Internship Check-in #2

Today I looked up some Youtube videos on script writing. Quickly found that what I want to write is in fact a voice over script (or something like that).

I found @findyourvoice_vb on YT and found some really good advice on several videos (except the one that was written with AI, that one was generic and a waste of time except the last tip which was actually written by the script writer. Truly an encapsulation of all that makes AI useless!). These are the tips that I found useful, paraphrased:

• Let the story stew in your head.
  • This one was validating. An unknown amount of work into writing a stories happens in my head, without visible output. If I had to make a comparison, it’s like a pre-Big Bang state. Unstable atoms are bouncing around, grazing against each other. The world that doesn’t exists observes with anticipating for the moment of collision, inevitable but not happening yet. Even if they know how the story ends, their lives depends on the moment of the beginning. And that anxiety is what I feel right now. I’m not writing and my internship requires that I do because I have to write an journal entry every time. But how can I do that when the creative process of writing is stirring the pot, waiting, living. I can’t track the time like that. Should I? I was a bit more conscious about the moments I think about my internship after watching these videos. I am genuinely scare of not being able to pass the minimum number of hours required when I am the one who chooses how I spent my time qualities as “internship time” and what doesn’t, so I think to scale down. I don’t like it!
• Storytelling over facts
  • This is some really good advice. In science communication, perhaps one of the most relevant. Facts at least needs context and context needs an emotional dimension. The voice over actor used the example of Hemingway’s six letter story: For Sale: Baby’s Shoes, Never Worn. I am deeply aware that scientific data is meaningless to the general public without grounding it in everyday reality. So often do I recall the little that I know about science communicators in the U.S. before Carl Sagan. The researchers cooped up in their labs who had very little experience with being on camera and public relations. I forget that name of the movie but it really sparked my interest in the history of science communication, the public relations part. It was television and radio back then.
• Use connectors.
  • The channel has a couple of videos on how connectors make a huge difference between the spoke work and the written word. I will definitely take this into account (by point out that this post wasn’t written with connectors in mind, very bullet point-like)!
• Just Do It!
  • Honestly, when I started looking for videos… I thought I was wasting my time. My first results were the scammy videos on how to tips on how to write better scripts, except it was written in this absolutist language that doesn’t sit well with me. And this one video that pushed for using AI to write scripts but “you’re using generic prompts and not this AI tool so your scripts are coming out WRONG” something like that, shakes head disappointingly. Anyways, the advice has always been helpful to me and genuinely use it quite often to motivate myself to Doing The Thing. My brain keeps making up these scenarios that have nothing to with the actual writing which cause me to feel anxiety and dread and I end up unable to write a single word. It’s incredibly frustrating when I love writing so much!

A lot of them are general writing advice but I found them useful because it’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toes in creative writing. Going back to basics and hearing the advice that I know by heart helped me get motivated.

Talking about motivation, this was the only thing I’ve done (apart from writing this post). I’m meeting with my professor tomorrow so I hope to share some of my worried and ask for advice. Things are still pretty tough but having worked on my website, I feel a bit more grounded today compared to the last time. There’s a whole month to go and anything can happen!