Screenwriting - The Imagination Is An Awesome Gift

Our imagination is one of the greatest gifts we have been given. The more we use it the stronger it gets. Channeling it into every crevice of our current project will reap writing rewards beyond our wildest expectations.

MDJ

A strong imagination begetteth opportunity.
--Michel de Montaigne

Screenwriting - The Journey to Success

There are many books on writing and screenwriting. Some feature success stories regarding the path one took to arrive at that destination. The great thing about these stories is that they are all different. This is a gift to us writers in that we make our own journey to success. The only problem is that we need to discover which specific path that is for each of us. One key element is to trust ourselves.

MDJ

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.
--Dalai Lama

Screenwriting - What Gets Me Going Each Day?

What is it that lights my fire each day? If we haven't developed a ritual to start the day maybe it is time that we begin. Each and every day presents us with the opportunity to live the life we have always dreamed. The first step of the day sets the tone for our entire 24 hour experience.

MDJ

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.
--Zig Ziglar

Screenwriting - My Voice

It is a process to find our unique voice as writers. Practicing our craft leads us to the fresh voice inside each and every one of us and what a blessing it is when we arrive at that destination. Today we honor our unique writing voice. This voice is what sets us apart from the pack and leads ultimately to our success.

MDJ

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.
--Ralph Charell

Screenwriting - What Am I Presenting To The World?

Every day we have the opportunity to present our best selves to the world. We need to look at our lives and see what we are getting back. Our world is reflected back to us through the quality of our friends and colleagues. Excitement for life is something people flock to be around.

MDJ


One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life.

--Edward B. Butler

Screenwriting - Writing Direction

Where exactly do I see my screenplay going when I am finished? It is a good idea to have a specific plan for our work from the beginning. Intent with our dreams channels energy often unseen.

MDJ

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
--Seneca

Screenwriting - Limited Thinking

How many screenplays can you write in one year? How many does it take to sell one? How many years do you have to write before you sell? How much will my first screenplay sell for? How many rejections before I sell? Can I sell without an agent?

These are all great questions to ask ourselves. Our beliefs rule our lives and if we focus on the more negative or limited responses so will be our lives...

MDJ

There is one grand lie - that we are limited. The only limits we have are the limits we believe.
--Dr. Wayne Dyer

Screenwriting - Am I Living A Zombie Movie?

How often throughout the day are we fully present? When we live in the moment we are able to experience life completely. We do not worry about the script we haven't written. We don't worry about all the rejections. We don't focus on what hasn't worked in the past. -- We live in the now, making the best of our life and current circumstances. When we are here now... we do our best writing.

MDJ

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
--Paul Valery

Screenwriting - Daily Movement

Today we can do something that advances us closer to our dream even if it is only one small action. As writers it only requires us to put pen/pencil to paper or to tap on the keyboard... one sentence, one paragraph, one scene, one page... it all adds up over time.

MDJ

I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.

--Henry David Thoreau

Screenwriting - Persevere

It's often right when we are ready to give up that the miracle happens. As writers we need to make the passion of writing the reward and continue to practice our craft. The outside rewards will come if we persist and are patient. We need to finish one project and move on to the next and the next and the next... Writing is our lifestyle.

MDJ

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
--William Feather

Screenwriting - Why?

This can be one of the most nagging one word questions on the planet. Especially when repeated over and over. Or... it can be one of the most enlightening. As screenwriters we need to tie up all the loose ends in our stories. Using the simple question, "Why...?" when we review our material may give us enlightenment into something our masterpiece is missing.

MDJ


The important thing is not to stop questioning
--Albert Einstein

Screenwriting - Courage To Be

How many times throughout the day can we say that we are 100% ourselves? It takes courage to be ourselves totally and completely. We write about and create characters that overcome their challenges in order to be more of themselves. How freeing it is when we are constantly moving towards freeing our soul at its deepest level. It takes work but is worth every step.

MDJ


Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
--Anais Nin

Screenwriting - The Miracle Script

We all dream of writing the miracle script. The one that ensues a bidding war. The one that sells for seven figures. The one that attracts all the "A-list" stars, directors, producers and studios. Although rare, these scripts have and do sell. What is the key?... Hard Work. Are we willing to put in the amazing amount of work to make our script rise to the top of the pile?

MDJ

Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them.
--Chaim Weizmann

Screenwriting - My Writing Routine

We all have a version of our daily routine. When it comes to our careers as writers we need to find what works for us and be consistent. Consistency with healthy habits make our life a daily success.

MDJ

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
--Aristotle

Screenwriting - What Do I Believe About Life?

What is it that I truly believe about my life? Today is a good day to make a list...

MDJ

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationship with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal.
15. Be honest.
16. Be a self-starter.
17. Be decisive even it it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

--H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Screenwriting - Excellence

We need to define for ourselves as writers what excellence is. The workaholic may consider part of it to work 18 hours per day while another may see it as living a balanced life working only 4 hours a day. One of life's greatest gifts is our free will to chose the life we want to live. We can choose to live a balanced life.

MDJ

Definition of happiness: The full use of your powers along lines of excellence.
--John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Screenwriting - Behind Closed Doors...

Our character and values present our true selves to the world. But who are we when no one is watching?

MDJ


Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.
--J.C. Watts

Screenwriting - Coming Soon...

How we writers dream of seeing our name in lights. First there was an idea. Then we fleshed it out. We then wrote the story. It then became a screenplay. We put it out into the marketplace and got busy with our next project. One day out of the blue, there was a call... "Someone is interested." Next the wait and wait and wait. We continued to work on our next project. Then another call, it sold! Yahoo! Then more waiting. And more waiting. It then gets the "green light" and the story we wrote is finally going to be a movie. It gets filmed. Then a year later we see it at our local theater. In the mean time we have written 3 more screenplays. Life is the dream we plan...

MDJ

Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions.
--Albert Einstein

Screenwriting - Too Many Screenwriters...

How often do we defeat ourselves with thoughts like, "There are too many people writing screenplays, I will never make it," "I can't compete with Spielberg," "Ten's of thousands of scripts on the market, why would mine sell?" These are all self defeating and we wouldn't be human if we didn't have an occasional negative thought. We just don't need to hang out there. We need to be our own best friend, hero, champion and know the work we do is unique and worth selling.

MDJ

There is always room at the top.
-- Daniel Webster

Screenwriting - Idea to Franchise

Every large motion picture franchise (i.e., E.T., TOY STORY, STAR WARS, etc...) was once just a small idea. We as creative individuals have the same tools that it took to come up with those ideas... our imagination. There are times when we shoot down our ideas instead of fleshing them out. Today we can honor ourselves by exercising our imagination and exploring our creative ideas no matter how ridiculous they may seem... "Sponge Bob lives in a pineapple under the sea..." all the way to the bank!

MDJ

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
--Demosthenes

Screenwriting - Living Inside Out

We are all blessed with amazing resources. Over the course of our lives we don't lose them we only bury them. When we take the time to rediscover our talents, treasures and inner resources as well as exercise them, they come to bloom.

MDJ

All the happiness you ever find lies in you.
--Anonymous

Screenwriting - The Impossible

How far are we willing to go with our dreams? It is really up to us. Dreams and our achievement of them only fade if we let them. Today and every day we have the ability to take one small step towards the life we may have once thought impossible.

MDJ

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.
--Anonymous

Screenwriting - Making The Most of Everything

If we give 110% in everything we are and do, we will never be disappointed.

MDJ


Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson