Twitter can be a circus (he says, the day after the Oscars). But it can also be a great place to get ideas about writing. There are many screenwriters on Twitter who like to talk about craft.
Yesterday I saw this writing exercise from animation writer Meghan Fiztmartin (@megfitz89), and I just love it:
So basically when she's working on a project she looks for a song that somehow resonates with what she's doing. The operative word being "somehow"--she's not trying to create some kind of soundtrack, but rather to find something that she's drawn to instinctively, and then allow that to help her see her project in a new way, or, in the case she gave, to expand her sense of it.
That's such a great idea. The creative process is by its nature intuitive, but when you're in the thickets of a project, intuition can be pretty hard to come by. You're more trying to fight your way through the jungle of it all. This offers a way of consciously retapping into those deeper instincts.
I have my own weird life version of this. I often have a song playing in my head. Usually I have no idea where it comes from, it's just there, my own internal radio station. And if I notice it and take the time to mull it over, oftentimes it'll tell me things about how I'm doing right now--what I'm feeling or what I want.
I've never thought to apply that specifically to my writing, but I'll bet if I pay attention while I'm working on a project there'll be something there.
Meghan Fitzmartin, ladies and gentlemen. Follow her now!
