Category: Resources

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

Andrew Orillion: Brewing Up “On the Rocks” 4

Casting a Multi-Cam Series
by Andrew Orillion

on-the-rocks-cast-tvwriter.comWelcome to part four of the behind the scenes look at the making of On The Rocks. Last time, I wrote about the writing staff and how stories were broken for the series. This time, I’m going to focus on the intricacies of casting.

Web Series Aren’t Just For Friends and Roommates

In the early days of web series, most shows used limited sized casts comprised of friends, family and roommates of the creators. But, as web series have become more and more mainstream, their production has become more professional. Professional productions need professional actors, who aren’t always easy to find, especially when you can’t pay them upfront. Fortunately, the makers of On The Rockshad an ace up their sleeves. read article

John Ostrander: Fashion Statements

by John Ostrander

supermaninatux John Ostrander: Fashion StatementsMy good friend Martha Thomases, as usual, wrote an interesting column this week on her way to the Baltimore Con. She wrote about choosing what to wear at the Con and that, in turn, set me to thinking and provided grist for my own essay mill. Some weeks I need a lot of grist.

Something that’s important in comics and too little discussed is the importance of clothes. The fashion choices made by a character says something about that character. What you wear makes a statement about who you are even if that statement is, “I don’t care.” As often as not, my criterion still is, “Is it clean? Is it clean-ish? Does it at least not smell? Does it not smell too badly?”

However, I can dress up. I clean up fairly well, to be honest. I’m not keen on wearing ties but I know how and when to do so. I like hats, especially fedoras, although the Irish cloth cap works well on me. One wonderful fan made me a beret like GrimJack wears and I like that a lot and can be seen at conventions with it. read article

Peggy Bechko: The Craft of Writing

thecraftofwritingtvw

by Peggy Bechko

Today, a simple list on how to develop your craft of writing, how to keep it crisp, engaging and tell your story.Yep, just a list. Things I’ve learned in years of writing. Agree, disagree, make use or don’t. Your choice. But whatever you decide, keep on writing.
  1. Keep it simple.
  2. Don’t overwrite.
  3. Keep a light touch with your settings and descriptions, sprinkle information through your story, don’t feed it in huge lumps.
  4. Forget multitasking – focus on monotasking – give yourself uninterrupted time for your writing – put down the phone, no texting, nothing, just write.
  5. Think before you include an expletive. Does it fit the character? Does it give the situation more punch or is it just there for the sake of a bit of shock value? Some people find such words offensive – if you’re going to use them make maximum use of their punch.
  6. Use simple, declarative sentences unless absolutely necessary.
  7. Avoid the passive voice – engage your reader.
  8. Cut the crap. Really. Listen to Elmore Leonard – if it sounds like writing, rewrite it.
  9. Watch out for adjectives and adverbs. Keep them to a minimum.
  10. Never rescue your hero or heroine. They have to learn to do that for themselves.
  11. Watch your paragraph lengths. Keep them shorter unless absolutely necessary ~words as well, writing is not a vocabulary contest.
  12. Try visualizing who you’re writing for.
  13. A broom is not a long-handled kitchen cleaning implement, it’s a broom! Clear on that?
  14. Write the way that works best for you.
  15. Write first without worrying about spelling, grammar, punctuation fixes. Let your right brain run wild.
  16. Write from the heart.
  17. Oh, and don’t listen to too much advice, clear your own path.

Now go write something.

TVWriter™ Advanced Workshop has a Couple of Openings

writersm1Yeppers, we don’t know how it happened, but the next Advanced Online Workshop starts in less than a week and we still have two openings left.

If you’ve been wanting to take the plunge and workshop your project with LB OBL (that’s Larry Brody Our Beloved Leader), why not get into the fall back-to-school thing and sign up for 4 glorious weeks of writing, writing, writing now?

Check out the Advanced Online Workshop…quick. (Cuz the spaces go fast.) read article

A List of (Almost) Every Netflix TV Series

Netflix via IMDB
Click the pic to go to the full list of 335 titles

Now that the web has taken over our TV sets, with sites like Amazon Prime Instant and Netflix liberating us from cable dependency and doing all the lifting and carrying anybody could possibly need, IMDB has surveyed the situation, done a little pondering, and, voila!, they’ve posted what they call Every Netflix TV Series Sorted by IMDB Ranking.

It’s an awesome feat, and one we as Netflix users are grateful for, but when we last looked, just a few days ago, we did see some British and Swedish shows that we’ve binged on in the past missing. In other words, having this excellent resource doesn’t absolve everybody from doing a little closer hunting on their own.

All in all, though, a big thanks to the International Movie Database! Where would all true fans be without you? read article