Me, a storyteller

Flashing all those contacts

2013-05-24T09:00:00.000+02:00

There is a fine line between bragging and healthy self-promotion. Sometime it is not a line at all, but a twilight zone. You need to tell what you can do, yet stuff it under everybody's nose unasked for is not acceptable behavior in many situations. This is not easy.

What is easy, however, is the use of others' names: Don't flash with your connections unless the people you are exposing have given your permission to do so.

All production companies talk to eager newbie writers. That they talked to you does not mean they like what you do, or that they want to be connected with your name. Don't ever expose a company you are talking to, unless very private or a contract has been signed.

Then it is also a matter of your own credibility. If you have called a production company and gained a name, and talked to someone in person over the phone, it is not like you have an exclusive hot-line to them. If you claim that you are in contact with that production company - like they were truly interested in your writing - you are shooting yourself in the foot.

I've gained personal feedback on one of my feature scripts by two internationally known actors. This is true. If I flash with their names as they liked my work and are interested in a future production just because of this personal reply, do you think they will ever speak in favor of me, if they find out? Dream on. As a matter of fact, what ever they will say about me will lessen my chances to a successful career. So, don't flash with anybody's name unless granted permission to do so.

I've eaten breakfast in LA with a Hollywood director. I have. It's the truth. You might be impressed and think I'm greater and better than I really am. This might give me work from you and maybe it will be my big break as a writer. Sure. More likely, you will find out that the director in question indeed is a director in Hollywood, but no matter how talented he is, he is one of many struggling to find their lot of good fortune there. I've told the truth, yes, but made a deliberate impression of him being Steven Spielberg. Will you then consider me a trustworthy, reliable team player? Think not.

Your credibility is the only thing you have as a writer apart from your work. Your work will not be read, if your bad reputation precedes it.

Remember that what you sell is your writing skill. If it is as good as you say, it ought to do the work without your need to flash with others' names to back it up. If someone wants to speak in your favor, let them do so on their own.

Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo

2013-05-23T09:00:00.000+02:00

Juan Enriquez has a short and very affective talk at TED about our digital immortality. Very much worth watching.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-22T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: gypsypurplehome.tumblr.com via Désirée on Pinterest

A window? Here? Andrew and Thea looked at each other. It was a boulder! A large one, but a boulder just the same. Boulders did not have windows.

They walked up and leaned to the window to see if they could spot something on the other side. When Andrew leaned on his half it turned inwards, flipping the other half outwards and knocked Thea in the face.
"Thanks. . ."
"Sorry." Andrew pulled his arm out from the now open window.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Sure. . ." He leaned his head to one of the open halves, but the opening was too narrow for him to get further inside.
"Hello? Anybody here?" he called into the darkness. The echo returned came from some place far larger than the boulder was capable of.
"Come, Andy, let's go. This is creepy."
"Great idea, but I'm stuck." And he was. His head was stuck between the frame and the window's middle pivot.

As they stood there, trying to pry Andrew lose, a whisper came from the darkness inside that made their blood freeze: "Curiosity kills the cat. Curiosity kills the cat. Curiosity kills the cat." The whisper rose in volume as well as tempo and they both worked frantically to get free of the window.

"CURIOSITY KILLS THE CAT!" And the window slammed shut. Knocking Andrew out of it, falling backwards to the ground.

They sat there watching the closed, dark window.
"If I had had my head on the other side of that pivot. . ."

The Moon People Fragments

2013-05-21T09:00:00.000+02:00

Thank you your interest in The Moon People Fragments.

I started this as a test to see if this was the way to tell this story. As it evolved, and from the feedback I got, an idea formed itself of what I would like to do with this tale.

This will be the last post in this form.

I'll continue to work on the Leonard Adams' journal and Alice' diary and the other writings and the next time you'll hear about The Moon People it will be in a new form. A form you will hopefully embrace as you did with my blog entries about them so far.

Animation Monday: Replay

2013-05-20T09:00:00.000+02:00

This one hit my heart. There are so many things in this story that I have a knack for adding in my own writing. For a reason.

Here is a link to the film.

A Storytelling Collaboratory Meeting

2013-05-18T09:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, things happen that you more or less slide into from the side on a slippery banana peel.

I’m a member on a Facebook page for movie makers in Gothenburg. There a “Storytelling collaboratory meeting” event appeared that seemed very interesting to me indeed.

“A improvised meeting to talk about creating a new platform for storytellers to meet and exchange knowledge, have a working space and meet people of all ages. A politically independent free zone for labs, bridging initiatives and synapses. A first step for open dialogue and design determined by the attendees.”

An absolute must, I felt and joined.

The meeting took place in Gothenburg Film Studios’ locations. In walked Jasmine. Can you not love a woman with part of her hair purple and with zebra striped market stall mittens? Of course there was more about her than that, but I think you get the picture.

She talked about DIY-days earlier this year (which I did not know anything about) and then mentioned that the floor below us was empty. And now she wanted to use this as a politically independent free zone for labs, bridging initiatives and synapses. A physical workshop with tools and workbenches, yoga corner and children’s area.

“So, what do you need?” she asked the group.

What did I need to. . . ? Oops. . . What on Earth was I suddenly a part of?

I have no idea how many of us that thought that they would go to a meeting where we should network and build some form of storytelling platform of some other kind, but I sure didn't think the it would include a very real floor of a building.

There were no strings attached. I could leave the meeting without saying a peep and no one would be offended or remember me. Her enthusiasm and all-included and non-questioning attitude towards people smitten me. If I was there without being questioned that I had any rights or interests in being there, and she promoted an area that I too missed but thought of as unrealistic, why would I not participate?

An airbrush and a lathe are things I long to have access to. A “display-case” for things you have done that might get you work or connections would also be a great thing. Maybe a writer’s corner is a little too much to wish for since the level of noise probably could be rather high, but what the heck, why not?

I have no idea what will come out of this meeting. But it was inspiring and uplifting and positive in every sense.

Here are some stuff from the DIY-days and the Learn Do Share events.
And Jasmine's page.

Free download movie script template

2013-05-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

Here is the same template I have had posts about before but now it is found on Google Drive without any need for sign-up or anything. Just download and enjoy.

Here is the link.

It is a template made in FreeMind, which is a free brain storming software. The structure is based on ideas by Blake Snyder.

If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Please note that the template is only for your personal use.

Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book

2013-05-16T09:00:00.000+02:00

Software developer Mike Matas shows at TED what he considers to be the next generation of digital books.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: 500px.com via Désirée on Pinterest

There are many ways to approach clay.

You can consider it as something sticky that makes you dirty.
You can think of it as something you can shape as you wish.

There is also the option to not see what it is, but what it makes you do with your hands and your mind.

Then the clay is no longer clay. It is not sticky; what comes onto your hands are not dirt; and you do not by any means shape it as you wish.

You and the clay become one. You turn into a symbiosis. Then clay get itself shaped as the clay itself wants it. You will feel your hands move as it never can without it and you will find your mind free as a spirit, completely relaxed.

To shape a pot this way is nothing.

The hard part is to turn the soft clay into ceramics. To harden it. To take it from its place and make it only
earthenware.

You may think you will kill the clay, but it is not so. What you do is trapping it. You solidify it into an eternal shape forever.

You doom your clay - your symbiosis friend - to be in its chosen way forever. This too is part of the deal I suppose. And as the clay hardens, your heart softens. This is the way it must be.

The Moon People Fragments

2013-05-14T09:00:00.000+02:00

(Found in the pockets of Leonard Adams' coat)

Click for larger image

Animation Monday: Fard

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000+02:00

I love to be surprised. I thought this was about to be one of the ordinary gray animations.

Here is a link to the film.

A challange with writing novels

2013-05-10T14:12:00.000+02:00

I have been writing screenplays for so long that I have a hard time when I write dialog in a novel. What is said no longer needs to be short and effective - the schedule is not based on number of frames any longer. There is also no need to write down every word, but I have the option to describe what is said. I can begin a paragraph stating "The man just told him his father was dead" without specify what exact words he used. No need for "I'm sorry, but your father is dead", unless it fits the rest. In a novel I can tell from someone's point of view that he just heard the man say his father is dead and go on with how he sees the situation, his life's story with his father and what he thinks of the man standing in the room giving him the message.

This may sound somewhat crazy, but for me it is a very strange experience. Strange, but also very liberating.

Where so many writers struggle to get rid of all that could not bee seen or heard from their script, I fight to write what is going on in somebody's mind just as much. I still think very visually and I could not help but smiling at a "scene" I just had written in my novel where the main character just stood still looking at a spot on the floor. Not much to look at, but it didn't matter, because this was not a movie, but a novel. We never see her just standing there like a fool; we follow her down in her mind.

Joe Sabia: The technology of storytelling

2013-05-09T09:00:00.000+02:00

At TED Joe Sabia shows us ways to tell a story in new ways with the help of modern technology. He also go back in history and reminds us that the ways to tell stories have always been an area of inventions. Very fun and inspiring.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-08T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: pictures.furkl.com via Désirée on Pinterest

The world had moved on.

And left him behind.

He had survied where others hadn't.

For what?

He sat down on the platform, dangling his legs over the tracks where no trains would ever more pass.

It was rather peaceful.

He knew he was not alone in the world. Some day he would find other survivors. Maybe some parts of the world were even spared.

But for now he was on his own. And he couldn't help but like it. Yes, of course there were people that he missed and grieved. Probably he would have had harder to cope with this if they had been his children. But as it were, they were not. They were parents, a sister, two brothers. An aunt on his mother's side. People he cared for, but had not been his future. Children would have been that, and would have been different. But now they weren't and he sat on the platform and contemplated his future in remarkably positive terms.

Why?

Probably because he never minded to be on his own. He even escaped to loneliness when the surroundings became to crowded or noisy. In a way he was now in Heaven.

In time he would hate it, probably. But not today. Not now. He would deal with that when it came to him. There were no use worrying. He had better use for his energy.

Besides, look where worrying took mankind. Anxiety instead of actually doing something caused their death. Either you do something about it, or you don't, but worrying was nothing but useless.

He squinted at the sun. That at least was still there and fully functional. He felt its warmth hunt the morning frost from his body. It was time for a new day.

Fantasy Maps

2013-05-07T09:00:00.000+02:00

Every time I visit Fantastic Maps I get this shiver of delight in my body. No matter how many times I have seen his maps they sparkle my imagination just the same.

Not only is Jonathan Roberts a splendid artist, he does also share his knowledge with his readers in posts about how to achieve desired results. This mean that not only can I find pleasure in his adorable artwork, he also kick-starts my passion for drawing maps of my own.

Maps I would have no use for at the moment, but that is not the point. The important thing is that shiver of delight no chocolate can replace.

Animation Monday: Zero

2013-05-06T09:00:00.000+02:00

Zero from Zealous Creative on Vimeo.

Here is a link to the film.

An interview with director and writer Anthony Minghella

2013-05-04T09:00:00.000+02:00

This is indeed a long interview, but it is one of the rare where the subject is allowed to tell his story as he wants to tell it. And gee, does he know how to tell a story. It is fascinating to listen to, in my opinion.

Here is a link to the film.

My graphic novel

2013-05-03T09:00:00.000+02:00

If someone asks me, I say I am a writer. If someone asks me about hobbies and interest, I have a list of things, some more active than others. Like that I bake most of the bread in our household simply because I enjoy both the work and the result. Or that I have a one-inch-scale dollhouse project that I dive into occasionally. What I often forget to include though, is my interest in painting.

I am after all working on a graphic novel - painted characters and background. Isn't in a bit strange that I exclude this?

One obvious reason is that I haven't been painting for very long. For most of my life I have not been painting. I did until I was eighteen, twenty something, occasionally, without real aim at anything. I took classes as a kid, but I never found any real "use" of my talent. It didn't speak to me as writing did. I haven't had time to get used to the idea that it does these days. At least a little.

That "a little" is another reason this new-found passion of mine is left unmentioned. I'm not yet fully confident to address myself as a painter. I have not enough in my bag, skin on my nose or what ever you use to call it. I have one project only, and it is still in progress. And will probably be so for a number of years.

This adventure project of mine has however resulted in the pleasant side-affect that I actually dream of doing more of it - painting, that is - in other forms and other projects. I know I can't do it right now - there must be sufficient time and energy - but it is thrilling to feel ideas form in my head that are not there to be written, but painted.

I browse through my graphic novel as far as I have published and I feel it is quality work. Maybe most don't see what I see, but the point is, I succeeded better than I presumed I would when I started. I may not have confidence to call me a painter yet for many years, but I know this project will give me something valuable to my life.

P.S.
I have painted the four guys on this blog.

Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits

2013-05-02T09:00:00.001+02:00

Amy Purdy is a professorial snowboarder. Though she lost her legs at 19. At TED she tells us her incredible story.

Unfortunately this talk
could not be embedded,
so please follow
this link.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-01T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: trendytraveler.tumblr.com via Désirée on Pinterest

She ran. The corridor was narrow. The big wheel in stone behind her fit like a hand in a glove. It was rolling. Faster than she ran. She would be crushed unless she managed to outrun it.

The tunnel turned into steep downhill.

And at the end was a wall.

A solid stone wall, made from the mountain the tunnel was chipped out of. Unbreakable. Her death.

She had time to think that this would not have happened to Indiana Jones.

Talking about your novel

2013-04-30T09:26:00.001+02:00

I read this article about the five newbie mistakes a writer of novels often do. Four of them were nothing new to me and no big deal - things like keeping backups and such - but the first struck me as odd. Odd because it was completely opposite of what I have learned as a writer of movie scripts. It stated that I should not talk about my novel until it is finished.

As a screenwriter I have often read the opposite advice: pitch it to anyone! The reason for this is to one: get immediate feedback if the idea is fabulous or not; and two: practice to pitch.

The reason you should not talk about your novel was because you would get all kinds of advices, and though well meant, they would likely be all bad.

You need to learn to pitch a script because it is not a finished product; you need to get it made into a movie.

With a novel, once ready, you will not likely be put in a situation where you orally need to sell it to a publisher.

Of course it is a good thing to learn to present your story in an attractive way. It is never a bad thing. And you'll get crappy advices no matter what format you write in.

I think it is rather a matter of traditions than actual needs for either.

You should be able to hand over a script to a producer without a word, because the script should be able to sell itself, just as much as a novel. The tradition is however that the writer should be as secure on his/her verbals as with the keys on the keyboard.

To verbally present a novel to a future audience or a publisher, should arise interest as much as for a movie script, just as much as a script and a novel both should sell themselves. The tradition is however that a writer is not character that should be put under such pressure.

Since I myself couldn't likely sell water in a desert, no matter quality of the product, if I had to do an oral presentation, I prefer the latter.

Animation Monday: Space Alone

2013-04-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

A beautiful short about a search for life and friendship in the vast space.

Here is a link to the film.

The Moon People Fragments

2013-04-26T09:00:00.000+02:00

(from Alice Dorios' diary)

Click for larger image

Amanda Palmer: The art of asking

2013-04-25T09:00:00.000+02:00

Alt-rock icon and street performer Amanda Palmer tells about her experiences getting paid for her work in a non-traditional way. At TED she talks about accepting the fact that digital content is freely shareable.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-04-24T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: iiimz.tumblr.com via Désirée on Pinterest

Chaos within. Who would believed me if I said anything? My brain tried to force itself involuntary to self-termination. It didn't understand that that was what it was doing, but that was where I felt it would end. Yet I just continued as usual. If I didn't I would feed the little devils working. Yet it made it feel even more weird. I sat there like everybody else and I just felt like a bubble that would burst into another life-form if poked at.

That could of course be fascinating experience. An individual uniqueness at its peek. Some might long for it. I didn't. I was tired of feeling like a shell of mechanic normality, but that didn't mean I wanted to let the monsters out. Not as long as they were monsters. And monsters they were. Whispering lies to me, pulling at me, wanting me down under the ice. I resisted.

The story of the greatest battle ever fought would not be told by someone who never been near insanity.