Author: Martin Johnson

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

worth it

Recently a local cyclist where I live was hit by a car and injured badly, he ended up going to the same rehabilitation hospital for therapy I did. After communicating with his family online, I decided to go back to the hospital for the first time in over a decade to visit.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid, I wasn’t allowed to visit with the cyclist. But I did get to explore the hospital grounds where I used to struggle to get around in a wheelchair it was overwhelming for me just being there.

Although the grounds themselves had changed so much I felt like I was back in therapy myself. I remembered a talk I had with my neuropsychologist about my options when I first arrived there. She warned me the journey would be long and hard. I had to make up my mind about how I would handle it.

Fight the process
Learn from the process
Or feel sorry for myself and give up altogether.

These are also options that are available to aspiring writers. The path to publication is long and may not ever materialize for many. I’ve experienced many disappointments on the path to publication, or lack thereof.

If it weren’t for the encouragement and wisdom of writing friends and mentors, I would have given up long ago. But like with the rehabilitation process, I believe in pushing through the trials in order to learn the writing process. I’ve learned life is often the journey that makes it worth it.

Worth It!

The dictionary defines worth as,

“Personal value: the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held.”

The concept of worth is intangible because we each have different values and qualities.

After my accident, I believed my worth was less because my quality of life had changed. But over the years as I’ve met other persons with disabilities, I began to better understand their worth and my worth as well.

In the brain injury community, there is a saying, “I am not my brain injury,” because our worth doesn’t come from our disabilities or what we can or can’t offer. This saying is a ray of hope for persons with disabilities.

According to the CDC disabled persons are five times more likely to experience depression or mental anxiety.

Although persons with disabilities still have worth, it’s often hard to find their place in society.

A society that tends to operate based on one’s abilities can be pretty intimidating to somebody with disabilities. And we all know that comparison is a thief of all joy. Therefore we mustn’t base our worth off of others or what society says, that alone is depressing enough for anyone.

Below are seven easy ways to appreciate yourself more from Kristan van Tilburg on medium.com

Decide you’re worthy just being alive.
Consider where the criticism is coming from
Remember all you have accomplished.
Reward your efforts.
Stop judging yourself harshly.
Appreciate all the good things in your life.
Let yourself receive appreciation from others.

Whether disabled or not, getting paid for writing or not, these seven practices could help lead to understanding your worth and find a place in your community.

Trying to break through as a writer is difficult, just like living with a disability, but pressing through the difficulties makes the journey worth it. Sometimes the biggest reward comes from just doing it.

Just Do It!

As I close this month’s post, I want to point out that next month is brain injury awareness month. It is also the same month I sustained my brain injury 25 years ago.

According to the CDC, 1.5 million Americans sustain a T. B. I. (Traumatic brain injury) every year, but only 230,000 of these are hospitalized and survive. For the rest of their lives, survivors must decide whether to give up are just do it, no matter how hard life may be for them.

The writing life can be traumatic also, aspiring writers must decide if they’re going to give up or press on through the disappointments and rejections. According to the Writing Cooperative below are the five most common mistakes aspiring writers make.

They want to be, not do.
Think you’re too good to start small.
Think quality over quantity.
Think short-term
Confuse passion with purpose.[iii]

Living with a TBI means the rest of your life will come with risks, likewise pursuing a writing career comes with its own risks. Either way, if you’re prepared, the risk is worth it!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Tags #Writing with a disability, Just do it, TBI

Screenwriting

first draft

Recently I began working on another draft of my latest screenplay. I needed to make some changes that were pointed out in a screenplay evaluation I paid for last year. I have been using a particular site to get evaluations on the screenplay for the past year.

The feedback has been invaluable and helps me tell a better story. The evaluators are unbiased experts who can spot weaknesses in screenplays. Good writers are open to feedback on their stories if they want to write the best story possible. Since I’m open to feedback, I’ve improved in a couple of areas.

Help find needless typos.
Create more compelling characters.
Help refine my story’s message.

First drafts aren’t meant to be perfect, they are just the first step in the storytelling process. They will have typos, poor dialogue/characters, and plot holes. These are meant to be fixed in future drafts, right now you’re just concentrating on getting the first draft written.

First Drafts!

No writer tells the perfect story in the first draft, even if they did, there are likely typos or grammatical errors! The purpose of the first draft is to get the story written, which is the beginning of the screenwriting process.

Statistically, the average screenplay goes through 30 rewrites or drafts before the movie goes into production. Even then, there may be script changes. Just like with any other process, screenwriting utilizes trial and error.

With each draft our story should improve, typos corrected and message refined.

“The first draft is just you telling yourselves the story.”
Author Terry Pratchett

If we truly want to write the best story, it is crucial to get professional feedback from other writers. Screenwriters have the option of getting “coverage” from industry experts. The following are a few sites you can go to for paid feedback on your screenplay:

Ink Tip
Industrial Scripts
Spec Scout
Screencraft
Various screenwriting competitions that provide coverage

For my script, I decided to use the Blacklist to not only get coverage but also share my screenplay online with studios and producers. The feedback I’ve received has been invaluable and it’s forced me to clarify some things, rearrange others, or simply cut parts that do not work.

My story has changed in many ways, but all for the better. And that is the purpose of multiple drafts, to write a better story and help the audience have a better movie-going experience.

Stories Change!

Last year, I explained how screenplays change during the film production process after a studio buys a screenplay. I pointed out how scripts can often be different movies by the time they are released.

Hollywood is notorious for changing story-lines after purchasing screenplays. Sometimes writers don’t even recognize their work by the time the studio finishes making changes. Below are a few examples of movies that changed before hitting the big screen.

Fant4stic Four > Originally this reboot was supposed to be a grotesque horror film.
The Avengers > Early drafts had the Wasp as a key character, but she was removed for later films and replaced by Black Widow.
Back to the Future > Marty’s father George was supposed to become a championship boxer at the end of the movie.
Commando > originally Arnold Scharzeneggar’s character was an Israeli soldier who turned his back on violence. Quite a change.

Stories change, characters change, and evening settings and time periods can change a lot from the first draft! So be ready and open to feedback and change.

Tags first draft

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

enjoy it!

Being disabled causes one to find new sources of enjoyment. The things I used to enjoy before my accident, I can no longer do without strenuous effort, for that reason I no longer play video games or the guitar.

At first, I tried to force my hands to do what I could no longer do, when it started to take more effort to do, it was no longer enjoyable. I got to the point where I had to decide whether to keep looking back or press forward.

I began to focus on what I could do instead of what I couldn’t do. I started learning new things or doing things I hadn’t done in decades. The disabled life makes one appreciate the little things in life. Things most people take for granted. Things I never thought I would enjoy again.

Walking is a basic function not everyone can enjoy.
Feeding myself, not depending on others to help me.
Tying my shoes.
Going to the restroom on my own.

As simple as these may seem to most people, many disabled persons don’t get to enjoy doing because of physical or mental inabilities.

When you lose the ability to do what others do naturally, it can cause you to become depressed. It will make you want to give up.

If you’ve been aspiring to be a writer for any amount of time, perhaps you’ve become depressed as you’ve seen others have success in what you struggle to do yourself. Sometimes the struggles of the writing life can take the enjoyment away. That’s why writers must learn to enjoy the journey and not focus as much on the destination!

Enjoy It!

It may be cliché, but I believe it is true. “As long as you enjoy your job, you’ll never work a day in your life!” It is human nature to seek enjoyment, and it is natural to seek the path of least resistance.

I don’t want to sugarcoat the writing life, but as a reminder that the writing life is hard, living with a disability is hard—an easy path doesn’t necessarily mean success. It’s what we learn on the journey and the truth is we learn more from hardship.

Keep in mind, few writers can make a living as a writer full-time, most writers have side jobs and other sources of income: a day job, teaching, speaking, etc.

Yet, thousands of people aspire to become writers every day. Most of us don’t write for money, we write for the art and enjoyment of the craft. If we break through the barriers one day great, regardless, we enjoy the creative process! Below is a list of other reasons writers keep writing.

The best way to communicate is by speaking. The second-best way is to write.
Writing helps see your thoughts clearly.
It is a good practice to look back on how your perspectives have changed.
Having a place to share your ideas helps a community to grow.
Writing is a fun pass time.
You can write your thoughts and make an impact.
You can voice concerns for a cause through your writing.
For you to write, you will start reading and taking more life experiences.
Writing helps build a relationship in any community.
I love writing.

Recently, on a brain injury podcast I follow, a doctor explained how muscle memory is developed and works. The “memory” isn’t stored in the muscle but is a habit that is formed in the Basal Ganglia (operates in the frontal region of the brain), sort of like an algorithm that has been programmed into the brain by repeating a process.

So, the more we write and flex those creative muscles, the more we program our brains to write and the process will become involuntary, less strenuous. Maybe that’s when we really start to enjoy the writing process, instead of the destination of “success”!

Once again, the writing life is hard and few find financial success in it. So, if you’re feeling burnt out, perhaps you should just learn to enjoy the art of writing, instead of focusing on writing success. We can always write, even if we aren’t being compensated for it. Yes, the struggle is real!

The Struggle Is Real!

After living with a disability for almost 26 years and pursuing publishing for a decade, I have learned the hard truth that life is full of struggles, but I keep pressing on. Not to become rich and famous, but because I enjoy the craft and life.

I’ve learned that it’s the simple things in life that make it enjoyable and worth the struggle. Each path is different and difficult in its own right; however, if we learn to grow on the journey, the struggle is worth it. Below are a few inspirational quotes from the disabled community to help inspire you on your writing journey.

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
It’s not our disabilities, it’s our abilities that count.” – Chris Burke
“Know me for my abilities, not my disability.” –Robert M. Hensel
“God always seems bigger to those who need him most. And suffering is the tool he uses to help us need him more.” – Joni Eareckson Tada

I have personally learned over the years that struggles in life aren’t meant to stop us, but help makes us stronger along the journey to where we are headed. Just because I can no longer do what I used to do doesn’t mean I cannot excel at doing new things. We don’t have to do big things in life to be successful, it’s appreciating the little things that helps us enjoy it!

Tags Enjoy the journey, focus on what lies ahead, Learn from hardships, Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Screenwriting

idea box

Now that the holidays are over and a new year has begun, many of us will have a hard time stirring from our holiday-induced coma. But, we each have new stories and worlds to create. One of my favorite sayings is…

“Dreamers dream, writers write.”

It’s easy to stay in our happy-go-lucky pretend worlds, but it takes real work to get stories created; new worlds, characters, and conflict to stir the pot!

Each writer has their way of coming up with new stories to tell. Creative’s are wired different, but we have the same goal. To tell an entertaining or possibly a life-changing narrative. But how we come up with them is as unique as we are. Which category do you fall into below?

Outliner
Pantser
Hybrid

Personally, it depends on what I’m writing. My nonfiction is planned out, whereas my fiction has a skeleton outline, but I let my characters take me along on the journey with them. The cliché, “Ideas are a dime a dozen,” is an accurate one. But screenwriters need to understand that not every story is visual. We will need a bigger idea box.

Idea Box!

Screenwriters are consistently working on assignment or speculation. Assignment writing is when a studio or production company hires someone to write stories that the studio has already developed an idea for. The writers are just doing the footwork.

Speculation or writing on spec is what most new writers do. We create ideas of our own and put them into visual stories, speculating someone will want to buy it or pay to go see it. Writing on spec is risky because no one knows if what the writer creates will ever be sold or produced.

Even when not writing, a screenwriter is still creating and playing with ideas in their mind or watching for great stories to be told in the news or the world around them.

I recently talked to a working screenwriter who lives in L. A., home visiting family for the holidays. He shared how his ideas are inspired from traveling back and forth between coastlines or the stories he hears when he comes home.

This man shared with me that conflict is king in storytelling, but uniqueness is the queen of storytelling. Unique voices, perspectives, and writing approach can make a simple story stand out amongst the millions of spec scripts. This is why many look down upon formulaic storytelling, an audience can lose interest if they can sense or know what will happen next.

Robert McKee notes, “story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.” there are guidelines for stories to follow, but they are fluid, not finite.

Guidelines allow the audience to follow the story, but never tell the story.

It’s our job as writers to communicate entertaining and original narratives that meet an audience’s needs. The pressure is on as we try to keep the audience both entertained and interested. Below are a few ways that I found online to help develop stories that are both entertaining and unique.

Take a walk: They allow us to see the world at a slower pace, get fresh air, and listen to other people.
Read the newspaper: Current events are great jumping-off points for characters. We want our ideas to be relevant in today’s world.
Watch a movie and kill the protagonist off in the right way: Use that outcome to create a new tagline and write that story.
What’s going on in your life: Writing is catharsis. Take your problems and put them on the page.
Steel from the classics: Most of the classics are fair to use, so change up the settings, characters, and outcome.
Mine the public domain: It’s not just the classics, the public domain is a great place to get inspired. Disney has mastered the art of retailing legends and fairy tales. The Bible is full of stories waiting to be told on the big screen.
Start at the end of one of your old screenplays: What happens after you fade out? Can you tell a new story with the aftermath?
What happens in one location?: Try taking your big idea and making them small, more focused, and specific.
What can you shoot? What do you have access to? What locations, actors or set pieces do you have access to?
Tap into history: History is public domain. It’s full of events people talk about all the time. [2]

Whether you’re a pantser, outliner, or hybrid, you have a story to tell. So, find it and tell it regardless of how you get there, just make sure it is unique.

Unique!

Screenwriter and writing coach Scott Myers says, “Start with the first word. Stories are written one word at a time.” Stories don’t write themselves, that’s our job. Hollywood is desperate for new stories. That is why Hollywood has been rebooting old movies and TV series from years gone by, below are just a few examples.

Each of these shows and movies all started with the first draft at some point, but they were only written after someone reached deep into their idea box.

Tags guidelines, hybrid, idea box, outiner, pantser, screenwriting

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Getting Started

As the year comes to an end, we are all eager for a new year and a new start. It’s safe to say we are all tired of this pandemic life and are hoping for a better year. If you are like me you have an idea or a journal full of ideas for writing projects.

The writing life is a never-ending process. But we all must start from scratch when creating new projects. Unfortunately, the first step is often the hardest to take, especially after trudging through the winter and holiday season. It’s like going from 0 to 60 in under a minute, getting there sounds good but in reality, it is a chore just to get going. It is even harder for someone who lives with a brain injury.

Inability to focus
Movement is restricted
Lack of stamina to finish the task.

The writing life can be just as difficult to be productive as being disabled. Some writers are procrastinators by nature, they perform better under pressure. Some are self-starters, others must be nudged and guided where they need to go.

Perhaps you have more self-discipline or willpower than most writers. Either way, we all need to get started at some point; writing is a marathon, not a sprint—although they may start at the same point.

Getting Started!

A new year means new opportunities for each writer. Personally, I have quite a few projects in mind for this year: blogs, articles, and even a new screenplay. Like most writers, the problem isn’t coming up with new ideas, but just getting started and writing them.

Each writer has their own way of getting motivated to write: work out, go for a walk, overindulge in coffee/caffeine. Unfortunately, due to my brain injury, I must limit my intake of caffeine which only stimulates our nervous system to give us a buzz, not energy.

Where do you find yourself in the quest for motivation to write? I looked online and found ways writers use to help them get started:

Set writing goals: Set goals that are easy to meet. Give yourself a minimum daily word count you need to reach. At the end of each writing session record your word count in a writing diary.
Set deadlines: There is no better motivator than a deadline. Look at a calendar and set a due date for each chapter of your book and I completed the first draft.
Write now, edit later: An essential part of creative writing is to just get your story down. When words are flowing don’t stop to edit. You’ll forget your thoughts and ideas and you lose momentum.
Find the perfect writing space: Find a spot where you do your best writing. Make sure it’s away from distractions.
Remember that the journey is the destination: Be in the present and enjoy the experience of writing.
Commit to a regular writing time: Getting into a regular writing habit is easier when you use time management skills and schedule a specific time to write every single day.
Change your thought processes: Remind yourself that the only way to become a better writer is to sit down and write.
Join a writing group: Sometimes writing for yourself, is simply not enough motivation. Join a writing group that meets regularly so you are accountable to other people to turn and what you write.
Take five: If you have writer’s block, step away from your writing routine. Go for a walk or a jog. Sometimes just getting exercise helps open the creative flow of gates.
Switch up your setting: Changing where you work can get you out of a creative rut.
Switch directions: When you stall out during the middle of a writing project, change what you’re working on. Switching to a new writing style can refresh your thoughts.
Try writing prompts: A fun way to find motivation is to use writing prompts to ignite a story. Prompts are often a short text passage that a writer uses as fuel to launch into a bigger story.
Reward yourself: Use bribery for a little motivation every now and then never hurts. Promise yourself a sweet treat, a cup of coffee, or some little reward for reaching a milestone in your writing session.
Read a book: If you’re having a hard time finding motivation, pick up something to read. Reading will turn off your creative engine and give your mind a rest.
Remember why you started writing: Remember why you started writing in the first place and refocus on the story you set out to tell.

During my early years in rehabilitation I had to see a neuropsychologist to help me not only understand what was going on with my brain and body, but to keep motivated in my recovery process, it was there I learned the difference between motivation and inspiration; motivation comes from within us, whereas inspiration is an external means to inspire us.

As a disabled person, I have learned that I am responsible for how I handle my disability. When I cannot motivate myself to get going, I can always turn to someone or something for inspiration to get going.

Inspiration?

Most Christian writers hope to inspire their readers through their writing. Where do you find your inspiration? As a disabled American I found so much inspiration in the story of Joni Eareckson Tada, her success, despite her disability, has inspired millions of disabled Americans. The late Dick Hoyt is another inspiration of mine, his unconditional love and support for his special needs son have encouraged millions of men.

As a writer I have also looked to other’s for inspiration and specific areas of my creative writing process, below are a few:

Scott Myers (professional screenwriter and writing coach)
Jerry B. Jenkins (renowned author and writing mentor)
DiAnn Mills (award-winning author and writing mentor)

Regardless of what you write or if you’re disabled or not, there will come a time when we all need a little help getting started!

Tags getting started, keep writing, New Year, writing goals, Writing with a disability

Screenwriting

distribution Process

Recently, like many other Marvel comic fans, I sat on the edge of my seat awaiting the new trailer for the newest Spiderman movie. There have been tons of teasers for lots of hype and lots of fan theories about the upcoming movie.

With this final trailer and official release date, we know the movie has wrapped the production phase and has now moved into the final stage of film production.

Development/script writing
Preproduction/budgeting
Production
Postproduction
Distribution/marketing

Remember studios follow a specific process to ensure the maximum return on their investment into your screenplay. This is a business for everyone involved: writers, studios, investors, production teams, and theaters.

As the process moves into the final phase, marketing materials are produced not only for promoting the movie to the public, but to investors or rights holders of the project. Think of it as a project update for the business team. With the marketing materials approved, it is time to begin the distribution process.

Distribution Process

The distribution phase is when a film project finally moves from a private project to a public project where those not involved in the film’s production get their first look at the finished project.

Still, this doesn’t mean a film goes directly to the theater, some may be released straight to DVD or a streaming service. Which route to take can be decided based upon feedback from those in the industry: film festivals or major film distributors. If neither works, there is always the option for self-distribution.

Of course, major studios with their in-house writers and creators, have a leg up when it comes to distributing their movies. They can pitch and promote their projects well in advance. Below are a few movies I’m looking forward to seeing in the new year:

Ironically, distribution is the final stage in movie production, but it is just the beginning of the audience’s journey in a narrative a screenwriter creates. The audiences’ reaction to a screenplay is something most writers imagine from the beginning when they first got their big idea.

Back to the Beginning

As we end this series on the filmmaking process, we are beginning a new year that is full of possibilities and potential ideas. The screenwriting process is a journey for writers as well, the idea is the first step in the filmmaking process.

Idea brainstorming/writing
Pitching/selling the idea
Film production
Marketing/distribution

We have 12 months to develop new story ideas, create new worlds and characters; but it is a long way until we finally make it to the distribution stage!

Tags development, movie marketing, movie production, moving making process

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

cheerleaders

As I began working on this post, I woke up one morning depressed. I couldn’t motivate myself to focus and get going for the day. I had deadlines to meet and projects to start, but the desire to do them wasn’t there.

When I looked at my cell phone, I realized Thanksgiving was a little over a week away. That reality was just enough to jump-start my body and get me moving. While I was eating breakfast and watching the news about the pandemic, again my attitude went south.

Food shortages
Supply chain delays
High inflation
Covid-19 cases

After living with a brain injury for over two decades, depression has become an ugly truth that rears its head from time to time. While washing dishes after breakfast, I decided to slip back into my rehabilitation mindset — although cliché — take one step at a time, and one day at a time!

If you haven’t had a major health scare, let me share, recovery is a process that must be allowed to work itself out. Fall, but don’t stay down. Learn from your mistakes, but never deny them!

I learned quickly in the hospital each time I fell, getting up made me stronger both physically and mentally. Setbacks are humbling, but not the end of the world. I can still remember my neuropsychologist telling me if I know I made a mistake, then I am learning and learning is part of the process. She wasn’t the beautiful cheerleader, but the hard truth is always better than a feel-good lie.

Cheerleaders?

If you’ve ever seen any sporting event, you’ve witnessed the power of cheerleaders. They aren’t just there to cheer when their team is winning, they are most beneficial when the team is losing.

Cheerleaders’ spirit is contagious, the idea is to spark energy into everyone to change the mindset and cheer their team on to victory. Cheerleading is so necessary it has become its own sport.

Throughout my rehabilitation, I have had many cheerleaders encourage me to keep pushing and keep learning. Within the rehabilitation community, they are life coaches, experts, or survivors who cheer patients on and offer insight to help them on their recovery journey.

As we writers know, the writing life can be lonely. Hours spent behind computers or researching, writing, and editing. Pouring our hearts and souls into our craft. When we don’t see the fruit of our labor, the loneliness only gets worse; desperation and depression set in. Therefore, it is vital to have cheerleaders in our writing circles, I have been fortunate enough to have one of my writing mentors as a cheerleader for the last decade, and furthermore, to see her at an annual writer’s conference.

I recently reached out to other writer friends for their advice on staying encouraged on the writing journey. A friend shared how she gets encouraged by her writing group that also serves as her beta readers. The point is writers need encouragement daily. I found a shortlist online of how you can encourage your writer friends:

Ask about their work: Knowing that someone is genuinely interested in what you do can be a great encouragement.
Ask questions: Questions don’t have to be about what they are working on. Ask about the craft – characters, setting, description, etc. If you don’t understand something, just ask. Doesn’t it make you feel good when someone asks questions about what you do for a living and makes you feel like an expert?
Encourage them to write: Tell them that you’re excited about their project. Another way you can encourage them if you’re not interested or unable to read their work is to provide them the right environment to write. Ask them to come to a coffee shop with you while you both work, or suggest a trip to the library.
Buy their books: If your friend is a published author, buy their books. If they offer a free copy, don’t feel like you must decline, but buy a copy for a friend or family member. If they’re not published yet, consider buying them books for gifts and holidays.
Give honest and constructive feedback: If a writer shares their work with you, it’s polite to give them some feedback. Sometimes you’ll like what you’ve read and sometimes you won’t.[1]

After pursuing publication for nearly a decade, I am forever thankful for the cheerleaders who’ve come alongside me to keep me encouraged on my journey.

Just like I am grateful for all of the therapists and doctors who continue to help me while I live with a life-changing disability. If it weren’t for either of them, I wouldn’t have made it this far in my life, nor would I have the motivation to keep doing life.

Just Do It!

“Just do it,” are three little words that have changed lives for decades. But it isn’t that easy for everyone, especially for persons with disabilities.

Common psychological side effects include shock, denial, anger/depression, adjustment/acceptance. Add to these everyday struggles of life and it is a toxic combination.[2]

The writing life comes with its struggles and disappointments, all on the path to publication. Good writing is more than just a great story.

Platform
Message
Voice

Each is crucial for a writer as they are just getting started. This is why writers need a tribe of cheerleaders!

[1] Sarah Foil

[2] Disabled-World

Screenwriting

post-production

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date November 4, 2021

For almost 2 years now, the pandemic has shaken up Hollywood’s plans. Filming has been sporadic and movie release dates have either been delayed or canceled altogether in theaters. Studios plan and tease new movie releases to maximize on their investments into screenplays. Studios have always used movie trailers to promote films. However, Disney, Marvel, and Fox Studios have created a science to movie promotion. They have learned to maximize the returns on their investments through movie promotion.

Build buzz.
Stir curiosity.
Lay groundwork for an upcoming release.

The ultimate goal of a trailer is to increase a movie’s success. Just because a movie’s trailer has been released doesn’t mean the movie is finished shooting. A studio may release a trailer to get early feedback from film goers before the movie has wrapped shooting.

It is possible that a studio may release images from the set to help stir interest in the upcoming movie. This most often happens when a movie is in post-production. There are no shortcuts in movie making. As I write this post an investigation is underway into a tragic shooting on the set of a new Western movie entitle Rust. Reports claim that producers tried to cut corners possibly to save time in the film’s post-production.

Post-production!

Post-production is the stage many in film making look forward to, this is actually the longest part of making a movie. It takes time to get the raw footage polished, edited and special effects added before the final product is released. Below is a list of what happens in post-production.

Edit: This is when the raw footage is transferred to an editing system (i.e. Avid or Final Cut Pro). An editor begins digitally cutting the movie guided by the vision and direction of the director.
Sound Edit:Audio tracks of the film are edited to remove unwanted sounds and sound effects are created (i.e. explosions, crashes, gunfire).
Music: This is where original scores (music) highlighting the mood of a scene is added. If a director wants to license songs for the soundtrack, a music supervisor secures the recording and publishing rights.
Visual Effects: Artists and engineers design and add special effects to the film. This is done through computer-generated visuals which can be costly and time-consuming.
Sound Mix: After all audio tracks are finished, sound mixers adjust audio levels to ensure music or sound effects don’t drown out actors’ dialogue. This also ensures that the audience can keep up with what is happening in the story.
Color Correction: After the picture is locked (no more edits or changes), a colorist goes through every scene and digitally adjusts and refines the hues and light to create continuity and strike a mood.
Graphics: Title, credits, and other graphics (such as date stamp) are created and added.
Trailer: Another editing team takes over to cut the movie’s trailer, this 2 ½ minute preview is meant to entice a paying audience to go see the movie when it comes out in theaters.

The post-production stage is a crucial way to ensure a screenplay has been followed to create the best possible story. And to ensure that the film is polished and professional before it is presented at a movie’s premiere.

Big Day!

By the time a screenplay makes it to the big screen, it has likely been years since it was originally written. Screenplays can change a lot before a movie is presented to the public. Remember, after the sale, studios own the concept and can do whatever they choose.

Post-production is the next to last step to make a story come alive. Sometimes movies have a bad final product because this process was rushed. When Marvel released a teaser for its film Black Widow, fans didn’t like the mask of the character, Taskmaster, which led to Marvel changing the look of the character before the film’s release. Below are a few movies whose final product wasn’t the best visually regardless of the found success.

Although some of these have become cult classics years later, some of them are better known for their lackluster editing or special effects. No one really knows if a movie will be a hit or a dud, but we do know the importance of its post-production!

Tags movie production, movie trailer, Movies, post-production, production, screenwriting

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

purpose driven writing

Recently, I received another rejection letter from an agent and to be honest, rejection never gets easier. But, disappoints are part of life. Living with a disability has taught me a disabled life is still a life. There are currently nearly 5 million lives that have been lost to Covid-19 in just a year and a half. My disability has taught me a few hard lessons.

It is okay to have disappointments and setbacks.
Don’t let these keep you from living.
Grow and learn from disappointments and setbacks, so you can be wiser and stronger.

I have spent over half of my life learning to adjust to my new normal every day. My new normal has made me the person I am. For some, it may be hard to accept, but I have learned the art of giving up to get better. I have learned there are times to fight and there are times you just let go; either way, life will go on. We just have to find our purpose in it.

Purpose Driven Writing?

Most people search for purpose in life, we want to leave a legacy—our mark on the world. Purpose gives us a goal, it helps keep us motivated in life.

Over the years I have done a lot of soul-searching and purpose seeking. I am quickly approaching the 25-year mark since my accident. From the beginning, I knew that I was fortunate enough to be alive and able to have the physical abilities I have. But, if I’m honest deep down inside I still question why.

Not understanding and knowing one’s purpose can lead a disabled person straight into depression. Motivation and purpose are critical to people with a disability living a satisfying life. One study shows that adults with learning disabilities are 46% more likely to attempt suicide.[1]

The sad truth is we feel that we are just stumbling through days pointlessly. Purpose is vital to living for all of us. The writing life can seem just as meaningless if we don’t know what we are writing for. Writers need to understand why they write to help keep them motivated to write. Below are a four tips to help you find purpose in your writing:

Identify your main reason for writing.
Know your target audience.
Identify your sources of writing inspiration.
What message do you want your readers to take from your writing?

I can’t help but think some of you may be asking what about financial gains? Since very few writers can earn a living from solely writing full time, financial gain isn’t a top motivating factor. Most of us right for the sake of writing, and I don’t mean the physical activity but a specific purpose behind it—to create. I’d hope that my writing is less about what I can get from it, but more about what I can give. As our writing motto goes, “Always think reader first.”

Sometimes living with a disability feels like I am helpless and tend to focus on what will help me, but deep in my soul, I hope to help others and hope I can fulfill that purpose. Helping others to press on through the struggle, depression, and pain of their disability. When we know our life has a purpose, it gives life more meaning. We know what we have to offer to the world.

For Others?

The purpose of writing is communication and if what we write is not read, that purpose is not fulfilled.”
Dean Koontz

I cannot help but think of Christian author and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic in 1967 after a tragic diving accident. Although Joni is paralyzed from the waist down she has spent over 50 years helping other persons with disabilities. She has not let her disabilities keep her from giving back. She doesn’t use her disabilities as an excuse to keep her from staying motivated or keep others motivated. Likewise, I try to encourage others with disabilities to not use their inability as an excuse, but instead, let it become the motivation to make progress. Living with a disability shouldn’t take away our purpose in life, but actually, give us more of a reason to live.

We all have a different motivation for writing, or else we wouldn’t keep going or be able to take another rejection. The above mentioned rejection letter is my second in as many years. As much as I know I need an agent in this industry, I also know I am not writing for an agent, I have a different audience in mind and motivation to keep writing for them.

Nearly ten years of seeking publication have taught me that writing is a passion. And we each have a unique purpose is for that passion: entertaining, inspiring, or enlightening others–neither of which focuses on ourselves, we are thinking reader first.

Regardless of how long you’ve been writing or seeking publication, take the time to do some soul-searching to understand why you write–this is the heart of purpose-driven writing.

[1] https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20170629/attempted-suicide-rates-much-higher-in-adults-with-learning-disabilities

Screenwriting

Filmmaking: The Production Phase

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date October 4, 2021
No Comments on Filmmaking: The Production Phase

When the pandemic hit, Hollywood went through a tough time since movie productions had to be shut down to ensure the safety of the casts and crews. The pandemic is one example of possible setbacks in movie productions. By now most of us have seen the infamous footage of Tom Cruise’s reprimanding of the crew during filming Mission Impossible 7.

There is more to the production phase of filmmaking than screenwriters realize. This stage is more than just setting up a camera and filming.

There may be more crew members needed to be hired to fulfill specific production needs.
More than likely there will be a script supervisor needed to ensure the continuity of the film.

The supervisor also helps to minimize unnecessary errors in the filming process or filming unnecessary scenes. The production’s ultimate goal is to bring the fictional world of a screenplay to life, but productions have a lot going on offscreen that makes the production phase possible.

Production Phase!

Production is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. It’s time for the cameras start shooting action. The most important thing in this phase is to remain on schedule. Following the production schedule helps keep the film within its budget, and staying within budget increases the likelihood the film will make a profit.

Keep in mind that during production other things are going on, such as the cast and crew being housed and fed. To keep those expenses on budget, the schedule must be followed to a T.

It is also important for the film to follow the script so that there won’t be any excess shooting time or inconsistencies in the story. Think of a highway through the mountains that gets blocked by an avalanche. The detours cost money and take time to get around. It’s the script supervisor’s job to make sure the story is consistent with the screenplay. All of these factors work together to help avoid a nightmare production schedule and a movie with glaring inconsistencies.

Occasionally, (briefly) going off-script improves a movie, as in these examples:

1. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – Originally, Indiana I was supposed to have a whip versus a sword fight.

2. Good Will Hunting – The brilliant Robin Williams improvised the story about his wife’s sweet imperfections.

3. The Shining – Jack Nicholson added the “Here’s Johnny” comment on the spot.

More often, going off-script costs money and produces a bad film like the others here:

4. Waterworld – The movie’s production went so far over budget it almost doubled its $100 million budget.

5. Titanic – Leonhard Carpio needed a stunt hand draw a sketch on film. Unfortunately, Leonardo is right-handed, but the hand doing the sketching in the movie was left-handed, so they had to do a mirror image during post-production to give the film continuity.

As you can see by these examples, movie studios have a high risk of their investments into screenplays. Editing can fix some issues, but editing is time-consuming and it doesn’t guarantee to fix every problem.

The obvious and most cost-effective course of action is to streamline and focus on the production phase before shooting comes to a wrap.

That’s a Wrap!

Production isn’t the end of the story for the film. After a movie has been filmed, studios want to be sure they are getting what they paid for. That is why there is more work to be done in the postproduction phase.

Tags movie production, screenplay, screenwriting

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Do You Know Your Circles?

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date September 29, 2021
No Comments on Do You Know Your Circles?

Most of us know the idea of a hermit writer is a myth. Writing isn’t a solo effort. At some point in time writers will need help with their writing.

I actually hired a fellow writing acquaintance to edit my book. Then, for the book proposal, I had a couple of writing friends look over it before I submitted it to an agent. They joked that I was getting two for the price of one. God knows I need all the help I can get on this journey.

Both writers and brain injury survivors have built-in support groups we frequently tap into, these are circles of influence.

People we can help.
Others who can help us.

Circles?

The reach of our platform is a byproduct of our circles of influence and circles of concern. Stephen Covey notes that successful people focus more on their circles of influence: what they can do and who they can influence.

This is helpful for both writers and brain injury survivors alike. When I first had my brain injury I was desperate to get back the abilities I once had. But, due to my brain injury that was impossible, so I decided to focus on learning new skills, listening to others and doing what I could do.

Focusing on my lack of abilities or the past, wouldn’t be productive for me and often left me pretty depressed. It didn’t take long for me to give up on doing what I used to.

As a writer, I know I can only do so much and try to write to the best of my abilities, when I need help or feedback, I am quick to ask for help from others who are more qualified than I am. Other writers often share the same circles of concern as we do and are willing to help out where they can.

This is why so many writers are willing to contribute to this website. Almost an Author is about writers helping other writers to be successful. Stephen Covey gives seven effective habits of successful people

1. Be proactive: Focus on what you can control and influence, and instead of what you can’t.

2. Begin with the end in mind: define clear measures of success and a plan to achieve them.

3. Put first things first: Prioritize and achieve the most important goals.

4. Think win-win: Collaborate more effectively by building high trust-relationships.

5. Seek to understand, then be understood: Influence others by developing a deep understanding of their needs and perspectives.

6. Synergize: Develop innovative solutions that leverage diversity and satisfy all key stakeholders.

7. Sharpen the saw: Develop innovative solutions that leverage diversity and satisfy all key stakeholders.¹

As I have stated before, living with a disability can be pretty depressing at times. This is why I have to force myself not to focus on the “I cants” and let what I can do motivate me to press on.

The brain injury community is a solid support group because we know sometimes support can be the difference between life and death for a brain injury survivor. This is what our circles are there for.

Be there!

Sometimes what seems like the smallest gesture can mean the world to someone in need, whether it’s due to a disability or someone struggling in the writing community. I doubt I would still be pursuing a writing career if you weren’t for others who helped me through their circles of influence. This is more than just a writing truth. It’s a life lessons for us all.

Help those who are in need.
It’s okay to ask for help if you need it.

As I look back over the 24 years since my accident I am grateful for all the doctors, therapists, and friends who have helped me on my journey to recovery. I am also grateful to all of my writing acquaintances who have been patient with me over the years. I hope I am able to give back to others as well.

Life tends to work in circles.

¹ https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/

Screenwriting

The importance of Pre-Production

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date September 4, 2021
No Comments on The importance of Pre-Production

While many have romanticized ideas about life as a screenwriter, the hard truth is writing a screenplay is just a small portion of the first step in moviemaking. Writers assume that once their script is sold, a studio immediately began to bring it to life. Nothing can be further from the truth. When studios buy your script, they are actually acquiring the concept of the story, with intentions of making it into what they want. Meaning one of two things.

The script is shelved for a time (possibly for years.)
The script is greenlighted for production.

Either way, your screenplay doesn’t go straight into production. Once the project is greenlit, there is still a lot of work to do before your story begins to come alive. Scripts that are bought aren’t necessarily what is made into a movie. Your script may be similar to a concept a studio wants, but the script will go through several rewrites as part of the pre-production process.

Pre-production?

Pre-production formally starts once a project is greenlit. It is meant to finalize the preparations before a film goes into production. Its purpose is to ensure a studio’s max return on their investment into your script.

All films go through pre-production. Studios know the type of film they want and use pre-production to get your script to meet their need. Purchased scripts aren’t necessarily what is produced. The nasty truth is that after you sell your script, it is no longer yours and studios can do whatever they want.

This means your script will be rewritten by either in-house writers, contracted writers, and possibly you. The purpose is to ensure the studio gets what it wants, they are investing their money and time into it after all. When a script is in pre-production, settings, characters, and timeline can all be tweaked to get the studio what it wants before production starts. Below is a breakdown of what happens in pre-production:

1. Lock the shooting script.

2. Finalize the budget.

3. Form a new company. (not always applicable)

4. Hire key department heads.

5. Break down the script.

6. Storyboard and shot list the scenes.

7. Scout and secure locations.

8. Cast actors and hire crew.

9. Get permits and insurance.

10. Schedule shoot days.

11. Perform a tech scout.

12. Arrange for equipment rentals.¹

Ultimately pre-production helps to ensure the best possible production schedule, including cost. Remember, this is a business and studios want to minimize the losses in production bad wraps. Making a movie isn’t easy and many things can go wrong.

Off Script!

When studios carelessly produce a movie, it shows on the screen and in the bank. Hollywood is full of stories about nightmare productions. Movies that not only didn’t earn a return on their investment, but the production may also have cost them money. The following are a few examples:

Studios have learned to take their time and minimize the risk of losing their investment. Therefore, they utilize the necessary step of pre-production.

¹ https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-preproduction-in-film#quiz-0

Tags Movies, screenplay, screenwriting

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Building Your Platform

One of the biggest fears of mine and a lot of people with disabilities is that our voices no longer matter in society, almost like we have become irrelevant to the world. This goes beyond depression and inabilities. Sometimes disabled persons struggle to find their purpose within the larger community.

Recently, I discussed with a fellow writer with health issues about how our struggles can either silence us or make us stronger. The truth is, disabilities can give us another perspective on life—one that matters now more than ever! Our lives are forever changed, I like to think we haven’t lost anything but, gained more insight into life.

Perspective.
Empathy, not sympathy.
More to say.
A new audience/community.

When I had my accident I became part of a new community, the brain injury community. Each year an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a TBI.¹ One in four Americans lives with a disability, 61 million adults in America who want to believe they still matter.² Each year I add more friends within the brain injury community.

My circle of influence has grown thanks to my disability, it hasn’t become less important —quite the opposite. This serves two purposes. It allows me to learn from others and allows me to share with others what I have learned. In the writing world, we could call this my platform.

Platform!

Over the years the definition of platform has changed. In the beginning, it was all about the social media numbers, but social media can be manipulated. Nowadays it encompasses who you are, who you know, and who cares about what you have to say.

Your platform is your visibility as an author and/or speaker. It can be used to sell your products, book speaking jobs, and share what you have to say.

Altogether, these factors work together to get your message out. It’s easy to understand the importance of having a platform as a writer or speaker, disabled or not. The following are a few building blocks to help writers build their platform:

1. A website and/or blog with a large readership.

2. An e-newsletter and/or mailing list with a large number of subscribers/recipients.

3. Article/column writing (or correspondent involvement) for the media—preferably for larger outlets and outlets within the writer’s specialty.

4. Guest contributions to successful websites, blogs, and periodicals.

5. A track record of strong past book sales.

6. Individuals of influence that you know—personal contacts (organizational, media, celebrity, relatives) who can help you market at no cost to yourself, whether through blurbs, promotion, or other means.

7. Public speaking appearances—the bigger, the better.

8. An impressive social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, and the like).

9. Membership in organizations that support the successes of their own.

10. Recurring media appearances and interviews—in print, on the radio, on TV, or online.³

Having a brain injury not only gives me more to say in a different way, but it also gives me a new audience to share it with: people who understand me. All writers write to communicate with others. It is human nature to connect with others, even with those we do not know. Each of us has a message or story to share.

Your Story!

When I first began writing, one of my writing mentors always asked a question, “What’s your story?” Author Jerry B Jenkins teaches writers how to share their stories with their voices. Regardless of who you are, as a writer, you have a story and a voice.

It always reminds me of the saying in the brain injury community, “Every brain injury is different.” Although each is different, each has a specific purpose and audience. Each writer writes for a different reason and purpose, such as:

Inform.
Persuade.
Goodwill.

Regardless of why we write or who we are trying to connect with, we can each do it through our platform.

¹ https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/pubs/tbi_report_to_congress.html

² https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html

³ https://www.writersdigest.com/improve-my-writing/building-a-writers-platform

Tags Author Platforms, platform, Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Screenwriting

The Importance of Production Teams

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date August 4, 2021
No Comments on The Importance of Production Teams

We all have them, big dreams of writing a blockbuster screenplay and selling it for big bucks and one day seeing our names roll across the screen in the credits. As I’ve stated before, most writers fail to realize that writing a screenplay is just one small step in the process of making a movie, in our minds we have oversimplified the process into a quick three-step procedure:

Write a screenplay.
Make a big sale.
Film the movie.

Filmmaking is nowhere near that easy and you aren’t the only player in the process. Getting a sale isn’t even the hardest step of the process. Even after a script is sold it doesn’t guarantee the movie getting made, unless it is written on assignment.

If you’re breaking into the business with an original screenplay (a.k.a. spec script) studios may never acquire the funding to get the movie into production. If it does make it to the first phase, a production team will need to be hired and put together to get things started.

Production Teams!

In a movie production, each person has a specific job to do and works closely together with members of their team: writers, editors, actors, set crew. The movie set crew plays a large part in making movies. They are the hands and feet of moviemaking. The complexity of a movie can be seen in the size of its production team. For this article, I want to share the numbers of some of the bigger crews in filmmaking.

1. Iron Man #3 – 3,310 crew members.

2. Avatar – 2,984 crew members.

3. Marvel’s The Avengers – 2,718 crew members.

4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 2,709 crew members.

5. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – 2,622 Crew Members.¹

Each team plays a small part in bringing your story to life. Moviemaking is an art that requires a specific creative process.

The Process!

Just like writers have a unique writing process, studios have a filming process to produce the best possible return on their investment in your script. Hollywood has developed a tried-and-true process for the art of moviemaking:

Development- This is where the project is birthed. It is the creation, writing, organizing, and planning stage of a project. In development, a preliminary budget is made, the key cast are attached, key creatives are chosen, main locations scouted and multiple script drafts may be written. It’s all the groundwork to show what the project will be and how much it will cost to make. It starts the moment a Producer thinks of a project or a Writer starts penning words on a page.

Preproduction– Pre-production (or ‘pre’ as it’s called) is where scripts are amended, budgets are adjusted, actors are cast, locations scouted, the crew employed, shooting schedules amended, sets designed and built, costumes made and fitted, and everything to do with the shoot is planned and tested. The pre-production stage can last many months from the initial greenlighting of a project to when cameras actually roll. As this date draws closer, the crew grows with many people being employed about two to eight weeks before the shoot starts.

Filming (Production)- The production stage is where the rubber hits the road. The Writer, Director, Producer, and countless other creative minds finally see their ideas captured on film, one day at a time. Production is usually the shortest of the five phases, even though it is paramount to the film and where most of the budget is allotted. Production is the busiest time, with the crew swelling to hundreds and the days becoming longer in order to be as efficient as possible with all the gear and locations on hire.

Postproduction– This is where the footage is edited, the sound is mixed, visual effects are added, a soundtrack is composed, titles are created, and the project is completed and prepared for distribution. Although the shooting crew has done a lot of hard work, now the post-production crew face arduous hours of work ahead of them to piece together the scenes and craft a stunning story.

Distribution– Without a stringent and robust distribution strategy, the other four stages of production are fruitless, at least from a business perspective. Distribution is the final stage in a project for producers looking to make a return-on-investment. This can be from cinema distribution, selling to a TV network or streaming service, or releasing direct to DVD.²

As this post shows, filmmaking is much more than just writing a screenplay, as you can see each specific phase requires a different part of the production team.

¹ https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-people-work-on-a-hollywood-film/

² https://indiefilmhustle.com/5-stages-indie-film-production/

Tags movie, production teams, screenwriting

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Find Your Unique Voice

One of the things I look forward to about attending a writer’s conference is meeting new writers and hearing about what they write, their passions, and their hearts. It’s fun meeting writers from different parts of the country and even the world!

This year as I talked to another writer with a disability, I remembered my days in rehabilitation. I was fortunate enough to be at one of the best rehabilitation hospitals in the Southeast and people came from all over the region to get help. It was here that I first heard the saying that each brain injury is different because each person is different. There are no cookie-cutter recoveries. Perhaps you’ve experienced this within the writing community.

We each sound different.
Have different experiences.
Develop unique perspectives.
Write different types of writing.

During those months of recovery, I learned to listen to others’ stories and journeys. I learned it’s okay to make mistakes and not have all the answers. It’s a lot like a writer’s journey, it will be different for each of us. Regardless of the path we are on, it is sure to give us a unique voice.

Your Voice!

A writer’s “voice” is an important tool in their toolbox. A unique writing voice is a sign of good writing. It is one of the distinctions that set writers apart from one another. It helps a writer stand out from the crowd. Take the time to learn and polish your voice. Below are a few tips to help you find yours:

1. Determine your point of view. Before embarking on a new creative writing project, ask yourself: Why am I writing fiction or (nonfiction) in the first place? People pursue the craft of writing for different reasons, and understanding your intentions will help you develop a strong voice and your style.

2. Pick a consistent voice for your narrators. While plenty of famous fiction writers toggle between first-person and third-person narrative voice, you can help establish your writing voice by picking one style and sticking to it.

3. Think about sentence structure and word choice. Adopting specific policies about word choice and sentence structure will further establish your voice as an author.

4. Find a balance between description and dialogue. Some authors layer their novels with long passages of description—they describe actions and emotional responses through the narrator’s voice and use dialogue to reinforce the narration. By contrast, other authors let dialogue drive their narrative and only interject narration when dialogue simply will not suffice. Picking one of these styles and committing to it is yet another way to establish a specific and unique voice.

5. Right all the time. Finding your voice takes time. Experiment with different voices and writing styles.”¹

In college I majored in English. My instructor’s number one pet peeve was writing that didn’t stand out. She encouraged us to find what we’re passionate about, and to write about it in our unique way.

I can still remember struggling to find focus in my writing and praying for inspiration and clarity in my craft. I wanted to be able to make a change with my writing. But I felt like my voice was lost amongst the other aspiring writers.

Then, I had an accident and lost part of my brain. Along with it I lost my unique way of talking. For the first month after my accident, I spoke in a monotone like Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump. The craziest part is, I didn’t even know it.

Know it!

The only way I could learn how to talk with my normal voice was to spend hours listening to the greeting I recorded on my old answering machine. The more I listened, the more I heard the differences in tone my voice made with certain vowels and consonants.

I had to remember how to change the volume of my voice with different emotions and feelings. Nowadays, I hate listening to it when it’s recorded, especially on my YouTube videos. But, I understand the value of having a unique voice in life. Once others know it, it gets harder for them to forget it. Our unique voice gives us instant recognition into our: personality, character, and culture.

Below are a few tricks to help your writer’s voice be unique and distinguishable:

 Listen – This means reading what we’ve written out loud.

 Remember – Re-reading things we’ve already written.

 Repeat – Copying the pattern and style of previous work.

In the rehabilitation process, patients do a lot of repetitive movements to create muscle memory and help retrain muscles and the brain to function as close to normal as possible. The same principle can be beneficial for writers struggling to find their writing voice.

¹ https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-find-your-voice-in-writing#5-steps-to-find-your-writers-voice

Tags Finding Your Writer's Voice, Style, unique voice, Writer's Voice, Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Screenwriting

Teamwork

Recently, a local writer friend and I decided to do a script swap to read each other’s WIP. To be honest, I was a little afraid to let her look at my script and I believe the feeling was mutual since this was her first attempt at screenwriting. I’ve been there.

As writers, we are often protective of our work. Our projects represent our time, beliefs and we put all our heart into the work. Fear of rejection is part of human nature. We don’t want others to trifle with our art, dreams, or hearts.

But if we care about our stories, we need to be open to feedback from others. The temporary discomfort is worth it to help improve our stories and make them better. Be open to honest feedback about your writing

Negative feedback can be helpful in the long run.
Writing a story is a learning process.
Is easier for others to see the holes in our stories.

With that said, writers must know what screenwriting is and isn’t. We are writing a story only; we aren’t acting, directing, or producing the story. Those are other people’s jobs, we are just the writers and need to understand that screenwriting is a team effort.

Writers must learn to just tell the story and get out of the way for others to do their part in our storytelling because screenwriting is all about teamwork! Unfortunately, when writers attempt to write the first screenplay, they often cross the line. They attempt to tell other members of the team how to do their jobs by including directing and acting, and production cues into the narrative. Years ago I had to learn that screenwriting takes teamwork.

Teamwork!

The writer’s job is simply to write a cohesive, well flowing story and then get out of the way for the other team members to do their job. Screenwriting coach and producer David Trotter writes,

“Many writers who are new to the business believe that they must use fancy formatting techniques in order to get noticed by Asians and producers. Therefore they add arty editing directions, clever camera angles, truckloads of caps, and so on… Be judicious and keep your focus on the story and characters.”¹

When readers, studios, or producers read a screenplay full of camera angles, artsy transitions, and special effects cues, it makes it harder to read the screenplay. In the end, it takes away from the actual story the screenwriter is trying to tell.

But when you stick to the story and characters, it makes your screenplay easier to read the story easier to follow. When the writer sticks to telling just the story, it enables the director to understand how to direct the story, it allows the actors to use their acting skills to bring our characters to life. And in the end, it will help the producers keep the film within the budget. The key to great storytelling is to tell a great story and then get out of the way. To illustrate the point look at the Marvel Avengers franchise. Each of the movies was written by screenwriters, but directed, and produced by other professionals.

Although they received great fanfare for directing the Infinity Wars saga, the Russo brothers had nothing to do with writing the screenplays, they were only paid to direct the movies.

Avengers Infinity War

Avengers Endgame

Another example is my childhood favorite, the Star Wars Saga. Although he wrote and directed the very first film in the series, George Lucas had nothing else to do with writing or directing any of the other original films.

Disney now has all rights to the Star Wars franchise and can hire their stellar writers and actors to bring the characters George Lucas first created nearly a half-century ago to life. Lucas did his part, and now he has left the story to others in the business who can create new adventures and put everything together for a whole new generation of fans.

Put It All Together!

Although screenwriters write stories, it isn’t our job to bring them to life. As hard as it is to let go, once our script is sold or optioned, our babies have left the nest, and it’s up to other professionals to put it all together for us.

Studios
Producers
Directors
Actors
Production crew

Hopefully, now, it is easier to see how show business takes teamwork!

¹ Trotter, David. Screenwriter’s Bible. 7^th edition, Silman-James Press, 2019, Pg. 134.

Tags director, Movies, screenwriting, storytelling, teamwork

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

What You Have to Offer

Last month I attended an annual writers conference to learn more about the craft and pitch my nonfiction books. Writing conferences are more than just networking opportunities.

We can learn more about the craft.
We can learn more about the business of writing.
We get to meet professionals within the business.

Personally, this year allowed me to meet with others within the brain injury and disability communities. It seemed like every day I met someone new who was connected to the disabled community; whether it was survivors, therapists, or family members, it seemed like there was an opportunity to share my story everywhere I turned.

One day I had planned on pitching my book to an agent during mealtime. Since she was so into my book’s message, I decided to drop the bomb about my brain injury. To my surprise, she shared she had a family member who suffered a brain injury while serving in the military. Needless to say, she was interested in working with me because she knows what I have to offer.

What You Have To Offer!

I have lived with a brain injury now for almost 25 years and have worked within the disability community to help others. At the conference, it became clearer that I have a lot to offer others through my experience.

One of the basic teachings of writing is always think reader first. The principle is simple: since we each have something we want to share with others: a message, purpose, something to offer others. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, there’s something deep inside you want to share with others.

Your experiences shape your unique message, focus, and even your voice. Everything I have gone through and experienced since my accident 24 years ago has uniquely shaped my personality and passions. In this sense, it is given me more to offer others.

The same dynamics work in the writing community. Each of our personal experiences, beliefs, and even struggles give us a unique perspective. We each have invaluable information that no one else can offer.

Whenever I work with other disabled persons, I get to share my experiences while also learning from their’s. This is why networking is an invaluable opportunity for writers. It gives us a chance to learn from established writers and gives us an opportunity to establish ourselves. Below are more benefits of networking.

1. Strengthen business connections.

2. Get fresh ideas.

3. Raise your profile

4. Advance your career

5. Get access to job opportunities

6. Gain more knowledge

7. Get career advice and support

8. Build confidence

9. Gain a different perspective

10. Develop long-lasting personal relationships

11. Get an answer to every question

12. Find a job you love¹

As we can see, the need for connecting with each other serves many purposes. Before leaving for the conference, I was contacted by an online brain health community about possibly teaching a class or sharing information on living with a brain injury.

I may not be a trained expert, but I have over 24 years of experience living with a brain injury. Undoubtedly, I have a lot to offer others within the brain injury community, I’m eager and happy to share with others.

A community is at its strongest when we each are willing to share our experiences. Earlier this year I began to update and expand my YouTube channel to cover my four branding streams (brain health, the writing community, men’s ministry, and faith.) My goal was simply to use this medium to share each aspect of what I have to offer. Each month I learned something new about my passions and myself.

Be Yourself!

The best way to know what you have to offer is to think about your experiences, passions, and struggles. Each area is a particular facet that makes you unique.

One of my favorite writing quotes is, “Be the best you instead of the second-best version of someone else!” Living with a disability has made me keenly aware that I am not perfect, but I am the perfect me.

I may not have the education, experiences, resources or platform as other writers, but I still have a lot to offer others. Unique perspective.

Hope in trials.
Encouragement for the struggle.
A listening ear in the struggle.

I want to leave you with a reminder that our imperfections are what make us who we are. Take the time to think about your life, mistakes and all—it won’t take long to see what you have to offer.

¹ https://www.michaelpage.com.au/advice/career-advice/career-progression/benefits-networking

Tags disability, networking, unique

Screenwriting

Show Business

After I submitted my last screenwriting post, I received feedback for my latest WIP. Although it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, it did provide some key feedback I needed to improve my screenplay.

Feedback is crucial to writing the best possible story. That’s why I am more than willing to pay for others in the business for their thoughts on my writing. A lot of new writers don’t want to share their work for fear of rejection. However, critical feedback is part of the business of screenwriting and it serves a few purposes:

Helps us grow as writers.
Helps improve our screenplays.
Helps us better understand the business.

As much as we writers like to romanticize screenwriting as an art, we need to understand it is a real big-time business and sometimes a brutal one! As the great Irving Berlin once wrote, “There’s no business like show business!”

Show Business!

Since most of us enjoy our art, we assume we will enjoy show business, but unless you’re a business-minded person, your passion for the art may be snuffed out by the business of being a screenwriter. Although I am new to the industry, I can vouch that the idea of screenwriting has been heavily romanticized.

The belief that you just need a great idea of a story to make it in the business is garbage—ideas are a dime a dozen. There is a lot more to screenwriting than just a great story. That is why there have been so many movies made about show business, there is plenty of drama!

Hollywood is so much of a business, screenwriter and teacher Scott Myers writes a weekly series just on the business of Hollywood. ¹ Aside from actually writing, learning the craft and making the right connections are two of the most important parts of the business of screenwriting.

As most of us writers know, the concept of the lone nomad writer is another romanticized myth in the business. Writing is a team effort. And just like learning to dance, we must pick our partner carefully!

Pick Your Team!

As this post goes live I am returning from a writer’s conference where I studied the craft, networked, and pursued representation for my nonfiction writing. Regardless of which area you write, writing is a team effort. So be sure to put your team together carefully.

Manager (coach and industry guide)
Agent
Entertainment Attorney
Studio
Distribution team

Each of these are a part of your screenwriting journey. These are just a few of the key players you need when working in show business!

¹ https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-business-of-screenwriting-111b5d087f7d

Tags feedback, hard work as a writer, screenwriting, teamwork, writing team

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Choose Wisely

After my accident, I was in a hurry to get back to my life. I didn’t care about what had happened to me and I didn’t always listen to the doctors and other professionals who were trying to help me. My neuropsychologist had warned me about brain injury survivors having a “Short fuse,” but I didn’t understand how it applied to me. Because of this tendency, I made a lot of poor choices in those early days after my accident.

I didn’t listen to others.
I didn’t rest enough.
I didn’t do the work needed to recover.

Determination and grit can get us so far, but if we’re not careful, they can keep us from our goals in life. In the end, my determination did more harm than good.

The writing life has a similar balance: our drive and determination can motivate us or detour us. In this digital age, writers have a lot of choices to make about their careers. There are training processes, writing processes, the publication path, and ultimately time management. The latter is one I struggle with at times, but my recovery process has trained me to choose wisely.

Choose Wisely!

If you’re just starting, perhaps you have not yet realized that the writing life is a steady stream of choices: fiction or nonfiction, plotter or pantser, word choice, angle, who is my target audience, self-publish or traditional?

The answers to these questions will help grow your writing career. Writing is as much a job as it is an art. Successful writers do the work to get where they are and have chosen wisely.

A few years ago one of my professional writer friends in the South published a list of hard choices writers must make:

1. Trading TV time for writing time. You’ll need those hours to put words on paper.

2. Committing to a lifetime of learning and staying current with the publishing industry. The industry is changing at a lightning speed, so either keep up or die.

3. Saying no to the good things, so you’ll have time to say yes to the best things. Writing is an isolated life a lot of the time.

4. A willingness to write through the junk to get to gems. Good writing is rewriting—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

5. The necessity of checking your ego at the door. There’s always someone more talented, successful, lucky, etc. Get over it and move on.

6. A willingness to trust other professionals—like your agent, your editor, and your critique partners.

7. An unwillingness to compromise what truly matters. And no this does NOT contradict #6.

8. Trading talking about writing for actually putting words on the page. Networking is important, but not as important as writing.

9. The commitment to keep going when the odds seem impossible. In this industry impossible odds is the new normal.¹

These choices are personal because we are each different. Some will be easier for others and vice versa. Actress Helen Mirren famously said, “You write your life story by the choices you make. You never know if they have been a mistake. Those moments of decision are so difficult.” Making different choices is part of being a professional.

Professionals?

Living with a disability has humbled me and painfully reminded me that I am not perfect. But I can do better and so can you. As we pursue our writing goals, we must understand we’re not perfect, but we must learn to be professional.

As you read this, I am preparing to leave for a four-day-long writers conference. The conference is about more than just having fun and catching up with old friends, it is a time for learning the craft, networking, and meeting industry professionals in hope of becoming a professional writer myself.

Being professional comes with even more choices we must make as writers. Often they require tremendous patience. Patience while we learn the craft, patience while we craft our stories, and patience while we put together our professional team of:

Mentors
Editors
Agents
Publisher

Regardless of where you are in your career, you’ve already made important choices. Think about them. Remember, as a writer you must take your time, do your research, and choose wisely!

¹ https://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2018/12/hard-choices-all-writers-must-make.html?m=1

Tags advice for writers, grit, making wise choices

Screenwriting

Know the Rules

In my latest screenplay, I decided to take a risk and break the rules. I wanted to give my protagonist’s back story after the inciting incident. The problem was, I needed to show almost 30 years of exposition to explain how my protagonist got to the inciting incident.

My go-to answer was a dream sequence. But this led to another problem, dream sequences usually occur later in a story. I know the rule but decided to break it. The best writers are willing to take a chance to make their stories unique.

New York Times best-selling author Jerry Jenkins advises, “Yes, you can break rules— unless you do it because you’re not thinking. If you’re breaking a rule, do it on purpose.”¹ After all, writers are creatives, and nothing kills creativity like rules. That was never the purpose of the writing rules. So-called writing rules serve a few purposes that benefit both the writer and audiences.

Help the writer look professional and not amateurish.
Help a writer direct the narrative of the writing.
Help the audience understand the theme and purpose of our writing.
Help industry insiders know what kind of writer you are.

There are times to be rebellious and break the rules, but first writers must know and understand hence said “rules.”

Know the Rules?

Screenwriting coach Scott Myers advises, “There are conventions, there are expectations, there are patterns. But the simple fact is… There are no screenwriting rules!”² I like to think of rules as guidelines, a template for my story to be built in.

Rules can be rather confining and formative, whereas guides help us plan out our stories. It goes back to the classic story versus structure debate. Structure should help a story, not hinder it.

As a creative, I prefer to let my story unfold naturally without worrying about specific features and functions. At the same time, I am aware of and acknowledge specific writing conventions. Below is a list of things to keep in mind when you are writing out your screenplay masterpiece:

Keep title pages simple.
Only use FADE IN and FADE OUT at the beginning and end of your script.
Slug Lines — a.k.a. location headings — should only have three pieces of information.
Little to no camera directions.
Dialogue never follows the Slug Line.
All new notable character names need to be in CAPS the first time they appear.
Scene description is not for background.
Dialogue is not for exposition.
CUT TO transitions are useless in a screenplay.
It’s not your job to dictate where actors should improvise.³

There are times when breaking the rules pays off, but not often. They are the exceptions to the rules, not to the industry standards.

Hollywood Has Its Own Standards!

Keep in mind screenwriting isn’t just an art, it’s a business and business is all about making money. Hollywood does not like taking chances. Especially for unestablished writers, the loss of investment goes up. This is part of the reason it’s so hard to break into the business of screenwriting.

The classic 90s hit “Jerry McGuire” hit the nail on the head with its catchphrase, “Show me the money!” Learning the rules of screenwriting can be profitable for everyone, even if you choose not to utilize them. Below are a few examples of films that broke the rules and were still successful:

No one wants to write a box office bomb. Not only are they financial losses, they cause collateral damage to the studio, actors, and the writers who failed to know the rules.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

¹ Jenkins, J.B. (2006). Writing for the Soul, Writer’s Digest Books, pg. 187

² https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/so-called-screenwriting-rules-part-4-8851dd1943de

³ https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/8886-15-simple-screenplay-rules-you-need-to-know/

Tags screenwriting, writing rules

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

We All Fall

Twenty-four years ago, I experienced one of the most embarrassing moments of my life: I fell off the commode in the hospital.

When it happened, I had two choices: stay down or get up. After trying to get up on my own, I fell again. That moment is etched in my memory until I die. It is my motivation to keep pressing on.

I shouldn’t have been surprised I fell. It was only two weeks since I had part of my brain removed and only one week since I woke up from a coma. My body was weak, although my determination was on overload.

My doctors and therapists had already warned me about the difficulties and what I needed to work on, but I knew better and did things my way—the hard way. I still learned a lot during that time:

Keep learning.
Get stronger.
Stay motivated to not give up.

My reaction and history of rejection helped prepare me for disappointment. One of my early writing mentors Jerry B. Jenkins has a saying, “Writers need a thick skin.” Because the writing life can be full of disappointment and rejection. Writers must learn to take constructive criticism and not give up but get better—be prepared for the fall.

The Fall!

Nothing sucks the life out of a writer more than spending hours on the computer pouring their hearts out and creating their masterpiece, only to face rejection. It is human nature to fear rejection, failure, and falling.

The thought can trigger a fight or flight reaction that sends most writers into a panic. That’s when most writers make careless mistakes that will harm their careers. The fear of falling can sometimes do more harm than the actual fall.

By trying to avoid rejection and pain, writers can often miss opportunities to grow or achieve publication. When our dreams of overnight success are not fulfilled, our instincts kick in and many abandon their passions altogether.

The ones who make it are the ones who fall, face failure, and learn from the rejection. I enjoy hearing stories of successful writers who keep rejection letters to motivate them to keep going. Below are a few quotes I found to help writers deal with rejection:

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career, that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hide.
Harper Lee

Was I bitter? Absolutely. Hurt? You bet your sweet ass I was hurt. Who doesn’t feel a part of their heart break at rejection? You ask yourself every question you can think of, what, why, how come, and then your sadness turns to anger. That’s my favorite part. It drives me, feeds me, and makes one hell of a story.
Jennifer Salaiz

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.
Anita Diamant

Rejected pieces aren’t failures; unwritten pieces are.
Greg Daugherty

Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil –but there is no way around them.
Isaac Asimov

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success -but only if you persist.
Isaac Asimov

I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.
Sylvia Plath

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
Ray Bradbury

When I work with brain injury survivors or disabled persons, we often share our stories of recovery. We know it’s not a matter of if you will fall, but when you will fall—and what you do afterward. The choice is yours!

Make Your Choice!

We all have two options when we fall and you don’t have to have a perfect brain to know what they are—stay down our get up. Over the past 24 years, I have fallen more times than I care to admit, some publicly but most privately.

Sometimes I cry and sometimes I laugh, but in the end, I always get up and learn from my circumstances. It has shaped my perspective on life. Grieving what is lost keeps us from making the most of what we have.

This is true of the writing life, with each rejection or missed opportunity, writers can either wallow in self-pity or learn from the experience. Grow in the craft and carry on, or stay down.

I’ve seen disabled persons and writers throw in the towel and never reach their potential because they made the wrong choice. But the writers who succeed and achieve publication are the ones who tough it out and learn from their disappointments. I like to tell people a few things to keep in mind about disappointment:

Be willing to fight.
Be ready.
Be prepared.
Don’t be defeated.

Life is hard, it will knock you down, but we don’t have to stay down when we fall down.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Tags encouragement for writers, Learning from rejection, persistence, rejection letter, Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Screenwriting

Visual Storytelling

One of the best and most common pieces of writing advice screenwriters get is to always use visual storytelling. One of the easiest ways for me to illustrate my narrative’s theme is to look at it and express it visually.

What does my character’s world look like?
What time of year is my story set?
What is the culture like in my character’s world?
How does my character’s personality clash or reflect their surroundings?

Movies are an art form that can appeal to human sensory receptors. Our emphasis should always be on showing an entertaining story rather than telling one.

Ideally, all writers need to show more than tell; nothing bores an audience more than endless words and unnecessary exposition. This is why we need visual storytelling in our narratives.

Visual storytelling!

What has always drawn me to screenwriting is my tendency to visualize stories in my head. Even when I go to the movies or watch a movie at home, in the back of my head I am breaking down each scene into its literal components.

I find myself wondering how the writer imagined it originally. Because often what we see on the screen isn’t what the screenwriter originally wrote. It can be kind of fun trying to re-create scenes in our own heads because at its core screenwriting is simply visual storytelling.

Screenwriting coach and mentor Scott Myers advises aspiring screenwriters to read scripts of produced movies and then compare what is written to what they see in the movie. Not only is this free training in screenwriting, but it also shows aspiring writers how to visualize what is actually written on the page. The best writers master the art of visual storytelling. Below are a few benefits of the practice:

Writers get more bang for the buck. Visuals make more impact with fewer words.
Too much dialogue or exposition can slow a story down and bore the audience.
Visuals are more entertaining than dialogue. They allow for subtext and a deeper story.
Visual storytelling is easier to remember. 90% of the information our brain takes in is visual.

Visual storytelling allows writers to entertain the mind’s eye. Movies are all about stirring our audiences’ imagination and allow us to engulf our audience into our make-believe world.

A majority of moviegoers attend movies to escape from reality, perhaps this is why many of us long for a movie night during this extended pandemic. The best writers allow the audience to feel through what they see, hear and sense on screen.

Show Versus Tell!

Regardless of what you write, most writers know the golden rule of show versus tell. Exposition (telling) can make or break a story. When writers lack the creativity to show, they bog the audience down in dialogue and exposition.

Visual storytelling always enhances an audiences’ movie-going experience. How many times have you seen a beautifully shot movie and been transported into the make-believe world? Below are a few movies that always help me escape through stunning visuals:

The best writers are artists who use visuals to tell stories. Recently my favorite artist used visual storytelling to add depth to his latest song. If you watch the video, what you see will help you connect the dots—that is visual storytelling!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Tags Movies, screenplay, screenwriting, Show don't Tell, visual storytelling

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Patiently Persistent

I learned in physical therapy every brain injury is different, no one can predict how a T. B. I. will affect the body. In the middle of the struggles of physical therapy, I did learn valuable life lessons.

Be patient, recovery takes time.
Be persistent, you will fall, mistakes are part of the recovery/learning process.
Be grateful for what you what you can do.
Use your time wisely.

These principles apply to the writing life. Every writer’s journey is different, although the end goal is the same. Each writer is at a different place in life and will eventually get to where they need to be. Writers must learn to be patiently persistent!

Patiently Persistent?

On a recent episode of American Idol, Katy Perry shared with some unsuccessful contestants, “It will happen when it is meant to happen.” This perspective teaches us to be persistent towards our goals, but patient in the process.

Writers must understand there is a reason for the process, just like in recovery. No one starts where they want to be. This requires tremendous patience on our behalf or else we will make careless mistakes and possibly harm our careers. This means more than just waiting.

The dictionary defines patience as, “The ability to remain calm when dealing with a difficult or annoying situation, task, or person.” In those early days of my rehabilitation, each setback was a blow to my self-esteem and I almost gave up. Like my desire to get back to normal life, a writer’s desire for publication can cause us to become frantic and do stupid things.

Recently I learned an old coworker and friend suffered a stroke. I reached out to him on social media to encourage him. He assured me he was fine. But I noticed his sentences didn’t make sense and were full of typos, which was uncharacteristic of him. I talked to another coworker who shared that our friend wants so badly to get back to work, but he doesn’t realize that he is mumbling and his postings are incoherent.

I know how my friend feels because I experienced it in those early days. A brain injury makes people impulsive and short-tempered. Sometimes I struggle with my impulsive tendencies.

Only slowing down helps us have a better perspective of our abilities and where we’re headed. No matter how confident we are of our abilities, impatience can distort our reality. There are many other reasons why we need to be patient.

It gives us time to understand our abilities. As writers, we can evaluate our skills.
It keeps us from hurting ourselves. It keeps us from making careless mistakes in our writing career.
It keeps us from hurting others. It helps writers refrain from hurting others with their words.
It allows us to heal and to get stronger. It gives writers time to grow in the craft.
It gives us a better understanding of our circumstances. Writers can see where they need to improve their understanding of the business.

Patience can benefit us in our writing journeys and helps writers endure the process. There will be times of rejection and discouragement. A patient writer can endure those seasons of disappointment.

Rejection isn’t meant to stop us, but to help us grow in the craft and become better writers. Rejection helps authors understand the business side of writing. You and your writing are an investment of an agent, editor, and publisher’s time.

I have heard stories of successful writers who post rejection letters on the walls above their desks to inspire them to keep going. Successful writers also know how to be persistent.

Persistent?

When I was in rehab, I had to go through a series of evaluation exams to test if I was able to advance to the next stage of my recovery. If I didn’t pass the exam, I had to continue in physical therapy until I was ready to progress and eventually be released from the hospital.

Never have I been so discouraged as when I was unsuccessful at doing the most common daily tasks: buttoning and unbuttoning a shirt, tying shoes, walking a straight line without stumbling. That season taught me a lot about growing.

Failures and mistakes are part of the growth process. When they occur it isn’t the end of life, just a reason to keep going. Be patient and keep growing:

You will make mistakes.
Mistakes aren’t the end of your life, giving up is.
We all fall down at times, getting up makes us stronger.

My leg muscles literally got stronger each time I had to pick myself up off the floor. Every rejection letter a writer gets should motivate them to keep going in their writing journey—it’s making us patiently persistent.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Tags disability, patience, persistence

Screenwriting

Do You Know What You Mean?

Post author By Martin Johnson
Post date March 4, 2021
No Comments on Do You Know What You Mean?

Recently, I uploaded my latest screenplay to a screenwriting website for Hollywood producers and studios to view. I was excited to finally have a completed script on this popular screenwriting website.

What I failed to realize was the specifics of the process of getting a script uploaded. Not only were there numerous categories and subcategories and tags to choose to describe my latest WIP, but there are also some specific questions in regards to my script’s purpose.

Genre
Setting/locations
Theme

At first glance, one might think the first and last questions are the same, but they aren’t. Genre is more of a style of storytelling with its unique aspects. Theme is the ultimate message/beliefs/morals of the story expressed through specific genres.

The site has become popular for helping outsiders break into Hollywood circles, not just for getting completed works before the right people, but helping establish the screenwriter’s platform and area of focus in storytelling.

To some degree writers keep similar themes in all of their stories, because stories are simply a means for us writers to express our beliefs and ideologies in the form of the narrative’s theme—what we mean to say!

What You Mean?

The message of your screenplay is what you hope it means to your audience, so you need to understand your purpose for telling this particular story. Once you understand that, its theme will become clear to the audience.

A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a literary work. The plot of the story is how this theme is expressed. A writer’s theme often reveals the narrative, gives the characters a purpose and helps the audience stay tuned.

Keep in mind the theme has to be clear to more than just you. Make your theme evident to give your story more meaning. Most of us writers want to do more than simply entertain a theater of strangers. We want to use this art form to make an impact on society, to enlighten others. And even simply sway them to our ideology. The following list is reflective of common themes writers express in their narratives:

Beauty of simplicity
Change of power – necessity
Change versus tradition
Chaos and order
Character – destruction, building up
Circle of life
Coming of age
Communication – verbal and nonverbal
Darkness and light
Disillusionment and dreams¹

My personal goal as a writer is to inspire change in my audience. I enjoy seeing the spark in the eyes or the excitement when my readers catch on to my story’s theme. (My current screenplay’s theme is humility versus power.)

Each time I start the writing process, I try to determine what I want to say to my audience —what change I’m hoping to cause.

Say What!

Not that I am the best, but the best writers know what they want to say before they began writing. The plot usually develops later in the process, even for outliners like me. Sometimes even the characters reveal themselves by what they really want to say.

Thus, knowing your them or message/message beforehand can help you write a better story in the writing process. One of the beauties of screenwriting is we get to utilize multiple senses, so we have more ways to express our store’s theme. We can say what we want without having to spell it out for our audiences. Below are a few of my favorite movies with clear themes we can see.

What message burns inside of your heart and drives you to write? Our job as storytellers is more than just entertaining. We have an opportunity to make an impact on countless lives when we know what we mean.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

¹ https://lah.elearningontario.ca/CMS/public/exported_courses/EWC4U/exported/EWC4UU2/EWC4UU2A1/_teacher/A%20Huge%20List%20of%20Common%20Themes%20-%20Literary%20Devices.pdf

Tags clarity, message, Purpose, screenwriting, theme

Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Be Passionate

Recently, I decided to upgrade and focus on my YouTube channel. When I first started it in 2006, my goal was to edit scenes from movies to use in my blog or when I spoke to men’s groups.

And for over a decade I used the platform for what I was passionate about. To my surprise, I recently hit the 400 subscriber mark without adding any new content every year. With the changes in big tech and copyright laws, I need to adjust and refocus my YouTube channel martinthomasjohnson.

In their book Social Media for Today’s Writer, authors and social media experts DiAnn Mills and Edie Melson share, “Before anyone can build an online library of resources, we need a focus for what we want to share. This focus is an integral part of developing a strong social media voice to complement our writing voice. A social media personality that posts about any and everything will not gather many followers.”¹

So I decided to do some research about how to build a following on YouTube, the most common advice was to create content about your passions, the following is a brief list of the top ways to build a YouTube channel:

Be consistent.
Find your Niche.
Be creative.
Be passionate.

The last avenue is vital to all types of success. We must be passionate about what we are doing, and we all have reasons why we want to write. My goal as a writer is to encourage disabled persons because I am passionate about helping others.

I have shared before how discouraging it can be to live with a disability. If it weren’t for the encouragement of others, I might not have made it this far in life. So I am passionate about helping those in the disabled community.

If you’ve been part of the writing community for any amount of time, you are well aware that the writing life can be pretty discouraging and you need support from others within the community. Regardless of your health or writing status, if you want to be successful, you need to passionate about what you are doing.

Be passionate!

Passion drives us and breathes life into our efforts, regardless of what we are attempting. Most writers have a love-hate relationship with the craft. We enjoy the art and end product, but we hate the process.

We dread the hours seated behind the computer with no inspiration to write a single word. Writer’s block and brain fog are easily dissipated by a passion for what we are creating. But how do we birth that passion? Below are six steps I found online.

1. Know Thyself – Understand what makes you tick, what motivates you, what gives you energy.

2. Define Your Qualities – You might have a general idea of your skills, values, and interests, but have you dug deep to determine which of those are imperative in your life? Are you allowing your writing work to overwhelm other places to explore? These places could ultimately help your writing.

3. Create A Vision – Once you’ve gotten to know yourself better and defined what is important to you, begin to create a vision for your life and for your writing.

4. Remove the Roadblocks – As you define the elements of your vision and mission, you may encounter emotional roadblocks preventing you from taking the actions you need to make your vision real.

5. Shift Your Mind – As you learn about yourself, you will begin having profound “ah-ha” moments. Previous ways of thinking will be challenged. Things that you once accepted will no longer be acceptable.

6. Create Your Plan – The final part of the process of discovering yourself and your passion is creating an action plan based on all you have learned. You may find there are many passions and options for your life in addition to writing.²

After my accident, I had goals to attain, hope, and desire, but it took falling one time to zap my passion and change my plans. After achieving those smaller goals through baby steps, my passion grew and motivated me to keep going.

I knew I could walk, why stop there? The possibilities were endless. Do you know you can write? The possibilities are endless, take it easy and find your passion.

Take It Easy?

Confession time, having a brain injury can make one short-tempered and irrationally inpatient. When you know what you can do, passion sends the heart racing at 100 miles an hour, it is full speed ahead.

This is where disabled persons often make careless mistakes. Passion can blind us to the reality of where we are in life. It may sound counterproductive, but sometimes we have to slow down and take it easy.

For me, the stress/grind of constantly going can do me more physical harm than good (seizures, strokes.) Passion can be good and bad. I needed to let my passion keep me motivated along the slow road of recovery. And that is my advice for new writers; the writing journey is a marathon, not a sprint.

Be passionate.
Be persistent.
Be patient.

Growing up I was taught that success comes to those who wait. In my recovery, I learned success requires patience. Neither is possible if we fail to be passionate!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

¹ Mills, D. & Melson E.(2020). Social Media for Today’s Writer. Bold Vision Books, Pg.40

² https://writetodone.com/6-key-steps-to-finding-your-passion-as-a-writer/

Tags disability, Passion