A series of interviews with hard working writers – by another hard-working writer!
by Kelly Jo Brick
Aspiring writers often wonder how the pros got where they are. The truth is, everyone’s story is different, but there are some common elements: dedication, persistence and hard work.
Academy Award winning documentarian, Vanessa Roth, grew up in a filmmaking family, seeing the process of writing, being on set and watching as movies were being made. From early on, Vanessa had a love storytelling and knew she wanted to do something that had a social impact.read article
Nope, this isn’t an ad for this store. It’s a genuine testimonial for the writing software of the same name.
by Meredith Allard
A few weeks ago I wrote about how I had been struggling as I was writing my new historical novel. Nothing in the story seemed to be working, and for whatever reason I was at a loss as to how to fix it. In this post I talked about how I decided to give myself some time off from writing. It was the best decision I could have made since it allowed me to take the brain break I desperately needed. I’ve been writing long enough to know that the ideas would show up when they were ready, and I was right. Only this time I had some help from an unexpected source.
About two years ago I bought Scrivener as a screenwriting tool. I used it to write a couple of screenplays, and that was that. I saw that it could be used to write novels, but when I looked at the directions they didn’t make sense and at that time I didn’t have the patience to fiddle with it. For whatever reason I found the directions confusing and the buttons and other tchotchkes didn’t make sense. I ended up leaving the program to languish unused and hidden in my Applications folder. While I was taking a break from writing my novel, I kept reading these posts about Scrivener and how all these writers said the program changed their writing for the better. Kristen @ She’s Novel pins these Scrivener Tutorial Posts on Pinterest, and Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn offers a course about how to use Scrivener. As I read these articles, I remembered that I had Scrivener on my computer. I wasn’t sure if the program could help me through the fog that was my novel, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.
Before I go on, I should point out that I’m not getting any compensation from the nice Scrivener folks at Literature and Latte for this. I’m simply sharing why I’ve come to love the program and how it helped me write my novel after I had been stuck in the mud for some months.read article
Writing a first draft? Yeah, well, so am I. So I thought I’d bring up a few first draft points. Reminders for the experienced. Suggestions for the less experienced.
The first draft can be daunting. The urge to nit-pick everything from the beginning is there and it is strong. This applies to screen scripts and novels as well. I’ve done both and believe me that urge is always a haunting presence. I mean you know all this stuff. You shouldn’t hit dialog on the nose. You shouldn’t get too ‘wordy’. You need to avoid purple prose and writing. So, as a result you face the first draft with trepidation and you try to do everything ‘right’ on the first round.
Sorry, not happening. You have to be willing to cut ‘n chop, always. So the first draft needs to be whatever you throw on the page to allow your characters to bounce off each other, have fun and develop. See where it all takes you in the context of your brilliant idea. If you’re smart, no one but you is ever going to see that first draft of script or novel. Really. No one. First draft is not the time for sharing. Do what you need to, but not in public.read article
Today is “Writers Mobility Day,” by which we mean a day in which we bring to your attention 2 writers who work in multiple media, wordsmithing like sons of bitches however, wherever, and whenever they can.
For us at TVWriter™ it boils down to this simple equation: “Being a Writer = Being Free
What? Writing TV isn’t the be-all and end-all of literary satisfaction? Who’d a’thunk? Why, David C. Taylor of ROCKFORD FILES, KOJAK, et al, that’s who:
Freedom’s just another word for…?
by Ed Symkus
In David C. Taylor’s new noir thriller, “Night Life,” readers are introduced to Michael Cassidy, an NYPD detective with a strong belief in justice and a bad attitude toward bad guys.
Cassidy gets caught up in a nasty case involving torture, murder, mysterious photos and real-life figures, including FBI honcho J. Edgar Hoover, mobster Frank Costello, and notorious Communist hunter Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Set in the early-Cold War era of 1954, “Night Life” also has stories about Cassidy’s immigrant father, a new love interest who may not be what she seems, and an affliction of bad dreams, some of which come true. No doubt, there’s a lot going on in Taylor’s first published novel, which he tackled after a lengthy career as a film and TV writer in Hollywood.read article
