EDITOR’S NOTE: Who says the publishing biz – you know, the one that uses actual paper – is dead? Certainly not our pal Herbie J Pilato, who recently sent us this feel-good report:
by Herbie J Pilato
Hello All –
Category: Resources
40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
Conspicuous Consumption: The Socioeconomics of Hannibal
Overthinking TV’s current hot serial killer. Hey, somebody’s got to do it:
by Shana Mlawski
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
—Adam Smith
Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie
Chapter 45 – The YouTube Conundrum
by Leesa Dean
Last week, there was an article in the New York Times about Olga Kay, who’s a really successful YouTuber and it contained a lot of food for thought.
Essentially, it breaks down exactly how much work Ms. Kay, who has about a million subscribers, puts into her multiple channels (a TON). She posts at least 20 videos a week to her main channels—something I can’t even fathom. Yes, the shows are typically make-up reviews or fashion tips, series that don’t involve much writing, but believe me, you can’t just turn on a camera and expect people to watch these days.
She works at home (mostly), filming/editing/producing and starring in her vids. And she’s been doing this since 2006. She averages around $100,000 to $130,000 a year which is a really good salary to make from videos, but considering all the work she does and the years she’s put into it? Not very much. Especially since she sinks most of it back into production.
6 Ways I’ve Improved My Writing In the Past 6 months That You Can Try Today
What can we say except: If you think your writing can be improved (and who doesn’t?) this one’s for you:
by Belle Beth Cooper
In the past six months that I’ve been aContent Crafter at Buffer, I’ve beenwriting a lot. I’ve also been trying to write regularly on my own blog and for my startup, Exist. That’s a lot of writing.
During this time, I’ve also been experimenting with small changes in my workflow, my writing process and the types of content I produce. The result has been an improvement in my writing and a better understanding of how I work best. Hopefully you’ll find some of these things helpful in improving your own writing.
JOHN OSTRANDER: “SHERLOCK” SEASON THREE: IS THE GAME OFF?
by John Ostrander
Several years ago, when I first heard that the BBC was doing a version of the Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories re-set in the modern day, I was skeptical. I’ve long loved the Holmes stories. I believe I finished reading the Canon for the first time by the age of ten. For me, part of the charm was the fog/smog filled Victorian streets of London, with the hansom cabs, the gaslights, et al. For me, the era and setting were as much characters in the stories as Holmes and Watson. I might have given the series a pass except that the co-creator and frequent writer for the series was going to be Steven Moffat.
I knew Moffat from some remarkable work he had done on Doctor Who. He has penned what I felt were some of the best episodes I’d ever watched on the series, full of surprises but also deep feeling, moments that truly touched me. So I gave his new series, co-created with writer/actor Mark Gatiss, a look and was generally delighted. The modern setting worked surprisingly well and, while not faithful to the letter of the stories, kept to the spirit of Conan Doyle’s canon. The series benefited as well from a very strong Holmes and Watson in the persons of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman respectively.
Each season consists of just three ninety minute episodes and each has ended on something of a cliffhanger or at least we are left with questions to be answered. We’re introduced to their version of Holmes’s arch nemesis, James Moriarty, at the end of the first season as he puts Holmes and Watson into a death trap with no seeming escape. At the end of the second season, Moffat and Gatiss do their version of the last meeting of the two. In their version, it results with Moriarty blowing his own brains out and Holmes forced to jump to his apparent death. We know Holmes is not dead by the end of the episode but we don’t know how he managed it. That would have to wait for Season Three. In theory.