Tonight was a great night.
I rode my bike to every single corner of the town, and then some. Down main street, which was brightly lit and empty. Down to the city park which was deserted and dark. To the edge of the town, past the last street light, and into the blackness of the rolling hills.
Why is it that my mind automatically turns to horror and zombies when I venture out at night? I'm not kidding, first step out my door and it's zombies on the brain. I rode down Main Street tonight, which is about three times as wide as the normal street--perfect for a shot of zombies stumbling toward the camera. The buildings are all at least 40 years old, the wood is grey and brittle, and the street lights cast a very weird orange glow over everything. Come on. What would YOU think about?
The city park also brought images of classic horror into my mind, though not necessarily zombies. Allow me to set the scene for you.
Cut to City Park, ext. Midnight. The park is located at the far East edge of town in a natural valley. The one road into the park slopes steeply down into a single, circular route around the park area. Various park equipment is scattered across the grass in no particular order or grouping. A flat tire swing. A merry-go-round. A spaceship. Digging shovels. Horseshoe pits. Picnic benches. Giant oaks overshadow the entire park, and the light from the street lamps barely filters through the trees. The locusts sing as the wind pushes the rusty and creaky equipment around. Dogs howl in the distance.
Come on.
That's straight up horror, yo.
I wonder. If my mind constantly goes to these things, does this mean that I should try my hand at writing horror, or things with elements of horror?
The fact that I'm a scaredy-cat means that I actually have a wellspring of material floating down in my brain. I mean, really, I don't have to dip the bucket very far to come up with some pretty scary stuff.
If a humor writer is supposed to write things that makes her laugh, does a horror writer need to write things that make her terrified?
Because I could totally do that.
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Get Off Yer Keister!
I'm sitting out on my front porch listening to big, fat raindrops splatter on the ground as I write this.
It's nice.
You know, the pace of this town, the general feel of it, and the way I just sort of slow down here is nice. I've been enjoying my time here a lot because it almost feels like a retreat. Then again, a retreat is meant to be just that, a retreat, not life. I'm hoping that this slow feeling will disappear once school starts, and that I'll be busy.
One might well imagine that with all this slowness my ambition is slowly fading. And for those of who who imagine that, thank you for your thoughts, now please go soak your heads.
The truth is, my ambition is steady, but my drive is faltering. Does that make any sense? I'll completely understand if it doesn't.
I see all this time stretching out ahead of me. I feel the weight of age crawling into my drive and slowing me down. And heck no, I'm not old, but I look at the people who are currently doing the things that I want to be doing, and these people started going for their dreams at 18, 20, 22. I'm 25. And I won't get to start until at least 27. That means, minimum, 30 before I get any work (unless I'm insanely lucky)--more likely 35. So that's what I mean when I feel age weighing on my drive.
But I really need to get my rear in gear.
I'm like a big, fat, rock on a very gradually sloping downward hill (enough adverbs and adjectives, MB?). One push is not all it's going to take. I'll roll once, then the weight will stop me. I'll roll five times and the weight will still stop me. I need about a month to really get going.
I mean, look at this blog. Can you tell that it's taken a lot of work? That I've put a lot of time into it? And that I keep up with it really well?
It was discipline that made that happen. It was really fun at a few points, especially when I discovered how to do things, but most of the time it was work making myself post something every night.
Ugh, I'm boring myself. Ok, I'll go write now. And you can instead enjoy this very fun video from the production blog of the movie Paul. It stars some very funny people (including . . . I'll give you one guess), and I'm going to go see it when it comes out in March.
Also, they play some very funny improv games which I can't wait to do with my forensics students!
It's nice.
You know, the pace of this town, the general feel of it, and the way I just sort of slow down here is nice. I've been enjoying my time here a lot because it almost feels like a retreat. Then again, a retreat is meant to be just that, a retreat, not life. I'm hoping that this slow feeling will disappear once school starts, and that I'll be busy.
One might well imagine that with all this slowness my ambition is slowly fading. And for those of who who imagine that, thank you for your thoughts, now please go soak your heads.
The truth is, my ambition is steady, but my drive is faltering. Does that make any sense? I'll completely understand if it doesn't.
I see all this time stretching out ahead of me. I feel the weight of age crawling into my drive and slowing me down. And heck no, I'm not old, but I look at the people who are currently doing the things that I want to be doing, and these people started going for their dreams at 18, 20, 22. I'm 25. And I won't get to start until at least 27. That means, minimum, 30 before I get any work (unless I'm insanely lucky)--more likely 35. So that's what I mean when I feel age weighing on my drive.
But I really need to get my rear in gear.
I'm like a big, fat, rock on a very gradually sloping downward hill (enough adverbs and adjectives, MB?). One push is not all it's going to take. I'll roll once, then the weight will stop me. I'll roll five times and the weight will still stop me. I need about a month to really get going.
I mean, look at this blog. Can you tell that it's taken a lot of work? That I've put a lot of time into it? And that I keep up with it really well?
It was discipline that made that happen. It was really fun at a few points, especially when I discovered how to do things, but most of the time it was work making myself post something every night.
Ugh, I'm boring myself. Ok, I'll go write now. And you can instead enjoy this very fun video from the production blog of the movie Paul. It stars some very funny people (including . . . I'll give you one guess), and I'm going to go see it when it comes out in March.
Also, they play some very funny improv games which I can't wait to do with my forensics students!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Encouraged . . . Perhaps.
OK, so I'm so new to this whole pursuing a career in writing (see post from earlier this week), specifically, comedic writing, that I have no one in a peer sphere (oh, classic, lame, rhyming humor) to bounce ideas off of (what am I doing ending a sentence in a preposition? I am an English teacher at). Yeah, and first I need to get ideas.
I've been devising some exercises that I can do on a daily and weekly basis to start honing my skills and get used to writing both single camera, sitcom, and sketch comedy shows.
FIRST: Write something every single day. As a Creative Writing major, nothing was more important. The only way to stay sharp and productive is to grit your teeth and put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) for at least ten to thirty minutes each day. I've found an excellent site for free-association writing called oneword.com. It provides you with one, randomly generated word and then you have 60 seconds to write whatever you can come up with about that word. It's been great fun, and perhaps if I get brave enough I'll start posting some here. I might not, though, for the purpose of this blog is not to assault your brains with my writing endeavors, but instead to keep you up to date about the most current events in my personal life. And if you don't want to know those, then don't worry. Just unfollow, no hard feelings.
SECOND: Watch, and study, one of each of those shows per week. By study, and here's where you are going to cry out "super nerd," I mean actually take written notes about an episode of a single camera comedy, a sitcom, and a sketch show. Don't know what those mean? Let me help.
Single Camera Show: These are the large majority of shows on TV. Filmed without a studio audience, these shows are easy to spot by how much the camera can maneuver. Do the shots actually follow the actors around a set, include closeups, and a musical soundtrack underneath important moments? Then it's probably a single camera show. Examples include Scrubs, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Glee, and Community. Side note: A show like The Office uses multiple cameras at once to preserve the "documentary" feel, but is still closest to a single camera show.
Sitcom: You know a sitcom when you see one. The lighting is always pretty even across the board. No interesting shadows to be found. The format is almost always a half hour. The dialog is always quick and snappy. And there's either a studio audience or a laugh track. That darn laugh track. Sitcoms have sort of lost their status among TV watchers, but they still pull consistent viewership (and a few aren't bad). Examples include Roseann, Friends, Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Cheers. Side note: A lot of sitcoms today are terrible, however. Two and a Half Men, anyone?
Sketch show: A sketch show covers a broad range, but what I'm looking for is mostly a show that fills at least 50% of its air time with sketches, scenes, or comedic monologues. This definitely includes the most established of sketch shows, Saturday Night Live, but also branches out to things like The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Mad TV. This could even include shows like The Late Show, or The Tonight Show, because the guests actually only take up about 50% of the show, and the rest is filled with jokes, monologues, and skits. Side note: My main goal is to write for SNL. I'll just put it out there. If for some crazy reason God decides to give me a knack for writing comedic sketches, then I will get on that show come hell or high water. But I've never tried before, so now we're going to put it to the test.
THIRD: Start going through my work and finding my strengths. Sure, it would be great to be that kind of writer that can write anything and everything, but the truth is, most of us have one or two great talents in the writing arena. I mean, that's why TV shows have a writing staff. It's not because they want to rotate things around; it's because each member of the writing staff is talented in a different area, creating a stronger and more versatile writing team. If I can find my strength, I can begin to figure out a way to market that strength.
FOURTH: Don't let myself forget. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to post my big goal somewhere important. I'm going to post my smaller goals there as well, step-by-step. I'm also going to start keeping a writing log to make sure that things get done. I have ambition, and it's awesome. But if I let that ambition just sort of fester and don't give it an outlet, it'll just die. An outlet will either fuel my ambition or let it run itself out. I don't know which of those two will happen, but I've got to see it through.
As a last thought, I got a text message from a friend this evening that said I was one of the funniest people he knew--right up there with George W. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but since I was wondering earlier today if I had a grasp of comedy at all, I'm going to count myself encouraged.
I've been devising some exercises that I can do on a daily and weekly basis to start honing my skills and get used to writing both single camera, sitcom, and sketch comedy shows.
FIRST: Write something every single day. As a Creative Writing major, nothing was more important. The only way to stay sharp and productive is to grit your teeth and put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) for at least ten to thirty minutes each day. I've found an excellent site for free-association writing called oneword.com. It provides you with one, randomly generated word and then you have 60 seconds to write whatever you can come up with about that word. It's been great fun, and perhaps if I get brave enough I'll start posting some here. I might not, though, for the purpose of this blog is not to assault your brains with my writing endeavors, but instead to keep you up to date about the most current events in my personal life. And if you don't want to know those, then don't worry. Just unfollow, no hard feelings.
SECOND: Watch, and study, one of each of those shows per week. By study, and here's where you are going to cry out "super nerd," I mean actually take written notes about an episode of a single camera comedy, a sitcom, and a sketch show. Don't know what those mean? Let me help.
Single Camera Show: These are the large majority of shows on TV. Filmed without a studio audience, these shows are easy to spot by how much the camera can maneuver. Do the shots actually follow the actors around a set, include closeups, and a musical soundtrack underneath important moments? Then it's probably a single camera show. Examples include Scrubs, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Glee, and Community. Side note: A show like The Office uses multiple cameras at once to preserve the "documentary" feel, but is still closest to a single camera show.
Sitcom: You know a sitcom when you see one. The lighting is always pretty even across the board. No interesting shadows to be found. The format is almost always a half hour. The dialog is always quick and snappy. And there's either a studio audience or a laugh track. That darn laugh track. Sitcoms have sort of lost their status among TV watchers, but they still pull consistent viewership (and a few aren't bad). Examples include Roseann, Friends, Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Cheers. Side note: A lot of sitcoms today are terrible, however. Two and a Half Men, anyone?
Sketch show: A sketch show covers a broad range, but what I'm looking for is mostly a show that fills at least 50% of its air time with sketches, scenes, or comedic monologues. This definitely includes the most established of sketch shows, Saturday Night Live, but also branches out to things like The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Mad TV. This could even include shows like The Late Show, or The Tonight Show, because the guests actually only take up about 50% of the show, and the rest is filled with jokes, monologues, and skits. Side note: My main goal is to write for SNL. I'll just put it out there. If for some crazy reason God decides to give me a knack for writing comedic sketches, then I will get on that show come hell or high water. But I've never tried before, so now we're going to put it to the test.
THIRD: Start going through my work and finding my strengths. Sure, it would be great to be that kind of writer that can write anything and everything, but the truth is, most of us have one or two great talents in the writing arena. I mean, that's why TV shows have a writing staff. It's not because they want to rotate things around; it's because each member of the writing staff is talented in a different area, creating a stronger and more versatile writing team. If I can find my strength, I can begin to figure out a way to market that strength.
FOURTH: Don't let myself forget. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to post my big goal somewhere important. I'm going to post my smaller goals there as well, step-by-step. I'm also going to start keeping a writing log to make sure that things get done. I have ambition, and it's awesome. But if I let that ambition just sort of fester and don't give it an outlet, it'll just die. An outlet will either fuel my ambition or let it run itself out. I don't know which of those two will happen, but I've got to see it through.
As a last thought, I got a text message from a friend this evening that said I was one of the funniest people he knew--right up there with George W. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but since I was wondering earlier today if I had a grasp of comedy at all, I'm going to count myself encouraged.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
A Dream That Sort of Unraveled On Its Own In This Post
Office marathon today. Super fun. Oh, and I am full of pizza now. Not-so-super-fun.
Those who love humor often bemoan the current state of SNL. And I find it especially funny that the "current" state of SNL is always criticized, no matter what season the show is in. People will always have problems with it, I suppose.
Every now and then I get this urge to write for a TV show. Specifically, for an NBC comedy show.
Two concerns here:
1. If this is a serious urge, it's going to require some drastic life changes.
2. I'm not quite sure that I can create funny things like the people who actually write for these shows.
First of all, serious life changes. I've got myself committed to Ashland. And I've got some nice financial obligations as well.
Ugh. This post was going to continue in this vein and now I've already found myself discouraged away from trying to move to NY or Chicago to join The Second City or UCB.
That's what I get for taking my responsibilities seriously. Also, I think it shows that my "dream" is definitely a dream rather than an all-consuming, life-changing passion.
My ultimate goal in all this? Well, if you haven't guessed from the nature of my most recent posts, I'm quite enamored with SNL lately. That's Saturday Night Live for those of you who aren't in the know. I've found myself studying the humor, the way skits are constructed, how stars are fit into the show, and how the show morphs depending on who the guests are. It's actually quite a beast to behold.
Those who love humor often bemoan the current state of SNL. And I find it especially funny that the "current" state of SNL is always criticized, no matter what season the show is in. People will always have problems with it, I suppose. I personally think that the show is entering a brilliant new phase. I could go into it more here, but instead I'll leave it for a review on my TV tab. Keep checking back. It's not up now, but I'm sure I'll have it up soon.
Anyway, we all know about my strange fixation on Bill Hader, but it's so much more than that. The talent on that show right now is amazing, the writing is doing well, and the guys from The Lonely Island (the guys behind the SNL Digital Shorts) are taking the show into the future one awkward video at a time.
And now, just for you, because I know you wanted it, another picture of Mr. Hader, this time with glasses. Why don't all people wear glasses?
Oh, and Hader's crazily versatile voice talents will soon be appearing in this movie, coming out in August. Listen carefully for the voice that says "Combo" around 1:45. Come on. It looks crazy fun. And hilarious to boot. I need to find some way to see this since I'll already be an hour away from the closest theatre that would show it.
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