WEEKLY MEDITATION 6: 30 Days of Gratitude & Patience

M.06.23

Maybe it's just me, but this was the longest month of my life. I felt I had a couple mantras this week, to be the example that wasn't there and to meet myself where I was at. If I need coffee this month I'll have some. If I need to tone it down on my work out this month, I will. What impressed me last month was the ability to remind myself that I am capable of discipline. I was able to quickly identify things I can go without and also things I gravitate towards. I haven't done much writing but I have found time to stay motivated and stay inspired.

Before the new year I got heavy into Japanese jazz and a more modern alternative music scene overseas which has been like alternative music I listened to in college meets Nujabes, with women vocals at the forefront. I fell in love with several obi-strip vinyl covers I used as vision boards for Daydreams & Nightmares.

Sometimes I feel my algorithm is an anomaly that somehow gets uploaded in this Tron/Truman Show Universe and is exploited to the fullest. This year I have seen so many vinyl covers embody the Japanese cover obi-strip style I was diving into over the last year or so. I hate trying to bring something back but then it's global and I look like a poser. I'm trusting my instincts and my intentions to somehow tap into last years vision board and incorporate it into the world of Daydreams x Nightmares.

Anyways, last month I learned to give myself patience and gratitude, meaning if some of my day is geared towards family, or health, or artistry, I'll lean into my instincts and let it guide me in that direction a bit more than sticking to such a rigid schedule like I did in my twenties. I have also completed a mental reset by listening to a lot of genre-bending music that moves me either sonically or lyrically, without worrying if it sounds like a world that fits Daydreams x Nightmares. My main motivation this month is to not be so caught up on writing and be more caught up on being the best version of myself. I want to be in great mental, spiritual, and physical health on the back end of completing this project.

Even with all the high expectations I set for myself, and the failures I felt, I lost 6 pounds already this year. Nonetheless, I'm most proud about feeling as light mentally, as I do physically. The more I trust the journey I am on this year I am starting to embody the concept of everything I need is already in me.

02.12.23

- MCMXX

WEEKLY MEDITATION 5: A Meditation on Mental Fitness (S.C.A.T)

M.05.23

Evolution is a circle. I feel a lot of grace, being able to tap into things I did in my twenties and repurpose them when I need to. SCAT was never an issue for me in my twenties. I didn't start drinking coffee until I was 23/24 years of age. I barely drank in college. Born and raised in Miami, you've done it all by the time you've turned eighteen. Tobacco was a habit I picked up around COVID, sitting around with idle hands. Sugar, comes with the coffee most of the time.

I set out to go thirty days without SCAT and out of the thirty days, I probably had 20-22 days without sugar, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco. I'm at the point in my life where going out doesn't excite me. I like getting fresh air - going on hikes, going for a nature walk. When I'm bored though, and I don't want to move around I'll succumb to coffee, wine, or a cigar. What I noticed from this thirty day journey was a removal of a fuzzy or cloudy brain. Yes the days felt longer, but it was due to the fact my mind was sharp 24 hours in the day. It was easier to get up in the morning, it was easier to think. I could say something in my head with exactness.

Reverting back to this monk style of living didn't feel foreign. In my twenties I was very stiff when it came to my diet and workout routine. What was different this time was I didn't notice how long I hadn't gone without one of these things and once I removed all of them for at least three weeks, I could really see that the feeling of being "bloated" wasn't really a feeling I felt in my stomach or body but it was more so impacting my brain and thought process and my circadian rhythm in a sense.

Shay J and I have always talked about the concept of being high on life, and I really started to feel like Common did in that PETA commercial. Since I was so disciplined in most of my twenties this feeling was normal to me then, but coupled with how much wiser you are as you get older it's a powerful combination. As an older me, this power was kind of scary.... in a good way.

I'm hoping to go 60-66 days back to this mental exercise from April to Early June. I hope everyone out there is finding small improvements within themselves and sometimes you have to go back to what worked in the past.

2.05.23

- MCMXX

WEEKLY MEDITATION 4: A Meditation on Story

How to establish a more holistic approach to storytelling.

M.04.23

I have done extensive research in the past, read the holy grails, but the concept that improved my writing the most was learning the concept of a "beat sequence." It not only improved the way I write plot, but it also improved my ability to digest a movie or story properly. I am a firm believer of understanding trends, and within those trends seeing what common throughline all creatives have accepted.

As Edwin Catmull explains in his memoir, Creativity Inc., “Craft is what you are expected to know (the rules, the form, etc…), art is how we use it.”

The best resources for understanding how to use a beat sequence and how it is applied in story are - (1) https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-beat-in-screenwriting

(2) https://magicofstory.com/blog/

The beauty of being a blog reader is you never know when a blog will become inactive, and then be wiped off the internet. Because all blogs are finite, I do my best to internalize the golden nuggets I come across and transcribe any epiphanies I come across.

A quick google search for the story concept for Stranger Things will bring you to a full bible for the pop cultural inception of one of the best Sci-Fi stories of our generation. A lot of finding good resources is having the vocabulary or jargon under your belt to find what you are looking for. I came across the term "Bible," listening to a Ryan Coogler interview about the consultancy and conceptualization it took to create Black Panther.

* Stranger Things Bible - http://www.zen134237.zen.co.uk/Stranger_Things/Stranger_Things_-_Bible.pdf

For Black Panther, part of production was dedicated to giving Coogler a vibe of Wakanda equipped with source material for language, culture, fashion, and specific details in Africa that would also translate well to film. This was deemed as a 500-page Wakanda bible. Visiting the Kingdom of Lesotho, Gugulethu, and Kenya were integral parts of the vision.

After researching some of the best methods used by film and novel storytellers, and how to pitch a story idea leading to story conceptualization and consultancy I came across three vital trends:

(1) Create a one-pager

(2) Create a treatment

(3) Create a bible

In simple terms, a one pager is a pitch consisting of a short and more extensive logline, story set up, and reference points of tone and style for your story. The treatment is a brief overview of your story, more so in summary form than in script form. The bible, is a more extensive take on your story with possible posters, artwork, screenshots, and intricate details of story, structure, tone, style, genre specific breakdowns, character dynamic/development, and potential to expand brand and content moving forward.

I took time to develop my own style for a one-pager, but for the likes of a treatment I took a lot of inspiration from reading the treatment for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It also goes without saying I enjoyed experiencing the Stranger Things bible.

So far, I have the first 10-15 minutes of the script for NWTHAS, creating a short for my idea until I can bridge the idea into a full act and transition it into two other acts. I am very proud of the script, but I want to flesh out more of ACT I before I put it out in the universe publicly. Nonetheless, in terms of this meditation the script is not as important as mastering these pre-writing techniques.

Below is my one-pager, and treatment. What I learned from this exercise years ago is going from a one-pager to treatment, helps you get to a more polished version of your story before you write it in script form. The bible can be looked at as a more on-going process that will evolve before, during and after you finish your script.

Quick recap, after researching all the books on how to write a story lock in on mastering the craft of a beat sequence. Look for it in stories you watch or read. Especially short films or short stories. Get a one-pager going, then flesh out ideas in summary form this is a treatment. Finally select a good software to use to archive and write your script - I like to use Scrivener for writing scripts, and I have written some scripts on my phone. If all else fails find Chuck Palahniuk's 36 Writing Craft Essays, which he has now turned into a book called Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life...

Enjoy the process.

One Pager

Treatment

“Craft is what you are expected to know (the rules, the form, etc…), art is how we use it.”

- Edwin Catmull

1.29.23

- MCMXX