Basking in stupidity with Tom Fontana
Photo by enimal from stock.xchang
“When I was about 20, a very successful director told me, ‘You really shouldn’t be a writer. You’re not very good at it.’ And I was too stupid to listen to him. So my entire career is based on my stupidity.”
Yes, that’s Tom Fontana, the brainless moron who did nothing with his life except create some show called Oz that nobody’s heard of. And some other failed piece of crap — I think it’s called Homicide: Life on the Streets. And who could forget that disaster St. Elsewhere? What. a. jackass.
Jokes, of course, because I know you kids love ‘em. Fontana recently spoke with Teen Ink on writing, struggling, and being stupid enough to make a career of writing and struggling. He’s got some great stuff to say:
Finishing the damn book with Dennis Lehane
Screenwriting blog Go Into the Story has some candid writing tips from Dennis Lehane I recommend reading. The guy wrote for The Wire, it’s safe to say he knows what he’s doing.
GET TO THE END: “A professor said to me once, ‘Just finish the damn book.’ If you never complete a draft, you’ll never know how to do it.”
You often wonder, as a young writer, what that magic trick is that brings success to the pros. So it’s always great to hear (or, read) professional writers getting back to the basics. It gives writers like Lehane a more human side to see they go through the same process as you. And it makes the road to success a lot less intimidating: You mean, all I have to do is sit down and write? I can do that! I know how to sit down!
Life gives me headaches
I’m not going to make promises about when I’ll post here anymore. Is that OK? It’s been a busy summer, and fall looks even more hectic.
OK so it’s mainly because I don’t have internet. I just made the move from Boston to Weehawken, NJ. It’s beautiful, I love it, I’m tired. I’m keeping a little diary, and if I ever feel like I should post it I will. But no promises. I will, however, post a picture or two for my family and friends back home.
Someday, when I get the internet.
Fire post
On Fire Island for the weekend, so here’s another quick post. This one’s also from the vault, an article from Scientific American published in May. Don’t worry, it’s not for nerds. It’s for dorks like writers. Or creative people. Or something. Anyway, it could be helpful if you’re feeling uninspired. A little preview:
Julia Cameron: What drew me to working on my creativity was running into a couple of bumps. I had had a blessed decade in my 20s, and then when I got to my 30s I felt thwarted. I was writing movies and selling them to studios, but they weren’t getting made. I needed to find a way to maintain equilibrium and optimism in the face of creative despair. I fought my despair with what I call “morning pages”—three pages of longhand writing about anything: “I don’t like the way Fred talked to me at the office”; “I need to get the car checked”; “I forgot to buy kitty litter.” They don’t look like they have anything to do with creativity, but in fact, as we put these worries, which are sort of a daily soundtrack for most of us, down on the page, we are suddenly much more alert, aware, focused and available to the moment. And we begin to see that we have many creative choices. As I wrote those pages, new ideas began to walk in. Over time, I began to share the morning-pages technique with other people.
Check out the full article: How to Unleash Your Creativity.
…Michael Jackson “Thriller” joke
Quick one today. I’m leaving for New York in a few, but had to keep my daily post promise.
Google alerted me with this article about Mark Nykanen, a thriller writer. He gives a lot of pretty basic, yet invaluable, advice. Even for those who don’t write thrillers, I’d go and check it out just to have these tips burned into your brain one more time. It never hurts to re-learn, especially with writing.
Of all Nykanen’s quotes, I find this one most important:
“Don’t fall so in love with the prose that you lose sight of the story,” he adds. “In the thriller, that’s essential. Absolutely essential. Which isn’t to say that thrillers can’t be well written … but if you are so in love with your prose that you’re willing to sacrifice your story, you’re not going to be very successful, no matter what you’re doing, whether it’s a thriller or literary fiction.”
Like we discussed yesterday, you can’t let yourself get carried away with flowery language. Just tell us what happens. This, of course, goes beyond prose. I’d consider taking this approach when writing your dialog too. Nykanen’s words echo Faulkner’s, “Kill your darlings.” If you find yourself head over heels for a bit of dialog — that really clever, self-aware, “I’m so cute!” line you’ve given your protagonist — take it out back and kill it. At least convince it to commit suicide.
The dialog should serve the character, who in turn should serve the story. None of it, except the process, should serve you.
