Category: Resources

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

Kathy Fuller: 5 Ways You’re Accidentally Making Everyone Hate You

So what does the above title have to do with writing?

1) The article is written by David Wong, a writer/novelist/my-book-is-now-a-movie-guy that I could easily hate, but because of this article I understand why I don’t have to.

2) The writing biz, whether you’re slaving in Hollywood or slaving in Ismay, Montana, (pop. 19) is filled with EGOS. The only way to avoid dealing with EGOS is to never let your writing see the light of day, and of course that’s not what you’re going to do. So navigating those EGOS while you pitch, produce, refine, get rejected, wallow in self-pity, then do it all over again is key to survival. read article

Dennis O’Neil: Graphic Storytelling… and Excess

Comics great Dennis O’Neil is here to give us a whoopass lesson in storytelling:

ONeil Art 130815 Dennis ONeil: Graphic Storytelling... and Excess

by Dennis O’Neil read article

MegaBucks Writer Damon Lindelof Gets Real About Screenwriting

Alas and alack for Save the Cat. Looks like everybody wants to trash this poor li’l bestseller. But at least Mr. Lindelof is gentle about it:

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Star Script Doctor Damon Lindelof Explains the New Rules of Blockbuster Screenwriting
by Scott Brown

Damon Lindelof, the ubiquitous ­screenwriter-producer whose name seems attached to all of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, is doing his damnedest to get small. This summer, he (along with fellow triage artists Drew Goddard and Christopher McQuarrie) miraculously pulled Brad Pitt out of the mass grave that was World War Z’s zombocalyptic original third act and restored the regular-guyness that made Pitt’s character work. He also resisted the temptation to threaten Earth’s existence (yet again!) at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, focusing instead on a personal vendetta—albeit one enacted via a dizzying mile-high pursuit across a 23rd-century cityscape. But, hey, you have to give something to get something. read article

Peer Production: Who Is Exactly Who on a Movie Set and What Do They Do?

vimeo film schoolFile this under the It Pays to Surf Dept:

Did you know that there’s a Vimeo Film School?

Well, there is. And it does interesting things like this: read article

Kathy Fuller: Check Your Attitude at the Door

by Kathy Fuller

Attitude

I just finished reading Herbie J. Pilato’s post: Kindness Trumps Talent, which is a great piece about how passion and attitude can often overcome a lack of talent. Mr. P. was talking about actors and acting, but this also applies to writing.

Writing is, for the most part, a solitary endeavor. Sure you can interact with other people through brainstorming, critiquing, and liquid lunches bemoaning the state of publishing/television/movies/society in general. But putting words on paper and then editing those words until they become a literary masterpiece requires only one person. Writing can be done by committee, but the physical act still rests on a single person’s shoulders. Or should I say fingertips. read article