I’d just got done rewriting my query letter (after many, many versions) and perused over to the magazine aisle.  And I ran into The Rock.

He’d written an editorial and said something that peaked my interest.  ”Hard work always pay.”  You can see the quote on the magazine cover.

I read the editorial, which was well written, and he mentioned nothing about hard work.  People often think of hard work as being difficult.  I’ve come to know it as being consistent and focused.  This is exactly what the editorial was about.  Showing up and being focused like a laser.  If you look at his career, he’s attained what he’s set his sights on.  No question about it.

As most of you may know, the 2010 Winter Olympics have started.  One of my favorite events to watch is figure skating, both singles and couples.  Tonight, China won first and second.  The focus has surrounded the gold medalist couple, who are married in real life.  Their story is well known in figure skating circles.

Oh!  My back hurts just looking at her.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo have dreamed of Olympic gold for the past eighteen years, since they first were paired by their coach Yao Bin.  Yao Bin had dedicated 30 years of his life bringing couples figure skating to what it is today in China.  He’d suffered huge embarrassment during the 1980 World Championships in Dortmund, West Germany.  He recalls people laughing as the Chinese placed last.

So what’s the point?

Yao Bin was determined to win gold.  And he spent the next three decades, away from his family, honing his skaters’ skills, his coaching skills, studying video of championship figure skaters, doing everything he could to attain what he attained tonight.

Was it difficult?

I have no idea.  But as I watched him on TV, his mind was highly focused and fully present.  He had to trust that all the work Shen and Zhao had put in would come to fruition.  Keep in mind that this is the couple’s fourth attempt, fourth Olympics.  That’s sixteen years.  Zhao, the husband, is 36 years young, and his wife, Shen, is 31.  Age was not a factor as they competed against much younger couples.

Their physical strength, pure athleticism, and grace performed under the pressure of the Olympics.  Difficult?  Sure.  But the testament to their passion, which makes difficult work to others effortless (like being in the zone), was shown at how easy it was when they floated over the ice.  They had to have practiced consistently, concentrating on every minute detail.  Otherwise, the pressure alone would have torn them down.

The key here is doing what you’re passionate about.  Because it’s easier to get what you want when you’re passionate and energetic about something.  Imagine having sex with someone you find ugly.  Difficult?  Yes.  Now imagine having sex with someone you find hot!  Effortless?  Hell yeah!  And you’d probably show up many times.

Did I mention the throws the female skaters completed were insane?

So with anything worth doing in life, show up and focus on exactly what you’re working for.  For dreams are meant to be fulfilled.

It is possible to move a mountain by carrying away small stones.  -Old Chinese proverb.

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Ever heard this?

As a storyteller, this can be a very limiting view.  Or is it?

William Shakespeare’s version of Twilight

A prominent screenwriter in Hollywood, David Freeman, gave a seminar.  There are hundreds of seminars I could have attended, but why did I go to his?  If you go to his site, he talks about techniques in writing.  No theories.  In fact, he gave so many techniques, it was like getting a trunk full of tools.  And in any one job, it’s highly unlikely you’ll use all of them, but you’ll definitely use enough to make your story emotional, something he emphasizes a lot.

He agreed with the quote above, but in a very un-limiting way.

I love going to movies, and one of the pleasures is seeing the previews.  I hate missing the previews like I hate missing the beginning of any movie.  One movie I’m anticipating is Avatar.

When I first saw it, I thought, James Cameron stole my idea!  WTF Cameron?  How’d you hack into my PC?

As I watched the preview, his premise was different.  Similar but different.

Then an image sparked in my mind.  American Indians gazing out into the sea as English ships sailed toward them.

The story of the Native American Indians against pioneering pilgrims is a familiar one.  It’s empire building.  The conflict?  The natives don’t want to leave.

Look at Braveheart.  I love that movie.  It’s the same thing.

Look at the battle of Thermopile, 300.

Look at the Mongols invading China.

Look at China’s history of the seven independent states warring against each other for power.

Look at Star Wars.

Look at King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

We have tons of stories based on the idea of oppression.  Sometimes the story ends with unification, like China and the seven states.  Sometimes we have stories of independence, like William Wallace’s fight for Scotland’s freedom.  But they all stem from a single idea.

Avatar is no different.  A powerful force, in this case us in the far future, wants something, a valuable mineral.  To mine it, we have to “politically” move a native race.  Easy enough.  But wait!  The native people don’t wanna move.

And the story begins.

Freeman said there were an unlimited amount of stories that could be told using the story computer.  Look at any story that you love or connect to.  Find a variation.

Turn the hero into a heroin.

Change the race.

Change the time.

Change the setting.

Change anything.

Look at Romeo and Juliet.  Change the time to the present.  Make the male a brooding, James Dean-looking vampire.  Now you have Twilight.

The Princess and the Frog is a great example.  What do we expect to happen when the princess kisses the frog?  The frog should turn to her prince.  But Disney was like, “Hell no. Dat’s been dun.  Da princess should turn to a frog, sucka!”

OK.  I doubt Disney execs would talk like that.  But they used the story computer to churn out what seems like a great story.

The Seven Provinces is a familiar story.  It’s about empire building.  It’s an underdog story.  It’s about a man trying to protect his family in a time of war.  It’s about oppression, betrayal, tragedy.  And much more.

There may be nothing new under the sun.  But that doesn’t mean new stories can’t be told using familiar themes.

I found them! I found the Freemasons!

Click to enlarge

I took a short break from work today and walked amongst my peeps.  I went to Chinatown.  Chinatown is a huge tourist trap.  There are restaurants that serve food from every province of China.  And along the dingy streets are little shops that sells authentic Chinese wares.  Wares that you can only find in old China.  There were back scratchers, water pistols, Manchurian queues (the ponytails) sewn in hats, cone straw caps for those sunny days, tea cups with zodiac symbols, Japanese swords, solar-powered crickets that chirped in satin green boxes, postcards of half naked men and women.  Real authentic stuff.

The problem with walking amongst my peeps are the tourists.  It’s like 50% Asians and 50% non Asians.  So I leave the beaten path and go up one street.  Now, it’s more like 90% Asians.  I can hear the mahjong tiles percolating through a shut steel door, the smell of rot and herbs stream out of an herbal store, Cantonese being yelled across the streets, elders crowd into a scummy coffee shop (rumored to be leaders of a Triad chapter).  Then lo and behold I find the Freemasons.  Didn’t think there were Chinese peeps in that organization.

I once took a cruise with some friends to Mexico.  The first stop was Puerto Vallarta.  The beach front properties sported souvenir stores, restaurants, and chain bars like Senior Frogs with tons of drunk Americans dancing and laughing.  My friend and I decide to explore a bit and go a street back.  Then the realities of Mexico hit us.  Human stench coursed up our noses.  Kids in gray rags walked bare foot.  The only Americans we saw from the cruise ship visited a massive church, the only building in good condition.  It looked like bombs destroyed the buildings and marred the streets into rubble.  To say it was night and day would be ridiculous.  The experience, however, was much appreciated, singeing the images in my mind.

I applied this to my writing.  In my book, I’ve created a fairly simple utopia.  On the front, every thing looks and works fine.  But behind the scene, evil lurks that my hero has to deal with.  More daunting, he realizes that this evil has lurked for most of his life under his nose.  I think a lot of stories start out with a nice image.  Then as things start to unfold, we as the audience find sinister things are squirming underneath neat layers.

I did this with myepisodes. The story seems easy enough.  A researcher is sent to find out why a pack of wolves are devouring innocent people.  But underneath someone is driving the events that are taking place.  The question becomes, will our hero find out?  Read them and find out.

Living in a metropolitan area allows me to encounter tons of people.  In talking to them, almost every one I run into have a good idea.  Either they have a book they want to write, an invention that would revolutionize daily life, a hobby they’d like to explore, a business they want to start.  Just to list a few.

Question is how many of those people explore or pursue it?

I’d venture a guess that it’s 2% or less.

So what’s inspiration?  Is it the same as a good idea?

In talking to all these people, a lot of them also have inspirations.  They have a book they want to write, an invention that would revolutionize daily life, a hobby they’d like to explore, a business they want to start.

Again, I’d go on a limb and guess that less than 2% pursue or explore their inspirations.

When you walk into a store, like a Walmart, you’re surrounded by tons of merchandise.  Think about this.  Where did all that stuff come from?

A factory in China.

Ha!  Yes but no.  Go further back.  Where did any of those things–George Foreman Grill, flat screen TVs, gum, textiles–really come from?  Someone’s mind.  Think about it.  A long time ago someone who loved fish said, “I’d love to have live fish at my house, so I can look at them when I come home.”  Hence, fish tanks came to existence.

Any of you know how J.K. Rowling got the idea of Harry Potter?  She had a vision, an inspiration, of this boy.  She then spent the next several hours imagining the world of Harry Potter, spent the next five years writing it.

Look at all the movies that come out every year.  All of them started in someone’s head.  Sometimes it took several heads to come up with the story idea.  But it got made and released.

The difference between a good idea or an inspiration becoming real is action.  Go out and do it.