Back to Basics (12 minute read)
Happy New Year!
Julie and I were able to go back to Ohio for a few days over Christmas to see the family. It was a little stressful with the whole Omicron thing and as I’m typing this a small part of my brain is subconsciously monitoring my body for any symptoms just in case. So far, so good.
Whenever I go back to Ironton I love the way certain locations trigger memories I might otherwise never think about.
When I was in high school Dick’s Record Shop used to be next to the fountain downtown. My rock band buddies and I would camp out there the night before tickets went on sale to whatever big concert was coming to one of the venues nearby. Poison, Bon Jovi, Metallica, David Lee Roth, they all came through our area. We’d stay up all night, order Giovanni’s pizza, drink two liters of Mountain Dew and the occasional Natty Light or Boone’s Farm and listen to music on a jam box.
That got me thinking about how we’d all pile into cars and drive to The Pied Piper music store in Huntington and spend hours trying out all the instruments and equipment, making wish lists for the stuff we wanted for Christmas or whenever we had enough money. God bless the workers there, I don’t remember anybody giving us a hard time about it. Christ, I can’t imagine how many times those people heard the opening riff to “Crazy Train” or “Stairway to Heaven” coming out of the little guitar rooms.
I was the lead singer so I was REALLY into wireless mics when they first came out. I pictured myself running out into the audience or twirling the mic stand like David Lee Roth. It was never about how they actually sounded, it was all about what they enabled me to do and how I would look doing it. What I thought the effect would be on the audience.
When I was in the 8th grade our band, Lynx, closed out Ironton Junior High School’s annual talent show. The stage was on the other side of the basketball court from the bleachers where a few hundred of our classmates were sitting. When my friend and talent show co-host Traci Nash introduced us, the curtain flew back and my cousin Aaron tore into the opening riffs of “Talk Dirty to Me” by Poison. The place went wild and a couple hundred students ran across the gym floor to rush the stage. On the video you can see me working the stage like Jon Bon Jovi, slapping hands, bandanas tied around my knees and mic stand.
There was a bit of controversy the day before the show. The librarian, the very sweet and well-meaning older woman who was in charge of the show called us in for a meeting and told us she didn’t think the words “talk dirty to me” were appropriate for the talent show and suggested we replace it with “talk flirty to me.” We assured her we would take care of it and when the chorus came, we kept our word. Instead of me singing it I held the mic stand way out over the crowd and two hundred kids screamed, “TALK DIRTY TO ME!” instead.
Some days I’m fairly certain I peaked on stage in middle school. It’s one of a handful of moments I can point to that I know for sure set me on this path. It’s why, after a couple of weeks off, I’m finally cracking open a journal and getting back to work, chasing that same dragon.
I hope you had a great couple of weeks. If you were resting and reflecting I hope it renewed your spirit. If you were productive and coping through creativity I hope you gained some ground on the rest of us while we were in the pit area changing the tires.
Now it's a new year, new you, new me, resolutions, goals, etc, etc.
Let's get at it.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter I got "let go" recently and because it was THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER there wasn’t much time to get anything else off the ground before the end of the year. I have a feature spec that’s out to a handful of producers and a pitch for a genre procedural in play but I’m taking the opportunity with this turning of the year to start from scratch on something new. My plan is to take it from early brainstorming through a completed spec pilot and pitch in (hopefully) ten weeks. You’re welcome to work along with me.
For now I’m not going to get into the specifics about the story itself but I am going to document the process here and talk about what I’m doing every step of the way. This week I’m going to start at the most basic nuts and bolts stuff: routine and equipment.
GENERAL DAILY ROUTINE:
I used to be a night owl who wrote from the late evening until the middle of the night or early morning. When Julie and I lived in Brooklyn I would often go to bed at 5am just as she was getting up to make the trek to Actor’s Equity for auditions. Now I’m on a much healthier sleep schedule (for me) and do most of my writing during the day.
Here’s what my daily schedule when I’m left to my own devices, no meetings, notes calls, etc.
7AM
Wake up, Julie and I take Ellie for a walk, anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half. We get coffee, make breakfast, I check emails, social media, read a bit, then devote twenty minutes to writing morning pages. These are stream-of-consciousness, written by hand.
10AM
I get ready for the day while I listen to a podcast. Usually it’s about screenwriting, movies, television, the brain, something that hopefully sparks a new idea or gives me some new insight for the day’s work.
10:30AM - 4:30PM
Creative time. This can be anything from research to brainstorming and iterating, to writing, rewriting, or rehearsing pitches.
Sometimes I write at the diner table in the office, sometimes I’m out in the world at a coffee shop. Sometimes I listen to film scores over headphones but mostly I like the hum of life around me. At some point I’ll have lunch or a snack, I’ll scroll through Twitter or lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling like Don Draper. Not every minute of this six hours is spent actively writing.
I don’t schedule lunches or coffee with people during this time. It either has to be before, after, or I’ll block off one day a month when I'm not writing to do these. If I'm selfish about one thing it's this block of time.
4:30PM - 7:00PM
Ellie’s second walk. Usually we take her to a park or a different neighborhood. I TRY not to think about work so I can be present for them and just get out of my head for a few hours. We make or pick up dinner, we play fetch. We explore the world.
7:00PM - 11:30PM
We watch a movie or a couple of episodes of something. Julie falls asleep earlier than me so I generally have a couple of hours to work on either this newsletter or get more writing done. I feel like this time helps prep my subconscious mind to work on those problems while I’m asleep.
This is what most writing days look like. If I have meetings or I’m working on a show all of that changes. I’m fortunate that this is my day job. I know it's a lot harder to block off creative time if you're doing something else and nearly impossible if you have kids.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
One of the benefits of being a writer is that you don’t need many tools to get started. At minimum you need a pen or pencil and some paper to write on. When you’re ready to turn those scribbles into a properly formatted screenplay you need a computer and it helps to have a software program.
The downside is that if you’re a person who loves collecting quality paraphernalia there just aren’t a whole lot of opportunities to scratch that itch. Early into quarantine I became obsessed with watching Youtube videos of guys talking about their “EDC” or “every day carry” objects. It started with odd fascination and ended with me upgrading my wallet (with a secret pen), watch, and buying an EDC tray for the nightstand.
Here’s my writing EDC:
Moleskine ruled notebooks - one pocket, one medium
Pilot G2 pens - I’m a lefty and they smear but I like the feel.
Macbook Pro
Final Draft
Large sketchbook - I saw a video of Aline Brosh McKenna talking about using one of these in lieu of index cards or a whiteboard and I was instantly hooked. I love that I can put all the beats down in bullet points and look at them quickly. It makes the iterative process faster. Unfortunately I haven’t found the exact one she was using that flips up from the bottom. I have to work backwards because, again, left-handed, and the binder ring is a pain in the ass.
Fidget spinners - didn’t get it at first, now I love them.
For special occasions:
I get a lot of beautiful journals as gifts. I use them for morning pages and ideas for this newsletter.
I have a Fisher space pen in case of emergency
When I was working at BB King’s Blues Club in Times Square I answered phones in the box office with a fellow writer named Mark. He gave me a really nice pen for my birthday once because, he said, “Every writer should have one really great pen.” Last year I splurged and bought a beautiful pen from Tabula Rasa Farm. I use it on special occasions and whenever I need a little extra boost of magic.
Next week I’ll tell you how this new idea came to be and start brainstorming/breaking the story.
Hope you have a great weekend!
