Write Your Own Rules

by Jose Ordoñez Jr.

Creativity needs rules. Wandering creativity gets lost.

Before you sit down to face the blank page, make sure you’ve tied your hands. Lay down the rules and become a slave to them. If you’re working on your first feature then this advice will pave the way. Write your own rules.

Before writing down Three Bedrooms I knew the entire screenplay had to take place inside a house. No one leaves the house, and if someone does, they are not to come back. Sean Baker knew that the ending to Tangerine had to happen at doughnut time with all major characters coming together. Neither of us knew where the screenplay would take us, but we knew the way. We didn’t know the whole story, but we knew about the story. Once you’ve paved the way, then you just have to walk it.

Creativity tends to show up as an aimless and powerful force. A lot of writers allow it to guide them through endless passages with no end in mind. They daydream about projects, often starting one and abandoning it as soon as a better one shows up. The smart artist purposefully leashes creativity. We put up fences and restrict it as to free its full potential.

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