by Marie Setiawan

Let me introduce myself – I am an aspiring writer wanting to make her way into the industry and make stories come to life, whether they are others’ or my own. There is something about creating life through the words you sculpt into a story – the characters, the plot, the journey they embark on, and the obstacles they must face. It’s an intricate craft – one that I need to hone my skills into before I can take a step through a producer’s door. If at any point in time such a thing turns into reality, you’ll be the first to know here. But for now, these are early times.

After graduating from film school, things have crawled to a slower pace over the past month or two. Perhaps maybe too slow for my liking. I had gotten used to the film school regimen that structure in my untimely schedule has been thrown out the window. It’s difficult to know what to do with myself nowadays. Frankly it’s been an extended holiday, but my mind needs constant stimulation or else creativity would grow stagnant and stale. I’m sure most writers have “one of those days” where nothing comes to you, where you stare at your computer screen (or your empty notebook page, whichever your method may be) for what feels like an eternity and nothing springs out at you. Call it a lack of inspiration, but I’ve learned that it’s also a lack of discipline.

I had initially set a goal (or a number of goals) to achieve within a six month period – which is now less than six months at this rate – but it’s given me an objective to strive towards, much like how one’s protagonist chases after their dreams relentlessly. I’ve felt unsure at times as to where I’m going to take myself from here. After all, I am fairly new to this strange world that is the film industry. So I’m caught at a crossroads of sorts – the inevitable next step after graduation: “What now?”

For any aspiring screenwriter, it all comes down to utilising time to your advantage (though I’m one to talk). We can easily come up with excuses to postpone any goals we want to achieve just for another day. It could be a lack of inspiration or the sense that all you’ll write would be meaningless trite at the end of the day. Honestly, I’ve caught myself doing other things to avoid writing in general – even washing the dishes was a productive substitute. My time has been spent reorganising all of my things – a few script ideas and a film treatment in the works – all of it a part of my plans to complete within six months (now less). Regardless, it’s good to get your mind away from it all once in a while, but only enough for another fresh start on your work. Procrastination is creativity’s double-edged sword – not the enemy.

Now it’s 2013… it’s all about starting from rock bottom after having a taste of what it’s like to be on top of things. Now that film school is over for me, I’m now trying the waters. I apologise for such a late post, (one that I’m writing in the wee hours of the morning), but I had been keeping it off for your average number of reasons: “I’ve been busy.” “I haven’t had time to sit down.” “I wasn’t inspired.” When really, all I needed was to jot down my initial thoughts. It’s all about completing one step at a time instead of having to constantly focus on the super objective, which for anyone would be a significant weight on their shoulders (much like how New Year Resolutions don’t always work out).

From here on, it’s one foot in front of the other. Let’s see what the next month will bring.

– Marie

Marie Setiawan is a film graduate from the International Film School Sydney, as well as a UNSW Alumni with a BA degree in Media and Communications with Honours. Writing is her passion, but she also enjoys many things on the side such as reading, watching films, and indulging herself in social media whenever she can. She is interested in the future of storytelling and how it is constantly changing in our tech-rich world, where narrative can be transformed into any medium.

Photo Credits: The Graduate (1967)

by Karel Segers

This ‘new look’ thing seems a bit out of character for me. I mustered the courage before going into a 10-day meditation retreat – where I didn’t expect anyone would know me. I expected wrong. After the experiment with super-short hairdo and lack of facial hair, I’m now back to (fairly) normal. Other changes have stayed, like getting up before sunrise every morning. You should try it – it is totally awesome.

So here I am with a rare, more personal kind of article. I’ve tried to start a regular thing like this before – but was too shy, too much of a perfectionist – or probably just not good enough a writer to stick to it on a weekly basis.

But after a few inspiring chats with my team members last week, we have a plan for a regular Saturday post.

And lots more.

The Future And The Past

My Facebook friends witnessed how last year was quite amazing in that I had tons of fun teaching and consulting. I’ve worked on my biggest projects ever, with wonderful people. One project involves the director of Australia’s most successful film of recent years.

So not much blogging in there.

Now I’m staring 2013 in the face… and suddenly last year pales in comparison, both in terms of work volume and scope. I’ll be teaching at 5 different places in Sydney and after trips to Asia and the Middle East, this year for the first time I’m going back to my European roots to lecture in Sweden. And I’m working on some very exciting projects.

Still, I’ll try to update you here every month.

I do want to get back into writing about the craft of screenwriting again, too. My study of movie structure and screenplays and the work with my clients have given me a some insights I have not read about anywhere else and I would love to share them with you.

One Hundred Articles – One Great Team

Behind the scenes of this blog, 100 draft posts are waiting to be developed and published. For some other bloggers this may not seem so much but for me, who has only posted a handful of articles over the past year, it’s pretty intimidating. I’ve made a commitment to ship more often this year.

The most exciting thing of all is that I have an amazing team behind me to start this year, and I would like to introduce the five members of the core team to you:

Jamie Campbell: She is a novelist, blogger and screenwriter from sunny Queensland, who has taken the role of Co-Editor. Jamie has been helping me for quite a while to make The Story Department the best website on screenwriting in the Southern Hemisphere. Jamie runs Tuesday’s Guest Posts as well as Sunday’s Best Of The Web.

Jamie Wynen: This young man has talents coming out of his ears. He is an excellent writer and equally gifted behind the camera. Jamie collects the best videos on screenwriting, storytelling for the screen or filmmaking in general and presents them to you on Wednesdays. If only he would write more posts himself as his insight and style are both terrific.

James Michael: Like Jamie, I met James during a screenwriting course in which he excelled in terms of story originality and scriptwriting and I was thrilled when he accepted my invitation to join the team. He bridges the gap between The Story Department and “Logline It!“, the website on loglining that I started last year. James posts the Thursday logline reviews and often adds his own incisive feedback.

Marie Setiawan: I’ve know this screenwriter, filmmaker and blogger for a few years and was over the moon when at the end of 2012 she agreed to become one of the contributors to this web site. Marie graduated from the International Film School Sydney, where I consulted to the students on their projects. Marie will be tweeting on screenwriting and monthly on a Saturday, Marie reports on her path to becoming a professional screenwriter.

Cameron Pattison: Also a graduate from the IFSS, Cameron blew me away with the feature treatment he presented before graduating. Not only is he a promising screenwriter, Cameron is very much au fait on what is happening in the industry. His calm appearance disguises a burning passion for the craft. Cameron is keeping an eye on what’s reeling in the blogosphere and tweets it to @ozzywood.

Become One Of Us!

In addition to the core team, I’m hoping to present regular articles by Steven Fernandez, Mark Rasmussen, Ben Lenzo and other great regular contributors I am dying to read more of. We also have a fantastic monthly series coming up by JT Velikovsky, which will start next month.

If you have a screenwriting blog or would like to try your hand at writing a piece, drop us a note! We’d love to (re-)publish your stuff here.

Alongside all these collaborative efforts, I’ll make a superhuman effort to bring back the popular Structural Analyses.

If it weren’t for those wonderful people who have been helping me over the past few years, this blog would have virtually disappeared off the radar some time mid 2010. That’s when I dropped the ball due to real-life developments. But my volunteers have always stayed around – and so have you, my dear readers.

I thank you humbly for this.

– Karel

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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