The Perfect Last-Minute Christmas Gift for your TV Writer – And It’s Almost Free!

$4.99, to be precise. Not bad, eh? Especially since it’s one helluva book.

TVW Kindle Cover 625 x 1000 sm

Written by TVWriter™’s boss – Larry Brody, a writer-producer with 40 years of experience in every aspect of television – Television Writing from the Inside Out is a true Insider’s Guide that offers his unique expertise and an outlook that’s the direct result of having written and produced almost 1000 hours of television of all types, from daytime serials to animated children’s series to syndicated, cable, and U.S. and European network primetime series, pilots, and Movies of the Week.

This book examines the entire procedure not only creatively but in terms of how television actually operates. TV as a medium is both creative and commercial, but this really isn’t a fact to be bemoaned. Instead, Television Writing from the Inside Out shows how to make the situation work for you by using creative elements for commercial ends–and commercial elements for creative ones. In fact, it’s so practical that it tells you what neighborhoods to live in when you move to L.A., how to dress, even what kind of car to drive. read article

In Their Own Writ Dept – 12/21/12

Your life story would not make a good book. Don’t even try.

Fran Lebowitz

Film Success Based On – Get Ready – The Pitch!

Oy! As if there wasn’t enough pressure to perform in the room. Now along comes Deadline.Com with this terrifying news: (Unless you’re a pitching expert, in which case go ahead and laugh)

gotta be a pitching fool

Movie Profits Driven By Stories And Directors, Not Stars, Academics Conclude – by David Lieberman read article

In Their Own Writ Dept – 12/18/12

You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

You Can Be Cautious or You Can Be Creative (But There’s No Such Thing as Being “Cautiously Creative”)

This thought seems so simple, so obvious…and yet there’s so much to disagree with. (He said with cautious creativity…Or was it creative caution? Hmm.)

Designer and Author George Lois once said “You can be Cautious or you can be Creative (but there’s no such thing as a Cautious Creative).” Basically, you can never innovate without taking a little risk. If you’re being truly creative, there’s always a chance your fresh idea will flop, or won’t be doable, or otherwise won’t succeed. If you’re working on something that’s a guaranteed success, it’s unlikely you’re creating anything new and different. If you really want to create something new, brace yourself and grow those wings on the way down the cliff.