INK – Page 5 – Deborah S. Patz

Jun42015

Writing: What’s Stopping You? The Nit-Picker Copyeditor?

Excuses, excuses, excuses… We tell them to ourselves. We give them to others. What’s stopping you from writing?

How about that voice in your head that doubts your use of vocabulary (“should I write in US English, UK English or Canadian English?”), or doubts your consistency of style (“you don’t really know how that character speaks yet”)… it’s the voice of:

the Nit-Picker Copyeditor

A valuable voice later in the writing process for identifying and polishing the details of consistency and flow in your writing, but letting this voice into your head too soon and you can be stopped before even before you start.
A solution?

Make a writing schedule for yourself. Yup. I said that. Real dates on a calendar (or on a clock if the work is short enough). Give enough time for your Wild Creative Brain to work with free reign on the first draft. Then have a specific date (or time) for Nit-Picker Copyeditor to come back in and work with the whole drafted work instead of the words in progress. I bet you’ll find Nit-Picker Copyeditor back pedals on criticism when the whole work is available… it’s not as bad as Nit-Picker Copyeditor thought it would be. Besides that, Nit-picker Copyeditor loves details so much, the specific date/time will be acceptable to leave you alone so you can truly get on with your writing.

How else do you deal with Nit-Picker Copyeditor?

Cheers and happy drafting to you,
Deb

P.S. Since copyediting makes me think of revisions, have you seen and liked or commented on my posting to win a Writing / Budgeting pencil? Here ’tis is you missed it: https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/how-writing-a-budget-is-like-writing-a-script-revisions-and-a-wee-spring-contest/

May142015

How Writing a Budget is Like Writing a Script: Revisions (and a wee Spring contest)

You may have seen my PM101 budgeting pencil:

… or you may even have one (and laugh each time the eraser wiggles while you write). It tangibly demonstrates the proportion of time you spend writing a budget vs the time you spend revising it. Recently, it got me to thinking about script or story writing too.

Revisions, Revisions, Revisions
Both budgets and stories are sooo not done after the first draft! Actually, the “draft” you are ready to show publicly as the “first draft” is sooo not the first pass you penned – you’ve already revised it privately however many times you’ve needed to for you.

Then after the first draft, your creative team contributes, pointing out strengths and weaknesses. You evaluate feedback. You restructure. You revise. You tweak.
Limits and prerequisites are imposed as the revision process continues. How you thought you could shoot the movie cannot be done that way. Script is revised, the budget undergoes re-allocations.

One thing is for sure… both writer and PM spend a lot of time reviewing, evaluating, revising, and tweaking to make the script/story or budget the best it can be.

Wee Spring Contest: Win a PM101 Budgeting Pencil
How about owning your own PM101 budgeting pencil? Whimsically remind yourself with each wiggle of the eraser as you write that you don’t have to write the “perfect” first pass or “perfect” first draft. It’s ok (and expected) to revise, revise, revise.

To celebrate this parallel of art and business through revisions, let’s have a wee Spring contest. Like and/or write a comment on this post (on WordPress, Facebook or LinkedIn) and I’ll draw a random winner at the end of Spring (June 21). 1 entry for a like, 2 for a comment, 3 for a more thoughtful comment.

Cheers, good luck, and good revisions to you,
Deb

P.S. “PM101” is short for my book’s title “Film Production Management 101” and though there’s a lot inside about the business side of the industry, I’ll bet you know now that because of parallels like this one on revisions, you’ll learn about the art side of the industry too in its pages, too.

May52015

Digital Days 2015: The Heartening Tale of Story

At Digital Days 2015 this past weekend (an event hosted by DGC and IATSE for the BC film community), I was heartened by talk of story.

At an event focused on discovering and experimenting with cool, new tech, the wow-factor can easily become the centre of attention, yet while we were experiencing the Polar Sea in immersive-put-me-in-the-movie 3D virtual reality, the speaker (Thomas Wallner of DEEP Inc.) stressed to us how the cool new tech is – and should be – just another way to experience story. Story is the reason we watch movies.

So very true!

Tech may let us experience story in a new way, but tech – and nifty new ways to shoot a scene – should never overshadow story. The wow-factor quickly fades, but it is with story that people connect in an enduring manner.

So next time you’re amazed by new technology, ask yourself: how can it help me tell story? Because… story rules!

Cheers and a good story to you,
Deb

Mar262015

Ink Wisdom: “The Golden Age”

Imagine being a kid with the vocabulary of an adult. You would have the word power to really explain to adults what it means to be a child! To remind them that as a kid your journey is different than that of your parents’, that inside you feel that you are as old as you are ever going to be. In a way you are already grown up.

What wisdom we could learn about our own forgotten childhood. We’ve all been there, but some have crossed that bridge into adulthood and can only now glimpse back at what life was like.

Kenneth Grahame captures childhood with exactly that (adult vocabulary provided to child characters) in “The Golden Age.” It’s a superb insight into life from a child’s POV. The parents are “the Olympians,” affecting the outward lives of children with the same effect and distance as Greek gods, and the children are “the Illuminati,” the enlightened ones who really know what life is all about. You can’t help but want to dive into the pages and learn the “ink wisdom”!

Cheers & all the best,
Deb

Deb Patz, author – “Film Production Management 101” and writing for children

Mar142015

Deb’s FILM Blog to add INK

It’s time to come back from hiatus! Time to get back to blogging. Since starting my MFA in Creative Writing last year, work-life re-balancing with my full time job has been a challenge. It was time to pull back for a while, and it’s been good. But I’ve missed the blog and my connection with you, so it’s time to find a way to make the blog happen again.

Rather than return as it was (why more of the same, eh?), the F-I-L-M blog is undergoing a bit of an expansion. With so much inter-connectivity in life, I’m adding some I-N-K! What that means is basically, yes, more film/tv industry topics, but also now more writing topics… for both I-ndustry N’ K-ids… which includes kids-at-heart.

So, let’s get started with a little glance back at “The Best Of” before we venture into the territory of the future. Gives you the change to re-familiarize yourself with the blog’s flavour and to introduce other friends you think would enjoy it. So, from your feedback, here are some favourites:

F-un:
Fun posts.. need I say more?

New Technology Quiz
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/new-technology-quiz/

Wordsearch: In Honour of Coordinators!
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/wordsearch-in-honour-of-coordinators/

CU on Set
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/cu-on-set/

I-nspiration:
How movies and books inspire our lives…

Magic Movie Moment: North of Superior
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/magic-movie-moment-north-of-superior/

Inspiration at the Movies: The Count of Monte Cristo
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/inspiration-at-the-movies-the-count-of-monte-cristo/

Tail Credits for VE Day: Black Adder Goes Forth
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/tail-credits-for-ve-day-blackadder-goes-forth/

L-ife:
How aspects of our lives affect filmmaking or the craft of writing…

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Kids
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/3-things-i-learned-about-filmmaking-from-kids/

Home Office… Treat It Right!
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/the-home-office-treat-it-right/

The Serendipitous Cuppa Tea
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-serendipitous-cuppa-tea/

M-anagement:
The business of filmmaking and writing.

Cine-Surfer: About Delegation
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/cine-surfer-about-delegation/

Tattoos & Copyright
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/tattoos-copyright/

Free Film Budget (thanks to Deke Simon)
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/free-film-budget/