Ninja vs Penguin

Penguin February 25th, 2008

Perspiration isn’t just working hard or spending a ton of time at the craft of screenwriting. That is a big portion, to write every day even if you don’t feel inspired. Rather, it’s a discipline to keep moving forward. Once you’ve answered the question that craft raises, work on it until you have 2 answers, than 3 if possible. The idea is that you want to be able to choose which answer is best for your screenplay.

The hardest part about inspiration is finding the story. That’s where perspiration comes in. There are stories all around you. You’re living stories every day. Your friends are living stories. Stories come from every day life. It’s just a matter of seeing them. The question is whether they’re big enough or interesting enough to tell others.

At any given time, you can only retain 9 major ideas in your head. Depending on your memory, sometimes more, sometimes less. Perspiration is maintaining a bank of stories. Those stories that come from life, they may not be big enough on their own, but they could possibly fit into another story. Or you can string them together to make one big story. That’s why it’s so important to maintain a bank of stories. No matter how silly, stupid, cliche, sophomoric, now isn’t the time for editing.

Next: Research

-Penguin

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