Spring 5 Ways: #4 - New Exercise Routines

We’ve been talking about the coming of spring as the inspiration for us to break out of old patterns and focus on the new… just like those new flowers that are springing up in your garden… or at your florist's…. This April is all about trying the new when it comes to writing. So far we’ve looked at New Beginnings, New Possibilities and New Ways of Doing Things. Today let’s tackle New Exercise Routines.

Wait a sec! Is this a New Year’s Resolution or something? Am I asking you to hit the floor and give me 20?

Hardly.

I’m just suggesting that you exercise your writing muscles. And that means doing some writing exercises that may not result in a new script or a new novel, but will allow you to flex new muscles when it comes to writing.

For example, are you having trouble deciding what genre to write in? Or do you only write one genre—like comedy? A writing exercise will let you expand your horizons. Let’s look at two possibilities:

[1] Write two loglines for a film about a family trapped on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Make one a sci-fi film and one a horror film.

This exercise allows you to imagine a film outside your genre comfort zone—which I promise will expand your horizons. Assuming you are that comedy writer, there’s no reason you can’t add a bit of comedy to your sci-fi or horror logline, but try it two ways. Try coming up with a horror logline that’s pure horror and only then allow yourself to write a logline that’s got a comedy/horror bent to it. And the same holds true for your sci- fi film—write a logline that’s pure sci-fi and only when you’ve done a good job on that logline should you write a sci-fi/comedy hybrid.

[2] Write two loglines for a film where a teen drag racer kills another kid in a fight and then moves the kid's body into a rival’s car, thus trying to make it look like he died in the drag race. Make one logline an action/family film and make the second logline a coming-of-age/courtroom drama film.

This exercise allows you to create two completely different films. Both have the same impetus as they are kicked off by the same event, but you can see how choosing to focus on an action/family film means you’re going to be filling your film with car chases, police chases, your main character trying to hide what he did from his family and from the cops… an adrenalin-rush of a film. But the second film is completely different, isn’t it? Because your film will focus on the main character’s becoming an adult while he’s having to defend his actions in court.

Exercising your writing muscles is something you should do ALL the time. Giving yourself little writing challenges is a great way to keep those writing chops in shape.

BTW, these two exercises come from my book, The Screenwriter’s Path, which is full of many, many more exercises to help you on your way to becoming the leanest meanest writer you can be!

Copyright © Diane Lake

22Apr18

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com