Ask the Coach: Odds & Ends – Finding Your Voice, Getting Unstuck, and Abandoning Scripts for Books – On Script Mag

Welcome to the latest installment of my “Ask the Coach” column on Script Mag! This month, I’m addressing a collection of shorter questions about Finding Your Voice, Getting Unstuck, and Abandoning Scripts for Books.
 
“I think I need the most help with networking and finding my voice as a writer. What are some ways to find your voice and churn out script after script?”
 
“I have the concept of my script and my characters broken down but when I’m writing I get stuck at times. What can I do to keep my creative juices going in the process of writing my script?”
 
“How do I know if I should just ‘give up’ screenwriting and focus only on writing books? I’ve been writing screenplays on and off for 10 years… so tired of all the ‘It’s not ready’ B.S. but I still have many screenplay ideas. Thanks!”
 
As writers, we have a lot to navigate, from sorting out who we are and want to be on the page, to getting unstuck and keeping our creativity alive, choosing our creative projects, and more. My intention is to give you perspectives, tools, and questions to help you keep moving forward as a writer. [more…]
 
As we write, we build confidence in ourselves, which is expressed through our voice on the page. Therefore, to find your voice as a writer, writing itself — frequently — is the best pathway to pursue.
 
 
 
 
 
If you’ve got writing questions, please send them my way!
I’d love to answer them for you in my column.
 
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Ask the Coach: How Can I Find an Idea Person for My Story? – On Script Mag

Welcome to the next installment of my “Ask the Coach” column on Script Mag!
 
This month’s question is about getting past feeling stumped and how to find an “idea person” to help make that happen:
 
“My writing style is that I get an idea and start writing to see where the story goes. I don’t do outlines. I’ve gotten ideas for stories from thinking up a name, or a killer last line comes to me, or from a writing prompt. I’ve written complete novels from those particular starts. A few of those I set aside for months (or years) before the idea for where to take the story comes to me. On one I’m working on now, I’m about 10,000 words in and stumped. I need an idea person. My question is: are there idea people who can take your progress and give you thoughts for where the story should go? I write really well if I have a direction to go. I don’t need someone to write the story for me, I just would love a shove in the right direction.”
 
I love the many rich layers in this question. Let’s dive in.
 
To start, there absolutely are “idea people” out there. From writing coaches to story experts to script mentors, you can find someone to help you tackle story problems and figure out what comes next. Sometimes it’s incredibly helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of and get input from to help us move past the places we get stumped.
 
And I want to plant the seed that this may be a place to grow your structure and development skillset as well. Even if you’re not a writer who likes to outline, you may still benefit from sorting out the big moves in your story so you can write toward them as you pants your way through your actual writing. [more…]
 

 

 
If you’ve got writing questions, please send them my way!
I’d love to answer them for you in my column.

 

Image by Pixabay from Pexels