Last night I started the first of an 8 week class on ‘Method Writing’ taught by a man named, Jack Grapes. Acclaimed as one of the top teachers in the field of Method Writing, and considering the fact that I’ll only be in Los Angeles for 10 more weeks and I need all of the help I can get to turn out a killer screenplay, I jumped at the chance to take his class.
Our first assignment is to write a minimum of two pages a day on anything that comes to mind. We are not supposed to write toward a particular goal or idea. We are supposed to write ‘like we talk’ and get into the process of writing. No outlining. No editing. No objective or storyline to use as a guide.
The idea is that we will find our voice if we free-write. And, we should be able to unearth treasures and unlock forgotten memories which could later be weaved into something very special whether it be a poem, story, or screenplay etc.
A handful of years ago I used to play a writing game. I developed an online random word generator which would give me a random word with a click of a button. From there, I’d play a word association game until I came up with a word that evoked a strong memory. Then, I’d write the memory down, edit it, and post it on my website.
Since then, I’ve changed websites but I saved all of the pieces I’ve written. A while back, I created a website just for those pieces and I called the site - ‘Digging Up The Bones’ - a name I found in Stephen King’s book, ‘On Writing’. I’ve only uploaded a couple of my old pieces so far but I plan to put the other ones up there when I return to Tennessee.
Truthfully, I had a lot of fun digging up those forgotten memories and writing about them. I think I’ll dig up a few more with these free-writing assignments I’ll be doing daily for Jack Grapes’ class. I feel like they definately reflect my voice.
Back to my first week’s assignment for my Method Writing Class…
Like I said, I am supposed to write a minimum of 2 pages a day for this class. Since I type much faster than I write I decided to create a WordPress blog just for that writing. That way I can write while I’m at work or home!
Here goes…
