Takeaways from Dan Harmon’s Writing Advice
(Thanks to Naradha from SB for sharing this insightful video about Dan Harmon’s writing advice)
1:59 - 2:17
"Because we want to not admit that it’s all about us, we want to keep it narcissistic, but at the same time, we want to be lazy, frankly. We don’t wanna do anything that’s difficult."
My take:
It takes time and effort to not be lazy and to not procrastinate, and yet we still wanna make it all about ourselves--with minimum effort and (hopefully) maximum impact.
3:24 - 3:36
"Most spider-webs that you walked through are abandoned, because the spider gave it a shot, figured it out halfway through that it wasn't working, and bailed . . . or they finished a web, and it was such as shitty place, and it kinda fell apart."
My take:
Spider webs are our random thoughts scattered about, we’re the spider, and sometimes when it’s all piling up for too long, really damn hard to know what all our thoughts really mean to begin with--unless we (force ourselves to) write it down when we can.
3:37 - 3:42
"They do a lot of trial and error (sic), but it's like a biological process. It's essentially like taking a shit, I just got to get this web out of me."
My take:
Just do it, get the web out, spin the yarn, take dat shit out of our brain--let time and willpower do the rest.
6:12 - 6:40
"Generally speaking, people take lumps of shit, and they refine it, there is a collaboration involved, there is (sic) people helping you, a lot of time you're doing most of the work, just sitting there . . . torturing yourself, and, oh, i have this script that isn't done, when I'm supposed to have it done . . . You gotta open the laptop and just start typing . . . And then let it sit, and then do another draft."
My take:
We take lumps of random thoughts, and we sometimes collaborate with others in an impromptu manner to develop it (in Bahasa Indonesia, it’s called “tektok”, from the onomatopoeic sound of one thought bouncing from one interlocutor to the next), and sometimes we just torture ourselves by grappling alone with it--either way, it’s useful af.
6:42 - 7:16
"Brian Grazer said . . . It doesn't have to be good, it just has to exist . . . Just give it that lump of clay or something . . . Something will be good, but don't worry about that, just make it exist.
Because we're all critics, we're all so good at recognizing what's shitty about something, and, of course, how we fix it.
And then we're all so bad at making something. So, then, just make something bad, and criticize it until it's good."
My take:
Words are cheap, actions speak louder. Just do it. Just fucking do it. Lift your pen and start typing shit. Build. Measure. Fail. Build again. Measure again. Fail again. Iterate. Iterate. Iterate. Practice. Practice. Practice--and voila, you got your bloody fine piece of writing, and be proud of it, for it’s your brainchild.
