“…down to the commas.”
And here you thought it was one of those fancy indie art films where the actors just improvised.
It’s all about the writing, peeps! Damn!
Category: Resources
40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.
John Ostrander: Upsides & Downsides of Being a Writer
by John Ostrander
There are some days that I love being a writer. When the everything is cooking, when the words are flowing, when the characters are speaking to you, when you’re on the top of your game, it’s all magic. That’s not every day. Not by a long shot.
There are the days when you’re staring at the screen and it stares back – and the screen does not blink. You pray and the gods/patron saints (depending on your belief system) do not smile, do not answer, do not share their favor with you. There are days when I have considered offering blood sacrifices to these gods/saints. On those days, the cats hide.
I make my living off of my writing. There are upsides and downsides to that. On the upside, I’m my own boss. On the downside, I frequently hate my boss. He always knows when I’m goofing off and I can hear his voice in the back of my head saying, “Are you makingmoney doing that?” It’s hard to get a day off; there’s no paid holidays, there’s no paid sick days, no paid vacation.
munchman: Joss Whedon Speaks – in Paris (but in English cuz he does that so well)
My father had an old saying: “If you’re lucky you don’t have to be smart.” Today I got lucky.
By finding this transcript of a Q & A with Joss Whedon at the Paris premiere of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Enjoy:
(This is in French so, um, be careful)
Troy DeVolld: Pro Tip: How NOT to look for showbiz work
by Troy DeVolld
Notice, I didn’t title this entry “How to NOT look for work,” as that’s a completely different tray of fudge. Nay, nay. This is “How NOT to look for work, as in, “Hey, bub, you’re doing it wrong.”
I’ve been wrapped out of the series I was recently working on and have been looking for work the last few weeks. I usually land somewhere else quickly, so I haven’t been too balled up about it. The interviews keep coming, and I hope to have some solid offers over the next week or so.
Peggy Bechko: The Villain Of The Piece
by Peggy Bechko
Let’s talk about villains. Seriously. There are a variety of villains, some of which you want nothing to do with in your writing. Others can be fixed and still others are right on!
So what do I mean there are different kinds of villains? Well there are lots, actually, but I’ll just discuss a couple of them here.
There’s the Self-Absorbed and too Careless to live villain. This can lend a lot of comedy to your story if that’s the direction you want to take since this kind of villain is above hard work and dealing with complicated decisions. He might be a pretty boy or a mob boss type, but the most important thing in life is his own comforts and the way others fear and/or look up to him. He pretty much delegates everything to underlings and expects his every desire to be served up to him like he’s a king.