Weird Writing Quirks

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jamespoet
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Re: Weird Writing Quirks

Post by jamespoet »

For my short stories and my poems, virtually always have to start with a pen and a pad of paper. I have to physically write out the words of the first draft, make a feel for the words, etc. For screenplays I have to use Final Draft--the whole formatting thing that seems just as important as the words themselves--but for everything else there's MastCard. And a pen and paper.
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Post by npandit »

jamespoet wrote:For my short stories and my poems, virtually always have to start with a pen and a pad of paper. I have to physically write out the words of the first draft, make a feel for the words, etc. For screenplays I have to use Final Draft--the whole formatting thing that seems just as important as the words themselves--but for everything else there's MastCard. And a pen and paper.
hahaa...good old pen and paper. I had to jot something down the other day, and realized I really missed the feeling of holding a pen! It's been so long since I've had to write notes or write things down by hand.

Somehow, I can totally see how formatting is important--gives you the feel of a finished product.
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Post by jamespoet »

npandit wrote:hahaa...good old pen and paper. I had to jot something down the other day, and realized I really missed the feeling of holding a pen! It's been so long since I've had to write notes or write things down by hand.

Somehow, I can totally see how formatting is important--gives you the feel of a finished product.
Screenplays are in a way like sonnets...you can be as creative with the story as you want, but there are technical perameters which must be met before you can label it a screenplay (or a sonnet, to complete the analogy). The formatting rules are there, in order to come up with a finished script where one pages of script roughly translates to one minute of screentime. So a 100 page script will equal to roughly a film lasting an hour and forty minutes. It's kind of a weird setup, but I enjoy the challange of it.
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Post by npandit »

Oh, that's neat! And it sounds very challenging!

I would love to see your screenplays play out on screen/in theater! Do you normally write for film/tv, or is it generally for stage?
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Post by jamespoet »

In the last two years I've been writing increasingly for film. I've been taking film classes at the nearby community college, and I'm currently working on shooting a short film I wrote. One day I hope to write a stage play, but I still have to monkey some more with the stage play format a bit longer before i can attempt any serious play writing.
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Post by npandit »

Cool! Good luck with all of that!! Sounds like you have your plate full!
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Post by jamespoet »

It's a good bit but I enjoy it.
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Post by ALynnPowers »

I can't write after dark if there is a window or curtain open.
It freaks me out.
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

I get nearly 75% of my writing done in the Winter. Too many distractions Spring through Fall. Imagine how prolific I could be if I lived in the Arctic :D
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Post by ALynnPowers »

Carla Hurst-Chandler wrote:I get nearly 75% of my writing done in the Winter. Too many distractions Spring through Fall. Imagine how prolific I could be if I lived in the Arctic :D
Maybe that's what it is about me when I get really motivated to write in the fall!
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Post by Anacoana »

I handwrite virtually everything, and only in blue pen. The only time black is acceptable is if it's

A) A super duper important thing that I must write down immediately and my writing options are black pen or my own blood

or

B) In my black little notebook where I write all figments of story ideas, one liners, characters, or anything that I love but don't have enough of to start crafting a full story.

Another thing I do is that when I move from one line to the next and need to break a word, it CAN'T look like the fragment on the next line is its own word. So if I'm trying to write

Parent

it can't be pa-
rent

because then it looks like -rent is its own word and I can't have that. Also if I'm starting a new paragraph at least half the line or more must be full because otherwise that's wasting space.
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Post by LEissler »

Though probably quite common, I can only write at night with a completely quiet house. If there is any noise to distract me it messes up my whole mojo and I won't be able write anything. OR when I do write during the day, I notice more mistakes and more corrections are needed as opposed to writing at night.
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

Anacoana wrote:I handwrite virtually everything, and only in blue pen. The only time black is acceptable is if it's

A) A super duper important thing that I must write down immediately and my writing options are black pen or my own blood
.

The scary part is that I so "get" this.
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Post by PashaRu »

When I write, all the stuffed animals in the house must be facing north.

No, not really. :?
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

PashaRu wrote:When I write, all the stuffed animals in the house must be facing north.

No, not really. :?
LAUGHING!!!

(...because everyone KNOWS they must be facing south...silly)
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