Positive thinking in action? Or just silly?
Stop me if you’ve heard (or read) this before but I’ve had a lot of correspondence lately from people asking why The Power of Positive Thought: The Original Screenplay is actually a screenplay and not a novel.
Long story short. Some years ago, a good friend told me about a recurring dream in which she is preparing for her wedding day. The church is all booked, the dress is paid for, and she is counting down the hours before the big day when the realisation dawns: she doesn’t have a groom!
I thought it would make a wonderful movie. It’s a brilliant ‘ticking clock’ story and the quest – to find true love before we pass our sell-by date – is one that I think most of us can relate to on one level or another.
All I needed was an acceptable reason for someone to put themselves in this seemingly nightmarish situation voluntarily.
At the time, I was reading a lot of self-help books; specifically, anything I could find about the law of attraction, and so it wasn’t long before I put two and two together! What if the wedding date was set by the bride after having had a ‘build it and they will come’ moment? Is it possible to create a future with the love of your life using nothing more than the power of positive thought?
I couldn’t get this question out of my mind... and so I started to write the screenplay.
Two years later, after a steep learning curve and a lot of help from some very generous and wonderfully creative people, I had the first draft.
By now, the characters (Alice, Philippa, Theo, Bill, Beth, and Jonathan Planet) were starring in a movie that played in my head on an almost daily basis. I had to find a way of getting them out of there and up onto the big screen.
And that’s where you come in.
In fact, if you've bought the book you’ve already done your bit because all proceeds from The Power Of Positive Thought: The Original Screenplay will go directly to the creation of the motion picture version of the story.
Like the main character, I’m messing with the natural order of things in order to make some serious shit happen. A screenplay is usually published after the film has become a success, right?
Who knows some time may have passed since I wrote this and you could be about to read The Power of Positive Thought: The Original Screenplay after having seen the film that the book went on to finance! In which case, I’ll just tell you how grateful I am that you’re going to take the time and trouble and I hope you enjoy the book as much as you enjoyed the movie!
Oh dear, all this mental time travel is beginning to make my head hurt... I may have to go for a little lie-down.
All I ask of you now is that you visualise your future self, sitting in a darkened room with that big silver screen in front of you.
Ready?
Now, turn off your mobile phone, sit back... and enjoy the movie!
Sorry, book.
Thank you for your time.
David Shelton. PS. If you prefer your books written to be read rather to be turned into films, you may like to know that The Power Of Positive Thought: A Novel Based on the Original Screenplay is now available for pre-order here.