This week’s collection of recent articles from other websites about TV, TV writing, etc., etc., etc. The plan here is for you to click on their headlines and visit the sites and read the posts in full…and is anybody asks, tell ’em TVWriter™ sentcha, okay?
The joys of binge-watching
by Scholars and Rogues
For the past year I have had some health issues that have taken me out of active circulation—nothing life-threatening, but certainly life changing during the period, and for a little while yet. One of these was a broken bone in my foot that had me sitting in front of the television for a solid six weeks, leg up on the hassock and (for the moment) out of the boot thing they give you these days.
The other stuff doesn’t need details, but it also involved being relatively immobile for long periods. Plus the interesting effects of some of what they put you on these days for various things. For someone with no real health issues since I got mono the summer I was 20 and some back stuff in my 30s, this came as something of a surprise. All of a sudden, I’m getting old. All of this has largely plunked me in a chair in front of the television, for a considerably longer time frame that I would have considered healthy, or laying on the couch with my laptop on wherever your lap is when you’re laying down. So this was a golden opportunity to catch up on stuff, through the joys of Netflix and Amazon….
Trendspotting: Old-Age Romance on TV
by Lara Zarum
In the second season of Jane the Virgin, the title character’s abuela, Alba (Ivonne Coll), is disappointed when her first love interest in many years turns out to be a jerk. Her daughter, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) tells her not to blame herself. “You got swept up in the romance,” she says. “Yes, that’s the truth,” Alba replies. “Plus, I was horny.” “Oh, my god, welcome to my world,” Jane (Gina Rodriguez) replies. Her blooming romance may have wilted on the vine, but the experience makes Alba realize she wants to start dating for real. As with many old-age romances on TV, the first step is admitting it….
Breaking into Screenwriting: Features vs. Television
by Lee Jessup
When approaching the industry strategically, many writers consider not only what they enjoy writing or what format speaks to them, but also where they might have greater odds for building a tangible, sustainable, screenwriting career. Judging by the numbers, there are more opportunities in television than there are in film. In 2014, over 4,000 WGA members claimed income generated from working in the television sector; by contrast, only 1,800 WGA scribes made their money in the feature film sector. Therefore, it’s easy to assume that there are just more opportunities in television, and accordingly breaking into that particular sector should be easier. But is that really the case…?
Find Purposeful Work With The Joy-Money-Flow Model
by Kristin Wong
“Follow your passion” isn’t always the best advice, and that’s partly because it’s so limiting. Instead of looking for a single path to success, Chris Guillebeau recommends looking for work that overlaps in three areas: joy, money, and flow.
When you “follow your passion” that generally means you plan to work toward one specific thing. Maybe you want to be a cinematographer or a musician or a marine biologist. Life doesn’t always work out so neatly, though, and you might find you don’t actually enjoy the work, or maybe you’re just not good at it, or maybe it’s just not a viable career path. There’s nothing wrong with trying something specific, but as Guillebeau points out, there’s not necessarily a single path toward your search for purposeful work.