Month: March 2015

Where Do Your Story Ideas Come From?

And now, a day devoted to continuing Peggy Bechko’s discusson of where ideas come from…cuz let’s face it, for most of us getting great ideas sounds a lot easier than it is.

stories.indiewireby Tambay A. Obenson

Recalling my recent interview with Ernest Dickerson, and the part of the conversation about black filmmakers dipping into a broader pool of stories as well as genres, taking risks, tackling material that’s off the beaten path, instead of following to the so-called path of least resistance when it comes to what Hollywood expects of black cinema (assuming Hollywood is your eventual goal)…

It all got me thinking about how we (black filmmakers) settle on the stories that we want to tell; what inspires them; where we look to find them, etc… read article

TVWriter™’s Most Popular Posts of the Week Ending 3/27/15

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Here they are, the most viewed TVWriter™ posts during the past week:

Peggy Bechko: More Online Writing Resources read article

Hank Isaac: Will Lightning Ever Strike Your Digital Series?

hankandlilacUnderfunded Overachievers #8
by Hank Isaac

I was going to write to the question: “Is it even worth it?” but, you know, it’s Spring (or Autumn if you’re down under) and, either way, it’s a time of change. So…

I’m a sailor. I’ve been one for well over half a century. And the fact I can boast that is frankly a bit disturbing. I was also a pilot. So weather is something that is not only interesting, knowledge of it is essential. In fact, ignoring the weather can quickly put lives in jeopardy.

So here’s where I pass on my little bit of knowledge – as a metaphor, because I’m supposed to be a writer. read article

How the BROAD CITY Writers Make the Show So Funny

Yeah, we see the problem here, so just between us, if you don’t find BROAD CITY hilarious, you may not want to read on. OTOH, if you do jump into this article, you may find the actual methodology quite valid and worth exploring. (And, hey, if so, let us know, ‘kay?)

broad cityby Aly Weisman

With its second season [closing last] Wednesday night, Comedy Central’s “Broad City” has quickly become a cult favorite.

The show’s casual and off-the-cuff feel is part of the appeal, but behind-the-scenes there’s a long writing and production process before anything makes it onto the air. read article

Peggy Bechko Blogs: World Building for Writers

worldbuilding

by Peggy Bechko

Here’s what writers face every day. It’s simple really. If they’re creating a world that is known, that is, some version of the earth or the country you live in or the town, or whatever, research is necessary to fill in the background of your story. Experience, webcrawling, visiting libraries, whatever it takes. It’s still pretty straight-forward.

The hitch comes in when a writer sits down to create any kind of what is referred to as ‘speculative’ fiction. That’s when it gets to be great fun. Or at least it better be fun or I advise you not to do it.  Here’s where the writer has the opportunity – even the necessity to create fictional worlds, cultures, languages, the whole shebang. Think about writers like J.R.R. Tolkien  Orson Scott Card  Edgar Rice Burroughs and others.

So, how does a writer go about creating a whole culture? Well, the industrious writer can simply steal one. By that I mean he or she can use an event in history, say the fall of the Roman empire the characters can be ‘renamed’ and recycled; just keep the core values and what’s at the base of the culture still there and plunge in. Only problem is, if your skeleton is too visible lots of history buffs are going to say, hey, this isn’t original – it’s a remake!  And another thing to think about is if you want to add something to the mix, like the paranormal or magic or some such and don’t think it thorough as to how it would affect the underlying skeletal culture things get complicated. read article