I have not written as much for my script this past week, which stinks. I had my students turn in their final papers before Thanksgiving so I could have them graded and back the following week. This way their papers and work won't bother me again till finals, and I can focus on my own graduate student responsibilities. Grading papers reveals secret trend patterns that creep up in student writing. It can be ghastly. But after twenty some odd papers, I have found one that makes my heart rejoice and not necessarily for the writing, but the absurdity. I want to share this with anyone who happens to read this, and if that student ever finds this post, which I wouldn't expect in a thousand years, but bless you for writing this for it has made my late morning.
For this semester, I've had my students write with a focus on primary research rather than contextualizing a bunch of boring secondary sources, because few and far between know how to do that well as an undergrad and unless you're passionate about the research there's a pretty solid reason why this redundant secondary source process is terrible. So I've forced them to write and be in the action so as to have more interesting of papers. My favorite paper so far is one from my Ukraine foreign exchange student who spent his time exploring Springfield and Ozarkian cemeteries and funerals. Imagine if you will, if you were in his shoes, over seas in a writing program for a semester and you spent your time exploring European cemeteries. I love it. It's bizarre.
Firsthand experience definitely brings up the level of writing. These papers are far better than the ones I received last semester, and I don't think it's because I've changed a great deal in who I am as an instructor. I think getting one's hands dirty and being challenged implements growth. Having the chance to be on film / television / and web series productions helps the craft of screenwriting. In my amateur filmmaking skills, my first thought tends to be to cut down the draft to the bare necessities, not because I don't trust the details but for two big reasons 1.) when you only keep what's necessary it takes out the watered down parts of the script 2.) the less to have to produce, than the less of a nightmare. With initial writing, I like to explode as much with ideas as possible, make a manifesto, and then give myself strict goals to take in whatever nonsense or masterpiece I created. This for me in writing is actually one of my favorite parts. At that point, I can see what's happening globally, and it's satisfying when I can make tiny, split changes that can impact the whole of the script in masterful ways. I'm not really sure I agree with micromanaging; I think that could demonize a script... what I'm saying is polishing, rather... cleansing. If I was really on my A game tonight I could give an example of what I mean, but that's not coming to me easily, so I'll leave that for another time.
Writers of any trade need to have their hands dirty. I love watching series', reading, and reflecting on the library on my mind, but personally experiencing the world of the story can make a difference (if this is achievable). There's plenty I've written that I have never experienced. I mean, mind-reading characters who go inside demons? I am proud that I can operate in a normal routine day if I had that demon-browsing gift. Experience and understanding are vital. If you understand emotions, I think the writing will thank you. I'd say 99.9% of my favorite parts of the visual medium have some correlation with the emotions that were delivered. Writers need to step away from the computer and go on adventures. We need to process through emotions and not be controlled by them either.
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