him!  It’s an intervention!  He breaks down and sobs, “I can’t help it. I hate myself.”  His wife and daughter want to put him into a treatment center, but the doctors there prod him with felt-tipped needles and stereo wire. Self-loathing and afraid, he flees and becomes notorious; he spends many years on the road having mild adventures. Toward the end of the story, he appears at his daughter’s college graduation. She recognizes him and kicks him in the shins. Stories like this can be exciting, if told well. Toward the end of one of these well-told stories, the man will spend some time alone in the woods or a hotel room “looking deep inside himself.”  If the book is particularly well done, the end of each chapter will feature bullet-pointed “lessons” that can be applied to your everyday life.
7. Man v God
Every day, the man whose wife makes lunch for him also drives him to the train station before taking their two sons to school. Some mornings the boys tell their father the dreams they had the night before. Sometimes the wife joins in. One particular morning, Son #1 says, “Daddy, last night I dreamed that you were being unfair to Biscuit. You said that Biscuit was taking up too much of your time and you hated walking him and feeding him every night. You said he stole the Sports page out of the paper every morning and told you the baseball scores when you took him for a walk. So you sold him to a dog-carnival without telling us.”   The man’s wife shares her dream from the night before: “I was at school taking pictures of the kids and there were some other camera crews there and they had very nice cameras – yes, ours is very nice too; I know you spent seven days of internet research choosing it – but then I lost ours and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I didn’t know how to tell you because I knew you’d be mad so I stayed at school. I stayed there all night.”  Son #2 then says to his father, “In my dream we went out to dinner at Chirpy’s like we did last week and you got really mad at the waiter like you did last week and this time in my dream you beat up the waiter but this time the waiter was Jesus so you beat up Jesus.”  The man gets out of the car at the train station. Listening to the dreams has left him shaken. He can barely climb onto the train when it arrives. His self-image is torn and jagged – he had considered himself a kind, sensitive man, but suddenly wonders if the world perceives him as an ogre. The train passes through a tunnel and he catches his reflection in the window and turns away. His hands are shaking. He is hypoglycemic and he is shaking. He grabs his lunch box, seeking something to calm his stomach, calm his bloodstream. He opens his lunchbox: Pudding!

From The Screenwriter's Newsletter!

“Good screenwriting is about carpentry. It’s a juggling of beginnings, middles and endings so they all inevitably seem to be moving correctly together. Your first draft is dangerously important. Don’t ever kid yourself into thinking, “It’s okay, it’s just the first draft.” Beware of that thought, because it’s ten times more difficult to go in a certain direction once you’ve already gone in another direction.”—Ernest Lehman, screenwriter of Sweet Smell of Success, North by Northwest, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
“Generally speaking, if you don’t set everything up in the beginning, you’ll pay for it… in the middle or in the end. So I would rather pay for it at the beginning. It’s not television and they’re not going to go off into the icebox, or they’re not going to change channels. An audience in a movie will forgive you for just about anything for the first 10 minutes or so. But really nothing at the end. So it’s the time to prepare… the beginning.” —Robert Towne

Ένα ποίημα από τον Οδυσσέα Ελύτη

"Το Θαλασσινό Τριφύλλι"

Μια φορά στα χίλια χρόνια
του πελάγου τα τελώνια
Μες στα σκοτεινά τα φύκια
μες στα πράσινα χαλίκια
Το φυτεύουνε και βγαίνει
πριν ο ήλιος ανατείλει
Το μαγεύουνε και βγαίνει
το θαλασσινό τριφύλλι

Κι όποιος το 'βρει δεν πεθαίνει
κι όποιος το 'βρει δεν πεθαίνει

Μια φορά στα χίλια χρόνια
κελαηδούν αλλιώς τ' αηδόνια
Δε γελάνε μήτε κλαίνε
μόνο λένε μόνο λένε:
Μια φορά στα χίλια χρόνια
γίνεται η αγάπη αιώνια
Να 'χεις τύχη να 'χεις τύχη
κι η χρονιά να σου πετύχει

Κι από τ' ουρανού τα μέρη
την αγάπη να σου φέρει

Το θαλασσινό τριφύλλι
ποιος θα βρει να μου το στείλει
Ποιος θα βρει να μου το στείλει
το θαλασσινό τριφύλλι

Οδυσσέας Ελύτης
Τα Ρω του Έρωτα