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Breanna - a lifelong Disney fan - is a writer who lives on a cattle ranch in Alabama. She wants a t-shirt that says, "Where Were You When Mufasa Died?"

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Waking Snow White Writing Process

Today’s entry of Waking Snow White is somewhat unique in that I’m not discussing Disney at all today.  Instead, I’ve decided to give y’all a peak behind the curtain, so to speak.  I’m going to attempt to explain my writing process so that everyone can understand why it has taken me so long to get some of these pieces published.  I don’t recommend this process to anyone.  Please learn from my madness.  Thank you and have a magical day.
1.     Open a new word document
2.     Watch movie
3.     Take notes as the film is being watched
4.     Read selected film’s IMDB page (cast list, trivia, quotes, etc.)
5.     Choose a quote from the film to title the post
6.     Create the blog entry on Blogger, add the title, the tags, and the headlining poster
7.     Read film’s Wikipedia page
8.     Watch movie again
9.     Take a few more notes as the film is being watched
10. Go online to look for images you want to include in the blog and save them to your computer
11. Watch movie again
12. Watch the DVD/Blu-Ray bonus features
13. Write some more notes
14. Fall asleep watching movie
15. Leave word document open on computer as a constant reminder of work that you have to do
16. Watch the movie again, but the alternate version this time (ex. work in progress version of Beauty and the Beast, original theatrical version of Pocahontas)
17. Take more notes
18. Look at the notes amassed thus far on the word document and contemplate how to form them into a cohesive thought
19. Panic as you realize you have no idea how to write about this film
20. Postpone writing the piece for an indefinite length of time
21. Receive several calls from Ginger regarding the lack of blog updates
22. Set a new deadline to finish the whole blog
23. Buckle down one day and vow to yourself that you are going to finish the damn thing so you can move on
24. Watch movie
25. Take more notes
26. Read some Disney books regarding that particular film
27. Watch movie
28. Notice that the notes are beginning to resemble paragraphs
29. Watch movie with the audio-commentary if it’s available
30. Shift some paragraphs around
31. Connect the paragraphs with sentences that sound intelligent at two in the morning
32. Reach twenty pages, and acknowledge to yourself that you’re getting close but it’s still not quite done
33. Write the closing paragraph for the film
34. Write the plea for reader comments
35. Upload the document to Blogger
36.  Upload the pictures to Blogger
37. Screw around with Blogger for a few hours in order to work the pictures into the piece in an aesthetically pleasing manner
38. Poke around on YouTube for relevant videos to upload to Blogger
39. Do a final check for errors, even though you know that you’re going to miss a few of them
40. Schedule the time and date the piece is to be published
41. Press “Publish Now”
42. Stand up and realize that your back, neck, and butt are in extreme amounts of pain from sitting for such a long period of time
43. Stretch and contort your body as you walk to the refrigerator for a lovely beverage
44. Drink an orange Sunkist
45. Sleep
46. Read through the finished piece and cringe at the errors that you vow to go back and edit when the blog is finished
47. Await comments
48. Be positively giddy when comments are received (even the critical ones)
49. Realize you’ve got more work to do
50. Repeat

2 comments:

  1. Ha ha!

    My process is similar for the things I write about Lost and Glee. I still haven't posted anything about Glee's new season because I haven't been able to sit down and take notes.

    People don't realize that even just sitting down and typing stream-of-consciousness posts based on your notes can take over an hour.

    Hope Pocahontas is worth the wait!

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  2. Wow, I had no idea you watch the movie so many times during your work! It must have been horrible to watch 3-4 times for example "The Black Cauldron" :D. But I think we are all glad to wait for your awesome Disney essays XD.

    PS: I was in Disney mood last night, so I watched Tangled and Hercules. Oh, what a combo!

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