DON’T FORGET TO DO WHAT YOU DON’T DO BEST!

by CRAIG KELLEM

We all like to do what we do best.

I have found that this is especially true of writers. For example, those of us who have the talent to make our fellows laugh will find ways to proliferate this skill. Sci-fi buffs tend to find satisfaction inventing other- worldly tidbits and the next amazing interplanetary hypotheses. Some of us do particularly well with dialogue or characterization and so forth.

But there can be a dark side to this aspect of creative life.

Often when push comes to shove, we use our natural talents to fill in blanks that would better be served by something else!

Although it's natural for writers to do what they do best, it's necessary to also use other methods to accomplish our creative tasks. The humorist may need to access real drama in order to steady his screenplay and give it a realistic foundation. The sci-fi aficionado might be Einsteinian in her imagery but still has to find a way to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end. And so forth.

The point of this is simple. It’s imperative that you sometimes turn your back on your “A” weaponry and take care of business in areas of craft that may not be your first love. For many writers, particularly those who are not working under the lash of a producer or studio, this kind of discipline can be elusive.

Here’s my suggestions in this regard:

*Avoid exposure to the stuff that works which may distract you from what doesn’t.

*Don’t think about those things in the script that are going to “save you.”

*Instead, remove the high test material from your desktop and concentrate solely on the story that needs direction or the character who needs more oomph, or the plan to endow scenes with more strategies and angles.

*Make things work that you hate with the same devotion and pride that you use to make things work that you love.

*And most of all don’t try to solve problems with easy solutions that always go back to your security blanket. Isolate/compartmentalize the aspect of the script that needs work. Make the creative plan to fix and and go for it.

Some of us have great talents that get us on the creative freeways that we seek but it's often not enough to go the distance and sometimes we have to do the hard stuff as well just like everyone else.

It requires awareness and real discipline.