Screenwriting

I finishing reading Making a good script great by Linda Seger, now it's off to Hero with a thousand faces by Joseph Campbell (again). The last time I read Campbell it was for story structure and character psychology; this time it's for application to some of the surreal moments I write.

I also finished Getting things done by David Allen, and I've started to apply some of his thinking to how I write (you can find some of my favorite GTD-related links here).

For example, one of the general principles in GTD in keeping cleanly defined lists in order to stay organized. I decided to apply this somehow to my notes, which are always a rat's nest. After rereading my notes, I discovered that I write four different types of entries in my notebook:

1. Questions - "why does character x do this?"
2. Ideas - "maybe character x does this because of reason x"
3. Research Notes - either relating to craft or a topic
4. Next Actions - "debug outline" (next actions is a GTD term/concept)

I then rewrote my notes, giving each type of entry it's own page. The "Next Action" page is key, because it keep me focus on making progess. I'm also using this classification when I'm dictating into my microcasette recorder on the road because it makes transcribing my notes much easier.

screenwriting
GTD