One of the most demanding elements of writing is decision-making. Writers are constantly challenged to make decisions. Decisions about the way the story should be written. Decisions about individual characters. Decisions about the color of a vehicle. Decisions about how many fingers someone has (the story might work better for a character if she had seven fingers instead of eight fingers). Decisions about letting the story go its own way after you have planned it to go another way. Decisions about characters changing, or not changing, and/or letting them go the way they want to go instead of the way you want them to go. Decisions, etc.
The key to making good decisions is to have a guide before you begin writing. The guide, as I call it, is the theme. And the theme is found by the writer looking inside of themselves to discover their passion for writing the story they have chosen to write. Sometimes, there is more than one theme, but there should be one dominating theme, throughout the story. The theme for your book (do you want me to tell you what it is, or do you want to tell me what it is?)…. So, focus on your theme to help you make decisions as you evolve with the writing of your story. If a character, or a segment in the story, doesn’t include the theme, then that character, and/or that segment in the story should not be used.
Author: Donald L. Vasicek
-
“Writing”
Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek – Turkey Creek Canyon – Colorado -
“Screenplays, The Third Act”
Billy Wilder Someone, I believe Billy Wilder (“Some Like It Hot”, “The Apartment”,
“Double Indemnity”, “Sunset Boulevard”), said that “the third act must
build, build, build.” This means that you must make the tension of
what your main character is doing to achieve her/his goal go up, up,
up, like using a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine. The more you
twist, the tighter the tension in the cork becomes, until something
gives, the cork breaks, or whoever is screwing in the corkscrew,
decides it is time to pull out the cork with the corkscrew.In other words, make it more and more difficult for
your main character to achieve her/his goal until
she/he comes to a point where he/she must either
give up her/his goal, or, he/she “goes over the top”,
experiences an epiphany, and accomplishes the
goal. Each obstacle (difficulty) must be more
challenging than the last. It’s like putting your
main character on a tree branch. Her/his
opposition throws rocks at her/him until the
branch breaks. Then, he/she falls in a raging
river. Then, in the river, he/she fights to keep
from drowning until he/she comes to a roaring
waterfall. The question is, will she/he, survive
the waterfall, or not?When you have your main character at the “waterfall”
of your story, then you have your main character
decide at that point, what she/he has to do to
survive tumbling over the waterfall. To conquer
this, the main character must overcome her/his
greatest fear of accomplishing his/her goal
throughout the story. If he/she does, then he/she
experiences an epiphany. He/she faces her/his
fear and overcomes it.Perhaps, instead of tumbling over the waterfall,
getting battered to death by rocks, and drowning,
which has been your main character’s primary fear
that has been keeping her/him from accomplishing
his/her goal in the story, that of the fear of drowning,
your main character swims back upstream and saves
herself/himself.This is the last event in the third act. From
this point forward, wrap up all loose ends
of your story, send your main character
to the Olympics as a champion swimmer,
and end your screenplay.I hope this has been of help to you.
Best Regards,
Donald L. Vasicek
OLYMPUS FILMS+, LLC
The Zen of Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi -
Award-Winning Documentary To Be Screened
The Sand Creek Massacre Film Poster
For Immediate ReleaseDonald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
303-903-2103dvasicek@earthlink.net
http://www.sandcreekmassacre.net“Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre film to be Screened at Tribal College Librarians Institute”
Centennial, CO – May, May 24, 2011 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, will be screened at Montana State University.
“The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film, will be screened at the Tribal College Librarians Institute on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, June 6-10, 2011. The film won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre. Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. It helps neutralize ignorance and fear of cultures without the exposure to which most Americans have grown accustomed.”
The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in Europe in addition to various Native American and minority rights organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.
Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids with special needs in transition.
# # #
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
