Month: January 2015

Angelo J. Bell: ANGELO BREATHES, WRITES AND LIVES

breathless-crop

by Angelo J. Bell

Thankfully, this is my first post of 2015 and not my last post ever.

If you are new to my blog, allow myself to introduce…myself. My name is ANGELO BELL and I am a writer, director and independent producer, and most importantly… a father of four amazing children. This blog post is excerpted from my crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. In December, life nearly took me away from my daughters, Israel, Cimone and Imara, and my son, Zachary. Thankfully, I was given a second chance.There comes a time in everyone’s life when they think about how things would be different if they were given a second chance. I am in that place now. In December, 2014 I got my second chance. read article

Peggy Bechko: Tighten It Up

tightenupCapture

by Peggy Bechko

Yes, writers, there it is. Almost every writer’s writing needs to be tightened, but when it’s your baby and you’ve written it, you, as the writer, frequently hesitate to do what needs to be done. So right here, right now, I’m going to spell it out for you.

Yep, you have to tighten it up and here are some ideas on how to do that.

1. Every Word Counts – how often have you heard this? It’s true. For novelists and even more so for screenwriters. Look, it doesn’t matter how many words you’ve actually written, just be sure every one is necessary. Check out those adjectives. Think about the adverbs. If you’re adding a character you better be sure that character is absolutely essential on many levels. If describing a location choose the words that make the reader feel he or she is actually there. Everything works together to move the story forward and to capture the reader or watcher. Don’t ramble, just don’t. Review, edit, and cut ruthlessly. read article

Make Your Characters’ Motivations Clear…and Do It ASAP!

This could be one of the most important writing tips you read this year.

Or, you know, not. (But we think it is.)

motivation

by The Bitter Script Reader

I pulled out my bluray AIR FORCE ONE this weekend and watched the film for the first time in what has to be at least ten or fifteen years. You might be asking, “Bitter, why on earth would you own THAT film on blu?” It’s a fair question. Even I have considered it a so-so film.  It’s about as good as any “DIE HARD on the President’s Plane” could ever hope to be. And next to OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and WHITE HOUSE DOWN, it really looks like a masterpiece. read article

The North Americanization of Latin American TV

We have no idea why the people involved in this story think they’re telling us about a good thing. (But that’s how TVWriter™ rolls, or so it seems.)

MASTERS-OF-PARADISE

Latin America remains a drama market, but the type of series that are resonating has changed, with new forms of novella breaking through. The traditional soapy drama remains a programming staple region-wide, but a shorter, punchier and grittier iteration of the form is gaining ground, data for January-October 2014 shows. read article

A Look at the Writers of LAST MAN STANDING”

It’s all about experience…or is it? We don’t know about you, but we found this an interesting and ultimately very sad story:

lastmanstandingwriters

by Paul Brownfield

When the writers of the ABC sitcom “Last Man Standing” broke for lunch one recent Friday, five of them took their food to Ed Yeager’s office on the lot here. read article