Category: Resources

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New site gives Internet creatives the hope of a regular paycheck

Here at TVWriter™ we’re always urging creatives to write/produce/et al for the interwebs, but we admit that we’ve always been as much in the dark as everybody else about how to monetize interweb work. (TVWriter™ contributors make money? Ha! For that matter, TVWriter™ itself make money? Ha! Ha!)

The following article, however, delivers what we all need – something practical. At last!

get-paidby Casey Johnston

Getting paid on the Internet, a place where many people only recently became OK with putting their credit card numbers, is no easy task. This is especially true for independent artists and creators. Zach Weinersmith, creator of the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC), is particularly tired of the ebb and flow of advertising dollars, not to mention the quality of ads on his site. Luckily, he’s found a new hope in Patreon, a funding site that lets his fans pay him on a subscription basis. read article

Amazon Wants to Help Writers With Their Outlines

Amazon Storybuilder Corkboard Capture
Um, it doesn’t look much like a corkboard, but still….

…By giving us, absolutely free out of the kindness of its otherwise greedy little heart a wonderful new tool called Amazon Storybuilder, which creates little virtual notecards and a virtual “corkboard” on which we can eagerly create beatsheets of our narratives.

After which we can merrily festoon said beatsheets with notes, images, tags, etc. And, of course, access our work from our desktop PC, tablet, or smartphone “whenever inspiration strikes.”

Thank you, Oh mighty Amazon, for coming to our aid. Now if we only had this “inspiration” of which you speak… read article

Peggy Bechko: If You Can Tell Stories

by Peggy Bechko

Here’s an interesting quote I came across:

“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Hmm, really? read article

Binge Watching Is The New Normal For TV Streamers

binge-watching-tvby Team TVWriter™ Press Service

So sayeth Netflix. And Deadline. And…for what it’s worth, TVWriter™. Here’s the skinny:

Harris Interactive conducted a poll of nearly 1,500 TV streamers (online U.S. adults who stream TV shows at least once a week) on behalf of Netflix and found that 61% among that group binge regularly — and feel good about it. 73% defined binge watching as watching between 2-6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting. And nearly three quarters of TV streamers say they have positive feelings towards binge streaming TV.

“Our viewing data shows that the majority of streamers would actually prefer to have a whole season of a show available to watch at their own pace,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix. 76% of TV streamers say watching multiple episodes of a great TV show is a welcome escape from their busy lives. 79% said watching several episodes of their favorite shows at once actually makes the shows more enjoyable. And three-quarters (76%) also say streaming TV shows on their own schedule is their preferred way to watch them. read article

Kathy Fuller: More On That Annoying Creativity

by Kathy Fuller

r-ANNOYING-large570
If you’re a creative person, yes you are. At least to some people.

I just finished reading the article posted last weekend on TVWriter.com about how we creatives are unappreciated. Since I’ve been doing a little personality checking and soul searching as of late, I found the article to be interesting, but missing a key reason why people get irritated with creative people–they often don’t follow through.

While some “idea people” also have that special combination of goal setting and discipline, many don’t. It’s not for lack of trying (okay, maybe it is) but many, many, MANY times a creative person with a brilliant idea will jump to the next brilliant idea as soon as the next brilliant idea pops into their heads. It’s how we’re wired.

Ideas bounce around our brains like pinballs, hitting the bumpers of excitement and fueling the lights in our eyes until we’re bursting with enthusiasm to tell someone, anyone, who will listen about our latest world changing idea. But once we’re tasked with executing that idea, we’re at a loss. We have to make a plan? We have to set a goal? We have to see this idea through to the end? Are you freaking kidding me? read article