Category: Resources

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

Peggy Bechko’s World: The Hero’s Worthy Goal

bighero
by Peggy Becko

Taking time out to put something simple and basic out there for the writers who join us here – readers too who enjoy getting a peek into the writer’s world and just what goes into a good read. What a writer wrestles with to come up with that eyeball-grabbing story that keeps a reader up half the night because the book just can’t be put down.

Subject?

It’s plainly written above. It’s very basic. Is the goal that’s been set for the hero of the story a worth y goal. And by that I mean,  there are lots of things a hero can strive to achieve. BUT choosing the right one, the one with the right outside motivation, can be tricky and can require a lot of thought on the part of the writer. Is it a big enough goal? Is it a goal that is worthy of the hero? read article

Interview with SHREK Writer Terry Rossio

Like the article below says, Terry just may be the highest-paid screenwriter of all time. And he’s pretty damn good at the actual, um, storytelling thing too. So, without further ado:

by John Robert Marlow

terry_rossioTERRY ROSSIO is probably the highest-paid screenwriter in the history of the medium. He prefers to write with a partner, which is almost invariably Ted Elliott. Together, they’ve written the screenplay and/or story for films such as: Aladdin; Godzilla;The Lone Ranger, Shrek; the Pirates of the Caribbean, Zorro, and National Treasure movies; and far too many others to mention here. Terry also co-wrote (with Bill Marsilii) the record-breaking Deja Vu spec script—which sold for $5 million–andLightspeed, which sold for $3.5 million. Terry is also a producer. (Read Terry’s official bio here.)

I interviewed him for the book, Make Your Story a Movie: Adapting Your Book or Idea for Hollywood. And while much of Terry’s adaptation-specific advice appears there, it just wasn’t possible or appropriate to include (in that format) the wisdom he was kind enough to share on other topics. And so you find it here… read article

Peggy Bechko’s World: Do You Wanna Be a Writer?

by Peggy Bechko

Do ya? Do ya?

Or maybe you’re a writer already but things are going just the way you’d like and you’re having a crisis of faith in your decision to write and be a writer.

It happens. I suspect to all of us. At some point we break down, throw our hands in the air and question … well, everything! read article

Herbie J Pilato: How THAT GIRL Changed Everything

Contributing Editor Herbie J Pilato is busy these days with not only his own TV series but also writing regularly about classic TV for the TV Academy’s website, Emmys.Com. Here’s his latest, reminding us of what good television writing can be:

It's the whole Thomas fan-damily!
It’s the whole Thomas fan-damily!

by Herbie J Pilato

The first frames of the opening credits of television’s legendaryThat Girl placed viewers in the front car of a train as it barreled into New York City. 

That locomotive not only carried a young woman who was filled with dreams of independence, but it also brought television into a new era of enlightenment.  A groundbreaking program teeming with wit, style and social consciousness, That Girl didn’t set out to change the world.  But over the course of its celebrated five-year run, it did exactly that. read article

Just Start, Dammit!

Sure, planning is essential to creating your new life, business, screenplay, TV series. But when push comes to shove, actually doing it is the only way you’re gonna score! Don’t just stare at the blank page – fill the damn thing up with something!

blank pageby Jane Porter

For most of us, there is nothing more daunting than coming face-to-face with a blank page. Sure, a tabula rasa means you can take a project in any direction, but that boundlessness can quickly become overwhelming.

Sitting down to start a task that requires significant mental energy can often feel like the hardest part of the endeavor. But getting started is about understanding and overcoming the obstacles—be they mental, emotional, or physical—that hold us back from diving right in. read article