Unlocked Mind Media
Building the Imagination and Creativity
Building your imagination and creativity is an important part of being a writer. While most writing websites offer 'quick fixes' for this problem, our philosophy is different. Since writing is a creative exercise that requires extensive use of the imagination, it is important to keep the imagination open to new ideas.
Building the Imagination - Talent Vs. Creativity
You see a movie or TV show, and think, "I can do that! What am I waiting for?" ... Until it comes time to put the words on paper -- then it is not so easy. Why is this? Writing a script or any kind of writing is not that hard. So why do people have trouble writing?
Coming up with a good idea. Think of it. Humans have been writing stories for thousands of years, and over that time, millions of people have been trying to come up with new material. The Library of Congress and other copyright offices around the globe are packed to the gills with content that has been created over the years, and with more people throwing their hats into the writing ring everyday, how many new ideas are left? In the face of all the competition for new ideas, how can new writers expect to come up with new ideas that some well paid writer, or staff of many writers at a studio or production company could not come up with already? The answer is really simple. By building your own imagination and creativity, you are better able to come up the original ideas Hollywood is looking for, and willing to pay money for.
Write for 'money'? I know, most writer guides out there say you should not write for money, but if you ignore the realities of the marketplace, chances are your writing career will amount to nothing, and you will have wasted a lot of time writing scripts that you can never hope to sell, so yes, as a writer you have to think about how you would make money from your work, which is why our script review services are so important for aspiring writers looking to break into the industry. You have to think like the studio or production company that would actually be buying your work. If they did not expect to make money on it, they would not bother buying it from you. Read trade journals like Variety. You will see how the motion picture business really is about money ... and if they are concerned about money, it is in your best interests to also be concerned about money, too.
Go where the money is. Let's say you have two story ideas. One is about a aging housewife dealing with a divorce, and the other is about a teenager trying to get out of a deadly street gang. Which idea do you choose to spend your valuable time on to write about?
Market demographics. The aging housewife story might be a good story for aging Baby Boomers and elderly Generation-X people to see, but on average, older people don't watch too many movies. Chances are, such a script will be rejected because if would have limited market potential. Divorce is also an unhappy 'dark side' of society that Hollywood tends to ignore. Movies are supposed to make audiences happy and joyful, not miserable and depressed. The story about the young teenager would have a better chance at being sold because Generation-Y people are younger, and watch more movies and thus a script for this type of story would have much larger market potential, and thus stand a better chance of making money. Also, since everyone has been a teenager at some point in their lives, this is a story many more people can relate to, and may desire to see, either at the theater as a new release, or for many years later in the rental market. For example, DVD sales and rentals of movies like Star wars have been around for many years, and will continue to be for many more years to come. Think of it. Long after you are dead, people in the future will still be watching the adventures of Luke Skywalker, meaning of course, that the content known as 'Star Wars' will continue to be making lots of money.
Now that you have a good story idea, you have to make it fit the dramatic model, or follow the basic three act story structure. I know, most writer guides say the 3 act structure is 'old' or 'outdated', but the reason they say this is so they can sell more books about writing. The basic 3 act structure has been around for thousands of years, and will continue to be around for many years to come.
Act I - This part of the story establishes the characters, and more importantly, sets up the conflict in the story that is to be resolved. No conflict, no story. If you have no conflict, you have to make conflict in the story, even if it defies expected logic. For example, one would expect a big bad star ship in Star Trek to be well built, but when something simple goes wrong, the control panels explode in flames. This is not bad writing, but a good example of using 'given circumstances' to advance the story. For example, if the weapons systems on the Enterprise did not fail, the enemy ship would be blown up, and the story would be over, and the writers would have a bigger problem of trying to fill up the rest of the story ... about what? As you can see, without conflict, the story gets boring really fast. This is usually the first 35 minutes of most Godzilla movies.
Act II - is where a solution to a problem is done to resolve the conflict. The usual result is the 'evil' side is beaten, and the 'good' side wins. This is usually the last 5 minutes of most Godzilla movies.
Act III - With the evil gone, the characters can revel in their glory of overcoming their huge struggle, and the story ends. This is usually the last 2 minutes of most Godzilla movies.
Looking at, and analyzing pictures is another great way to build the imagination.
Restaurant Seating
Below is a picture of seats and chairs in a restaurant. At first glance you may see places for people to sit down and eat. But to a creative person, there is a lot more to be seen. For example, we see a booth for seating up to 4 people, a booth for 2 people, and regular tables and chairs in the outer area of the floor ...
1. What kind of people do you think would sit at the table and chairs? What about the booth for 4 people, and the table and chairs? Think about what kinds of conversations would take place in each case.
2. The location of the restaurant. Where would you expect to find a seating in a restaurant like this? How would this change the types of conversations of the people using it?
3. What kind of food do you think this place would serve? Why?
4. What do you see, or don't see in the picture? how does this change your answer to #2 and #3?
Trip to the Cemetery
Cemeteries are wonderful places to visit for inspiration. At first glance, you only see the headstones, but when you realize that these headstones are usually the final acts of creativity of the 'residents' who live there, or ideas put in physical form to honor a 'resident', you can get a better idea of what the people were like before they came to rest.
Below is a picture of a typical cemetery. Visualize yourself in the picture. Think about:
1. Why you are here? Are you looking for the grave of an old friend? Family member?
2. What are you doing there. Are you bringing flowers, showing someone the location of a grave?
3. Your feelings. Good writing expresses the feelings and emotions of the writer. How do you feel based on your responses to #1 and #2? Why?
Good books to read on creativity
While most experts would agree that simply reading a book on creativity will not make you a Thomas Edison, reading books on creativity will help you by guiding your efforts and allowing you to use your time more wisely, and like they say, why 'reinvent the wheel'? Don't forget -- Less time spent trying to be creative means more time to be creative, as in writing your script!
Here are some of our favorite choices:
'Build' creativity by playing with blocks
Yes, we can hear you now. "What? Play with blocks? That's for children ..." Well, yes, we want you to play with blocks. If they work for children, why not adults as well? One of our staff ordered a set of the blocks shown below, and slowly structures started showing up all around our offices. Staff say it helps focus their concentration, and building things from the blocks helps relieve tension.
Adult Coloring Books
We should say these are sophisticated coloring books. The patterns are more advanced, and therefore help build your imagination and creativity by coloring in the patterns as you follow along to complete the patterns. Great to have on hand for when you want to clear your mind of negative thoughts that block your creativity. Don't forget the crayons!
Come again soon for more ideas!
| Name | |
| Title | |
| Company | |
| Address | |
| Phone |