When One Journey Ends a New One Begins

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing 

themselves--in finding themselves." ~Andre Gide

It's been a while since I las blogged. A very long while indeed. There's a lot I need to write about, but we all know that might not happen. So, why not move on, right?

I will finish with my M.F.A in Creative Writing from Full Sail University next month, and that means that I have officially completed my first full-lenght movie script. It was an interesting journey. I had the opportunity to master Final Draft, experiment with Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, and become familiar with Timeline 3D. All of these are great programs, and yes, I now see the benefits of using them for writing purposes.

I was able to experience my own writing adventure. I was able to feel the ups and downs of creating characters, a story, and doing the research. I went through a rewriting process and received useful feedback from peers and instructors. My pride was also swallow somewhere along the way.

And now, after so many doubts and fears, I am ready.

Now, I'm ready to create more scripts and go as far as I can.


Eva

Sometimes You Need a Second Take...

During the month of December I pitched my story to the Creative Writing Masters of Fine Arts (CWMFA) Thesis Committee. They are the ones that say whether your story is a go, or if you need to tweak it, or if you just need to come up with something entirely different.

In other words they were the ones who said if the story was good enough or not.

Unfortunately during the beginning of January I was told my pitch wasn't approved, that it was missing something, but I sort of knew that too.... 

Flashback

After I finally got my bachelor's degree I didn't know what I wanted to do next. Like many other recent graduates I was at a lost, especially in this economy, so I started to focus a lot more on my writing... and the words of of my 5th grade teacher and from one of my English professors came to mind, "You should consider English or writing for a Masters..." and "Eva should just become a writer, she has the potential to do it."

I was hesitant at first. Am I good enough? I asked myself quite often, even though I knew that there were readers out there who liked my storytelling. But like all writers, I wasn't confident...

But when I found out that my sister was getting her Masters in Architecture... well that  made me want to go after one as well. Only that this time it was going to be something I wanted (not like my bachelors), so writing was the first thing that came to mind.

I wanted a Masters in Creative Writing. I wanted to write.

Now I should know that things never go as planned, and that's what happened. I stumbled upon the school I am in right now, but when I asked for information I was informed that this school was for the entertainment business. Sure I was hesitant at first, but I went for it in the end. After all, I wanted to write my own comics someday.

So here was another dilemma, I didn't have an idea for a script in mind... In fact writing for movies, television, games, and even animation had never crossed my mind!

I had entered the UNKNOWN.

But the unknown might be what I'm good at. Well that's what I've noticed recently....

Present

So after finding out my pitch was rejected I started to question myself. I wanted to know what I did wrong. What I didn't understand.

With the help of my instructor I was able to see my mistake(s). You can say I had an AHA moment (one of many actually) and I rewrote my entire story paradigm; I changed my entire idea and created something a bit different. Something I was confident in...

So earlier today I was informed that my pitch was approved. The best news EVER!

This is when I realized that it's not that it's not good enough, it's just that it CAN be better...

So no matter how crazy it is.

 Or how many times you might be rejected. 

Don't give up but find out how it can become what it HAS to be...

Because in the end,  there are times in life when you need a second take.

Till Next Time

So What School Do I Attend Anyways!

So as many of you can see, I've done a few changes to my blog. But the biggest one is somewhere on your right. I have placed a 'Reading now' and 'I recommend' column. The reason is because as readers and writers we should all share with each other some of our favorite books or comics as well as reference books that we go to when needed.

As many of you know, I am in the process of getting my Masters in Creative Writing online. So far I've had some ups and downs, but I am learning quite a lot. In fact I've been having many 'AHA!' moments and I've been enjoying them.

But what you don't know is what school am I attending or how I get my books and such. Well I figure I let you all know today .


"Finally you are telling us!"


I know! I know! I'm sorry... :chuckles:


Anyhoo! I'm attending Full Sail University and it's not the easiest. I'm in an accelerated program so every month I have a different course. The courses I have had so far are the following: 

• The Art of Visual Storytelling 
• Multimedia Terms and Genres
• Literary Research (which is a pain!!!)

The one class I will begin on Monday is Character Creation and Development


The courses I have left in the program are:

• Script Analysis and Criticism
• Film Screenwriting and Storyboarding
• Writing for Games (I like games =o)
• Storytelling and Storyboarding for Animation
• Editing for Film, Games, and Animation Scripts
• Creative Writing Portfolio (Gah! I must have started on my script >_<)
• Creative Writing Portfolio (I must have my script completed by now! )
• The Business of Creative Writing

Yeah, it might be overwhelming since so much is required from us, but the instructors are always there for you and they are willing to hear you out and help you as well. 


For those of you who might have an idea about Full Sail know that it's not cheap, but I see this as an investment. Besides this is like everything else... I need to sell my talent and let everyone know that I am capable of doing the work.


And believe me, in the small amount of time I've been here I have learned so much! 


As for textbooks, I get a shipment every month of the books I will need; of course some instructors prefer ebooks.


So far some of these books have been helpful, others have not made an impact, so I'm thinking of creating haul videos about the books I get each month or the books I personally get for fun and for reference reasons. There aren't many of them on YouTube :laughs:


This is a long post as is, so I will break down why I chose the books I did on a following blog. So that's all for today and wish you all a great week!


 Till next time,



Eva