Happy Saturday!

I know that it’s been too damn long since I’ve posted. But I admit that I fell into somewhat of a black hole writing wise. A relief for me is that I haven’t run out of stories or even tweaks for existing ones. It’s that I’ve been in a massive transition while working my two jobs, training for a promotion and laying the foundation for two more jobs outside of writing. (I always need fresh material.)

See… My earlier blog posts allowed me to think that I’ve “found” my path. And pieces of this still stands true for a few of my “decisions.” Two significant ones are that I’m still working on breathwork to support my indie filmmaking. As I’ve been gaining clarity around making this happen, I’ve been rethinking my blog and its purpose. My original reason behind it was to help people write. This is good and all except I’m stuck with writing more general concepts because I’m not working directly with one person.

Okay… Right… I could get specific by putting a link to a script of some kind to discuss lines or even words within it. (A great database for TV pilots) And I will do this with scripts where you can also watch its end product online somewhere. If you haven’t done this before, I can’t recommend this process enough. It can be so eye opening to see what parts of the script made it into production and what was left out. This is where you get to consider the “why” of it all for it will help you be a better writer if you do.

Here’s the big challenge with doing that specific process: The scripts with finished products readily available on the internet are usually Hollywood productions. Advantages to studying them is that Hollywood has created some compelling characters and dynamic relationships. These are fundamental regardless of your budget. Some say that “indie” is defined by anything made outside of the studio system.

But I disagree for I believe it’s about budget since more money means larger numbers of people have say in your final project. It’s like a certain “punk” band (they who must not be named) that called out Johnny Rotten/John Lydon (Sex Pistols/Public Image LTD) for supporting President Trump in this election. One of Rotten’s main reasons is that Joe Biden being in government for 47 years prior to running for President made Joe “The Establishment” candidate if there ever was one.

And the offended “punk” band has had corporate sponsors since their early days. This is why I put quotes around punk because this goes against the very nature of punk. They are what your average person would call “Sellouts.” If you want to know about what it was like to be in a real punk band, Henry Rollins talks about this in “Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag.” They didn’t always have enough money for food while in the middle of touring but still found a way to play their gigs. Now’s that way I call punk rock.

Another thing that is about punk rock is standing up to the “Establishment.” As in the case of indie filmmaking, Hollywood certainly fits the definition of Establishment. The ways that I plan to tackle this is different blog posts for I want to expand on each topic instead of just creating a bulleted list in here. I also will be delving into things like culture, politics, podcasts and even books for Hollywood isn’t just about making entertainment for people. It’s about pushing their ideas onto the masses in more palatable ways. Some are good whereas others really suck ass. Their approach for others has been incredibly nuanced with wonderful grace. Others make you want to wash your eyes out with soap from what you just saw. So, my purpose isn’t to “hate” on the Establishment. I want to learn from it for this will help me improve.

I’m also aware that I’ll probably offend or piss off some of you. This is okay with me. I’d love to hear why these are true. A simple “fuck off” isn’t very helpful for either of us. If you take the time to write out to me, it could help you figure out why I triggered such a strong response. It can also challenge me to consider why I believe my own ideas. If ideas can’t withstand being challenged, they aren’t worth having. I also believe Jordan Peterson had a great explanation when he said that “writing is active thinking” in one of his many conversations with Joe Rogan. (I gave you the link to Joe Rogan’s Spotify because YouTube pulled down many of his podcasts for their own shits and giggles. Sorry – I mean his guests and views weren’t to the liking of YouTube’s corporate sponsors.)

My final thoughts for today are that I’m letting go in terms of my blog is putting an incredible amount of pressure on myself to come up with the “perfect” topic or trying to write something profound with each and every post. I will instead work on just putting out ideas that can be helpful if even on a sentence level for that is where the real work begins.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or anything is unclear.

Have a great night!

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