Scriptwriting on my mind

When I was in college and university, I was active in the theatre groups and did time on stage myself, but what has always appealed to me was script-writing. This is evident in my everyday writing as I tend to have strong dialogues in my stories.

But I have always been hesitant in making the leap from writing articles and stories to scripts. A leap to some but to me, its like the cow jumping over the moon.

Yet, it has been on my mind lately. So the question I posing here is, how do one make the leap into script-writing in general and also for the Malaysian market?

Post your answers in the comments.

There was that Moment.

There was that Moment.
by Maclean Patrick

There was that moment,
A minute captured in a second,
A breath bottled in a thought,
A light that formed a beacon,

It was that moment,
A step in between the strides,
A glance in a gap between the smiles,
The one you could not hide,

Then it was that moment,
A word caught in phrase,
Among saying and forgetting,
Spoken to leave lovers in a daze,

There was that moment,
Where dreams were more reality,
A moment beyond a touch,
And love was never a fantasy.

Mind your Prose – the voice in creative writing.

I often find myself telling those wishing to embark on creative writing to find their “voice” and often times they think it means to find their own style in writing. This is true to a certain degree because it is always good (or better) to have your own distinct style. But what I am referring to is something called Prose.

Prose comes from the Latin prosa which translates to “straight-forward”. Prose in creative writing points to the telling of the story. The narrative voice of the writer. The use of words, the structuring of words in a sentence and the conveying of ideas in the most straight forward of means.

To find your own unique prose or “voice”, take time to listen to how you converse with people. Take note of how you convey your point to those that you talk to. Listen to the use of your words and sentencing. The way you pause your sentence and stress a word or play down an emphasis. Now, take that and put it to paper. That is your prose, your voice in a literal setting.

It will take practice and the tussle between proper writing conventions and keeping your own distinct style will always linger in your mind. Yet, choose to stick to what makes you sound authentic as a writer.

Creative writing as oppose to technical or poetry is less formal. The fact that you can run away from formal conventions makes it creative.

Listen to your speech and adopt that as your prose, your voice as you put to words what dances upon the stage of your creative mind.

Poem: A cloud over my head.

A Cloud Over My Head
by Maclean Patrick

There’s a cloud over my head,
The kind that keeps you awake,
Pulls you along a string of dreams,
Annoying, a pest, the beholder of a head-ache,

There’s a frown on my face,
An up-side down smile,
The kind that brings tears to your eyes,
Tears of pain and all things vile,

There’s a hole in my heart,
The kind that comes from a fracture,
Pulling me deeper into the abyss,
A spiral of gray dreams; beyond measure,

There’s a cloud over my head,
The kind that keeps the frown on my face,
A swirl of gray measurable-less dreams and screams,
As I lie watching from this earthly space.

In order to write, start writing.

A dear friend called me up and told me, she couldn’t seem to get into the “groove” for writing. There always seems to be a distraction that throws her off writing. I sympathize with her because she has come across something writers all over face.

The dreaded, “How to start writing?” or “I need the feel of writing” condition.

It’s not writer’s block, because you do have an idea of what you want to write and accomplish. Yet, how do you get into the “groove” or “feel” of writing.

Just start writing. Write. Anything. Just write anything that comes to mind. Pick up a piece of paper and write. Even if it’s a shopping list. Just write. Doodle if you need to but you need to jump-start the coordination between thought-fingers-words. You need to form that connection again.

This is why, in the lull between writing my books, I post blog entries (twice a day – when possible) or contribute articles to a news portal. The whole idea is to keep on writing something, even if it’s a short piece. I want to keep the connection between my mind-fingers-words constantly open and ever ready to produce sentences.

Of course you have to couple this with reading. Read as much as you can and then write and keep on writing on a regular basis.

This is the only way I can think off to jump back into the groove. The longer you have been out of the groove, the harder it seems. But the moment you are in the groove, you tend to stay there until you decide to slack and jump out of it.

So start writing my friend.

Young Writer’s Project: I Have A Bone Tumor

I Have A Bone Tumor
by Fatin Nurizzati Bt. Faisal

Pain. What is pain?

Can anyone describe pain? No!! Nobody can fully describe it. Sometimes, it can be described. But sometimes it just can’t.

Do you want to know why?

Pain can only be felt by the person who has physically experienced it. Can you imagine the pain of those who suffer from cancer, tumor, or whatever other disease that exists in this world?

This is my story, I have bone tumor.

At first, I never thought I would have bone tumor.

It all started when I was 13 years old. Initially, I was an active person. I was engrossed in sports. I was also very good in traditional dances and was a school dancer.

One day, at my school’s open day, I participated in one of the sports. As I approached the finish line, I fell down and as a consequence, my left ankle was injured. When I reached home, my mother put some medicated oil on it but to no avail, my ankle became more swollen.

Would you still love, even when you know you’ll lose?

This thought has been bouncing about in my head. Is there a definate answer to this question or should it be relegated to mystery limbo?

I do have some initial thoughts on it but I really want to hear from you guys. So do leave a comment and we’ll have a healthy discussion.

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A diary can help develop your writing

Keeping a diary supports personal development.

I have kept a diary since I was twelve years old. During my already mentioned sabbatical in the year 2000, besides the many things I completed, I also found more time for diary writing.
My handwriting has deteriorated into such a scrawl over the years, with whole sections-written down during excited periods-too difficult to decipher, that I switched from writing in handwritten journals to typing on my laptop. I do use the diary to go back and reread certain passages, to see what my thinking was, and, most importantly, to discover things I feel need changing: When I have repeatedly described a circumstance or character trait of mine that I dislike, I eventually wind up doing something about it.

Source: Keeping a Diary Supports Personal Development

I came across Stefan Sagmeister’s blog when reading through Gina Trapani article on LifeHacker and cannot agree more.

It is always good to keep a notebook around to record down the things that come to mind, Christopher Schanck said it well when he blogged, “Methods of Work: It Didn’t Happen If You Didn’t Write It Down.”

Keeping a diary requires some effort but rewarding. It allows us to explore our own emotions and thoughts, helps us develop our voice and allow us to have a mirror into our view point of the world around us.

A diary may take the form of a notebook or written into a journaling software on your notebook or in the form of a blog. The main point is to use it as a tool to develop your writing. It also helps you keep track of your growth as a writer.

It is not uncommon for a writer to be surprised by their own writings. To exclaim, “Did I really write that?” and take pride in the fact, that you have grown.

Give it a try, start writing a diary. Who knows? That diary could be the next best seller.

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Some days I Just want to be an arse.

It’s one of those days again. The kind where you wish you were radioactive and everyone around you would die from a radiation sickness.

Today I am an arse.

That’s not the writer in me writing nor am I being philosophical about my day. I’m just an arse. Grumpiness, indeed comes with age. Irritability comes with too much sugar and an overly critical mind.

I’ve been called jerk, sick, assh***, freak, etc..you get the picture. I’ve given my service to several causes, only to be forgotten. Yup, only when you are needed are you truly remembered.

The Bicycle book cover

The book should be out this week (Christmas week) and priced at RM12 for Peninsula Malaysia and RM15 for Sabah & Sarawak . I love the simplicity of the cover.