Hello! How are you? (Please don't reply to your screen that'd be weird!) I hope you're doing well! As I keep saying, people of Earth and hopefully one day Mars, to your right you will find all the links you need to follow me! Click away and instantly, every move I make, every breath I take, you'll be watching me (fantastic song, "Every Breath You Take", the Police, 1983). The Disclaimer So, just a disclaimer before you start reading the rest of this advice from a 19 year old kid who sits at home writing on a blog from a free website he made when he was bored... Take everything as a tip. Aaron Sorkin, (who is great writer) Isn't the award winning writer he is today because he wrote the "right way", because there's no such thing. Aaron Sorkin is the award winning writer he is today because he is a fantastic writer and he got the gig or got discovered. Just because you may not have won awards yet (If you want to, of course) it doesn't mean that your writing doesn't affect people. It doesn't mean that your stories and worlds don't bring people joy and if you show your script or book or short story or whatever to 100 people and only 1 person says they like it, well at least you're on the right path. There is literally no right or wrong way to write! So, let's get started! Also, all of the resources are not in order of worst to best but rather in order of relation the subject matter. Oh, and non of them are sponsors, I have not been paid they're just really great resources that I use regularly. Whilst we're here, you can just click on the name of the resource (it will be in bold and underlined) and it will take you straight there! How do I start? What's the first thing I do? Okay, so the first thing I do, is get ideas and this is always different for every project I start. Sometimes they just appear and I have an idea, sometimes I am directly inspired by something, sometimes I might just feel like writing a particular genre and sometimes I really have to work to get it. In order to get ideas and be inspired I tend to always think about a story. If you are looking at piece of art work, like the one below, think about a story.
FIRST GREAT FREE ONLINE RESOURCE This now brings us to the first great free online resource. That is Fantasy Name Generators. I kid you not. This site is more than what it says. You can generate anything from this site. Names of people, civilizations, cities, fruits and veg, planets, bugs, armor names, herb and spices names, drinks, countries, holiday names, descriptions of people, places, you can even generate and build a space station. All for free, all online. You can use this to give names to your characters or you can use it to just give you a stepping stone for a bigger idea. I have used it for both on multiple occasions. I mainly use it and take what it gives me and make it my own and build from it, but however you use it, this site will give you exactly what you need! Just a quick tip! To be a good writer, imagination is key! Think of it as a muscle, you have to keep it strong in order to use it. So how to you make it and keep it strong? Read. Now, I don't read as often as I should but I do read a lot of comics. Comics are fantastic, you can get some real inspiration from the art work, the colours, the characters and story arcs. But, when I say read, I mean novels. For the one simple reason of... Novels do not have pictures. The reason this is good is because it forces your imagination to run wild, to create in your mind, what the world the writer is describing looks like, smells like, feels like. Okay, solid idea. What's next? For me it's all about creating a vision from the idea and staying motivated. So the next thing I do is something that most people think about later. Of course, I get a title, so lets just stay with the photo above and we'll call our film, "The Fisherman" (which is already the title of a great short film directed by Alejandro Suárez Lozano but our film is different!). So, here's where I think I work differently to most. Next, for me, comes the logo. Making the logo and even a teaser poster early on, really helps me stay motivated and craft my vision for the film. I do this almost every time. Below you'll see a super quick poster I crudely slapped together to show you what I mean.
SECOND GREAT FREE ONLINE RESOURCE
The second great free online resource is dafont. This is a great resource for free fonts to create your logos! The font used in the example is called "Uptown" and was created by AnthemType. Here's a couple of those quick tips! You can type in the name of your film or book or whatever in the little search bar labeled "Preview" to see what it looks like in each font and also, always be sure to read the terms and conditions of every font that you download, so that you don't break any laws and plagiarise the work of any creators. If you click "More Options" you can tick the boxes "Public Domain" and "100% Free" to ensure you can use it for commercial use but always give credit to the original creator. Right, there's an idea, a title, a logo, a poster... So now what? Well, now comes the writing for me. Some people like to plan first, apparently you "should" but don't listen to that. I think it's great to plan if you want to, go head, I don't though. I tent to get out of the way, let the story form it's self and just write. I don't like to think to much, in fact, I don't think at all, really. I just write, I don't worry about grammar, punctuation or spelling, as those things come naturally almost like second nature to me and you. Everyone knows how to spell some what decently and everyone knows how to order words and use basic punctuation. What I mean is, if I make a mistake, which I 110% always will because I am terrible at spellinng, I worry about it after, I write a chapter or an act and then go through it and catch as many as I can but that's where my editor comes in. She's wonderful at catching things like grammar and things that I didn't catch, so her role in my writing process is essential. There's another quick tip! Get an editor. Now, that's easy for me to say, sure, but you don't actually need a real editor like I do and like many other writers do. You really only need somebody you can trust, somebody who enjoys reading your stuff, someone you know will be honest and somebody with fresh pair of eyes to read over your work! THIRD AND FOURTH GREAT FREE ONLINE RESOURCE So, the third great free resource is Trelby. I left "online" out because Trelby isn't online, but, it's a completely free downloadable script writing software and is fantastic. It's a great program that for works a dream because as I said before, I don't think much when I write, I just write and write and fix the mistakes later and Trelby is a software that does all the screenplay formatting for you, I don't have to think, I just write. Though, I do feel obligated to supply you with an online version and that would be Celtx. I used to use Celtx in the early days when I first started writing and although it seems to have gotten more and more limited throughout recent years, It's still a great online software that you should utilise if you need to. The fourth great free online resource would be Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slid- Google. The things I just listed are like getting a 15GB Flash-drive, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and the answer to any questions you could ever have all for free, all without leaving your home. Google Docs is essential for my work flow. It is extremely powerful and allows me and my editor to communicate with ease. I send her the book or whatever and she is able to edit it, highlight things, add notes and comments, all in real time. I can sit there and watch her do this and respond to her notes as she makes them. It's incredibly easy and very powerful. Utilise Google, people! OTHER GREAT FREE ONLINE RESOURCES Film Riot Indie Film Hustle Film Courage Well then! That was a long one, right?! I hope you've found this one useful! If not... I'm sorry...But, there's not much I can really do about that...Anyway! This is it! Until next time, when I talk about world building and writing characters! See you soon! Live Long and Prosper! Captain's Log: Supplemental The amount of views and traffic this blog is getting to say its only been going, now, three days is great! Keep sharing and liking! Thanks a lot! However, let me know what you think! reach out on Twitter, Facebook and comment on these posts! Let me know what you want to see, what you think about the posts and ask questions! See you next time! --Message Ends--
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Hello again, welcome back. Hope you're well!
Once again ladies, gentlemen and others you may find to your right all the necessary links to get your little bit of me every day to surely keep the doctor away (fantastic song "Just a Little Bit of You", Michael Jackson, 1975). Go ahead, follow away! The Confession So, I have a confession to make... By the title of today's post you may already knew that though... You see, I can't legally tell you everything I'm working on due to the fact that I am under contract not to. However, I can tell you a few things, little things. Like, I am working with a few other people, some local to me and some over in the U.S. and what we're working on is something that will hopefully be very special. So what can you say? What are you actually working on? One thing I can say is, I am currently working on my first book, though you won't see that just yet, you'll most likely see my second book first (if that makes any sense at all) which I aiming to have out around January 2019 but this isn't an official announcement so before I get drowned in the emails from all 3 of you telling me how incredibly excited you are, just hang on! Stay tuned for more information on that. Along with the two books there are also 7 scripts (So far... I have a few more that I am gearing up to start writing too) that I'm writing and re-writing but you won't see any of those on the screen for at least another two years. Though, we are working very hard! You see me and my editor have a good little rhythm going now (my editor is also my girlfriend, which is kinda cool but also sounds kinda stupid, but she is genuinely an editor and has worked with other writers in the past. She's also an actress which is cool.. Anyway... stop reading these brackets! I bet you've forgotten what I was saying before now, haven't you? Though, you read what I write so I should just stop... Sorry... This was my fault, I take it back... Cheers....Bye...Sorry again...bye now... TTFN...See you soo-). What happens is I write a chapter and send it her, she reviews it, adds notes and edits it then sends it back. Then she works on the scripts, which ever one(s) we're working on at the time. By the time she's finished reviewing the script, I've edited the last chapter and written another, we swap, I edit and change the script to her notes whilst she works on the books and then- I'm sure you get the picture now, but it's working well! In Other News... In other news, as we head into September, keep an eye out for "Outlawed", which is a film I worked on way back in April of last year. It's coming to cinemas on September 28th! I was only a tiny part of a huge crew though, but everybody was incredibly talented and great to be around. Last time I spoke with the director he said it will be up on Netflix sometime in the near future too, whether that's changed or not I don't know. You can find out more information and check out the trailer by just clicking on the poster at the bottom of today's post! September is going to be a big month for me. I'm super excited. Though, other than "Outlawed", there is nothing more that I worked that I know is being released but... Lenny Kravitz has a new album out on September 7th! Next week! Called "Raise Vibration" so, expect a full review on that! As well as Prince! He too, also has an album coming out on September 21st called "Piano & a Microphone 1983" which again, I am extremely excited for! Along with all that it's also rumored that we'll be getting something on Captain Marvel! whether they release a teaser trailer or a poster I don't know, it could just be a lie, who knows! So, that's the end of yet another uneventful blog... Again, click the poster below to get more information on "Outlawed". Until tomorrow, when I go through my writing usual process, share with you the greatest (in my opinion), free, online resources that have helpped or still help me in writing and film-making in general! See you soon! Live Long and Prosper! Well, hello there! I'm Dan Barker (obviously) and this is my blog! Welcome to the first blog post, appropriately titled, "One". I don't really know how this works really. You see, I have never done a blog before and I have never really followed one either, so I don't quite know what to post. Though, I'm sure this will get better as go we on! Also, to you're right just underneath the banner you'll find all the links to my social media so you can follow me! Who are you? Why, good question! I am a writer and a film-maker. I have several huge projects in the works which are extremely far off from being ready to announce, but you'll be following me and my journey through all of this... so... shhh! I write a lot, almost everyday and I enjoy it so much. The reason I enjoy it is because I love the idea of creating worlds and universes and the fact that now, anyone can do anything they want through the medium of film, it blows me away. They always could through writing but now, literally nothing is impossible and that is why I do it. Why are this posts going to be named "Captain's Logs"? !NERD ALERT! Well, because I love Star Trek, of course! "But you're only a Lieutenant Commander on Star Trek Online!" Yes, but... I am the Captain of the U.S.S. Pioneer! Oh, and say what you want but Captain Johnathan Archer is my favorite Captain of all time! Do you have any other hobbies? Yes! I am a musician, well trying to be! I play the guitar and piano and plan to start bass guitar by the end of the year! I am mainly Blues player with my biggest inspiration (in terms of my playing) being B.B. King for guitar. For Piano, it'd have to be Jools Holland. Well, this is it! It was great getting to know you. Sorry for the lack of story, but as I said, bare with me! Until tomorrow, when I spill some more details on what I'm working on! See you soon! Live Long and Prosper! |
About Dan BarkerHi there! Welcome to my blog! Here you'll find me and my journey as a writer and film-maker. Archives
February 2019
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