#when i studied screenwriting this was the kind of stuff i wanted to write for because it was the bulk of television

[elliesgaymachete]

I know we always talk about missing 22 episode seasons and filler episodes and character development but you know what else I miss about that? Low budget network seasons. I miss shows that are still in the middle of filming when they start airing, so writers (and execs) know what people think of the show before the season is over. I miss situation of the week type episode format with a subtler overarching plot that comes to fruition in the last few episodes of the season. I miss shows reusing the same locations (mostly sets on a soundstage with a few outdoor scenes) because they don’t have the budget for dozens of different places. I miss the lovable mid tier special effects, or using practical effects and costumes instead. I miss shows knowing before they finish writing the season if they’re going to get another one and can plan accordingly. I miss only having to wait 4-6 months between seasons instead of 1-3 years between seasons. I miss seasons wrapping up their arc entirely but ending with a small hook for the next season. I miss low budget network television.

[gabeorelse]

Resource: Writing Craft Masterpost

Okay, so one of my favorite things to do when I'm not writing but I want to think about writing is to study the craft. Seriously, I'm a HUGE writing nerd and learning is one of my favorite parts of the process (besides the actual writing lmao). Below is a list of my favorite craft resources that I don't see recommended a ton but which I've found do a great job of identifying and explaining the nitty-gritty rather than just giving blanket advice like 'show don't tell'.

Ellen Brock's Youtube Channel

Ellen Brock, according to her bio, is an editor who has worked both freelance and in the publishing industry. The resource here is on her channel - TONS of free longform videos that break down structure, character arc, anatomy of a scene, dialogue, prose, principles of revision, anything you can imagine.

My favorite video: Character Arc meets Story Structure. An hour long video explaining how character arc and story structure marry within the 3-Act Structure. I made an annotated cheat sheet/study guide just based off this and it literally fixed my WIP lol.

Susan Dennard's Writing Academy - Free Resources

Susan Dennard is a published author who, disclaimer, I have not checked her books out yet (though I've been meaning to!) but I have found her blog post archive invaluable. She writes a ton on writing craft, publishing, revision, etc, and I've coopted a lot of her strategies, particularly in revision, for myself. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, it looks like my favorite resource (her revision advice) is behind a paywall now (which, fair, she did a LOT of free stuff over the years), but I might put together a frankenstein version of my own revision method one of these days - it's heavily influenced by hers.

ShaelinWrites Youtube Channel

Another writing youtuber who really gets to the nitty-gritty. What I love about them is they are a pantser/discovery writer and they show, both through their advice and success, that you CAN be a discovery writer and not just end up in a mess of unrevised monstrosity, which is what I feel like a lot of people assume. They also do a lot of videos on writing confidence, process, and mindset which have all been very helpful to me.

My favorite video: How to Become a Confident Writer. This video really helped me get back some of my confidence and love for writing when I was struggling. They have similar related videos, and I basically watched ALL of them at various points, but this one really helped me.

LocalScriptMan's Youtube Channel

Okay, here me out. This one is a bit of a departure. I feel like LocalScriptMan kind of takes on this tough love/tough life advice persona, and I don't mind it, but some people might. He's also focused on screenwriting, but a lot of his videos apply to general writing principles, and I feel like, as with the other resources, he really gets to the heart of the craft and breaks down principles in a way I really like.

My favorite video: it's a tie between The Key to Writing Freakishly Good Dialogue and How to Actually Succeed as a Creative. I really liked the latter because I interact a lot with other authors who are querying agents or have one foot in the publishing industry, one foot not quite there (like me), and his attitude toward success changed my mind about how to approach the industry. His advice is something like 'most people keep looking for that big break, but that's very self-focused. If you want to succeed, help others and make yourself a valuable person, not only to get that big break, but because then you can do what you love: creating stories and working on projects, even if they're not your own'. This is a bit more applicable to the screenwriting community, but I do think overall the best part about writing is not just writing, but community, and I think he hits the nail on the head with that one.

Summary: obviously I am not an affiliate (these people 100% do not know who I am lol), but I get frustrated when I'm trying to find answers to my writing problems and all I get are shitty SEO based articles written by the Masterclass website lmao. So over the years I've cultivated my favorites, and wanted to share them. I hope these help anybody who needs them!

[01zfan]

i love your work so much :) this is not really a request but i wanted to know the process of you writing, as i would like to get into it too.

whenever you write you always use the right words and it just feels so eloquent, how do i get to that stage? i often find when i want to write it’s hard to find the right words.

omg hi! thank you so much for this question i would love to explain my writing process/progression to you! it's quite long but i find it exciting to talk about so i hope you don't mind.

so i want to say first and foremost i do not take myself as seriously as it may seem. i feel like writing stuff like fanfics comes pretty easily to me personally, just because they're quick ideas you can just kinda spit out if you have enough time. it's the writing i do for my professional career that comes as a challenge for me.

in my life outside of tumblr i'm a media studies major pursuing a career in screenwriting/directing/film curation. i also was a writer/editor for my unis newspaper pre-covid. so i do ALOT of writing.

my process usually starts with a fleeting idea while i'm screenwriting or taking a break from screenwriting. if i feel like it's an idea i can't expand upon i usually put it in my notes app on my phone or i just remember it. if i can expand on it i'll usually incorporate it into the scripts i'm writing lol.

but from there i kind of assign the idea to a member i feel like suits them best and i just start writing. now when i write i used to just push through beginning to end in a linear pattern. i did this to kind of build up my discipline for writing, forcing myself to write through the parts i found to be boring. now that i've been writing for awhile though i have given myself grace to jump around to the parts i wanna write. sometimes i feel like the story sometimes flows differently when i write linear as opposed to non-linear. i think you can even tell in some of my fics when i do one opposed to the other. it's not a good thing or a bad thing, just different style.

i would say to get to the point of writing "eloquently" it has alot to do with reading! i take things that stick out to me from the books and screenplays i've read in the past including style, words, etc. reading helps you become a better writer truly. also just actively researching and imagining the point of view while writing. i usually have a thesaurus or tab open on google looking up synonyms and antonyms of words to kinda...diversify? the writing. to try and not say the same thing over and over.

i understand that this may be a little intense for just being a riize self insert fanfic writer on tumblr LMFAOOO but writing is my life outside of this website. i would say seriously just try and work through every idea beginning to end even if it's grueling even if it turns out awful! experience helps, it helps you find your own way to do things as well.

[lottiecrabie]

just wondering, it's obvious from your (amazing) writing that it's something you've put a lot of time/effort into crafting and are good at!! do u have any plans of pursuing a writing career in your life?? also, is fanfiction a sort of practice for your writing? because you can use matty as a vehicle, bc he's already this person with a personality, so u dont have to focus as much on building his character and can focus on other aspects of writing, or is it just kind of a fun thing on the side? sorry if this comes off as weird or invasive, im just genuinely really curious!! ive been here since the rockstar gf days lol and have been in love with ur writing and ive just been thinking abt this stuff for a while!!

thank you so much!! i do spend perhaps an unnecessary amount of care into my porn lol. i actually would like to have a writing career! i am currently studying screenwriting and i hope to publish smutty romance novels. i don’t know if it will actually come to fruition, but it’s a dream i have!

i’ve started writing fanfiction in 2020 because i was obsessed with a show and i had nothing else to do. it’s immediately been a very fulfilling creative outlet for me. the number of unfinished wips i have is Criminal and the only time i’ve managed to actually complete something is when i had the external validation at the end lmao. i always say i am my first reader because everything i write is things i want to be out there and i reread my stuff perhaps Too much, but i also 100% write for other people. it’s very nice to know people are reading and enjoying and i’ve given fics as gifts to many of my friends. i love making people happy with something i’m good at<3

anyway, by writing fanfiction i have gotten infinitely better as a writer because i practice and produce a lot more than i used to. a few words of a beginning of a story vs entire 100k, 60k, 20k fics makes all the difference. so i’d say it started as a fun thing on the side but accidentally became much appreciated practice that has made me a much more skillful writer

i do think having sort of built in world building makes it easier. exposition is not my strongest suit and not what i’m most interested in. it’s nice to be able to forgo it most of the time. however, i do think i end up writing characters through matty healy and the reader. how is a man so different between pfms and linecook for example if he’s supposed to be The Same Guy. reader is the same— i give them personalities and i always giggle a little when i write “you” as though it’s not an incredibly narrow precise character.

it is not weird and invasive at all!! i love talking about my writing process i could go on and on about this

[sapphicblight]

44 + 45 for writing asks!

44. If you take/write prompts: do you prefer dialogue or scenario/narrative prompts?

narrative/scenario prompts for sure!! in part because they're easier to impart your own tonal choices onto, but mostly because i enjoy writing dialogue so much. i struggle when i have to work with someone else’s line. same with when i want my fic to fit into a moment from canon — having to use the dialogue lines from the canon scenes pains me shdnjfg. god i struggled big time with rewriting canon scenes for intrinsically. 

i’m also currently doing those yotp prompts for both kimchay and vegaspete (i have all the prompts pre-picked for the whole year) and for all but two i’ve skipped the dialogue options. and i just KNOW once i get around to drafting those, i’m going to struggle to work the actual line into the scene despite the fact that the scene was formed around that line shdjfg

45. What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic? 

remembering to add more of the character’s feelings and emotions, and also what they’re observing from the other person. which sounds super basic but for a while i studied screenwriting and those kinds of details aren’t really meant for in the script; it’s stifling for the actors to have such minute direction rather than space for them to take your writing and make it their own / their version of the character’s own. so a big thing was 'we give emotion direction but not expression direction'. or for example, a nervous tic — you say there is one but you don’t necessarily say what it is unless the specific tic is relevant to the plot in some way. 

another thing i’m relearning is indulgent writing. i can get really bogged down in everything needing narrative value in terms of serving the bigger picture, because that’s what writing for film is all about, and even tv to a degree. scenes that have no greater plot value but do have romantic / character value are the things i love about reading fic but i can sometimes forget to then also write like that myself. that's probably why the w in my pwps always ends up standing for ‘with’ — i just can’t justify the romantic or sexual scenes without first having plot reasons around it and character motivations going into it 🥲

i’m also still fairly economical with my language use compared to before i studied screenwriting, which i think is a change for the better bc i was definitely too wordy before. but i’m re-learning how to write prose through writing fic, getting comfortable with flowery language and metaphors and stuff like that. slowly but certainly i’m finding the middle ground with that (:

[agentem]

Emily reads "Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon"

"Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon" is a nonfiction book by EW writer James Hibbard about the making of Game of Thrones. I am reading this solely to make fun of the original showrunners because I am a hater.

Benioff and Weiss met while studying Literature at Trinity College in Dublin. So just two rich Americans abroad, being nerds.

George RR Martin was "touched" they had read the books. These two assholes just stepped over the lowest bar, you guys. GRRM wanted someone who had read the books to do a faithful adaptation and they were the only ones who didn't "put their own spin on it".

It's like, "George, bby girl, they have no spin to put on it. They are basic." Like the showrunners should be adding some value. (I feel like the rest of the crew did with design and such but not the writers. I'm not sure how to describe it. Peter Jackson did adapting LotR faithfully too but he added, like, New Zealand to it and shit. Bryan Cogman says D&D had very naturalistic dialogue, not high fantasy diction. And I am like, "most screenwriters could do that.")

[Okay I should say here that my "hot take" on the end of Game of Thrones is that D&D did what they thought was "best' in adapting GoT. Admittedly, cutting the final seasons down to fewer episodes was dumb, etc. But I think that was them trying which is the sad part. See, I think they have very flawed understandings of the characters (like when Weiss said "Arya always does the awesomest thing" as opposed to Sansa frowny face) so it's kind of an undead zombie version of the outline they received from Martin--which was apparently not given in writing so their memories could be flawed too.]

They think they were lucky guessing Lyanna was Jon's mother. They had "discussed it" the day before. You could have Googled it then. People were discussing it online. That's what is SO ANNOYING about them to me. They never go to anyone else for a deeper understanding of what they read. They just guess and hope they are right.

[idk, right now they are making it sound really innovative to do a book a season and didn't "true blood" already do that?]

just go out and pitch shit to people. apparently if you are confident they will just believe you know how to do stuff.

[candysweetposts]

Day 169

Edit: I changed some stuff.

Bad lighting, I get it.

Description:

Those are Cordelia and Alexander Làmour. Their parents are Alice and Ren Làmour. They are twins, around 10-13 years old (yeah, I can't decide). They are the same height (approximately 150 cm or 4'11) and almost the same weight. Alex came out a bit earlier, making him the big brother. They're both geniuses but focus this "ability" on different things, Alexander on computers and Cordelia on literature.

As twins, they're expected to look and think alike but that's not the case here. They're quite the opposite in lots of things. Still, they resemble Alice and Alan in some way, Alex being a goofy boy and very cheerful like his uncle, and Cordelia being creative and delicate like her mom. Besides that, they have this aura around them from their father, the elegance and seriousness.

There isn't much about their past since they're still very young in compassion with the others. Something notable is that they got separated from their mother for a while when they were like 3 years old or so but then she came back. Some other things from the present day: they're both at a very prestigious school, the one that the king went to as well and they're currently training.

Their relationship with their parents it's a good one. Alex likes to ask his dad for advice and Delia talks with her mom all the time. Both of them admire their dad for his position and think that their mom is pretty cool. The only problem is that their parents don't spend so much time with them because they are both busy with their jobs. This made Alex and Delia feel a bit lonely.

Now, let's take them separately:

Cordelia is a kind girl but with a bit of an attitude sprinkled. She loves writing stories and reading some from famous authors and even from AO3 or Wattpad. Her tastes are very peculiar. She prefers stories with lots of details and complicated words, mostly romance and fantasy. She also likes collecting cute keychains and has a big wooden box where she keeps them all. She's a good girl and a good student and likes respecting the rules. She doesn't like delinquents or anything that they do. She can't stand being in a dirty place making her very angry especially when she witnesses her brother's room. She dreams big like any child, seeing herself as a famous author who has her books adapted into movies or a screenwriter. She likes wearing cute and elegant outfits in soft colors, like her mom. She mostly chooses dresses with ballerina flats with some accessories and other times shirts with skirts and some loafers. She's not so interested in training but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to be a great fighter. She has a blog where she writes almost daily about her life and story ideas. She thinks that her brother is a bit dumber than her but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him. She does love him very much and appreciates every moment spent with him.

Alex is pretty much a tech guy. He loves everything that is related to computers and how they work and also gaming, of course. He loves playing online games with his friends. He is extroverted and loves interacting with people of any kind of age. He likes speaking in public and is not afraid to speak his mind. He wants to do a lot in the future: making his own games, becoming a youtuber, becoming a master of coding, having his own company, etc. For now, he's learning as much as he can. He's also into music and listens a lot while studying. He doesn't like to be treated like a child or when someone looks down on him just because he's young. He also doesn't like spicy food and romantic movies. For a nerd, he likes traveling and exploring new places. He likes wearing hoodies, jeans, converse, cool accessories, and also elegant clothes, shirts (sometimes patterned), suit pants, and leather shoes. Sometimes he combines these two styles. He wants to get piercings when he gets older because he thinks he would look better like that. He loves his younger sister and will do anything to protect her.

[recurring-polynya]

Tokusatsu Au where Rukia plays the lead actress in a superhero action show. Renji plays one of the villains and they are The most popular ship in the fandom. Bonus points if Orihime plays the main villain and loves every second of it.

This was the very first prompt I got, and I fell in love. Unfortunately, aside from a brief period of being grotesquely fascinated with Power Rangers as teen, I know almost nothing about tokusatsu. I did as much research as I could and I attempted to watch an episode of Kamen Rider, but my eyes glazed over halfway through. Anyway, please forgive my inaccuracies, I wrote this with my heart.

ao3 | ff.net

🏍    ⚡   🎬

“Uh, looks like we’re almost out of time,” the panel moderator for “High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!: A Sneak Peak at Season 5” declared, “but would you be willing to take just a few audience questions?”

Head Screenwriter Kurosaki Ichigo glanced at Leading Actress Kuchiki Rukia out of the corner of his eye, and she gave a tiny nod.

“Yeah, sure!” he replied.

There was already a young woman waiting at the microphone, practically vibrating with anxiety. She was wearing a t-shirt that had ZabiTo4Ever!! handwritten in marker on it. Rukia knew, deep down in her bones, what the question was going to be.

“Hi, yes, hello, big fan of your work! My question is: are Tomoe and Zabimaru going to kiss this season?”

“No,” Rukia started to say.

“As you probably know,” Ichigo said loudly on top of her, “the show holds close to the core plot points of Kuna-sensei’s manga, although, because of her minimalist style, we do expand a lot of the dialogue and filler scenes. She has said in several interviews that High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! is not a romance manga, so the odds of Tomoe and Zabimaru ever kissing on screen are very, very low.”

The young woman stared at Ichigo grumpily. “Does this also count Zabimaru’s secret college student identity, Satonako Takeru?”

Ichigo stared back at her. “Yes. It does.”

The next question came from a person wearing a full suit of HellKnight’s plasma armor made out of overlapping plates of cardboard. Rukia was kind of impressed by it. She wondered if he could sit down.

“Hi, Kurosaki-sensei, I am a huge fan of your work,” a voice emanated from deep within the cardboard. “I was wondering if you are influenced at all by fanworks, and if Episode 73: Pride is on the Line!: The Bake Sale Must Go On! was based in any way on the classic fanfiction, ‘Tell Me All Your Best Lies’? It’s the top story by kudos in the ZabiTo tag, which I might point out is the most popular shipping category on AO3.”

Ichigo cleared his throat gently. “I am contractually not allowed to read fanfiction, although I do enjoy fanart! There are some incredibly talented artists in the fandom, although for some reason, no one ever wants to draw pictures of Lead Screenwriters.”

“I’ll draw you, sleeping on the set like you always do,” Rukia offered, and that got a pretty big laugh. Rukia’s Tumblr of behind-the-scenes doodle comics was beloved among the fandom.

The next question was from a nonbinary person wearing a big poufy skirt and a hairstyle that would make their make-up and hair guru, Yumichika, sit up and take notice. “Hi, this is a question for Kuchiki-san! If the show is going to roughly keep pace with the manga, as it has done up until now, you should be shooting the storyline where Tomoe and Queen Bloodbuzz switch bodies later this year. I was wondering if you could comment on how you feel about filming that storyline?”

Finally! A good one! “Yes!” Rukia nodded eagerly. “I don’t usually like to speak for my fellow cast members, but Orihime and I are beyond excited about playing each other. We’ve been studying each other’s mannerisms and practicing already! Does anyone want to hear my Queen Bloodbuzz cackle?” She wagged her eyebrows as the audience cheered. “Here goes-- bwaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAA!”

“Bonechilling,” Ichigo commented dryly as the audience erupted.

“Amazing, Kuchiki-san!” the moderator exclaimed. “I think there is time for one more, but this will be the last question!”

A tall girl in a full set of High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe motorcycle leathers stepped to the microphone. She was holding a notebook. “Hello!” she warbled. “In a 2020 interview with the Psychics and Sidekicks podcast, Abarai Renji was asked about his opinion on ZabiTo as a ship, and he replied,” she consulted her notebook, “‘Tomoe is such a cool lady and talented Battle Clairvoyant, and she always follows her heart and stays true to herself. I think that Zabimaru can’t help but be impressed with her, even though they’re enemies, and I always try to roll that into our on-screen interactions.’ I know that in the past you’ve refused to comment on the ship, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on, y’know, his thoughts?”

“Well, he’s correct, of course, Tomoe is very cool and admirable,” Rukia replied, which drew a few laughs, although it seemed like the audience was leaning forward in anticipation of her answer. “Like I said, I don’t like to speak for other cast members. I’ll be doing a big cast panel with Abarai and Inoue and Matsumoto and Ukitake tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you all can make it! See you then!”

The moderator thanked them enthusiastically, and then Ichigo and Rukia slipped out the back guest entrance.

“Evasive as always, Kuchiki,” Ichigo teased.

“Whatever,” Rukia sniffed. “The higher ups say we’re not supposed to comment on stuff like that, and I was not commenting. By the way, how many secret fanfic accounts are you up to? Four?”

“It’s only three!” Ichigo paused. “I wrote that fanfic the guy brought up.”

“Of course you did,” Rukia sighed. “I do blame you personally for the popularity of the damn ship.”

“Me? Blame Kuna for making up two such sexy, emotionally constipated dumbasses!” Ichigo defended.

“Also, it’s not Ichigo’s fault that you and Abarai have insane chemistry.”

Rukia spun around, grinning. “Orihime!”

Rukia’s two co-stars, Inoue Orihime and Abarai Renji, the portrayers of Tomoe’s demonic archnemeses, stood in the hallway behind them.

“We sat in on your panel!” Orihime beamed. “You two were brilliant!”

“Don’t worry,” Renji added. “We were incognito.”

“Incognito” was relative, Rukia supposed, when you were at Tokyo’s biggest tokusatsu

convention.

Orihime was wearing a Zabimaru outfit so detailed that she probably could have won a prize down at the cosplay hall. She had the gravity-defying ponytail, the eyeliner, the insane widow's peak (complete with forehead tatts), the fangs, the motorcycle boots. The paper mache snake skull helmet was a little lopsided, but it was charming. She had her top zipped a little higher than canon, but that was forgivable, too.

Renji had taken the opposite tack of looking as much like a normal person-- or at least a normal Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe superfan-- as possible. Relaxed fit jeans and an oversized hoodie de-emphasized his ultra-fit physique. He was wearing a t-shirt with a very dramatic rendering of Orihime that said “Queen Bloodbuzz can step on me!” and a ball cap with the logo of Seireitei University, the fictional college Tomoe and Takeru attended.

“You think you’re in disguise,” Rukia pointed out, “but there are thousands of teen girls in this place with entire Tumblrs dedicated to your stupid face when you’re out of costume.”

Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. “You underestimate me, Rukia. I have bought… new sunglasses.” With a flourish, he whipped out a pair of the dorkiest wayfarers she’d ever seen, and flipped them onto his face. “I’ve disappeared! Who am I? Where am I?”

“You look really great, Orihime,” Ichigo said, his cheeks coloring a little bit. “Did you get Uryuu or Yumichika to help you with that costume?” In his continuing theme of doing things he wasn’t supposed to, Ichigo had finally started dating Orihime on the downlow around the time they finished up filming last season. It had done absolutely nothing for how shy he still got around her. They were, in Rukia’s opinion, cute as hell.

“Oh, no, that would be cheating!” Orihime replied, wagging a finger at him. “Well…maybe I did cheat, just a tiny bit. Renji helped me make the helmet and he held up references for me while I was painting on the tattoos.”

“Only the forehead ones,” Renji quickly added.

“He wouldn’t even offer feedback on my booby tattoos!” Orihime frowned. She leaned forward. “Rukia, how do they look?”

Ichigo turned even redder.

“Perfect, as in all you do!” Rukia replied loftily.

“What’s everyone got coming up next?” Renji asked. “I was thinking of slipping out and trying to pick up some real coffee.”

“I’m judging a villainess-themed cosplay competition,” Orihime chirped. “But I’m dying for a blueberry caramel iced latte. Renji, my henchman, pleeeeease!”

“Of course, my liege,” Renji replied in his Zabimaru voice.

It’s not like it had been a hard decision to accept the role of the motorcycle-riding, badass heroine of one of the most popular manga of the last decade, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of Rukia’s life. not just her career. Aside from a few of the money-obsessed executives, she liked nearly everyone in the cast and crew, but the fact that the fact that the ruthless, homicidal, literally Hell-spawned villains of the show were played by the two sweetest marshmallow people she had ever met just took the cake. Renji and Orihime had already known each other from some voicework they had done previously, and their excitement at working together on a live-action project had infected the entire cast from the start. Rukia wasn’t sure, but she strongly suspected that Renji was the one who had hyped Orihime up to ask Ichigo out.

“I have a writers’ workshop I’m moderating this afternoon, and I wanted to review the writing samples people sent in,” Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. “I’d love to stop by that cosplay contest, though, at least for a few minutes.”

“You’ll be needing caffeine, too, then, eh?” Renji offered. “Hot, black, and in the largest cup they make, as usual?”

“Ugh, you’re the best,” Ichigo groaned. “You wanna power-up this season? Costume update? You know what? Maybe I’ll just have you defeat Tomoe once and for all, no one likes her anyway.”

“C’mon, you know I’m the world’s number one Tomoe simp, don’t do that!” Renji laughed.

Rukia rolled her eyes. “I’m free and I could use some fresh air. Besides, it’s going to take all your dumb muscles just to carry Kurosaki’s vat of coffee back here.”

“Cool!” Renji proclaimed. “We’ll be back soon!”

“Thanks, Renjiiiii!” Orihime waved.

“You need to stop off and put on a disguise?” Renji asked.

“No point in it, I always get recognized,” Rukia sighed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse anyway.

“Here,” Renji said, plunking his hat on her head. “Maybe this will help.”

“Thanks,” Rukia replied, and then did a double take. “Whaaaaaat is on your head?”

“Shut up!” Renji laughed. He usually shaved his head when they were filming, because it made it easier to deal with the make-up and wigs, but since they were between seasons, he’d grown his hair out into a short, tousled mop of reddish-brown waves. He looked, for the lack of a better word, dreamy. “I shot a movie over the summer, and they wanted me to look softer.”

Rukia looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. “You didn’t tell me you were doing a movie!”

“Oh, it was just a little indy romcom thing. I wasn’t sure it was gonna pan out, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“You were in a romcom? You’re kidding me!” They ducked out of a side door of the convention center into the bright sunshine.

“Yeah, it’s about a guy who goes to the gym to try to get ripped to impress a girl, and makes friends with me, this nice, already ripped dude who gives him lifting tips and encourages him a bunch. By the end of the movie, it turns out we have crushes on each other.”

“Oh, no, that sounds really cute, actually!”

“It was written by a woman who graduated from one of Ichigo’s writing workshops. The script was really snappy and Ichigo thought having someone like me as the gym guy would give it just a bit of campy cachet. You know what a good sense he’s got for stuff like that.”

“That was cool of you to go out on a limb a little,” Rukia replied.

Renji rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d been wanting to try something like that for a while, actually.”

Rukia blinked. “You aren’t… you aren’t thinking of leaving the show, are you?”

“Huh? No. No! No, the show means the world to me, I would never. But… it’s not gonna run forever, y’know?”

“I would have guessed you’d want to be a big action star or something!” Rukia said, throwing a few air punches. “That’s my dream!”

Renji stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “Yeah, that’s what I thought I wanted when I first got into acting. I’d read the Tomoe manga, and I thought playing Zabimaru would be a good jumping-off point, besides just being a cool character overall.”

“Is that… not true?” Rukia frowned.

“Oh, I mean, I guess so! I didn’t really know about the fandom, though and… to be honest, I’m kinda into the idea that there are all these fans who think I’m complex and redeemable?”

Rukia regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “They just want to fix you.”

“Maybe! Ichigo made me read this one fanfic that was eight thousand words of the reader getting sick and Zabimaru making them soup? And feeding them the soup? I still haven’t decided how I feel about it.”

“How does he have time to find these things? Does he even sleep?”

“Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be well-rounded and it was fun. I’m still mostly an action guy, but I wouldn’t mind doin’ something with a romantic subplot. A period drama or something like that. I look pretty good in hakama, you know.”

“I bet you do,” Rukia laughed. She squinted at him, but his expression was unreadable behind the shades. Renji didn’t have the classic leading man looks, not like her ridiculously famous older brother, but she could definitely see him as the best friend, the B-plot romance, with his cute, messy hair and that big doofy grin.

“By the way, I’m sorry you had to field that question about me spilling my romantic sensibilities on that podcast.”

Rukia laughed. “You didn’t even answer the question, either! These people are relentless!”

Renji stopped at a street corner and peered down the various possible directions they could go. “Which way feels like it might have a coffee shop?”

“You didn’t have one in mind before we left? I thought you knew where we were going!”

“Nah, I just like to go out and see what there is.”

“I can look up a map,” Rukia said, reaching in her bag for her phone.

“Let’s just go this way,” Renji said, stepping out into the street in the direction that had the WALK light. Rukia sighed and had to scramble to catch up with him.

“So, what do you think about it?”

“Huh?” Rukia asked. “Think about what?”

“Our ship. ZabiTo.”

“I can’t believe you just said that word out loud. And you know we’re not supposed to give our opinion on it!”

“Aw, c’mon, we’re not supposed to give public statements on our opinions. I don’t think there’s any harm in talking between ourselves. We’re in disguise, even.”

“‘Disguise’,” Rukia sniffed.

“You don’t like it, I can tell.”

“He’s a bad guy! Everyone always talks about chemistry, and that may be true, but I just don’t think that Tomoe could ever get over his acts of violence and cruelty.”

“Queen Bloodbuzz is cruel. Zabimaru is not cruel.”

“Okay, that’s fair, but still. He’s kidnapped just about all of Tomoe’s friends and or turned them into monsters at one time or another. He’s always setting Karakura Town on fire or flooding it with magic lizard goo. He ruined the sports festival.”

“Maybe the sports festival deserved to be ruined,” Renji muttered under his breath.

“Okay, you’ve got a point on that one,” Rukia admitted.

“It’s really clear though, that he’s got some agenda beyond just simping for Queen Bloodbuzz--”

“The simping for Queen Bloodbuzz is the most relatable thing about him, to be honest.”

“Granted. But, what if he’s got a good reason for everything he does, actually? What if he’s doing all of this against his own moral code as a means of infiltrating Hell itself and getting himself into a position of trust so that he can bring down the Lords of Hell from the inside?”

Rukia slipped her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. “Does Kuna give you Zabimaru spoilers?” The reclusive creator High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! was only barely involved with the television show, but she did privately meet with each of the cast members about once a year. Most of Rukia’s meetings consisted of Kuna giving her constructive criticism on her battle poses.

“No, mostly we practice sneering,” Renji replied. “But I gotta play the guy, so I gotta think about this, you know, what motivates him? I mean, you’re probably right, it would never work out. But unlike Tomoe, whose principles would call for her to ignore any attraction she has to him, Zabimaru has the freedom to pine for her, perhaps because his love is futile and he doesn’t think he deserves it anyway.”

“That’s kinda dark, dude,” Rukia frowned.

“Yes, well, that is the kind of character acting that netted me the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Best Villain Award, Foreign Language Category.”

“That’s literally what’s going through your head when you’re shouting that if I can’t make some sick motorcycle jump, you’ll turn all my friends into stuffed animal versions of themselves?”

“No, of course not! At those times I’m thinking about how much I love my job. OH! and what is that I see!” Renji struck an extremely Zabimaru pose. “A MISTER DONUT!”

“My hero!” Rukia exclaimed, unable to resist an opportunity to shout dramatically. “I’m sorry I doubted you!”

“I think we should get some donuts, too. Orihime loves donuts,” Renji declared.

“Oh, for sure,” Rukia agreed. She was thoughtful for a moment. It would be easy to move on to a different subject, the subject being donuts, but she wasn’t happy with leaving the last conversation hanging. “Look, Renji, just because I don’t like the dumb ship, you know that’s not a reflection on you, right?”

“Huh?” Renji replied. “You mean you don’t mind if I like it?”

“Well… I mean, I don’t, I guess, but what I really meant was, er… we joke a lot, but Tomoe and Zabimaru are just parts, y’know? Just because I don’t think Zabimaru isn’t good boyfriend material doesn’t mean I…” Rukia trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying. “Um. What I mean is. You’re very nice and probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with and if someone I knew wanted to ask you out, I would definitely encourage them to, A+ guy, I’d say, probably would make a great boyfriend.”

Renji pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and regarded her for a long moment. “For the record, Kuchiki, I think that both you and Tomoe would make excellent girlfriend material.” While Rukia stood there and gaped like a fish, he turned and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. “Ichigo likes crullers and Orihime always wants the most colorful thing they’ve got. Do you know what you want?”

“I need to think about it,” Rukia squeaked. She wasn’t talking about donuts.

🏍    ⚡   🎬 

Bonus: Here are my notes from when I was making up the show. I hope this wasn’t too confusing!

High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!

based on a manga by reclusive mangaka Kuna Mashiro

Head Screenwriter: Kurosaki Ichigo

🌟 Starring: 🌟

Kuchiki Rukia as Yukimura Tomoe, a spunky college student who can see ghosts and fights demons from Hell! She rides a motorcycle!

Inoue Orihime as Queen Bloodbuzz, a Lady of Hell, who seeks to gather energy from the Living Realm so that she can become the Supreme Ruler of Hell. Very aesthetic. Much bees.

Abarai Renji as Zabimaru, Queen Bloodbuzz’s ruthless henchman. He leads a double life as fierce-looking, but gentle-hearted college student Satonaka Takeru! What is his long game??

[babbushka]

Hello! I’m in the process of trying to learn screenplay formats and stuff, I too am going to an arts college and had to take a film class last semester and I kind of want to dip my toe into it. Do you have any beginner suggestions? :)

Hello my dear anon! I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that you're starting to get into screenplay writing! If you're able to, definitely take some screenwriting classes while you're at school if they're offered, even taking one as an elective is so instrumental because of table reads! (which I'll elaborate on in a second)

Here's some tips that I have for beginners, I hope that any or all of them are helpful to you in some way!

#1 Read the screenplays of your favorite movies.

I could tell you to pick up big books that claim to have the secrets to success and how to properly write your screenplay, but there is nothing like reading the actual screenplays for movies that you love. Really look at the way the script is formatted, not just in the standard font size/spacing/etc way, but in the structure of the story itself.

Why do you love it so much? What parts of it stand out to you the most? You can often find PDF downloads of the real legitimate scripts of your favorite movies (I like to use StudioBinder's archive), sometimes you can find printed versions at your library, and if all else fails, if it's a popular enough movie you can always buy the screenplay to have on hand!

#2 Read the screenplays of movies you absolutely hate.

This might seem counter-intuitive but here me out -- when we're encountered with something that we absolutely loathe, that in and of itself is a teachable moment.

Why do you hate it? Is it the plot? Is it the pacing? The structure or the character arcs? Is it the dialogue? What about it specifically makes you cringe? Knowing these things and being able to put a pin on them is a great way for you to consciously avoid it in your own work.

#3 Read your scripts with others at round tables/table reads.

This is probably the most instrumental part of being a screenwriter -- the stories may seem fine living in your head, but ultimately, we tell stories in a communal way, and other people are bound to experience them. Joining a community like a screenwriter's club at school, or heading over to online spaces like twitter to share ideas and get feedback is absolutely crucial for you to better yourself -- both in terms of content and format.

The reason why round tables or table reads work is because when you have a story that you're harboring inside your head for so long, you can very easily become blind to its flaws, or rather, you close your mind to possibilities for edits. And believe me, every writer has this happen to them, both in terms of structure, but also content. Sharing your work and listening to the feedback given is one of the fastest ways you can grow in real time!

#4 Study the industry-standard screenplay format or use a program that automatically does it for you

One of the biggest mistakes that beginner screenplay authors make is assuming that they can get away with having the actual format of the story deviate from what is industry standard, or thinking that they don't have to worry about the specifics of it as long as the action is left-adjusted and the dialogue is center-aligned. You have to format your scripts correctly or it will be thrown away.

There are tons of templates and examples online, but typing it out plain and simple here are the requirements (taken from the John August Library archive):

12-point Courier font

1.5 inch left margin

1 inch right margin (between .5 inches and 1.25 inches), ragged

1 inch top and bottom margins

Dialogue speaker names (in all caps) 3.7 inches from left side of page (2.2 from margin)

Dialogue 2.5 inches from left side of page (1.5 from margin)

Pages should be numbered in the top right corner, flush to the right margin, a half-inch from the top of the page.

Numbers should be followed by a period.

The first page is not numbered.

The title page is neither numbered nor does it count as page one, so the first page to have a number is the second page of the screenplay (third sheet of paper, including the title page), which is numbered 2.

And all of that can be pretty intimidating feeling! So, there are a number of programs that offer either discounted or free licenses for students. I personally use the industry standard program Final Draft Pro, but others include Celtx, StudioBinder, Movie Magic Screenwriter, and if you're planning on writing with a partner, check out WriterDuet!

So there you go my dearest! I hope that you're able to take anything away from this at all, but most importantly, always remember that the best way to learn and practice is to write as much as you can, and see where it takes you :)

Sending love!

[rplayford02]

Week 4 - Kill Your Darlings

Robbie and I are now co-writing together which I’m equal parts excited and nervous about. Haven’t had a chance to write for a project so far on this course, in fact as a general rule I try to avoid screenwriting because I don’t think I’m very good at it. I guess writing an adaptation is kind of different. I feel slightly more comfortable knowing that there’s already a plot/general themes as coming up with this stuff from scratch is where I usually struggle.

We’ve also sorted out the other roles:

Directing - Robbie and Bethany

Writing - Robbie and Me

Cinematography - Findlay

Sound - Me?

Editor - Jake

We’ve decided to split the producer role between us so that everyone gets some form of creative input.

—

The screenwriting workshop this week definitely helped us to consider the central theme of our script and from here we’ve been able to figure out the structure / come up with ideas for Act 2&3.

In the break between the lecture and our tutorial we had a group meeting. Here's some of the notes I made:

The ending:

ambiguous, it’s not cathartic when a relationship falls apart but a story needs a cathartic ending

he realises he was at fault, he was the problem, friend still believes she’s at fault

Theme?

Does the male perspective/toxic masculinity cloud the view of a relationship?

Does being stuck in your own head sometimes cloud your judgement to the extent that you can’t distinguish truth from fiction?

I feel like there’s more to dig out here…??

Flashbacks

meeting

one bad memory

another argument or something leading into…

dancing scene, she puts a record on, camera is dreamy, natural lighting

Structure

Using the structure of a tragedy as a starting point (because although our story isn't fully a tragedy, it is bittersweet. Plus this one of the few story structures I've studied in depth idk what else to go off???)

Exposition: who he is, who the friend is, setting up character dynamics

Inciting force: friends asks what’s wrong, he explains he ran into her earlier that day

Hamartia: insecurity manifesting as arrogance, ego, pride - told through flashbacks

Crisis: narrator intruding more, he re-thinks the meeting again, considers her point of view

Tragic Force: he begins to realise that he was the one at fault, the flashbacks become clearer, it spirals out of his control, the narrator takes control of the story

Moment of final suspense: he has a final input? Tries to redeem himself, some good memories, she agrees

Catastrophe: the weight of it all catches up

Glimpse of restored order: he actually hears the narrator, or it's implied that he does

—

Tutorial Feedback:

consider cutting down on the narration, it's only a 5-8 minute film - we're pretty attached to the narration, it's what first got us excited in the project but the script is already at 6-7 pages and unfinished so it's definitely something to consider

could use character names - both Robbie and I agree that character names aren't necessary. Names can tell you a lot about a character (age, gender, class etc) but if that info is irrelevant to the plot then why do we need it? I don't want to come up with random names just for the sake of it so for now at least they remain nameless

don't necessarily need to include the cactus, it can be fairly loosely adapted from the source material - this is something we're still considering

[friendshiptothemax]

@aussieokie​

I did study it beforehand, though I have ALSO learned a lot on the job. I wrote my first TV script as an undergrad, for my senior creative writing thesis. My college didn’t have any screenwriting classes, though, so I learned everything I knew about scripts from Pamela Douglas’ Writing the Television Drama Series (which is, shoutout, a really amazing and thorough book if you want to learn about television writing, and my friend and co-worker on The Blacklist, Taylor Martin, was interviewed in the most recent edition). 

I later studied screenwriting -- with a focus on television -- at the University of Southern California, where I got my MFA. It was amazing to just spend two years working in my scripts and learning from TV writers.

However, I’d also say that I learned A LOT on the job. As I’ve spoken about before, I was the script coordinator on The Blacklist for two years (season 5 and 6). As script coordinator, I was responsible for formatting and distributing every version of the script that came out. Each script went through about a dozen drafts (some major, some minor), and I had an absolute front-row seat to every change and why it was made, which was such a valuable learning experience.

Now, as I writer, I’m also definitely still learning. Yes, I worked a lot on my own stuff when I was in school, but at The Blacklist, we break 22 episodes a year! Being in the room for those, and seeing the kinds of decisions that get made -- you learn a lot about crafting a story. I’ve learned a lot from all of the more experienced writers on the show, but one of my favorites to work with is Sean Hennen, who is an incredible writer and is one of the best I’ve ever seen at crafting fun, dynamic stories.

And it’s all coming full circle now because I’m currently teaching my first screenwriting class, which is specifically about writing case-of-the-week shows, and I know it’s a cliche, but the act of teaching it is also teaching ME so much.

For anyone interested in studying television writing, I really recommend Pam Douglas’ book, as well as taking screenwriting courses -- with so much being online now, there are many to choose from. My class has students from all over the US in it, which might not have been available to them before the pandemic. I also recommend watching your favorite shows and analyzing them from a writing perspective -- for example, a favorite exercise of mine before I was at USC was to watch shows and write down a small summary of each scene to study the structure.

[secretshinigami]

routine and soft eyes

Author: @hazblogs For: @beyondplusultra Pairings/Characters: nearmellomatt, mention of lawlight Rating/Warnings: T, mentions of Mello’s scar  Prompt: Wammy House kids sleepover (A, B, L can be included, can be AU) Author’s notes: I had so much fun with this !!! soft bois…. thank you to anyone who reads it !!

Mello is positively fuming. Someone (who shall not be named, though if you want to know it starts with “N” and ends with “-ate River”) just got on top of Forensic Science and Investigative Skills and History of Crime and the Justice System. Those are Mello’s topics. They’re the best at these and they always have been (in the two years they’ve studied here. But that’s long enough, right ?), so the fact that Mister Nobody just came in and stole their turf… That’s infuriating. To top it all off, the dean did them dirty and assigned someone to the second bed in their room, knowing full well that they need that second bed for Matt. This week is just a pile of flaming shit.

As they swing the door open they are greeted by the beeping sounds usually coming from Matt’s bed, a comforting electronic melody. Matt doesn’t even turn around to raise his middle finger to protest against how loud Mello is, but that’s also common practice around here, so no worries. 

“Heard you got your ass beat,” Matt says a while later, Mello’s hand carding through his strawberry-green hair. “By the newbie no less. How’re you taking it ?”

“Matt, my hand is dangerously close to your eyes and you need those to play on that stupid console. Better not risk it.”

“Like you’d ever hurt me,” Matt grumbles, and the certainty with which he speaks makes their heart pulse just a little faster. Mello is hopelessly in love, aren’t they ?

The rest of the evening is quiet save for that same musical background, a welcome white noise as Mello finishes their essay for Writing Comedy. The teacher seems to have some trouble with their rather macabre humour so they try to tone it down for once - rather unsuccessfully.

“Also heard you’ll have a roommate,” Matt continues a few hours later as they prepare for bed - gotta put some moisturiser on that scar like a damsel doing her skincare routine, the doctor said, “or you’ll experience how actually painful it can be”. Talk about being threatening…

“I heard. I can kick them out.” Mello would do it. Without remorse, even.

“I can sleep in your bed too,” Matt offers. “But only if you promise not to kick me out from under the covers every single night.”

“Okay, first of all, fuck off, and secondly, why the hell would I want someone else to room with me ? You’re already here. You’ve always been here.”

“And I always will be, Mels. Just… I think it’s time you get out of your shell a little bit, you know ? You can’t keep pretending that talking to me twice every day and ignoring Linda a couple times a week is enough friendly interaction for the little pea inside your coconut.” Mello turns away from the mirror, moisturiser in hand, and sends a glare to Matt who sighs and raises his hands in defeat. “Don’t say I didn’t try ! Think about it, okay, Mello ?”

They do think about it. The whole night. They don’t sleep - it’s not because Matt snores but that’s the excuse they’ll use. Ever since the accident and the scar, people have usually been too impressed - or scared - by them to even consider starting a casual conversation. Matt was there even before, and he probably always will be, Linda is a weirdo who wants to draw them with a ponytail, and… Well, that’s it. Mello lives for schoolwork, to be the best and hope to right some of the wrongs in this world.

“Yo, Mihael,” the dean says when he sees them in front of his office the following morning. Lawliet is a TA at their university, still haunting the dorms. He has a creepy smile under his stupid raccoon eyes and he keeps using Mello’s birthname, like it makes any more sense to call them with that than to call them “xXx_sexy_blondie_xXx”, or however you pronounce that out loud.

“Lawliet. I saw you assigned me a roommate.”

“I did,” he smiles still, like there’s a joke Mello doesn’t get.

“Why ?” Mello would actually like to know - Lawliet never does anything at random.

“You’ll see when he arrives later today,” is the cryptic answer, and Mello sneers at their stupid fucking dean as they leave for their 8am lecture.

Because yes, multiple things are out to get their skin - though they won’t be deterred.

The day goes by in a flash, Screenwriting and Poetry being two of their most interesting classes, and by the time they’ve finished their Crime Prevision and Prevention homework at the library, the sun is well on its way down. Mello walks slowly to the dorms, enjoying the warm air - it’s still only September and winter hasn’t come yet. The music blasting from their headphones is a perfect background to the chill atmosphere, a few bird silhouettes dark against the wonderfully peach clouds. In a few minutes they’ll kiss Matt and they’ll eat a bite, and they’ll sleep knowing they’re safe now.

When they arrive in front of their room, a few cardboard boxes occupy the entrance. Shit fuck hell, they’d forgotten the roommate arrived today. All they can see from where they’re blocked from entering is a white blob of hair on top of baggy clothes, perched on the desk and looking at whatever Matt is playing.

“Uh, I’m supposed to be able to enter my own room,” Mello kind of yells. Only kind of. “Would you please not be a giant stupid bother before I even get your name ?”

“Sorry,” the snowball says, not looking sorry at all. “I’m Nate River.”

“But you can call him Near ! He plays retro games, which isn’t… let’s say it’s not my strong point, but I’m sure it’ll go well, we’re three whole weirdos with weirdo nicknames !”

Mello blinks. Near is still here. They blink again. Near is still here, looking a little like a frog with his lopsided smile, a hand playing with one of his curls. Mello blinks a third time and doesn’t expect Near to have packed his things and go, but that was a close call.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” they mutter. “Lawliet is gonna get killed.”

“You actually know enough about criminology to not be caught, so go you.” Near is smirking. Mello wants to cry. “But I would advise against it, because he’s dating that twink Light Yagami, the alumni who came last week to give the presentation about the War on Drugs and its consequences. He’s a police lieutenant now.”

“Called it !” Matt raises a fist in victory, taking five years from Mello’s lifespan. “Anyway, now that you’re here, please do help us with the last boxes. We’ve been setting up Near’s compy and it’s revoltingly difficult.”

“I will not- how can you ask me to- I’m gonna commit arson and this time I promise I’ll succeed !”

“Dramatic bitch,” Matt says jovially. “Just come in and drop your stuff, apparently someone from the ADA thing comes tomorrow to make sure the room is accessible with a crutch and to help Near settle in.”

Mello just now notices that Near isn’t fully standing up - he’s propped on the desk, a mechanical knee peeking through the bottom of his shorts. This changes nothing - though Mello feels the both grim and hopeful sense of community that disabled people get when they meet. Their ear still works wonky and their eye ? Not the sharpest either. Without talking about all the skin damage, the phantom pain, the- hell no, they won’t get into “reflective mode” without having eaten dinner first.

Reluctantly, Mello spends the rest of the evening avoiding Near as Matt and them help him settle in, surprised by the small amount of belongings he actually has - most of the boxes he brought are board games and hundreds of little kapla sticks. Is Near planning to recreate the Golden Bridge ? He looks like a nerd, maybe it’ll be the Death Star.

Routines are a persistent thing, and before they know it, Near has managed to get a small space - small, they insist - in Mello’s well-oiled machinery. He eats breakfast with Matt, a meal that Mello forgoes entirely, and he goes on unfortunate walks to his PT appointments, because he’s out of money from whatever government organism gives benefits to disabled people and can’t afford a cab. Mello thinks they should get into it a little more, maybe call their case worker, because ramen tastes worse and worse when you have it for every meal of the week. And then Near and Matt start talking about something or another, especially topics that annoy Mello, or Near gets a little too close to them while they both work on their assignments at their desk, his elbow barely brushing Mello’s side. It makes them shiver, but they will ignore that, thank you very much.

Another routine - bedtime - has gotten a little different. One single bed is enough for “one person and a half”, according to Matt, so the obvious solution to them being three in a two single beds room is to push the beds together.

“And now you have a perfect three people beddery !” Matt triumphantly declared. “Mello, you sleep in the middle.”

“Why am I in the middle ?” they protested. “It’s the least comfortable !”

“Oh well, we can take turns,” Near had snarked, knowing full well that the first one of them to sleep in the middle would have to accept defeat.

Mello does end up in the middle, Matt cuddled against their left side where the burn is, and Near an ever-closer presence against their right arm. It’s not as uncomfortable as they expected. Near doesn’t snore and he smells like minty toothpaste, a strangely comforting scent that lulls Mello to sleep way more easily than the five thousand melatonin pills they take before going to bed.

Oh well, maybe Lawliet can live a little longer. His boyfriend - Matt saw them kissing through the peephole, it’s official now - won’t have any (more) reasons to put Mello behind bars.

Near gets on top of International Law and keeps wearing strangely baggy clothes everywhere - or well, everywhere but in the dorms. Mello has time to get used to that mechanical knee, even asking a few questions about phantom pains on the days Matt is away and the itching gets unmanageable. Near is quiet like snow but they’re nothing alike in warmth, grey eyes like molten metal setting on Mello’s face and crinkling in a smile.

And it works wonders. One time they get a bad mark (for their standards) and they even study with Near for extra credit, a presentation about the death penalty that lasts about three quarters of the two hours class. The teacher gives them both full marks and Matt celebrates by crushing them both against his chest, the smell of motor oil and mint so comforting that Mello closes his eyes, just for a little while.

It’s winter before they have time to think about it, and finals go by in a blur of “no sleep, no food, no distractions”. They even manage to end up at the nurse’s office when they faint during the Criminology Theory exam, forced to drink sugar water until the world stops exploding in a million tiny stars when they move their head.

Mello thinks that surviving their last winter exam session ever - they should be able to find a job with a double Master’s degree in Criminology and Creative writing, right ? - deserves a celebratory nap and they sprawl on the bed as soon as they’re back from the last stupid oral presentation they have to do about stupid Foundations of Criminal Justice. Near is not in the room - which is weird, because he finished five minutes and thirty six seconds before them - and Matt is away for the day to try and get his internship at the garage, so they have the full three-person bed, and they fully intend to enjoy the luxury.

They enjoy it so much that they fall asleep, only noticing that time has passed because before they blinked, it was day, and it is now very much nighttime. Light giggles fill the room along with the muted light from Near’s bedside lamp, and Mello takes the time to relish in the quiet atmosphere. Hushed conversation rises from near the desk, giggles and the smell of hot chocolate both making Mello sit up at last.

“Lookit you ! Sleeping beauty arises. Though I haven’t kissed you yet,” Matt smiles, and he climbs on the bed to press his lips against Mello’s. “Love you,” he whispers as he pulls away and goes back to slump on Near’s shoulder.

At first, Near felt like an intruder each time Matt kissed them, but he’s become so embedded in their life that Mello doesn’t feel any awkwardness anymore - to the point where not including him has become the cause of their inner turmoil.

Because yeah, uh, there’s that. Near in a tank top and booty shorts, prosthetic being painted on by a very enthusiastic Matt, has become the new image they conjure up each time the need to strangle someone arises. And poof, instant peace. Discreet touches, Near sleeping fully cuddled against their right side now, Matt nosing through Near’s hair just after he’s washed it because his strawberry shampoo smells divine, Mello even going as far as ruffling Near’s hair without warning, just to see his little nose scrunch up… All that has become routine too, and suddenly the change is too big to go by unmentioned. 

They’ve managed to hold on to their feelings until then but as Matt starts talking again, Near’s smile is a little too tight - though his eyes sparkle, it’s like… something’s missing. 

“Emergency mee-ee-ting,” they yawn, the skin around their left eye crinkling up painfully. Near notices and doesn’t even ask before grabbing the petroleum jelly tube and throwing it rather inaccurately at their face. See, that’s what they were talking about, Near has just become… there, in the way Matt is there even when he’s asleep in another part of the universe where Mello can only hope to ever go to. “We gotta talk shit out.”

“Are you over your gay crisis yet ?” Matt asks, eyes calm and open, sipping hot chocolate with noisy slurps that Mello doesn’t bother mentioning anymore. His green hair looks more and more red as time passes, which is a strange feat of hair dye conspiracy. “Can we go back to playing ?”

“I haven’t even talked !” Mello protests. “I just really think it’s necessary to mention that…”

They don’t know how to continue that sentence. Near is looking at them with something strangely akin to hope, and Matt still has that infuriating openness about him like he just knows Mello so well he doesn’t need to be told what they feel. 

Near doesn’t, though, and he matters enough to Mello now for them to want to include him in the little bubble as well.

“I just think it’d be cool if we shared the secret chocolate stash with Near,” is what comes out of their mouth.

Well done caporal, please die of shame now.

“Mels, wow, that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said !” Matt’s voice drips with amusement - devoid of any mean spirit, they should add, because Matt is the one thing Mello knows is good in this world. And well, maybe there’s a second one they’ve stumbled on, and they want Near to know that he means a lot to them too.

“I mean it !” Mello whines. “He’s one of us now. I think we can share.”

“Mello. Please realise that I’ve been flirting with you this entire time,” comes Near’s deadpan answer. “The time I told you I wanted to braid your hair ? The time I made you sleep and finished the presentation alone because you’d gotten the flu and I hate being sneezed on ? The fact that Matt literally sits in my lap half the time, and only half because the other is spent on your lap ?”

“Okay, first of all, fuck off with me getting the flu.”

“You’re avoiding my question.” Near looks stubborn, and it’s a good look on him.

When did Mello start to think Near looks good ? “I, uh. I may be slightly romantically obtuse. Has Matt told you the time when-”

“-he kissed you and you thought he wanted to practice smooches for his secret best friend, because of course you wouldn’t be his best friend ?”

Utterly mortified, Mello can feel their cheeks become bright red. “Well, uh. Enough mushiness for tonight. Just pass me the chocolate, Matt, I’m starving.”

Matt giggles and throws a Kinder Egg at their face. Near munches on the leftover shell while Mello assembles the toy, and it’s peaceful - and happy, too, so when Mello raises a hand to their scar they smile still, in spite of their involuntary shiver.

[laynemorgan]

Amid all the chaos here, i would like to say legacies is one of my favourite shows atm and i love hope milaelson with all my heart and i was very excited when i heard you were joining the team.. that aside, writing is something i love doing so much and i was wondering how you started out and how you got where you are? Did you have a portfolio when you started out? What type of projects were in there? 🤔 if youre allowed or willing to share of course 👍🏼 good day.

Aw I'm so so glad to hear that. I started out like anyone else, just really wanting to write and going to school and what not. I went to school for English Lit and creative writing but ultimately for college, I'd say you can study anything you want. As for general reading and writing and portfolio, the best thing you can do if you want to write scripts is read other scripts, get your eyeballs on anything you can out there, practice as much as you can and get used to your voice. I highly recommend reading Save the Cat and Save the Cat Writes for TV which are industry wide acknowldged for how helpful they are for screenwriting. Ultiamtely when you are just starting out, most people will only really read one thing you have written. So don't plan to have a whole portfolio until it comes time for an agent. For now, just practice. You'll want a sample peace you feel relatively confident in that you feel like is a good demonstration of your voice and the kind of stuff you want to write. Hope that helps!

[aion-rsa]

How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon

https://ift.tt/30jSLcc

The year 2000 was a scary one for horror films and not always in a good way.  

While American Psycho and The Cell offered up visually striking nihilistic thrills to genre fans, the majority of horror movies released at the dawn of the new millennium were at best forgettable and, at worst, lamentable – yes, we’re looking at you, Leprechaun in the Hood.  

This was the year of duff sequels like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Urban Legends: Final Cut and, though it is painful to admit, Scream 3. Horror fans were screaming out for something different, something exciting. They found it with Final Destination.  

Discarding the stalk-and-slash thrills that had enjoyed a revival in the years following the release of Scream, Final Destination centered on a group of high schoolers who end up avoiding a fatal plane crash thanks to a premonition, only to discover there is no escaping death’s plan as one by one they are offed in a variety of brilliantly inventive “accidents”.  

Released in March of that year, Final Destination was a sleeper hit with word-of-mouth helping the film to clean up at the box office, earning $112 million off a $23 million budget with more than half of that coming internationally.  

To date, it has spawned four sequels as well as a variety of novelisations and comic book spin-offs while a franchise reboot is also on the horizon.  

Read more

Movies

The Final Destination Movies, Ranked

By Sarah Dobbs

Jeffrey Reddick has worked on several films during his career to date but he’s probably best known as the creator of Final Destination. It’s something he has come to terms with.  

“It’s probably going to end up on my gravestone, it’s such an ironic title,” he tells Den of Geek.  

“Sometimes I’ll be out and I will hear someone say ‘you just had a Final Destination moment’ and it will make me smile. The whole thing just took on a life of its own.”  

Nightmarish Origins  

A screenwriter and director, Reddick recalls how his neighbors in rural Jackson, Kentucky, would laugh when his six-year-old self would tell them about his plans to work in the movie business.   

An avid writer and reader of Greek and Roman mythology, he recalls spending his formative years watching horror movies with his friends. His mother was only too happy to indulge his burgeoning interest too, knowing it kept him out of trouble elsewhere.  

Reddick’s life began to change after he saw A Nightmare on Elm Street.   

“That film cemented my love of horror. I was this 14-year-old hillbilly from Kentucky but I decided I was going to write a prequel. I went home, banged it out on my typewriter and sent it to Bob Shaye.”  

The legendary head of New Line Cinema initially dismissed Reddick’s draft out of hand, returning it with a note explaining the studio did not “accept unsolicited material.”  

Undaunted, Reddick sent the script back with a note telling him “Look mister, I spent three dollars on your movie and I think you could take five minutes on my story.”  

Shaye was impressed and struck up a bond with the youngster that saw him sending everything from scripts to posters to Reddick during his teenage years.  

When Reddick moved to New York to study acting, age 19, he was offered an internship with New Line, which would become a full-time role despite acting being his “main passion.”  

“Diversity in casting was not a thing at that time,” he recalls.  

“My agent was like ‘I don’t know what to do with you as an actor. We can’t put you up for gangsters or pimps and you don’t rap and you don’t play basketball.”  

“So  I figured, screw it, I will just write stuff and put myself in it.”  

Reddick was present at New Line during their company’s early 90s creative heyday and credits the experience with helping him get Final Destination off the ground.  

“I learned a lot about how to get a movie made. I knew that to make a movie that connected with an audience you had to tap into something that was universal. Death is the ultimate fear.”  

As luck would have it, the idea actually came to Reddick while on a flight back to Kentucky.  

“I read about a woman who was on vacation and her mother told her not to take the flight she was planning to take home as she had a bad feeling about it. The woman changed it and the plane she was supposed to be on crashed.”  

At that point however the idea wasn’t Final Destination. It wasn’t a film either. It was an episode of The X Files.  

The Truth Is Out There  

“I was trying to get a TV agent at the time and they recommended I write a spec script for something already on the air. I was a huge fan of The X Files and thought about a scene where somebody has a premonition and gets off the plane and then it crashes and used that as the plot.”  

“It was going to be Scully’s brother Charles who had the premonition. He gets off the plane with a few other people but they start dying and Charles blacks out every time there is a murder so people suspect he is doing it.   

Read more

TV

I Still Want to Believe: Revisiting The X-Files Pilot

By Chris Longo

“The twist at the end was that the sheriff who had been investigating alongside Mulder and Scully the whole time had actually been shot and flatlined at the same time as the plane crash.  Death brought him back to kill off all the survivors, including Charles.”  

It would have made for a great episode except it was never submitted to The X Files. Reddick showed his spec script to some friends at New Line who were so impressed, they told him to develop it into a treatment for a feature, which was eventually purchased by the studio.  

Producers Craig Perry and Warren Zide were brought onboard to develop the story and set about tweaking his idea.  

“Originally the cast of survivors were adults because I wanted to explore more adult themes but Scream had come out and teenagers were hot again so New Line got me to change it”  

In a twist of fate, two established writers from The X Files, James Wong and Glen Morgan, were brought onboard to rejig Reddick’s script.   

“My version was definitely darker and more like A Nightmare on Elm Street,” he says.  

“In my script, death would torment the kids about some kind of past sin they felt guilty about. They would then die in these accidents that ended up looking like suicides.”  

For example, Todd’s death saw him chased into the family garage by an unseen specter where he accidentally ended up rigged in a noose triggered when his dad opens the automatic garage door.   

Death is all around us  

Ultimately that death scene and several others were ultimately scrapped in favour of what would prove to be the franchise’s calling card.  

Reddick credits Wong and Morgan with coming up with the idea of having the film’s key death scenes kicked off by a Rube Goldberg machine-like chain-reaction that would see everyday things colliding to create a lethal scenario. It was nothing short of a masterstroke.   

“It created this notion that death is all around us,” Reddick says.  

“Death would use everyday things around us. It made it more universal and allowed us to set the deaths in places where people go all the time. The payoff would be fun but it was the build-up that had you on the edge of your seat.”  

There was one major sticking point for the studio though: the presence of death, or rather the lack of.  

“I fought really hard to make sure we never showed death because for me, if you didn’t show it, it could be something someone, no matter their belief system, could project onto our villain. That was a tough sell for the studio. They would be like ‘this doesn’t make any sense, you can’t see it and you can’t fight it’ but that’s the point, it’s death.”  

“Luckily both James Wong and Glen Morgan were very insistent we never show it and tie it in to a specific belief system.”  

Reddick credits the move with helping Final Destination become “an international phenomenon”.  

“It struck a chord with people around the world. It broke out beyond the horror audience.”  

Casting dreams   

When it came to casting, Reddick had a clear idea of who he wanted in the lead roles, even if the studio’s opinion differed drastically.  

“I had a wish list with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as my two leads but New Line was like ‘well…’”  

He might not have got his first pick but Final Destination boasted an impressive cast of up-and-comers who had already made waves among teen audiences.   

Devon Sawa had starred in Idle Hands, while Ali Larter was known for Varsity Blues and Kerr Smith was a regular on Dawson’s Creek. There was even room for Seann William Scott, fresh from his breakout turn in American Pie who was drafted in on the recommendation of producer Craig Perry, who told Reddick “you’ve got to get this kid, he’s going to be huge.”  

Even so, Reddick was left a little unhappy.  

“One of the conversations we had early on was like ‘Just remember this is set in New York, which is one of the most diverse cities in the world so let’s make sure we have some diversity in the cast’ and they were like ‘oh we will’ and then there wasn’t anyone who wasn’t white in it.”  

New Line chief Bob Shaye did find a way to make amends on some level at least, casting Candyman horror icon Tony Todd in a cameo role as a mysteriously foreboding mortician.  

“He called me up and said they had got Tony Todd and I flipped out. He is an icon. Such a talented, serious actor.”  

As well as co-write the film, Wong took on directorial duties while each of the film’s death sequences would require careful planning, his first aim was to have the film start with a bang by creating as terrifyingly realistic a plane crash as possible.  

“We want to do for planes and air travel what Jaws did for sharks and swimming,” he declared in one interview.  

Yet the film would later garner criticism for its eerie similarities to the explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 off East Moriches, Long Island, New York in 1996 where 16 students and five adults died.  

“There was some criticism that the movie was written to exploit this real-life crash,” Reddick recalls.  

“I even realised later they used footage from one real-life crash which I wasn’t particularly happy about.”  

Indeed, much of the news footage shown in the film actually came from the 1996 crash.  

That didn’t stop the film becoming a major hit and spawning a sequel within three years.   

Final Destination meets Game of Thrones  

Reddick returned to write the treatment for Final Destination 2, determined to move the franchise away from its teen Scream origins.   

“We had tapped into that zeitgeist and didn’t have to do that again. I wanted to expand the universe and subvert it, so I had it open by following a bunch of teens who are then killed off.”  

Once again, divine intervention led to divine inspiration for the opening set piece.  

“Originally, I was going to have it open with some kids going to spring break and they stop off at this hotel and there is a fire but the producers were not sure. Writers always say you should go out and live life – life informs you and a lot of inspiration comes out when I go out for a walk.  

“I was driving back to Kentucky to see my family and I got stuck behind a log truck and the idea just came to me. I pulled off the highway and called Craig and was flipping out with this idea for a log truck on a freeway.”  

The resulting freeway pile-up that leads to multiple deaths is one Reddick ranks as his “favourite scene in the entire franchise.”  

“The second film is my favourite. I wanted to create a sequel that didn’t feel like a remake of the first. It went in a more fun direction – but it’s still scary.”  

That first sequel also represented the last of which Reddick was formally involved in, though he remained very much in the loop as the Godfather of the franchise, revealing that producers had been “looking at scripts before Covid hit.” 

He also revealed that, at one point, things looked to be heading in an altogether different and thoroughly fascinating direction.  

“There was talk about setting a Final Destination back in Medieval times. Like Game of Thrones in Final Destination. Craig Perry worked with a writer and they talked about the idea and put a teaser trailer together [which has leaked online].   

“I would go and see that movie in a heartbeat but the studio said that the reason Final Destination was so popular was that element of deaths in normal, everyday situations.”  

Future Destinations  

Reddick hasn’t given up on a return to the franchise though, hinting at a “unique” idea he has for a new film that is simply too good to reveal yet.   

In the meantime, he has been busy writing and directing Don’t Look Back, a film that shares some surface similarities with Final Destination and is painfully relevant to society today.  

“It’s a mystery thriller about a group of people who witness someone getting fatally assaulted in a park and don’t help the person and somebody films them and puts it online. The public turns on the witnesses and someone or something is coming after them.”  

Eager to make more horror films and celebrate diversity in his work, Reddick remains immensely proud of Final Destination and the impact it has had on audiences.  

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“It’s cool. To have one movie that is going to be talked about after you die is a life goal. If that’s what I leave behind as a legacy that’s enough – but I still want more.” 

Don’t Look Back is available on DVD & Digital from 14th June

The post How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3oUb1UD

[isahorcrux]

20 questions Writer’s Edition

Thank you @blitheringmcgonagall for the tag ! <3 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

5

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

44,637

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Just Harry Potter (Golden Trio Era & Marauders Era)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? (I guess I’m just ranking all my fics since I only have five currently lol)

love it if we made it (78)

And it all came crashing back. Harry, Ron, and Hermione returning to Hogwarts. The Order coming to fight. Spells being shot back and forth. Hogwarts crumbling from within, but also fighting back. Voldemort and his army of death swarming the castle. Fred. Remus. Tonks. Harry, dead. Harry, not dead. Bellatrix. And then Voldemort and Harry, facing each other in the Great Hall, where Ginny had eaten every meal during the school year with her friends. Voldemort falling. They’d won. The war was over.

glad he’s gone (71)

Of all the things Lavender could have been crying over, Ginny had not expected this. Granted, she knew Ron wanted to end things with Lavender just as much as she’d wanted to end things with Dean. But, she supposed she was a bit preoccupied with her own public break-up to notice Ron’s first romance imploding a mere few feet away. She briefly wondered if Lavender was just as oblivious to her relationship ending as Ginny was to her’s.

hope is a dangerous thing (for a woman like me to have) (63)

As soon as they found Dumbledore’s body, some unconscious part of Ginny knew that their relationship would have to end. She knew Harry, who’d lost so many people, couldn’t bear to put her in danger. She understood his reasoning, in fact, if she were in the same position, she might even do the same. But, it wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t she go with them and help take down Voldemort. She after all, was the closest link to Tom after Harry, having spent a year entwined with his teenage self.

The story of Ginny Weasley's 6th Year at Hogwarts.

spontaneous & romantic (38)

“Well, when I hear things at my window, my first thought isn’t often, ‘oh, how sweet my boyfriend is throwing pebbles at my window,’” I said giggling.

Rose/Scorpius

champagne problems (21)

Summoning the courage of thousands of Gryffindors before him, James sank to his right knee and pulled the unassuming black velvet box from his pocket. The room around them faded into warm shapes and colours. James didn’t know if Sirius had paused the music or if he’d gone temporarily deaf. It was only the two of them, James thrusting his mum’s ring out towards Lily and Lily looking at James with a bemused sort of grin.

After several long moments, or maybe a half an hour, or possibly several days, Lily spoke.

“James, let’s - we should talk.”

It was supposed to be perfect.

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do sometimes ! Truly it depends on if you’ve caught me in a responsive mood or not.  I’m usually more likely to respond if there’s a question or the comment is particularly long, versus a one or two word comment.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh without a doubt champagne problems .

This fic came about because I listed to evermore on repeat in my car for months and months and then a story that first started as a james potter II story morphed into a jily story and here we are. I’ve outlined most of it, so excited to update this one fairly regularly (I think).

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I think probably love it if we made it just because the war is over ginny and harry get together, all that fun stuff. but, if you’re a scorose person, spontaneous & romantic is also very happy. I also wrote that one back in high school, so tread lightly lol.

8. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve never written a crossover, I don’t think...I’ve got a few fics that have been lost to the internet from high school, but I don’t think any of them were crossovers either.  I’m firmly in the HP fanfiction camp.  I guess you could argue I also do Shakespeare fanfiction...but I feel like since that’s in the public domain it doesn’t count lol.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think so ? I don’t think I’m a popular enough writer to get enough eyeballs to get hate.  I noticed on champagne problems, that one person really thought Lily was unlikable, but I think at this point we are supposed to hate her a bit and she does need to grow as a person.  But, I think that’s the closest ?

10. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Currently, no. Do I need to for the folklorevermore project? Yes. So it’s coming, and I’m terrified to write it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No thankfully !

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but very open to it if anyone so chooses to translate :)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but again, very open to it.  I studied screenwriting and fiction in college and one of my favorite things about screenwriting is the collaborative writing process, so my inbox is open :)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oof, making me choose children - currently, probably Jily.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I will finish hope is a dangerous thing if it kills me, I swear!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Err... dialogue maybe?  I also feel like I have a really good grasp of who my versions of James and Lily are.  And also a good cannon sense of Harry and Ginny because growing up literally all I did was read Harry Potter.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The ability to finish things / update in a timely manner lol.  I’m sorry!  Know I hate myself more than you hate me for my slow updates !

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think i’d be comfortable writing French or Italian in a fic (haven’t had the moment to yet, but maybe!) but any other language I haven’t studied I probably would be a bit timid to try, just because I wouldn’t want to mistranslate anything.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter (Next Gen) - I know wild right?  There’s a bunch of Next Gen fics of mine out there under a different name.

20. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I’m actually really proud of champagne problems and where it’s going (this is my plug for people to go read it lol)

Oh god, I hate tagging people it’s so nerve wracking, because I never want to bother people, but tagging those whose fics I literally just read/who hasn’t been tagged (at least I don’t think?) and also anyone else who wants to do this! @dizzy--bird @sunshine-marauders @thequibblah

[inkykeiji]

You write so much and it’s always written so well, I just want to ask what inspires you. What keeps you not only out of writers block but keeps your interest in writing? What motivates you/inspires you to write so much and how do you keep your works all feeling fresh/not repatative and stale? I really look up to you as a writer and would love some tips!

aaaaaaah first, thank you so much for this, to hear that you look up to me as a writer is just !!!!! such an incredible compliment, so thank you!! <33 ah okay let’s get into it under the cut!!

i answered a question similar to this not too long ago so i’m gonna link you to that right here, as well <33

what inspires you?

as the answer i linked above will tell you, i have a degree in cinema studies, so movies are definitely what inspire me the most. BUT i also believe that consuming art (any kind) is just as important as creating it, so i like to read novels, watch movies/tv shows, play video games, go to art galleries (when they aren’t closed thanks to covid ._.), make playlists for my writing and make mood boards for my writing, etc etc etc. art inspires art, always!!

what keeps you out of writers block + keeps your interest in writing? how do you keep your works feeling fresh/not repetitive?

ah, writers block is hard, because (as everything else is with art) there’s no one right answer and it’s very personal. i’ve probably mentioned this on my blog somewhere before, but i had been talking to my screenwriting prof about this and like, honestly, as shitty as it’s gonna sound, i really just push through it. that was the conclusion we came to; that we FORCE ourselves to keep writing, because we love it even when it’s hard or frustrating, that we grit our teeth and force ourselves to get through it, even if everything we write that day sucks, even if we hate all of it. because even if you’re super disappointed with what you came up with, when you come back to it the next day you’ll have at least SOME sort of starting point to work off of, you know what i mean?? and practice is the best way to improve, as well!! i say this often, but try to think of your creativity as a muscle; we all have it, but you need to exercise it to strengthen it!! i do think, though, that there is a very fine line between pushing yourself through a creative exercise and overworking yourself, so be cautious of that!!

other than that, i think this is also where playlists and mood boards etc come into play as well!! if you’re feeling really stuck, go listen to the playlists you made, or add to them; go look at the mood boards you made to try and get a feel for your piece etc!! AND, if you’re really really really stuck, try using prompts as little creative exercises!!

the thing that keeps my interest in writing is that i genuinely love it so, so, so much. and i know that sounds cheesy, but i’m serious. this is all i’ve ever wanted to do with my life and i want to write for a living!! writing and film are my two loves, but writing was my first love and is very important and special to me!!

in terms of what keeps my work from feeling repetitive...i feel like it IS repetitive, so i don’t really have an answer for you!! obviously there are certain themes that run throughout all or almost all of my pieces, but that’s just me, and the stuff i enjoy writing, and that’s okay!! i think it also comes with practice and, again, just continuing to consume other forms of art as you create. does that make sense? and nothing inspires/motivates me to write so much, that’s just kind of how i am as a writer—whether it’s academic writing or fiction, my pieces are always just extremely long ahaha. like my final papers in my third n fourth year of university regularly averaged about 32-34 pages; i am so so so lucky that my profs weren’t strict with page limits ahahaha (the page limit was usually 20ish pages!!)

ahhh i hope this helps you out, at least a little!! <33 i believe in you and i support you, keep writing!!