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The Athletic Nerd Screenwriting Blog: Screenwriting Spark

I write a lot about what inspires me to write screenplays. 

Here are a few examples:

10 Screenwriting Books That Inspired Me

56 Things I Love About Screenwriting

10 Flicks: Movies That Make Me Feel Like Writing

I’m also inspired by other people’s work and regularly read screenwriting blogs online.

Welcome to The Screenwriting Spark!

A new feature here at The Athletic Nerd where I’ll be featuring many of the inspiring posts I’ve found online.

Volume 1 will be up next week!

In the mean time, enjoy the new logo! I enjoy rocking Photoshop and coming up with new logos.

Submit your screenwriting post

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The Athletic Nerd: Screenwriting

After this post, I thought it would make sense to ACTUALLY follow my own advice and write.  Not just talk about it…

So, I woke up, checked out my daily websites and got right to it.

It turns out, it’s easy to write screenplays when you sit down and… write.

I decided to go with a family/drama I’ve been considering for a while.  It’s a concept I’ve been working on for ages but until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know what to do with it.

Then I had one of those shining moments when I knew exactly what to do.

Why didn’t I write it?

I didn’t feel like I had enough time.

I was 100% wrong.

After about 2 hours of work, I completed a 10 page script that could definitely make an interesting short film.

Note: All that development work definitely pays off.

I feel like a screenwriter again.

Writing a script is such a rush and there is nothing better than finishing a new story.  What surprised me was how emotional this story became.  It evolved as I wrote it and became a touching story about losing a loved one.

These types of breakthroughs can only happen when you’re actually typing pages.  You can develop stories forever but the little details will never emerge until the pages stack up.

Every writer should push themselves.  There comes a time when you have to tell yourself to shut up, sit down and write!

Yesterday was that day for me and it couldn’t have worked out any better.

Next I plan to return to my feature script.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is:

I enjoy writing screenplays.

The Athletic Nerd Screenwriting Blog

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Things I Love About Screenwriting

Screenwriting is my passion. I love writing and I love movies.  It’s an addiction.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve searched for ways to express myself creatively.  Screenwriting just fit so easily.  I’ve been obsessed ever since.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking more and more about my overall body of work and decided it was time to expand.  So I’ve set some pretty ambitious goals over the course of the next year.  Basically, I’ve challenged myself to be better.  To learn more.  To write more.

This thought process inspired me to sit down and really think about why I love to write screenplays.

It isn’t a complete list by any means but it does represent an important idea.

Screenwriting means something different for anyone who has ever loved movies enough to give it a shot.

Here’s a small look at some simple things that remind me why I love screenwriting so much:

  1. The first time I saw the screenplay format and decided to try it.
  2. Watching movies that make me feel like writing.
  3. Feeling inspired.
  4. Being excited about a new story.
  5. The freedom to come up with new ideas.
  6. Launching Final Draft.
  7. Typing FADE IN:
  8. Writing just because I can.
  9. Finding that one thing that ties the entire story together.
  10. Designing a title page.
  11. Writing ‘trailers’ before I start a screenplay.
  12. ‘Photoshopping’ posters for new stories.
  13. Sitting somewhere quiet with a blank notebook and my imagination.
  14. Perfecting the opening scene.
  15. Keeping stories secret until they are finished.
  16. Finishing an outline and gearing up to start writing.
  17. Changing my furniture around whenever I start a new script.
  18. Finishing a first draft and then spending countless hours perfecting it.
  19. The rewriting process.
  20. Thinking about the little details.
  21. Writing good conversations.
  22. Losing track of time while I write.
  23. Writing about screenwriting.
  24. Making play lists of songs that remind me of the story I’m working on.
  25. Getting up early to write.
  26. Staying up late to write.
  27. Pulling all nighters.
  28. Creating cool villains.
  29. Creating cool heroes.
  30. Creating interesting supporting characters.
  31. Building inside jokes into scripts.
  32. Introducing new characters.
  33. Describing locations that no one has ever seen.
  34. Incorporating obscure references.
  35. Making up words and terms.
  36. Using white space to my advantage.
  37. Creative transitions between scenes.
  38. Bringing old characters into new stories.
  39. Writing confrontations and arguments.
  40. Powering through writer’s block.
  41. Revisiting old ideas.
  42. Making a change that makes the story better.
  43. Reading screenwriting books.
  44. Losing sleep because I have to write something down.
  45. Reading my old scripts.
  46. Reading screenwriting blogs.
  47. Reading produced hollywood screenplays.
  48. Knowing a characters decisions instinctively because you just know.
  49. Thinking of titles that have more than one meaning.
  50. Catching a mistake the spell checker missed.
  51. Writing on my iPhone.
  52. Printing out a finished script.
  53. Being terrified to show people my work and getting over it.
  54. Surprising myself.
  55. Typing THE END.
  56. Finishing a script and immediately starting work on a new one!

There’s literally thousands of little moments you experience when you are writing. It’s impossible to collect them all in one place.  These are just a few of the reasons why I’ll never stop writing movies.  It’s too much fun.

The Athletic Nerd Screenwriting

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The Athletic Nerd Screenwriting Blog

This week, I’ll be meeting with 17 West Producer/Director Eric Gamache to go over ideas for one of our newest projects.

The story details will remain a secret for now but I will tell you it is dark and involves an island that looks something like this:

17 West Productions Location Scout Short Film

It will become my first screenplay adapted from someone else’s idea.

This frightens me.

However, I’m actually excited to tackle someone else’s story.

There is a certain level of comfort when you are working on your own concepts and developing your own scripts.

I think screenwriting isn’t as fun if you don’t step out of your comfort zone every now and then. 

How else are you going to keep things fresh and interesting?

You’ve got to challenge yourself.

So I’ll be taking notes and listening intently to my “client” during the meeting.  I want to make sure I truly understand what he wants and what kind of story he wants to tell.

I’m curious to see how it turns out in the end.

We’ve spent the last few weeks tweaking another project and the results have been amazing.  It’s a fantastic working relationship.

This new idea has all the makings of something fun and entertaining.

I’m looking forward to getting started.

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Era 7: A Screenwriter Evolves

September 1st, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

Era 7: A Screenwriter Evolves

September 1st.

My personal screenwriting year end.

It’s an extremely important date on my calendar because it gives me a chance to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and set some goals for the new year.

This will be the seventh anniversary of this holiday and I consider it a new era.

Era 7 has begun.

It sounds strange to number each era but I feel like each year should be a leap forward.

New year.  New goals.

It’s time to evolve.

Like every September 1st, I go back and review literally everything I’ve written as well as everything I didn’t.  This year is especially important because I really didn’t write that much.  I spent a lot of the last year and a half being a director with Playing Through completed and The Climb in post.

Sadly, directing those films in addition to my career left me with little to no time to write.

Until a few months ago when we wrapped The Climb.

I suddenly realized I had regained my free time.  Screenwriting had returned and with it, a new focus.

Era 7 is going to be my most productive to date. You can only truly call yourself a writer if you shut up, sit down and write screenplays.

Before I get to next year, it was time to reflect on the previous 12 months.

Like I said, I didn’t write much but that doesn’t mean I wrote nothing at all.  I finished a number of short film scripts and put a serious dent into my latest feature script.  I also went back and rewrote some old scripts to get them ready for potential competitions.

It’s been a while since I entered a screenwriting competition and it’s time to put myself out there again.

I’ve spent the last few weeks finishing up old projects and I started writing a series of shorts I’m thinking could work well as a web series.

Now it’s time to focus more on my feature screenplays. I haven’t finished one in a while and it’s time I fixed that problem.

Era 7 will be the year of the feature screenplay.  I couldn’t be more excited.

I’ve got 3 stories I’m planning on writing this year and I’ve never been more committed to creating entertaining scripts.

My goal for Era 8 is to be able to look back on my accomplishments and be proud of the work I’ve done this coming year.

There’s a lot to do but I feel like I’m a screenwriter again.

When it comes to being passionate about something, it doesn’t get any better than screenwriting for me.

Bring on Era 7.

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