Category: Opinion

Great Advice from Great Screenwriters

Writers are notoriously afraid of psychotherapists, whether they be M.D.’s, Pd.D’s, certified shrinks, or otherwise. But judging from articles like this one, David Silverman is the kind of therapist more writers should embrace:

by David Silverman, MA, LMFT

These screenwriters have advice about how they prepare to write, how they write dialogue, their plotting, which ideas to write, how they keep every scene dramatic, things they keep in mind while writing, how they broke into writing, and even some words of encouragement. read article

Aaron Sorkin on How to Develop Characters

Hey, anybody remember Aaron Sorkin? You know, the boy genius Oscar winning, West Wing creating genius who taught us all that clever dialog was what makes the TV and film writing world go ’round (unless you’re watching a superhero or other tentpole film in which case, fuhgedaboutit)?

Well, Mr. Sorkin is back on YouTube with more cleverly phrased wisdom about characterization. Watch! Listen! Learn! Respect! Oh, hell, go for the whole enchilada and enjoy!

John Ostrander: Outrage for Outrageousness Sake

by John Ostrander

As of this writing, James Gunn has been fired as the director of the next Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The reason? Some tweets he wrote ten years ago where he made light of, among other things, rape and pedophilia. Always good comedy material. (Yes, that’s sarcastic. I don’t want to be Gunned in my first column.) The director says he was trying to be outrageous and provocative and that they no longer represent who he is as a person, which is a good thing because he doesn’t come off as a very nice person. If you really feel the need to read them, you can find them here.

Disney/Marvel have cut all business ties with Gunn, the CEO sniffing, “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values and we have severed our business relationship with him.” read article

Habits that ruin your happiness

Writing is difficult enough in and of itself, so the last thing we need is to sit down at our desks (or coffee shop tables) and feel miserable before we even think of the first word. Here’s some good advice on being positive from…aw, you guessed it, The Positivity Blog.

7 Small Habits That Will Steal Your Happiness
by Henrik Edberg

“Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.”
Wayne Dyer read article

Building Your Creative Confidence

All of us are creative, but not all of us have enough confidence to let those powerful inner juices flow. Here’s some advice to put you on the right path:

The TED Channel strikes again! (“Talks” again? Which is more, um, creative?)

More about good ole reliable TED is HERE