What to write about.. if you don't believe in anything

All it seems you are supposed to do in film making today is dramatize and intelectualize modern day life.

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Or you can make fun of it. Or you can look to history. Or you can invent a future. What do you want fiction to to do? I tell you, in an apocolypse the artists, writers and musicians are the first ones they eat. Such is the nature of what we love to do.

Fishing can be very relaxing. If you're going to paint yourself into a corner with those kind of bleak thoughts, maybe you ought to consider taking up another hobby. Don't take this comment as glib sarcasm; I could be doing you a favor here. Me, I watch films to escape from the humdrum depression of real life, not to get more depressed.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

FIlms are the best thing in the world for the feelings you are experiencing right now. Take the social wasteland and write a screenplay that hi-lights the quirky off-beat individuals walking through it. Then get it to the screen and I will buy a ticket and go and watch it.

When life gets boring, we really have to ask ourselves, is life really boring, or are we.

Its up to you to find out what really interest, inspires, captivates you. then you either write about it, or just go do it. If youre lucky, you get to experience both.

You could either just be in a slump, as everyone goes through from time to time, or perhaps youre finding that writing is just not for you.

Time will tell, if you have a passion for writing.
Good luck either way.

Read Becket's Waiting for Godot, and then write your own updated version with characters your own age from your own millieu.And read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. It's all about a group of war jaded expats who don't believe in anything.

I don't write to change the world, I don't write to feel better about it or myself. I write because I enjoy it, I want to make money and because I am good at it.

If you feel that badly about your ideas, then you shouldn't be writing. Why torture yourself?

You said "I don't have the answers to the problems I see, so why should I write a movie about them?"

Unless it does, in some way, help you explore your views and perhaps learn something you didn't know before.

Writers don't know the answers. They create characters and put them in situations to explore the possible ways through them. You may find the answers in "the doing," or in the least, a possible answer that some may agree with.

Blank said:

I don't have the answers to the problems I see, so why should I write a movie about them?

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You're on the right track, Blank. I tell you, go find the answers. Spend a year just thinkings and learning. If you actively look for something to say its likely that you'll eventually find it.

see it like this -
film is undeniably collaborative.
the meaning from your writing will come from the film as a whole.
you say you do not have the answers to the probs so why do the writing?

think about this. a film that claims to have the answers and forces them down the audience is propaganda. plain and simple.
film is team. film is partnership. hundreds of hands and minds on set, behind set, off set, waiting by set. Its an amazing experience. You are two of those hands. The meaning of the work cannot come from you, but from everyone involved.

Look at it this way. The film is a film. Film is a partnership. Not between all those working on it. But between the creators and the audience.
The meaning gathered from a film is unique according to the questions an audience member goes in the cinema with. Your job is not to have the answers to the questions.
an example - I went to see the brilliant eternal Sunshine of a spotless mind a while back with a close friend. He had recently split up with an ex. Afterwards, we heard some people complain about the film. 'it was tripe' according to them.
prior to the film over a nice cool pint of Guiness he told me that he felt terrible over having wasted three years of his life on this girl and having nothing to show for it but the past.
after the film, his terrible feeling was gone. he was saved from it by that film. that tripe film was anything but to him.

the meaning doesn't come from you - it comes from an elusive partnership that you can never control, so don't expect yourself to be able to.

Blank said:

I'm starting to worry that in this cultural and social wasteland, I'm becoming dead to the world, in order to escape it.
I know that may sound pretty severe, but I think that's a common problem for a lot of people.
When I think of ideas, characters, scenes, I just become cynical of it all. Everything is so absurb these days, the things you write about are trivial, I mean for me at least. All it seems you are supposed to do in film making today is dramatize and intelectualize modern day life. I don't have the answers to the problems I see, so why should I write a movie about them?

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You know, it's okay just to entertain people...make 'em laugh, make 'em cry.

Anyone heard of that old film critic. Gorky I think his name was. After watching the very first black and white picture w/out sound, he compared film to evil shadows and cursed ghosts. He said it was disturbing that he would lose track of reality and of his subconcious while watching "the monotoneous grey" on the screen. It actually depressed him, seeing things that he couldn't do or wouldn't be able to do.

We know better nowadays. Film is supposed to make you lose yourself. The deeper you go into a movie, the further away your problems go for 90 minutes. Movies are supposed to make you happy. Even being scared in a movie is supposed to be enjoyable.

If you don't get excited at the possiblity of writing something that moves someone emotionally, whether it be fear or happiness or breaking their hearts by killing their favorite character, then I wonder why you're writing in the first place.

No offence meant, just figured I'd shoot you the other side of the arguement.

All it seems you are supposed to do in film making today is dramatize and intelectualize modern day life.

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Well, considering that "Wedding Crashers" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" were the two biggest movies of the past month or two, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that you're totally wrong.

However, if you squeeze those sour grapes hard enough, you might get some more "whine" out of them.

http://sleater-kinney.net/lyrics/the_woods/entertain

reality is the new fiction they say
truth is truer these days, truth is man-made
if you’re here ’cause you want to be entertained
go away, please go away
if your art is done, johnny get your gun
join the rank and file, on your TV dial

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'cultural and social wasteland' sounds a little angsty to me. you grow out of it. sorry, i don't buy into the whole 'wasteland' thing. because a person doesn't understand or even hates a particular culture doesn't make it wrong. i'd like to know by what standard our culture and society is being compared that was so great.

'All it seems you are supposed to do in film making today is dramatize and intelectualize modern day life.' ~ this is different now than when? or different from greek plays how?

everything is trite and boring? corrupt and predictable? that's why you're cynical? that's what the 'wasteland' has reduced you to? it's they're fault, eh? sounds pretty immature, don't you think?

indeed, why preach the solution to everyone's problems through a movie? your philosophy won't solve my problems. it's also a fallacy to trivialize the power and impact of a movie. will you, me or any of us here ever write something so profound it changes society or culture? probably not. if that's your goal and the only that will suffice, yikes, you're gonna be a sad person. if it's a bout of innui, that goes away. too bad you didn't show up a few months ago, i had some shih-tsu puppies for sale that would have taken all that away.

but if you're a male kid whose brain experts say doesn't mature until around 25 anyway, sit around and play video games all day and watch the news, then i can see why you'd be depressed! some people use being depressed as an impetus to write something that at least helps them, but how is a lack of a writer's talent society or culture's problem or cause? that's why more often than not i find those terms that really don't have any real meaning because of their vagueness used as a shield to hide their lack of ability. next comes the 'nobody gets me' and the shock of a critical analysis of their work when it's *not* the next great american novel.

i can see why you'd be cynical of h'wood. i am. there's certainly no lack of evidence suggesting it's less than an ideal situation for a writer in some ways. but, if someone can't find 'important' subjects and interesting characters to write about, who's fault is that? if art reflects life and you can't find anything 'worthy' to write about in a 'meaningful' way, don't pawn the problem off on anyone or anything, especially culture and society. that's a cop-out to compensate for your own creative shortcomings. if it's all so easy, you should have no problems entertaining people, make a lot of money, help the needy, die and get a slap on the back from whatever gawd you pray to for playing the game and being such a good sport about it. sorry, that's how i see that.

then again, that comes from a trivial person named preyer. thing is, i don't think it's wrong or easy to entertain people. if i accomplish that, i've done a good thing.

No offense, but you may want to talk to someone about your depression.
Screenwriting seems to be the least of your problems.

Everything you're saying screams, "movie moment." Trapped in the decayed wasteland of white suburbia, a lifelong underachiever breaks the shackles of his own apathy and finds salvation through pornography. Or comic books? Religion? Origami? Pick one. Take the story to where you'd like your life to go. That's better than anything I've written in the past three years. Talk about depressing.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

Write your own ending

I agree! Your struggle right now is a GREAT movie idea. Many people have experienced depression and isolation and feeling stuck. Seek out the ending to the movie by trying possible directions. Try something new and different and see if you can experience an ending to the movie. Like mountain climbing or white water rafting. Take on a new job with the sole purpose of learning the experience for use in a movie. But get out of the house and experience! Go to New Orleans and work as a volunteer and write as you live. You could find a wonderful story in there somewhere.

Actually, being depressed in and of itself isn't necessarily a good idea. Blank isn't really interested in writing per say, he/she wants to be heard by people here because he/she is depressed.

Depression is an illness and this person may need medical attention. You can sound off here, but there really isn't anything we can do for you that would help. So for you own sake, Blank, see out professional help.

No one is offering analysis or cures, only suggestions as to how Blank's unenviable situation might possibly offer something in the way of story source. If Blank wasn't interested in writing then he would have posted in a psychology forum where he could discuss his problems, instead of in a screenwriting forum intended for discussion of screenwriting. I would hope.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

I think Justin was just adding to my comment, which quite frankly Dpat, if you posted those words that Blank did, I would be telling you too to go talk to someone.

As for story, depression can be a powerful muse, but don't let it control the story but rather it should inspire it.

Blank

You don't need the answers; just ask the questions (or at least, address your concerns).

My advice, as a counselor, is to talk to someone about your depression. If it's to the point where you see no beauty or anything redeeming about your enviroment, you've got problems and the last place you need to talk about it is here amongst a bunch of strangers to whom you're merely an anonymous face.

As for the writing, I'm with those who say you should take your angst and put it toward something creative and productive. You could write a script about how you view the world. It might not be overly exciting but hell, Jim Jarmusch does it all the time.

We might be jumping the gun here. And depression is a part of life. Who here hasnt gotten depressed at one time or the other. Let us not forget, things are often exaggerated when youre young. (teens) (even early 20's), where the simplest things seem the absolute worst thing ever.

So before we all chip in and pay for him to visit a head shrinker, lets find out if hes just bored, because white suburbs is a very boring place. MAybe hes a rich kid with controlling parents who's just bored out of his mind because theres nothing to do in his town/area.
Maybe a poor kid wishing he lived on the other side of the tracks.
Eh, whatever it is, unless youre thinking about hurting yourself or others in any way, hey depression is a sign somethings wrong, that we need to fix.
Sometimes people need to hit rock bottom, to change them from their ways.

If youre looking for writing help Blank, hey, theres tons of ideas just waiting to be born, even more that have been done but are waiting to be told in a different light.
I hope youre not mad at yourself because you felt you could write the great ideas you had within your mind, that are way better than anything youve seen lately, and are just frustrated because you cant get the knack of it. Becuase only hard work, studying, and perseverance makes you a good writer.

Now, if its you need someone to talk to, you have the attention of alot of people here.

so good luck either way. Life is always what you focus most on. If you dont like your life the way it is, focus and dedicate yourself to something else. thats the power we have, thats the decision we make, every day we wake up.

WritingFool said:

We might be jumping the gun here. And depression is a part of life. Who here hasnt gotten depressed at one time or the other. Let us not forget, things are often exaggerated when youre young. (teens) (even early 20's), where the simplest things seem the absolute worst thing ever.

So before we all chip in and pay for him to visit a head shrinker, lets find out if hes just bored, because white suburbs is a very boring place. MAybe hes a rich kid with controlling parents who's just bored out of his mind because theres nothing to do in his town/area.
Maybe a poor kid wishing he lived on the other side of the tracks.
Eh, whatever it is, unless youre thinking about hurting yourself or others in any way, hey depression is a sign somethings wrong, that we need to fix.
Sometimes people need to hit rock bottom, to change them from their ways.

If youre looking for writing help Blank, hey, theres tons of ideas just waiting to be born, even more that have been done but are waiting to be told in a different light.
I hope youre not mad at yourself because you felt you could write the great ideas you had within your mind, that are way better than anything youve seen lately, and are just frustrated because you cant get the knack of it. Becuase only hard work, studying, and perseverance makes you a good writer.

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The thing is, depression can be a fatal illness. Some people directly commit suicide, and others drink or party (abuse narcotics) to death. And people often don't take it seriously, or when the signs are there would really rather ignore them.

This person, by his account, couldn't finish high school, which was the only year that required commitment. Which means he/she has issues that cannot be worked out on this board.

Precisely because we don't know the extent of the depression, nor or we having any normal face to face contact with this person, (and to my knowledge none of us are mental health professionals), this board is the last place to get help from. There's no shame in getting professional help.