How about ridiculously awesome? That’s also a good option.

(Consider this a letter to myself and all other writers, filmmakers, and artists out there who are struggling to get past the idea stage.)

Have you ever wanted to film something, but stopped because it felt dumb? You didn’t want to act a certain way, wear a certain thing, try a certain idea, because you already deemed it dumb? You were afraid of how people would judge it? I know I’ve been there. And hey, sometimes the idea is kinda dumb. Sometimes you need a writing partner to let you know. But is it really always dumb?

Don’t let your insecurity stop you from exploring an idea. Film it! You never know what other ideas can grow out of it, or if it’s just insecurity talking and it really turns out fantastic. To quote J.J. Abrams from the Star Trek (2009) gag reel:

“While it will feel ridiculous, it will look awesome.” Too often I let my inner critic hold me back. “That’s too cliche.” “That will look dumb.” “Nobody will find it funny.” “Who’s going to bother watching that?” The thing is, if you ditch projects because of that, so much is lost. Great ideas spring out of each other. And sometimes your inner critic is flat wrong. Part of art is just making! Be genuine. Sometimes you might feel a little ridiculous. It’s practically in the job description. But you never know how it’ll turn out! It might just be awesome. Or both, that’s completely possible. And sometimes you get to the really great ideas by working on the ideas you think might not be the best.

And isn’t finding someone likeminded, who finds the idea just as interesting or funny as you, better than trying to appeal to the masses? Just write. Just film. Create. Do more, do better, and have fun!

See you around the campus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

If you want to contact me, I can be reached via Twitter @ejLadd or by my email, [email protected].

To see more from this blog, check out Frame Rate: Location, location, let’s go there!