Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: I need to stop dicking around.

  1. #1
    Yekhefah
    Guest

    Default I need to stop dicking around.

    I was supposed to get a draft done on my screenplay while I'm out here visiting in Memphis, because a producer wants to see it. But when I want to write, I have family and friends who want to visit. And when I have the whole day to write, I wind up dicking around on the computer and not writing. I've only got another week or so here and I'm not through my first act yet.

    I SERIOUSLY need to get motivated. WTF is wrong with me?

  2. #2
    Chicagoeditor
    Guest

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Unplug the computer or take it somewhere were you can't get an Internet connection--no mail, no IM, no nothing. Writing FAST is a good way to get past blocks. Better to get something down on paper because, really, it's always easier to revise later on. For screenplays, by the way, it's a great idea to read the scenes out loud (maybe not in the Starbucks; wait till you get home). Reading aloud lets you hear mis-steps in dialog, especially. Good luck, Y.

  3. #3
    Featured Member hannah83's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2005
    Location
    southeast michigan
    Posts
    1,767
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    ^^^good advice!

    When i have papers due, i just make sure i can't get online and i'll shut off my cell phone and put headphones on(i write better with music on) and then i just write.
    There's a wild side behind every innocent face.

    End violence against women.
    I support Dottie.


  4. #4
    God/dess
    Joined
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    2,352
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Get outta here and get it done ! J/K try and relax and unplug the phone or turn off and dont answer the door - become a hermit . And come back to see us when your done .

  5. #5
    Chicagoeditor
    Guest

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Joining a writers group is another useful way to motivate yourself. (Ostensibly these are support groups, but my sense is most people go either to see other people struggling, and thus feel less alone in their own suffering, or to trash-talk the bad writers after getting back home and curling up with their SO.)

  6. #6
    madmaxine
    Guest

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    "Visualize...Unpaid Bills....Collection Notices....Unwanted Calls from Creditors...." You'll get crackin' on your work.

  7. #7
    God/dess Nautilus's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2005
    Location
    a safe place for dancers, just ask me
    Posts
    2,132
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    you're creative. it's your purpose and goal to delay until the last possible moment.

    have a drink, dammit!

  8. #8
    Veteran Member lwtex52's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Dallas, ByGod, Texas
    Posts
    658
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    To quote the late Hunter S. Thompson, "Although I am not one to openly advocate the use of drugs and alcohol for the purpose of enhancing one's creative talent, I must say that it HAS worked for me."
    My latest conspiracy theory: I am convinced that Dick Cheney is, in reality, Elmer Fudd.

  9. #9
    God/dess Casual Observer's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Boston MA
    Posts
    5,670
    Thanks
    35
    Thanked 144 Times in 74 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Writing FAST is a good way to get past blocks. Better to get something down on paper because, really, it's always easier to revise later on.
    Truth.

    I believe it was that Hemmingway said, "I am not a great writer; I am a great rewriter."
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

  10. #10
    God/dess Lena's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2002
    Location
    On a sweet muddy river.
    Posts
    6,399
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 78 Times in 43 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Go someplace where you can drink coffee and not be distracted.



  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Joined
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    149
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 6 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    I've always found that when you trying to do some kind of creative writing and having trouble getting started... go out. Find a coffee shop, or some place you can just sit and watch people while you write. Pick a person, or a couple, and use them as the starting point. Describe them, give them names, jobs, etc... and the story will start to take shape.

    In one of the writing courses I took, we had a lecture from an author (his name escapes me at the moment) who told us that you don't write the story... the story writes itself.

  12. #12
    Veteran Member logan820's Avatar
    Joined
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Canyon, Texas
    Posts
    573
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    I could never study in my room here at school, I associate my room w/ sleep, and leisure activites, I go to the library on campus, and it is so quite, I find my little nook, and can read and study, I suggest the library it is wonderful

  13. #13
    Moderator Djoser's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Key West
    Posts
    16,343
    Thanks
    1,395
    Thanked 5,487 Times in 2,768 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    I'd be willing to bet that most creative people have some trouble with this.

    I have always done my best work when under the gun. I used to create this situation myself by doing what you are right now--putting it off. Then I started doing alot of work for a guy who always wanted shopping center designs the next day, no matter how large or complex. I got a reputation for being able to do it, so a lot of my work comes from people who need rush jobs. There's no putting it off, it's an emergency from the get-go, and the adrenaline kicks in right away.

    However, whenever I have taken on tract home renderings, probably the most boring, least rewarding type of architectural illustration out there, I have had a big problem with it.

    So I won't do the fucking things anymore, lol...

    One trick I have come up with to get myself motivated and the work flowing is this:

    If the job is big (as I imagine a screenplay must be), I will just do the easiest, most rewarding or fun parts first. Then I feel like I have accomplished something, I am already in the creative groove--and it's much easier to finish the rest!

    Though I must say, I kind of like the bit about Hunter S. Thompson--he's my favorite author. As far as I can tell, he wrote nearly everything that was really good under extreme deadline pressure, having spent all his clients' money and used up all the time doing all those drugs, etc.

    He got to the point sometimes where he would turn in large parts of his writing scribbled on napkins, dictated on tape recorders mixed up with gibberish and strange, deranged background noise, etc. His editors often had to piece together all this shit and make it work.

    Hey, maybe soon you'll be so good you can get away with it, too, lol.
    You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Free your mind, and your ass will follow.
    George Clinton

    ______________________________________

  14. #14
    Yekhefah
    Guest

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    Thanks, everybody. I don't like drugs and alcohol makes me too sleepy and confused to write, so I don't think that'll work for me. Good ideas, though! I have to go see my grandmother today but tomorrow I guess I'll have to go to <shudder> Starbucks. I hate their coffee, but I could get a tea or something. I don't have a T-Mobile account to use their internet, so that'll keep me offline, and I'll get some headphones so I can listen to music. I have a CD of music I want in the movie, and it gets me in the story pretty well.

  15. #15
    God/dess threlayer's Avatar
    Joined
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Syracuse
    Posts
    5,921
    Thanks
    369
    Thanked 419 Times in 290 Posts
    My Mood
    Fine

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    The library is lots quieter and with fewer distractions. And you don't have to spend money on what you don't want.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

    NOTE: anything I post here, outside of a direct quote, is my opinion only, which I am entitled to. Take it for what you estimate it is worth.

  16. #16
    Moderator Djoser's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Key West
    Posts
    16,343
    Thanks
    1,395
    Thanked 5,487 Times in 2,768 Posts

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    If you are like me, all it'll take is to get a good start--then you can and will work on it at home gladly, and we won't see you around here for a while, lol.

    But we'll know you are doing what you want and need to do, so that will be a good thing. You can always take breaks and tell us how it's going--or maybe post bits of it in here for feedback--I'd like to see that.

    The only thing this never worked well with was those fucking tract home drawings--a break was just too nice, and I'd go right back to putting it off again, haha.

    But a screenplay sounds much more exciting than drawing those stupid things!
    You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Free your mind, and your ass will follow.
    George Clinton

    ______________________________________

  17. #17
    Yekhefah
    Guest

    Default Re: I need to stop dicking around.

    The library was a bad idea. They have free wireless here. *sigh*

    Got to be Starbucks, I guess. I can't use their wireless because I don't have a T-Mobile account, so next time that's where I'll be. I'm at a stuck point and I just can't bring myself to plow through it. DAMMIT!

Similar Threads

  1. Can u stop!!!!!!!
    By CamWhore in forum Other Work
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 12-20-2010, 04:46 AM
  2. Stop blowing on my poor kitty! Please! STOP!
    By RoseWhite in forum Customer Conversation
    Replies: 145
    Last Post: 12-06-2009, 12:05 PM
  3. I can't stop
    By Nicolina in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 30
    Last Post: 04-23-2008, 01:02 PM
  4. Next Stop
    By Ferret in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12-25-2007, 11:36 AM
  5. Please stop me...
    By Lysondra in forum Body Business
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 11-29-2006, 01:32 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •