Getting sidetracked by other movies
I have this problem of losing my momentum when I’m writing due to shifts in my mood. I’ll be working on a pretty heavy dramatic piece and I’ll see something like a Wes Anderson film. If the film moves me enough, my overall mood will become whimsical (in this example) and I’ll lose that dramatic edge. Does this ever happen to you? If so, what do you, outside of sealing yourself off from outside artistic influences (which may not be a bad idea)?
– Brandon
Los Angeles
Yes, this happens to me, and just about every writer I know. The problem is that screenplays are simply so long, and take so long to write, that it’s impossible to remain in one emotional state from start to finish.
All I can offer are some tricks to help you get back in the right mood.
Be an actor. Scene by scene, day by day, actors have to project emotions that they’re not naturally feeling. How do they do it? Well, you could and should read up on it — even taking a class is a good idea. But the short version is that they simply pretend. If you’re feeling glum and depressed as you sit down to work on your elephant-mating comedy, pretend you’re having a great day, and that you’re surrounded by people who think you’re funny. On the other hand, I wrote the finale for BIG FISH by deliberately bringing myself to tears before I started typing. Call it method screenwriting.
Create some triggers. While I don’t usually write with music playing, I often build an iTunes playlist of songs that feel right for a certain project. For instance, Ennio Morricone’s Hamlet soundtrack has a very spooky song that I used over and over when I needed to get properly freaked out for my never-to-be-made zombie western.
Acknowledge what it is about that Wes Anderson film you liked so much, but stop comparing it to what you’re writing. You know what? Wes Anderson goes to see movies, too, and probably feels the same kind of self-doubt when he sees something brilliant. But he gets over it. So get over it.
Re-read what you’ve already written. Nothing feels more like your movie than your movie.
FInally, do consider barricading yourself for a week or two if outside influences are keeping you from finishing. There’s a lot to be said for keeping other voices out of your head.
Articles
December 6th, 2004 at 2:17 pm
Excellent question, excellent advice. And let me add another trusty mood-inspiring soundtrack for writing a mystery or thriller: Eyes Wide Shut. Works every time.
December 6th, 2004 at 10:35 pm
I’ve been thinking about that question a lot lately. I never considered that it actually happened to professional screenwriters. I’m in school and that distraction happens a lot with other courses getting in the way of my screenwriting classes. Thanks for the advice on thinking like an actor, that‚Äôs great.
Speaking of itunes, I sometimes listen to the itunes radio station KCRW, it’s an eclectic music station out of LA and its great for getting you’re mind moving.
December 7th, 2004 at 12:21 am
When your a ten year old boy and you come out of a kung-fu film, you feel immortal. A love story with a good ending, you come out of it in a trance, just thinking about the film.
My main method is by just putting on a movie that is similar to what you are writing and try to feel what the characters are feeling.
Don’t you just love between May - July when all of the Oscar films come out on DVD?
December 7th, 2004 at 6:01 am
John Recommended the music approach which is a very good one. Film scores are a good way to go.
For the Wes Anderson approach, go out and guy yourself a ‘Best Of: The Beatles’ and/or a must for any Wes fan, David Bowie.
At the moment, the songs on my play list are: Placebo, Nina Gordon, Beethoven (Piano Sonata’s), Neil Young, The Verve, The Who, Moby, Rob Dougan, Nine Inch Nails and Jon Brion’s scores from ‘I Heart Huckabees’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’.
December 10th, 2004 at 4:31 pm
It happens to me all the time that things I write straddle the fence between serious and dark, wry comedy. Just write it and then go back and figure out which one worked.
December 11th, 2004 at 12:23 am
I find I can’t write with any music with lyrics, or I have a tendency to write those lyrics into whatever I’m working on.
So I stick to jazz music or soundtracks. Another suggestion..the score of Scream 1 and 2. Creepy.
July 13th, 2006 at 8:10 am
I would like to read the zombie Western you wrote, John. The same concept occured to me.
July 19th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Method screenwriting.
Now that is an advice you don’t hear every day.
Personally… I always listen to music while writing. I survived the first draft of “Dune” almost exclusively on the soundtrack for “The Gladiator” and various Apocalyptica albums.
Another thing I usually do is to asign each major character their favourite (or, at least, “theme”) type of music, and listen to that music while writing their key scenes. It really gets me into the character.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:26 am
[...] getting distracted by all of them which only means one thing, I’m avoiding the actual work. This is what I’m talking [...]