Idea to Screenplay (and My Trip to the UK)

On Sunday afternoon, I lugged my suitcase back into my house after two glorious weeks in Scotland and England. Two weeks was the perfect amount of time to go away—long enough to really get away and fully enjoy the trip, and also long enough to become tired from 22,000-step days and spending 24/7 with other people (I love these fantastic people dearly, but I’m an introvert with a small social battery). It felt great to be back home with my cuddly cat, ready to luxuriate in my own personal space.

At least, until Monday arrived.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerJuly 18, 2024Comment

5 Takeaways from Austin Film Festival

There’s a saying I’ve heard many times in my writing career journey, both in terms of the stories we write and the relationships we build: “People don’t remember what happened; they remember how it made them feel.” This is true of events too. Austin Film Festival is jam-packed with amazing people, brilliant minds, and incredible projects.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerDecember 5, 2023austin film festival, screenwriting, film and tv, character development, ideasComment

Why Create When the World Doesn't Care?

All year, industry screenwriters have shared their accounts of not being properly compensated for vital contributions to an industry that makes an absurd amount of money off their ideas. Many writers and other artists are having existential crises. It feels like we’ll never be respected or rewarded for creating things, so why bother?

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerAugust 20, 2023 Comments

Do Not Submit Until: A Checklist

No matter the format or the genre, rejection is almost always due to one of a few common missteps. I want to share them so that we can all put our best writerly feet forward—because I, too, am a writer who submits my work to the mysterious realm of Readers who I hope will take my work seriously and consider it for a next step. First, some good news: readers are hoping to be enthusiastic about your work.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerApril 12, 2023submitting, revision, revising, screenwriting, essays Comment

Let's Talk About Rejection

I made a rejections collage. Yes, a real-life collage—the kind of collage you buy a poster board and glue sticks for—of my rejections. Not all of my rejections, but the ones that were easiest for me to find through my Submittable account and old emails. I wanted to write about rejection, and it felt important that I spend quality time with my rejections in order to do so.

An Ode to Pen and Paper

I’ve always had a physical journal to write in, and most of my non-journal writing projects still begin on a sheet of paper. This process feels sacred to me. Writing by hand feels more like I’m connecting with the “earth” of creating—making something in messy, slow, real life. It feels special.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerApril 24, 2022Comment

Try, Try Again

“Writing is rewriting” gives off a lot of that “practice makes perfect” energy, doesn’t it? It implies that you have to actually, you know, work and struggle. I like writing because in writing I don’t “have to rebuild all the time” in the way I have to do as a musician. But most expert writers seem to agree this is the real work of it all.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerFebruary 22, 2022rewriting, writing, piano, piano practicing, notes, revising, screenwriting, Twyla tharp, Nathan fielderComment

I Resolve to Keep Changing

Whether or not you “believe” in resolutions or the blank slate of the New Year, the idea of stepping back and taking stock of ourselves allows for a useful reflection we might otherwise skip. The dictionary says “to resolve” is “to decide firmly on a course of action.” It’s really just about a little active planning: Who do you want to be? How will you do it?

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerJanuary 7, 2022resolutions, goals, creative process, reading, writing, screenwriting, self-careComment

How to Get (Re-)Organized

I try to keep separate notebooks for separate writing worlds: one for screenwriting, one for fiction, one for creative nonfiction, and so on. However, as my creative life has gotten ever crazier, I couldn’t tell you which notebook is which. At least I know I’m not alone. Even Mozart once wrote: “Altogether I have so much to do that often I do not know whether I am on my head or my heels.”

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerNovember 23, 2021organization, marie kondo, Martha stewart, notebooks, planners, color, konmari method, James clearComment

To Be or Not to Be... Alone?

Loneliness plays a recurring role in creative work. Feeling lonely can connect us more deeply to our emotions, keep us undistracted by the needs and demands of others, and free us from others’ expectations—plus, our imagination kicks into gear because it works most when it’s needed.

lillie's musingsLillie GardnerSeptember 24, 2021solitude, loneliness, creative process, writing, novel-writing, feedback, community, f. Scott fitzgeraldComment

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