So I've been bouncing ideas off of my co-workers relating to my script. The story involves 3 college friends who meet up for a little bit of a wild weekend and run into some trouble with some dangerous people.

Initially, I had one of these guys being in a relationship, only acknowledging the girlfriend character through shot stints of him talking to her on the phone - since she wasn't a part of the story. She was meant to be a sign that this character is a reliable, mostly responsible guy who can maintain a relationship like that. But it didn't really come through like I'd hoped and seemed to be a detriment to the narrative.

I had another idea about one of the other characters trying to get the attention of a girl from his church (he's the responsible force in the movie now, and likes good girls). But, after writing some ideas and some dialogue to develop that part of the story, it seems like a complete waste of time.

I want to pull at people's heart strings with this story (action/comedy), but I fear I may be trying too hard. Maybe I'll just axe the love story idea. To hell with it.

A few months have gone by since I've made a post, and for this I apologize sincerely. We all have issues and distractions that take us away from our favorite hobbies. This blog is one of mine. So here's what I've been up to:

* I tried to join a branch of the armed forces, and was rejected due to some poor past decisions and some health issues.
* I got a new job working in a bakery (I know, sounds uneventful. But it's been surprisingly fun and rewarding).
* I've been writing a screenplay for some weeks now.

The latter is probably what this blog will focus on for the next couple of months at least. The story has been in my head since 2 summers ago and at the very least I can promise that it will be very funny. I'm determined to make it so.

Other than that, I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and I'm stoked to start this new year. It's gonna be big.

Since blogging provides you with such a different kind of communication, and envites you to share great things with the world. I took it's advice and made this and all previous articles my own (not including sources for news stories). With this opportunity, I decided to do something a little more thoughtful.

So I've added to a wealth of information. Now I have a new sense of something. Something like pride or being content, it makes you warm inside. Knowing you've contributed to something makes you feel good, it's like giving someone a present.

Unfortunately, with the internet being such a big entity and so widely used, it's hard to even get someone to read or watch your contribution, let alone separate yourself from the rest of the contributors who may or may not share your desire to make and create for some kind of worldly or other-worldly benefit. A real purpose.

When faced with these circumstances, I've found the most common way that contributors try to entice an audience is to bargain. For example: blogger A may join social networking sites with other bloggers and after finding a reasonable candidate (we'll call this person blogger B), ask blogger B to read their posts. Then blogger A might finish the message saying "In return for you reading what I have to say, I will read your blog and leave comments etc." This may or may not entice blogger B to read blogger A's blog.

The problem with this is that it may take a huge number of tries to get the desired amount of readers. Suddenly that present isn't as special and your warm feelings fade away quickly. You have to ask other people for a present in order to give them yours, and that's not how we're used to doing it. It squashes the point, and you feel like it's not worth giving any more.

That's why I'm here to tell you make your content for the sake of doing the best job you possibly can. Distance yourself from the readers until they connect themselves to you. Not concerning yourself with the number of people who saw your past work will free up time to make your current work better. And knowing that makes me warm inside.

This is Joshua, trying to give you a present.