Category Archives: Internal
Be There
Be there. Go there now and never leave. Imagine that your dreams have already come true. Live your life from that mindset. Predicate your behavior on that reality, not the illusions that now surround you. Filter every thought, question, and answer from there. Let your focus shift and be born again – because dwelling from, not upon, the space you want to inherit is the fastest way to change absolutely everything.
– Mike Dooley http://www.tut.com
How would your life be different if the biggest dream you have right now, already came true?
Put yourself out into the future. Be there. Feel it. Feels good, right?
How will you be different when you are standing on the other side of your dream, looking back?
We grow into our dreams by living them, feeling them, imagining them as if they already happened. Not by striving or hoping or wishing.
Your ability to imagine is the most powerful force you have.
Isn’t it amazing?
Protect Your Work’s Message, Not the Words
Theme, or message, is the DNA of your creative work. It’s not something you consciously add or layer on top of it. It’s where the Story touches the human soul. Message comes from within the work, it emerges organically and exists before the work comes into being. It’s there, though sometimes it takes a bit of gentle digging and patience to uncover it.
As the Writer, you’re the first Trustee of the Story. It’s your job to shape, craft and decide how the Story can be expressed in the most powerful, effective way. If it’s a novel, these decisions are entirely up to you. For a screenplay, this is where you have the most power, up front, to direct how a reader experiences the script and to ensure the Story has the substance to make it through the creative collaboration of nearly 200 people. It is your first and often only chance to lay out your vision for the characters and theme for the other writers who will be tasked with contributing to it.
Which leads to a question: does the Story ever really belong to you? I don’t think it does.
We’re the first Trustees. Charged with caring, nurturing, and writing the strongest Story we possibly can. Giving the Story the best possible chance of growing up into a powerful, self-reliant film by the sheer quality of our storytelling’s framework.
No matter how robust a script is, other people are going to take over caring for it. We have to remember our role as First Trustee and when given the opportunity, be willing to stand up firmly for what we know is sacred to the Story and the characters, and be willing to stand down, as well. And to do that professionally, we have to remember that there is more than one way to get a message across.
When I was starting out as a features writer, one of the first things I had to learn was to “let go” of the story to hand it over to an editorial team. I quickly learned that there is always more than one way to tell a story and still get the same message across. It’s the message you have to protect. Not the words.
When you are driven to protect the message, and not the words or expression, you’ll be able to craft your work to its fullest, and most powerful, potential. And when others are given the task of contributing to it, you’ll know what to measure.
It’s true that once your Story is bought, you may never have another word to say about it again. All the more reason why we have to make sure a script is the strongest, most robust ‘framework’ it can be.
The Good that You Do
Why do you create?
There are as many answers as there are artists. Ultimately, most of us want to inspire a reaction in a viewer or reader.
What reaction do you want to inspire in others?
I’m not talking about whether someone likes or dislikes your work; or critics, reviews, or sales.
I’m talking about the emotional, soul reaction they have. How they will feel after viewing or reading your work.
We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this, do we? We create because it seems to flow so naturally to us – it’s simply part of who we are. We can’t imagine not creating. But the question deserves some space in our lives. And space in every new work.
When your work goes public, this question becomes essential.
As an artist, you make choices. You have the power, if not to decide what your work will be, then to shape and guide it. I know that much of the creative work we do is given to us by Something Greater that wants to flow and speak and express itself through us. We don’t usually feel as if we have a choice in what our creative work is.
But the energies of your work, the reaction it inspires in a human heart and soul – that is where we do need to pause and think.
We have incredible power and I believe, responsibility.
We have the power to move the human heart toward healing, connection and hope. Or not.
Our work is capable of making someone stop and think, of inspiring someone to make a different choice, to believe or take one thought toward remembering their own power in this life. We have the ability to evoke joy, beauty, a sense of grace and wonder. And, in our darker sides, to release questions that are allowed to bubble to the surface. Questions that may not have been asked if it were not for our work.
I’m not advocating that all creative work has to be beautiful or have a moral point. That is not the question. I am advocating that we stop and think and become aware of the power and responsibility we have toward our viewers and readers. They may tend to take our work for granted as entertainment. They may not be aware of the affect that that entertainment can have on them. But they do know when they’ve been touched.
So why not touch them?
Your work has the potential to do something incredible. Even if it’s only in one viewer or one reader’s heart. And isn’t one heart worth a million?
The Trust Story Has in You
“The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.”
― Rumi
And that’s true of Story, too.
Stories don’t finally meet us, they’re in us all along. Which should give us faith that the stories we write, the art we shape and craft, matters.
We are not our Stories, yet the emotion of every story belongs to us. The Stories that choose us know us well. It doesn’t matter where you believe Story comes from – whether they are formed in the imagination/subconscious or are part of what we choose before we come to this life – what matters is that Story knows that you alone are the only person who can give it form.
If you work alone in your art, you carry the full trust of the Story. If you are the first author of a Story that others will revise or alter, you carry the full trust of the Story.
That trust is sacred. It’s not something we should toss aside carelessly. It’s not something we should rationalize with the thought: “it’s just a story – how much can it matter?”
Story is everything. It is how we shape our lives, how we experience our lives, how we categorize and assign meaning to what we experience here. Story with a capital “S.”
We live our entire lives as Story.
It makes perfect sense that some of us would chose to work more intimately with story-creation during our lifetimes here. Expression of emotion and experience through art and writing is how we grow, expand, learn and more fully appreciate our beauty as human spirits in this world. Humanity entrusts us with the role of adding to the collection of voices who have spent time here and left; and leaving messages for those who are yet to come.
So how do you respect the trust Story has in you?
- Listen to the Story’s characters. Craft experts can advise you on craft. Only the characters can advise you on Story.
- Honor the timing. Some characters need years to be ready to share their stories; some know you need years to be ready to express it.
- Pay attention to Guidance. The books you read, the films you watch, the blogs you read, the colors and shapes that speak to you – when you’re in the midst of a project, they all have the potential to guide you.
- Don’t force anything on a character. Sharing pain, fears, insecurities, mistakes is not easy. Characters struggle with it just as much as you would. Be gentle and be strong for them.
- Surrender to the Story. Let it move you, touch your spirit, bother you. You’re the first trustee of the story, it should have the greatest affect on you.
You honor Story fully when you accept your role as the storyteller, when you make space for it in your life, when you stand up for it and behind it.
How can you honor Story today?
Faith vs Fear
Faith is an integral part of a successful creative life. I’m not talking about religious faith, though for some, that may be the Source. The faith I’m talking about is a choice. A choice you have to make when you can’t see clearly, or when you hit a reversal in what you thought was your path, or when you face rejection and uncertainty. Again.
How you respond in those moments is very critical to how you shape your future.
We’re always presented with a choice: fear or faith.
I learned very early on in my career as a writer that I operate very differently when I’m driven by fear versus faith.
Fear: drives desperate, don’t-have-a-choice, take-anything-you-can-get decisions that gnaw at you because your Spirit knows you’ve made a decision that’s not aligned with Who You Are. You get a quick payoff of safety (sometimes) but in the long term you suffer.
Faith: drives calm, bold, risky choices that may not make logical sense, but they inspire such internal peace that you know it’s the right choice. You can’t see the payoff right off the bat (usually) but you have a steady sense that everything’s going to be okay, you’re being Guided and you trust that it will work out even better than you imagine.
Life presents these crossroads often in creative lives – projects, finances, clients, deals – they’re fluid. The Universe uses change in these areas as ways to motivate us to make different decisions, inspire us to think new thoughts, connect us to different people, realign us with what matters most to us and ultimately, deliver us into the life we’ve chosen.
So the next time you are faced with uncertainty, recognize that you have the power to choose between fear and faith.
And that what happens next depends on your decision.
creative inside out 