Category: Resources

40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.

Have You Read Captain Picard’s Autobiography Yet?

Did you know that everybody’s ideal father, Jean-Luc Picard himself, has written an autobiography? We’re guessing not because let’s be real. Anybody who did know would have read it already, right? Here’s the skinny about Picard and a host of other TV legends, straight from the mouth of the captain’s ghostwriter, David A. Goodman, himself:

David A. Goodman, the man behind The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard

by Adam Dileo

David A. Goodman is, among other things, a Star Trek TV writer and a lifelong fan. He’s also written for shows like The Golden Girls, Futurama (he wrote the great Star Trek episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before”), and Family Guy, where he was also the head writer for years. But now he has a new book out, The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard, which serves as a follow-up to his James T. Kirk “autobiography” from a couple of years ago.

read article

Peggy Bechko: Writers vs. The Demon Named Negativity

by Peggy Bechko

There’s a whole lot of psychological stuff associated with being a writer. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of not being good enough and a host of other self-defeating head games we might play with ourselves. But of them all, probably the worst is some kind of self-sabotage. And self-sabotage can be hiding in a lot of places. It’s kinda tricky to pin down.

One time where it gets drawn out of hiding is when the intrepid writer decides to offer his or her work to the world. First of all, that’s a big step. There are many writers who hide their work away. Some never let it see the light of day. But, for those who do, they’re frequently confronted with the “I’m not good enough” syndrome. read article

Everything you need to know about creating great villains – in only 7ish minutes

Good versus evil can be a hell of a lot of fun…when it isn’t in real life. This video by Daniel Whidden gives us a quick insight into how to set up the kind of conflict that sells gets viewers to the edge of their chairs.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Sorry, my leetle babushka of a minion, but I had to change that second sentence above because nobody knows what %$#! sells. Yer Friendly Neighborhood Munchman.)

Villains play an integral role in storytelling. In this video essay, I look at how the ideologies of heroes and villains clash to create great stories. read article

Why Even The Best TV Storytellers Need To Know When To Call It Quits

Yeah, yeah, we know. There you are, barely having gotten started on your TV writing career, and what are we doing over here? Yep, we’re bringing you info on knowing when it’s time to cash out. But if you think about it a minute, what we’re doing makes sense. Cuz if we can persuade just one of you to leave your staff gig, that’s one more slot that’s open to…yeah, hehe…us.

Evil, thy true name is desperation!

pic found at pickthebrain.com

by Andy Crump

Knowing when a story no longer needs to be told matters as much as knowing whether it’s a good story in the first place. read article

Peggy Bechko: Storytelling for Fun, Profit & More

by Peggy Bechko

With the holidays coming I’m thinking more in terms of curiosity and wonder than instruction. So I thought I’d write a bit about storytelling – it’s origins – what it all means. Uh, oh, I don’t think I’ll get philosophical, but well, you never know.

Storytelling comes in many forms. The written word (you know novels, articles, ‘fake’ news, short stories, all that) pictures (paintings, movies, photos, drawings, etc.) music, religion…they all tell stories. read article