E verywhere you look, corporate story engines are influencing billions of people and raking in trillions of dollars in the process; crowding our devices like an aggressive gaggle of garrulous Carny Hawkers desperate to sell us everything from toothpaste, to ideology, to hookups. My goal here is to play through all that noise, and help you understand & master the universal ‘What’s’ in every story – because these ‘What’s,’ are at the heart of your own high-powered story engine.
Tag: scribbling
Anatomy of a ‘Creative’ – Chapter Two
Standing is Essential – Physically, it keeps you fit; emotionally, it keeps you strong; intellectually, it gives you perspective; and spiritually, it represents your connection to you earthly journey. And when you choose to stand, you set the wheels of creativity in motion, and make magic happen.
I ‘ve mentioned a few of the amazing folks, from Norman Lear to Ray Bradbury, et al. that I’ve ‘Stood With’ over the years, and it’s through their example that I learned what ‘Standing Up’ is all about. Throughout the long arc of their lives they developed a profound understanding that their ‘Standing’ in the world depended on how much positive creativity they shared with us; how committed they were to ‘Standing For’ the people, places, causes & beliefs that underpinned their beliefs & vision; and how solid their ‘Standing On’ reflected the collective power of our shared creative purpose.
The Ultimate Writer’s* Toolkit – Chapter 2
B ut Scott! You just said we have to move past the ‘E,’ absolutely correct! But moving past it, doesn’t mean that it evaporates like a bad dream. Ego, when applied properly, is a scribbler’s delight. How? Well, I hate to annoy the enlightened souls out there, but stripping the world of ego, also strips it of conflict, and conflict my dear scribblers, is the lifeblood of all fiction. Without it we would sit around the maypole in blissful satiety, singing ‘Kumbaya’ ’till the cows came home. So today we’re going to put ego in it’s proper place and practice using it the way it was intended, to help us build powerful stories.
Continue reading “The Ultimate Writer’s* Toolkit – Chapter 2”
The Ultimate Writer’s* Toolkit – Chapter One
The greatest thing about writing is that there are NO RULES! And the most terrifying thing about writing is that there are NO RULES! My dearest South Philly wise woman, Maryanne, called writers (and artists) ‘Scribblers,’ which I like a whole lot better than the more formal and emotionally charged title of ‘Writer.’ So let’s be scribblers together and adopt the following motto: “Use Tools, Not Rules,” and open up this wordsmith’s toolkit for a look-see. Continue reading “The Ultimate Writer’s* Toolkit – Chapter One”