Mike Gold, head honcho at ComicMix.Com, thinks so, and he’s concerned about it being a very unpopular opinion. But an informal poll of TVWriter™ minions showed that every single one of us was on Mr. Gold’s side.
Man, Big Old Media ain’t what it used to be, is it? Or has this always been The Truth No Body Dare Utter?
In other words – it’s a whole new world of creativity and criticism, boys and girls. And it’s giving us chills:
LB’S UPDATE 4/15/18: Looks like Amazon has thrown in the towel on even pretending to be considering work from newbies. Here’s part of an email on the subject that I got yesterday:
Hi Larry,
As we have grown and evolved over the last several years, we are making changes to our website and closing our open call for script and concept submissions. As of April 13, 2018, we are no longer accepting submissions. Submissions received will continue to be reviewed and evaluated by Amazon Studios and will be available on our website until June 30, 2018. Thank you all for your contributions.
What do I need to Write???
Hmm, an interesting question. One that needs a bit of context. Is that question on the literal, referring to the tools we need like pen and pencil or computer or is it more subjective as in atmosphere, surroundings or story elements?
For me, as a writer, the first impulse would be to say I need a good character to pop into my mind, someone who I can wrap a story around. So that would boil down to ideas. Ideas and characters that excite me and make ti so I can hardly wait to sit down at my desk and begin the process.
This post isn’t about writing books, but it is about writing—a couple different kinds of writing, in fact.
That said, it has less to do with writing than it does with our willingness to adapt and change and never being afraid to chase our dreams.
When I was thirteen, I read my first “adult” book, which was serialized in a magazine, called SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY by Donald Westlake. Reading that book, a comedy murder mystery about a cab driver named Chet who simply wants to collect his nine hundred dollar bet, only to find his bookie stabbed to death, was a revelation to me. And I can say with certainty that it is the reason I became a novelist.
Speaking of Rod Serling, here’s a bit of an intro to the legendary, erm, legend himself for those of you who still don’t know who it is you’re trying to be as you grow up:
he so-called Golden Age of Television, with its two and one-half channels of network programming, produced an astonishing number of great writers, directors and talent. To name but a very, very few: Barbara Bel Geddes, Paddy Chayefsky, George Roy Hill, Ron Howard, Ernest Kinoy, Jack Lemmon, Sidney Lumet, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Boris Sagal, Rod Serling, Rod Steiger, Gore Vidal, Joanne Woodward… my fingers won’t hold out long enough to type even a “best-of” list.
You’ll never guess which of the above pioneers is my favorite.