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Whether the writing blues the writing highs, or just a question, I will post it here. |
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Most of my blogs will likely be made from the comfort of my own home, sitting in whatever PJs I am currently wearing, with a cup of high-test tea to my left. Others will be made from the comfort of my local coffee shop with free internet, also with a cup of high-test tea to my left. As I begin to build my writing business I hope to get feedback and support from fellow writers willing to guide a new writer. Much of my work will be professional projects for hire. Any writer must eat while she works on her Great American Novel. Please drop in and say hello from time to time. Your thoughts and insights are always welcome. Tea not included. |
| I had so much fun participating in the 49hr Film Project (www.48hrfilm.org) that I now have my students do a 2-Hr Story Project as a writing assignment. I give them a genre, line of dialogue, character, and prop that must be included in their story. Their piece may take any creative form; short story, poem, song lyrics, short play. Anything they can think of, really. So far, they are freaking out. Most of them anyway. Even though the required elements can be featured as prominently or as little as the author chooses. But the element must be there. I expect quite a variety of entries! |
| I just received an email from my boss at the community college. I have my pick of 4 classes for fall! I'm looking forward to Creative Writing/Drama, and Survey of American Lit. I'll still be teaching the very basic class, but I'm getting better at that. Two new classes will be challenging, but I'm comfortable with the topics so that should make things easier. It still takes me a long time to come up with assignments and writing projects and to prepare enough material to cover the entire class time. That seems to be the biggest challenge - filling the time wisely I am open to ideas for both of these classes. If you have activity ideas - please share! |
| Tonight I am having my students work on a Narration Essay. I decided to work on one along side them. This is posted in my portfolio, eagerly awaiting some feedback! The Valerian pills I took before take off didn't let me sleep, really, they only made me sleep-y. So, when we finally landed in Paris, I was not of clean, clear mind to find my connecting gate. Stupidly, it had not registered with me that everything in Charles DeGaulle airport would be in french. I stepped off the plane into a sea of voices. I couldn't pick out a word of english. With 15 minutes to find my gate, I knew I couldn't dawdle. I forced my head to clear quickly and took in my suroundings. This looked like an ordinary airport, signs, loudspeakers, parents with children, too much luggage and a very long line at security. I smelled the coffee coming from the kiosk and wished I had time to stop. Only the signs were different. They were all in French. I hadn't had any french since high school. A few words came to mind: crepe, moi, bois, baguette. Nothing about getting along in an airport. I turned an ear outward and listened for any signs of english. So many europeans spoke english these days and I hoped I would find one. No such luck. Voices sounded strange and unfamiliar. I would have to ask for help. But who? I moved into the line of traffic and scanned the monitors. My flight was listed as "On Time" and departing from gate 36. Looking around, I found a sign with a "36" on it with an arrow. I moved in that direction. The arrows soon let me to a security checkpoint - with a very long line. I waited, uncertainly, not sure if I was in the right place. The airline agent was working her way toward me answering questions. When she got to me I blurted out my question in English. "Can you tell me how to get to gate 36?" She responded in French and moved on. I had not a clue what she said. Just then, a small tour group came walking by. I overhead the guide shout something to her group that included the word "trente-six". My eyes must have lit up as my head snapped in her direction. "Thirty-six." I said to myself. "That's my gate!" The guide was beckoning her group to follow, and I jumped in with them. Sure enough, past the security gate I saw the large gate sign with a huge "36" overhead. I sighed, outloud, from sheer relief. I ran toward the open door, worried it would close before I got there. Another young woman was running in the same direction. We caught each other's glance and smiled. She spoke english too. We were the last two people on our plane. The door to the plane closed as I settled in my seat, out of breath. When I landed in Holland, my story was the first of many I shared with my friend I had travelled so many miles to see. Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make it with me. It doesn't speak french either. |
| I finally got out and hopped on my bike to participate in an organized bike ride. I completed 23 miles, some of it in the rain. I feel wonderful! My F2K class is starting this week. Here's hoping I remember to schedule time to keep up with it. Scheduled writing time is a must to be successful. Wish me luck! |
| I'm sitting in a local coffee house, sipping some butterscotch brew, listening to some local guys pluck out some lovely tunes on the string bass and acoustic guitar. Good music can be quite inspiring. It is almost 9pm and I'm tired, but this is the kind of music that is nice to write to. What other types of music does anyone find soothing enough to write to? |
| Has anyone on writing.com ever entered a screenwriting contest? I've considered it, however, it means I need to actually sit down and <i>write</i> a screenplay. I suppose most of us share that or a similar dream. But writing that first long work seems daunting, if not overwhelming. How does one train for a marathon if one is not a runner - yet? This is my question for my day. |
| The funny thing about being a video producer is that unless your client has a significant amount of experience, he or she is very much in the dark about how video is actually created and produced. There are only two types of clients: 1) those who really do know what they are doing and, 2) those who think they do, but are quite in the dark. Video and related technology isn't very interesting to most people, so it is understandable that many people don't care to be bothered with learning it. And why should they? That's why they have you. Most of my video clients do not have enough of an interest in video production to learn much about it, but they do like to know how their money is being spent. And with good reason! This can make writing a proposal for such a client quite challenging. How much is too much technical information? Just today, I finished a one-page about three particular video samples I was presenting to a client. This client needs to understand how cost affects the look of each of these videos. At first glance, the average viewer would not see a great difference and will not understand why one piece cost $8,000 and another of the same length is over $30,000. Selecting the perfect word is especially challenging when communicating to someone not familiar with the vocabulary of your topic or profession. Just today I finished writing a one-page on three video samples I was sending to a client. I needed to explain how the budget affected each of the three pieces in such a way that they could see it when they watched each video. I found it best to refer to words I had been able to explain in person. For instance, the difference between a "broadcast quality camera" and a "pro-sumer" camera. Quite difference. In the end I was very please with what I had produced. Getting it down to one page and making it interesting AND informative was a challenge, but one that I think was successful. |
| Today's writing project includes writing descriptions of video samples for a potential client, and starting to work on that proposal. If I get this project it will be a good start to my video producing business. Of course, I have my cat, Bree, on my lap to help me. She is a sweet and loving cat who gives me comfort in the form of head-butts when I need a little affection. Anyone who can learn to type with a cat on their lap is a true expert at typing! Please send good vibes and wishes my way that I get this job - I need a few of my own projects! |
| Just after getting married, I participated in a whirlwind filmmaking weekend here in Washington, DC called the 48Hr Film Project. Teams of filmmakers have just 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a 4-7 minute short film. This year I was our team's head writer. I like the role - it fit me well. The contest rules are such that each team draws a genre out of a hat, and each script must include a specific line of dialogue, prop and character, all of which are announced at the kick off event. It was great fun and even better to see a script I wrote (under the gun) come to life. It wasn't anything I would ever have conceived on my own, but I am proud of our little movie. My second script-to-screen success is in the form of an educational video aimed at getting middle-school kids thinking about becoming engineers. I handled the interviews, wrote the outline script, and went on the shoot at the University of Iowa last weekend. It was quite a success. I learned how much writing a script "outline" can help on a shoot, when your talent is meant to speak freely, and not word-for-word from a script. Although we strayed greatly, we captured all of the material and will end up with an even stronger video because we let the topic and the talent drive the shoot. Our result is a much more "real" looking piece. There are still two more modules to look forward to writing. Scriptwriting is certainly great fun, if one can allow room for talent to have an impact on the result. |
| I think things are starting to come together in all aspects of life. My video script is coming out nicely. We will have a science activity to design with our consultant that will shape the rest of the script, as will the personalities of the individual kids. I do love the freelance life. Now... where to find more writing jobs... :) |
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