am I an idiot?

I try to find a voice, eveline - by which I mean; say it in a way that sounds like 'me'. Sometimes the voice comes easily, other times not. When the voice won't come I write in whatever voice I can find until my voice turns up. It always does, sooner or later. As to 'are you an idiot' I'm sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, eveline but - yes you are. After all, why should you be any different from every other human being who has ever drawn breath? You're not as big an idiot as whoever cracked the 'talent-engine' remark though.

I know what you mean. I know I have so much in my head, but am not ready to write it down yet. Something to do with being young and not knowing enough people seem to think. I also dream in film form and imagine a lot of things as stories in my head. It weird how the brain works sometimes eh ?

Un-fortunately I don't think that such a machine exists yet... so I can tell you what I do if u like.. By my bedsise I have a notebook and pen and when i wake up in the morning with the dream still vivid in my mind I flick on my lamp and write it without putting the pen down. It doesn't amtter if it doesn't make sense or if your grammar is rubbish. Cause your jus writing spontaneously. And another thing i do is I talk while I write. So I am actually speaking the wrods as I write them down and I find this helps me, get the dream down onto paper. Its hard at first because it feels tiring, especially first thing in the morning. But after a while it beco,mes easier and you find that your words just flow like. And you get your dream written down before the day catches up with you and you completely forget about it. When you write down your dream first thing in the morning don't try and write something all polished and perfect like. Cause all your doing is sketching. You know like a paintist sketches before he/she puts clour into it and brings it to life. So it can be as rough and un-polished as you like. Then later you can begin to polish it into a diamond. Writing your dreams down is cool cause I find it gives you some profound insights into your life and also the lives of others. It can be a very useful tool for knwoing yourself. Theos bless Funky_seagull

It is an engine called 'talent'

I know the feeling. I think getting started is the main problem, finding the right words for the first couple of paragraphs. I generally write down any old rubbish at first just to get into the story. Writing in the morning while the ideas are still fresh also helps. The Writers Digest Flip Dictionary is ideal for finding words that you can't think of at the moment. Incidently, for that film in your head. Did you know that Nicholas Dunning is offering a free email course on screenwriting. I am trying it now, it looks very good. You will find it at www.thebritishscreenwritinginstitute.co.uk

Thanks for the tips. I haven't heard of the dictionary and I will certainly follow up the course on screenwriting.

ARRRRWRITERSDIGESTSATAN!!!!

Do you tell your husband about the dreams? If you can tell them aloud like stories, then stick on a tape recorder as you tell him about them - for some people, talking aloud telling stories is easier than writing them down - you can transfer them to paper once you've captured the ideas on tape, even if you can just record outlines - then you have all the time you need to think of words to flesh them out into whole stories. Another useful exercise is too restrict yourself, in writing a story, to just, for example, 400-500 words. You can gradually extend the word counts as you get more skilled at writing shorter pieces. Jen

Idiot!? Who said idiot! I want your badge number right now officer. I'm going to report you to the authorities at once! Seriously, many good ideas above (except for the rude comment about talent) for you to consider. A vivid imagination is a sure sign of talent and potential. If you dream it...the stories (screenplays) will come. Much love, sleepy