Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

Kernals and Daydreams: the Bed-rock Foundation of Story Creation

Hello, I'm the idea for your next script.  I can come from something you heard.   A person from your life.  A fragment of a dream.  Or just some idea that you think is cool. 

I may be small now.  But the more you play with me in your head, and like other ideas and scene possibilites together.  The more I could start to look like this...  

Creativity doesn't come in a bottle.  Be open to it.  Case and point the kernal idea I got for the 1st script I wrote, "Give It Up for Chimpy"  came via my brother when he described something he witness once at a zoo in Chicago.  My brother watched a poor zoo keeper get beaned by poop from a bunch of monkeys in the tree that were'nt too with said zoo keeper.  Imagining that happening was quite humorus to me.  Sure, that's kinda gross, kinda dark.  But then again A LOT of humor is base on watching someone elses misery, and getting a laugh of it. 

When you get a kernal of idea it can feel like the...

Or it can take a while.  The key is accumulating other parts to complete the dna.

Daydreaming is an ESSENTIAL PART of screenwriting.  Anyone who tells yout that it isn't is FULL OF...

Creative writing is tough.  Going from the kernal of an idea to the full fleshed out script takes time.  The key: can you build on your kernal idea, and flesh out a plot that doesn't turn out like this.

Okay, so now MAYBE I'm getting a little silly.  I'll try to rein it in.  'Cuz I do have some good points 
to make here. 

 

Okay, so let the brilliance begin.  

1. You have to have a kernal idea from which to build a story from. 
2. But having having a kernal idea doesn't garantee you'll have a story.
3. Good writers take kernal ideas and add things to them as they go.  
4. You the writer should be jazzed about the additions you make to your kernal idea.  IF YOU'RE NOT EXCITED about the characters, and plot points you're adding -- YOU CAN'T EXPECT ANYONE ELSE TO BE.
5. Building a story takes time.  I know I've NEVER gotten a complete plot in my head in one sitting.  Rather, plots  come together over time.  It's okay not to have all the answers.  There is time to find those issues that lingers over your script.

The ability to generate kernal ideas, the initial flashpoint for stories, don't make you a writer.  RATHER the ablity to take those ideas and flesh them out into MEANINGFUL STORIES does make one a STORYTELLER, then in turn if you write that story out, voilia!  You're a writer, Holmes.

The next item of buisness is what to do when one gets  a kernal idea that one thinks they can flesh out into a story.  What I do in such as case is open a story file.  This actual file, which I keep in a draw -- not a computer file.  Then, over time, I add scenes and character descriptions on sheets of paper and add it to my story file.  At this point I'm not doing any actual writing, just kickin' arround potential scenes.  Exploring character possibilies and acquiring mass. 

The ultimate goal at the end of the daydreaming stage is to have a lot of critical mass.  Sorting though the pages I've written comes next, but that takes up beyond the scope I want this post to have. 

You see acquiring scenes is a big deal to me.  This is what gives you the confidence that you have enough critcal mass to carry you though a entire story.  

Personally, I love the daydreaming stage.  I  do this a lot at work during breaktime and lunches.  You see lately I've been working 12 hours days 5 days a week, then putting in another 8 to 10 on Saturday.  My actual writing or editing in Final Draft is guarded time.  My goal is 1 -2 hours EVERYDAY either writing or editing in Final Draft.  That doesn't leave a lot of time for daydreaming. 

Hope I've helped SOMEBODY out there with this post.  I've read a lot of books on writing. And after writing a bunch of scripts am starting to feel comfortable with my own way of going from nothing to completed script.  Kernal and daydreaming are the building blocks off which everthing else comes.   Besides, get enough kernals, and add in enough daydreaming and you just might end up with this...

ENJOY!

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

    

Thinkin' Vaccation...

 Hello all!  E.C. Henry here, and I'm happy to report that I'm thinkin' vaccation time.   Been at the new job a year now, just got accredited 120 hours in my time at-work vaccation time bank, so I took the plunge and signed up for the 2011 Screenwring Expo at the Westin hotel in sunny Los Angeles, California, September 15 - 18. 

I've been longing to take an actual vaccation for the longest time.  I remember when I got employement in April of 2010 telling my parents how much I was looking forward to taking an actual vaccation.  Well, now I've got some $$ in the bank, and actually taking off for an actual vaccion is a reality that I can afford to act upon.  

Haven't bought plane tickets or booked a hotel yet, but that's just because I don't know how long I'm going to want to stay in sunny Caifornia.  Sunny California?  Damn straight, Skippy' it BETTER  be sunny Califoria, 'cuz I'm very sick of cold, rainy Western Washington.  Remember, E.C. Henry hails from BONNEY LAKE, WA.  Take some time and find out where exactly that is.  Think: Bum-fuck Egypt -- and take a right!

Moving on to more serious matters...

The normal (well just go with it for a second) everday Joe who has to WORK FOR A LIVING has been putting a constant 12 hours days lately, BUT that hasn't detered E.C. Henry the visionary writer from getting a lot done lately. 

Right now I'm working at editing down my latest spec. script.  It's called, "Puppies?  Puppies?!  Puppies!!!" .  Trying to get in at or under 120 pages, bring it up the professional standards then send it off to my guy in Los Angeles who reads my stuff and give me notes.  This dude has a great skill set.  IF any of my viewers are looking for a low cost, reader in L.A. to look at their stuff and gve them some feedback I advice them to check my guy out.  I love him!  AND he came reffered to me by a story annalyst for one of the big studios.  So... he's got some street cred.  Always a plus.

As for the new stuff I'm working on.  I think I've decided on what my next script's going to be.  Gunna be my follow-up to "The Judas Project;" a low budget, dark drama that I wrote about 5 years ago now.  Already got a great soundtack for this new dark drama.  AND I'm writing with Nicolle Kidman in mind to star as it's lead...  Anyway, the creative gears in my mind are turning.  And realalistically, I'm thinking 2 to 3 months tops to crank out a finished product on this new dark drama.   Honestly, this one feels like a relatively easy write going in.  I've also got another high, concept, supernatural pre-history thriller in mind.  It's in the same vein of "Indians of the Ancient Plains" only with more of C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia meets George Lucas' "Attack of the Clones" vibe to it.  Sound interesting?  THAT script will probably be the next one I write AFTER my dark drama follow-up to "The Judas Project." 

Writing wise, with all the hours that average everyday Joe has to put in, E.C. Henry's also sneaking it at lunchtime working on scenes for new scripts.  Typcially at lunch or break I'll have a piece of paper in front of me where I'm playing with new ideas, and getting powerful images and pieces of character motivations and scenes. 

It's all part of getting enough critical mass to give me the courage that I have enough to write the script.  In case you didn't already know: writers are fickle birds. 

Speaking of which.  Time to get back to editing "Puppies?  Puppies?!  Puppies!!!"  Got it down to 125 pages now.  5 more to go... 

Later tonight me and "the family" are going to see the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.  I got into this with very low expecations; I thought the last one was a bore.  BUT it's what my family wants, so it's what my family gets...

Also later tonight I'm going to finish listening to "The Commune," a dark sci-fi I wrote a year ago.  Tweaking it a bit for a potential Austin Film Festival submission.  THAT deadline is June 1st.  So my plan is one final listen and tweak then print it out, fill out an entry form and away it goes via UPS from the local, Bonney Lake Office Depo. 

Skipped out on the Nichols this year.  Wanted to send them the two part biblical adapation of the Saul and David story, but as per Nichol's rules they don't except apapted scripts -- unless that adaptaion is based on the writers own source story.  :(

O well, I'll get 'em next year.   I'm going to try to follow this post up with a new, fresh concept post tomorrow.  So stay tuned...

 

 

Coolest Person on the Planet -- Toby Mac!

 
This is Toby Mac.  And to me he is the coolest person on the planet.  Someone I admire very much.  Someone I think is worthy of finding out more of who he is, and what he's all about.

You see I listen to Toby Mac's music a lot.  Not a hip-hop afectionato by any stretch of the imagination.  But Toby Mac's version of hip-hop and rap, rock, gospel and funk in his music works for me.  No, more importantly his music MINISTERS to me. 

I feel in love with DC Talk's music in the late 90s.  Toby was the front man for DC Talk.  And they were very popular in Chistian-music-land once upon a time with hits like:  "Colored People" and "Between You and Me," but my personal DC Talk favorites are "Mind's Eye" -- which at one point I even chorogrpahed a dance skit too which I hoped to perform at church venue, and "Sugarcoat It" which is an us vs. the secular word song which sports a dark, driving, hip-hop beat to it.  Definately worth listening too -- at least once.

Post-DC-Talk, Toby Mac has not only kept revelanent, he has become a contemporary Christian stable.  BUT you really need to listen to his music OFF Christian radio on ON his albums, as I've noticed on-air they play altered versions of Toby's music.  This is probably because most Christian radio stations pander to a wide range of believers, and some of Toby's music has a edge to it -- but that's one of the things I actually like about his music.

You see I see Toby Mac as a lighthouse.  A beacon of God's grace extending out into the hip-hop word.  An entry point of sorts for God to interesect with people immeshed in hip-hop, who may or may not know Him yet.  But if they listen to Toby's music, the gospel message is there, and will lead them hopefully closer to Him. 

Entertainment that brings people closer to Jesus.

That melts my heart.  Makes me pay homage.  Toby Mac is a man who takes the message of God reconsiling the word to Himself, and packages it in places in his music.  As this is a higher calling.  Something I endevor to do myself.  Something Toby Mac does in his own unique style.

So what is Toby's style?  Well-p, if you're curious, here is a link to Toby Mac's Website that goes into that...

I just read it myself and was glad when I read that Toby Mac is a self-proclaimed "perfectionist" and that he feels he has to work harder than other people to make up for him being, using his own words, "slightly under-gifted."

Couldn't agree more.  Toby is "slightly under-gifted" -- as compared to vocals that can be delivered by either Kevin Max or Michael Tait; the other two of DC Talk trio.  Both have better voices than Toby Mac.  And Kevin Mac can really deliver on the vocal front.  I love his voice.  YET Toby Mac is the better overall artist.  Why?  Because he has heart for God and uses what he has for God's glory.  Combine that with hard work and you have a potentent comination which has worked beautifully for the self-proclaimed "slightly under-gifted" Toby Mac.  You see Toby Mac maximises the gifting he has been given, gives thanks to God for that (that can be heard in his music) and morphs that to fit his personality and intesect with today's youth oriented culutre.  All of which result in a professioal, polished product.  One that he can be proud of.  And more importantly a finished product that is worth of being called Christain; a finished product worthy of the Master's blessing.   

So give Toby Mac's music a spin sometime from wherever you get your music.  Hits from Toby Mac's solo career that I really like are:  "Tonight" and "Showstopper" off the album "Tonight."  "Suddenly" and "Face of the Earth" off Portable sounds.   And "In the Air" and J Train" of "Momentum." 

Toby is a cool guy.  Coolest person on the planet -- if you asked me!

 

 

Eternal Springtime for the Diligent Writer

 
Can farming be compared to creative writing?  YES!   At least E.C. Henry thinks so.  Given a little Charlie Kaufman-esque twist lemme 'xplain...

A writer writing stories can, on one level, be compared to a farmer's experiencing going through their job taking crops from the seed all the way through the growing process up to harvest time.  The ultimate goal of the farmer is to bring his crops to the market and get paid.  The ultimate goal of the writer is to bring his stories to completion and be available for sale.  That's where I'm coming from.  Starting to make sence now?

Okay, now lets apply that to where E.C.'s at RIGHT NOW!  Right now I've got 14 scripts ready to go market.  And I'm getting close to having number 15 ready too!  Yippie!  Yes, after over a year of DILIGENTLY working on this a yippie is in order.  BUT I'm also working on 4 more scripts to. 

You see being a writer you have to ballance mulitiple script ideas, devlope those ideas, they when springtime comes -- write those scripts! 

It's like the fruitful mind of the diligent writer is in constant state of late Febuary.  Ideas being like seeds begin to sprout and grow.  Stories don't appear out of the void -- at least not for me.  Rather, they are accumulate and built up OVER TIME.  Writing notes to myself about a given story, scenes in it, and characters are like the DNA of a seed.  DNA of a story seed in winter that will one day blossom and take life in springime, when the story is developed enough for it to blossom as I write it.

Springtime of the story is when the writer writes its first draft.  Speaking of which, I can now finally say -- with some degree of accomplishment/dilagence I might add -- that I FINALLY finished the 1st draft of a pesky screwball comedy that I've been working at for over a year.  Yes that's right one year for one draft.  Ridiculous?  Yeah, I'd say so.  NORMALLY a first draft should take 1-2 months to write.  But I've been busy you see...  Anyway April 7, 2010 to April 26, 2011.  In and out.  In and out.  Well, at least I'm out now.  160 pages later.  Working on 2nd draft -- summer of this story if you will -- and I've got it down to 150 pages...  LOTS of more work to do as a feature script needs to be = or < 120 pages.

As hinted at, and continueing working under my analogy, summer is the season of rewrites.  In  summer the story exists and is in a finished form.  It's just the writer is tweeking things.  Making it better.  Making it's fruit taste better.  And after all, who doesn't like better tasting fruit?

Bought two new corkboards yesterday.  Raising my in-house tally to 4.  Why you might ask?  Because this writer is in eternal springtime, and I've got 4 new stories beginning to bud -- by the grace of God -- and I'm going to start work on them.  My goal being card up all four stories, begin outlines and see which one sprouts first.   Gotta watch me, folks, I keep referring back to that annalogy of writing being like farming... 

Now let's switch gears a bit, and apply this annalogy, of writing being like farming, to the Lord and see where He fits in, in all of this. 

I love the Lord.  He is the ulimate.  One of the most AMAZING things one can ponder and experience in this life is springtime.  Every spring God demonstates through nature His ability to take things that are dead (ie. trees in wintertime) and make them come alive again.  No one should should take this amazing phenomenom for granted -- as it is God's awesomeness on display.  Dead to living again; truely amazing.  And think about it, when flowers and trees blossom they do so in extravagent colors.  In winter everthing looks drab,  but in springtime eveything looks vibrant and energetic. 

I love God.  And springtime is my favorite time of the year.  And I'm so glad that God keeps allowing me to pursue and bring to fruitation the story ideas I have in my head.  To Him be the glory. 

Why I remember when I was writing "Cowboy Alien Diaries" I thought I was going to die.  I had felt sick for a while, and thought there was someone from work stalking me lieing in wait either to rob me or kill me.  Didn't think I'd be given the chance to finish "Cowboy Alien Diaries."   I remember crying out to God, asking Him for the grace to complete that story -- and He gave it to me.  Thank you, Jesus.   I'll expound more on "Cowboy Alien Diaries" and the writing of it in a later post.  Stay tuned...

Now not only have I completed "Cowboy Alien Diares" but since then God has given me the grace to complete 10 more feature screenplays on top of that.  14 seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall in writing.  To God be the glory.  He keeps this ink-toting farmer.  And I see His hand at work in my life -- even in my writings.   Every story I've written ended up better than the inital kernal idea I had.  To God be the glory.  He is the God who causes the seed to sprout into something beneficial.  Magic.  God is the magic!

My prayer is that you too, no matter what your state in this life is to see His hand working your life as well.  You see God is the magic.  He is the one who turns winter into springtime.  To Him be all the honor and glory, foreever and ever.  Can writers really ascribe to God glory?  YES!!  And every writer should.  The longer I write and live, the more I see God as being greater than myself.  You see I create in fiction.  Whereas God creates in real life, with real living beings.  Jesus Christ is God of the springtime.  To God be the glory.   

And finally on an ending note.  Yes, I have been compared to Charlie Kaufman before.  At a Screenwriting Expo event someone in the industry made an off comment about my work being  like Charlie's.  

But is E.C. Henry really like Charlie Kaufman? 

No!

Sure on one level that's a nice compliement.  To be compared to ANY writer who's had his/her stuff produced is a cool thing.  And most of Charlie Kaufman's movies: "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Adaptation," "Being John Malkovik" and "Sychenoduche, New York" are very creative.  They work off a high concept idea that's really delved into as the story plays out.  Mind candy...

BUT on another level one could equally argue that lots of Charlie Kaufman stories are sexually diviantly gross, and the man has NEVER shown that he can honor the Lord in any of his stories.  And that's sad to me.  EVERY writer should find a way to honor the Lord in his/her writings.     

Sorry Charlie.  E.C. Henry is his own person.  With a unique of expressing himself with words.  To God be the glory...

 
    

Egypt, Sinai, and Jesus: God's Illustration of the Believer's Journey into Glory!

Been readin' the Old Testament in my New American Standard bible lately.  Specifically the book of Deuteronomy and Joshua.  LA-OVE the Old Testament.  Why, you might ask?  Well-p, I love it because in it  you really get some good insight into what pleases God, and what makes Him angry. 

Any good insights that have been gleaned?  Glad you asked.  YES.  Durring my latest round of reading I had some profound musings.  Namely, that maybe God inteded our readings of Isreal's ordeal in Egypt to the them conquering the promised land with a greater purpose in mind, an illustration of the beliver's life and the outcome of that life.

Lots of ground to cover here gang.  I'll lay out my points as best I can. 

Let's start out with the case of Isreal being in Egypt.  Over and over again God alludes to Egypt as being "the house of slavery."  Couldn't that also be applied a person's life BEFORE they came to Jesus?  I say, yes.  Before Jesus I was a slave to sin, alienated to God lead astray by idols.  My idols were heavy metal music, alchol, and sexual lust.  BUT God had a plan for me.  And when I died to my former way of life, I left Egypt and stated on a journey...  Sinai!

Now as a follower of Jesus -- not perfect mind you but I try ;) -- I find myself baraged by a series of test MUCH LIKE THOSE encountered by the Isrealites during their 40 year wandering around the Siani pennisula.  Now these are God's people we're talking about.  He led them 40 years in the desert, during which time He tested them and provided abundantly for their needs.  Jesus has done the same thing for me.  Why I can still remember an 11 month period where I had no job and yet God provided for my needs, kept my head above water, then brought me one of the best playing jobs I've ever had.  E.C. Henry in Sinai, if you will...

But the real cool part of the story comes after Moses dies and then God moves His people into the promised land.  What's so cool about that?  Well-p, you really need to read this for yourself -- and it's found in the book of Joshua.  God gave entire cities into the hands of the Isreal.  Sure some cities were destroyed, but a lot of them were just abandoned by the people who previously occupied them and Isreal took over and lived in citities they didn't build and ate off vineyards they didn't plant. 

That got me thinking about the beliver in Jesus' life.  Sinai being our Earthy life of trials and temptations.  Moses' death marking the end of the seperation period of the believer in Jesus' life and their heavenly reward!  Crossing the Jordan is like the trek from this life on Earth to our eternal life in Heaven. 

Then comes the distribution, our inheritance in Heven as portioned out by Allmighty God.  And what that enheritance is may well be taking land that used to belong to the former inhabitance -- angel's who fell out of favor with God; we're taking their territory, we're taking places they formerly occupied. 

Ever thought of that?  Angels who didn't keep their proper abode, became corrupted and now follow Satan as opposed to God, are like those sinful nations which occupied the promised land -- before Joshua wiped them out.   In several places in the bible God says those nations were following false God and had abomidble practices.  Eventually their chosen seperation from God cost them.  It cost them dearly.  God wasn't happy with them, and when Isreal was right with God they got it good, and many of those people groups were wiped out entirely. 

In the gospel, Jesus talks about "going away so that He can prepare a place for us."  Ever thought of what that place is going to be?  MAYBE the promised land is an illustration of sorts, God's way of  showing hope for all of His true children, that if they remain with Him, He will lead them into glory unlike anything else they've ever known.

Consider Isreal.  Before God acted to get them out of Egypt, all they knew was the harsh life in Egypt.  Sure they had some food, but they were slaves under a people that were treated them worse and worse, untill at last God had seen enough and chose to act on their behalf to get them out of there.  Isreal didn't know what they were in for when they embarked on God's journey out of Isreal.  Isn't that like the believer's life?  We don't know what course God has laid out for our lives.  But we must face that course with the faith and belief that Joshua and Caleb showed.  We must believe that whatever hinderances we face in this life that God is bigger than them all and will see us through.  Faith and confidece.  That comes from seeing God's hand work arround you.  Remembering what He's done for you, and for what you've seen Him do for others. 

I love God.  I don't know how you can read the bible and not develope a profound love for Him.  I can't wait to see the New Jerusalem.  In the book of Revelation it is written that city -- which is built by God -- is going to come down from the heavens to Earth.  The New Jerusalem is the ultimate inheritance city.  The one you really want a place in. 

 

Recap: When you make a commitment to Christ, God starts a journey with you, with you now being alive to Him.  That journey continues untill you reach the point in your story where Moses dies.  THIS signfies your crossing from this life on Earth to life eternal.  Then comes the distribution, your heavenly inheritance.

    

 

News from E.C. Henry the pre-pro screenwriter:

1. I finshed that pesky 1st draft of "Puppies?  Puppies?!  Puppies" and now it's on the rewrite.
2. After looking back over the 2011 Nicholl's Screenwriting Competion rules I found that I can't submit "A King for God's People?" and "The Rival King's of Israel" as they are both biblical adaptaions and all script in the Nicholl's competion must be original material from that author.  Meaning no adaptaions off other people's stories. 
3. Next up: re-write "Puppies?  Puppies?!  Puppies!!!" with the goal of getting it under 120 pages, and ready for an Austin Screenwriting submissinon.
4. Begin serious work on 4 new scipts.  One is an animated comedy.  One is coming-of-age hesit drama.  One is a supernatural thriller akin to the work I've previously done with "Indians of the Ancient Plains."  One is a dark, urban drama akin to the work I've previously done in "The Judas Project."

Took one year to complete one first draft and now you're embarking on four scripts at once? !  Dude, are you crazy?!?  Nope.  (Bridge to my next post) The writer's life is one of perpetual springtime...  Talk to you again real soon.