Tag: People’s Pilot Contest

Peggy Bechko: I Know All Those Words – The Writer’s Confusion

Eraserby Peggy Bechko

“I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”
 ? Matt Groening

How many of us have been there when we’re reading? You read a sentence, then read it again, then shake your head. If the book or script is good otherwise you may well try continuing to read, hoping you won’t run across another sentence like it, or you might give up. For myself, I plunge on as soon as I can sort the meaning out, but be warned writer, do it again and you’re likely to lose me as a reader.

As a writer, those kinds of sentences are horrifying. Especially if you wrote it! I doubt there’s a writer out there who hasn’t been rereading a piece he or she’s written and paused, did a double take and wondered, ‘what was I thinking?’ It’s kind of a scary zone to be in and it just re-emphasizes the need to reread time and again. And if possible, ask others to read as well.

And may I add, reading out loud doesn’t hurt either when making sure the material you’ve written actually reads smoothly and makes sense. It’s all part of keeping readers in the wonderful fantasy trance they enjoy when picking up a book to escape with. read article

For the FIREFLY Fan in Your Life (Among Others)

This is what TVWriter™ calls high fashion! And so does its creator, the awesomely crafty Geekonista:

fireflyring

And, yeppers, we kinda think these are awesome too: read article

Women Still Under Represented in TV and Film

Like the title of this article says, “Let’s get mad!”

There. All better now, right? No? Hmm, does this mean we, like, need a real plan?

womenontvLet’s Get Mad: Center for Study of Women in TV and Film Releases 2013 Findings
by Susana Polo

Just a couple months ago, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film released their report on the gender ratios of Hollywood’s workers, discovering that the ratio of women to men in various behind the scenes roles such as editors, writers, cinematographers, composers, and special effects supervisors has not changed more than three percentage points in sixteen years. That was pretty disheartening, but theoretically, men should be just as able to craft female characters that don’t play to stereotypical tropes as women are at creating relatable male characters. So how did that go? read article

JOHN OSTRANDER: SHORT FORM AND LONG FORM STORYTELLING

splash-spectre3-1by John Ostrander

My favorite new show on TV this year is The Blacklist. It’s on opposite another show I enjoy a lot, Castle, which is now in its sixth season. Assuming it makes it (and I certainly do hope it’s renewed). I wonder if I’ll still love The Blacklist five years from now.

The new trend in American TV appears to be serial anthology shows such as American Horror Story and True Detective. Both take a season to tell a complete story and then the following season tells a different story but in the same genre. American Horror Story often keeps most of the same actors but then casts them in different parts. You tell the story and then you move on, giving a complete beginning, middle, and end.

There’s a lot to be said for that. The BBC series, Broadchurch, told a good story – so much so that I wonder how they’re going to do a sequel as they evidently plan to do. read article

Is Your Desk Messy? Maybe You’re a Genius

Or, you know, maybe not:

marktwainathisdeskFound at Busy Building Things

Einstein: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain. What is one thing these three visionaries have in common? read article