Tag: Spec Scriptacular Contest

The Difference Between a Great Story and a Shitty Story

…Is often very, very small. And yet it could be the absolutely biggest thing you need to know:

mindthegapby Charlie Jane Anders

Hollywood people often say that it’s a miracle there are any good movies at all. Because so much can go wrong, and so many random things have to go right, for a movie to avoid being a hopeless disaster. I can believe this, because in general the difference between the good and bad versions of the same story is often razor-thin.

This is kind of a depressing thing to realize, because you would kind of hope that it would be easy to tell if a story is going to work or not. Like, either your soufflé rose or it didn’t, right? And you ought to be able to tell if a story is “clicking” or if it’s just kind of a mess, because the pieces either fit together neatly or they don’t. read article

Larry Brody on Outlining and Writer’s Block

EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the first in what we hope will be an ongoing weekly series of writing tips and tricks from our Beloved Leader, LB, AKA this guy.

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The TV Writer on TV Writing
by Larry Brody

One of the big differences between beginning writers and old pros is that beginning writers are always telling me how much they love sitting down at the keyboard and winging their scripts, while the pros invariably stress the importance of having a good outline before they start writing. read article

The JESSICA JONES Review You’ve Been Waiting For

Martha Thomases is one of the most open writers on the interwebs. This TVWriter™ minion not only respects her, I also have kind of a little crush because of reviews like this one (even though she says it isn’t a review at all):

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Trigger Warnings! Beware
by Martha Thomases

Like the dweeb I am, I spent last weekend watching television on my computer. First (because I’d already seen the first two episodes), The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime, and then Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix. I suppose there might have been other things to do for two days, but all of them involved wearing pants. read article

Yo, Writers, Peggy Bechko has a Secret for Us

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by Peggy Bechko

Wanna Know A Secret?

Every writer writes something bad, something downright terrible, sometime. In fact, most writers’ first drafts are really bad.

Yep, there it is out there for the world to see. It’s been a jealously guarded secret for some time. Don’t know if the writers ourselves have perpetuated the myth or those who hold writers in high esteem, but somewhere along the line writing became almost a mystical thing where folks believed great ideas, fantastic plots and amazing insights were delivered to chosen writers by a muse from heaven, dripping with heavenly dew. Not. read article

BONES EP Sues Fox, Accuses Top Execs Of Cancellation Threats

It’s a harsh world out there in TV Land, boys and girls. For example:

BONES: L-R: Guest star Jay Thomas, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz in the "The Promise in the Palace" episode of BONES airing Thursday, Nov. 12 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Kevin Estrada/FOX

by Dominic Patten

EXCLUSIVE: Bones executive producer Barry Josephson and his lawyers have done the forensics on the long-running Fox series and claim they’ve found something rotten financially. In a detailed breach of contract and fraudulent inducement complaint filed today in L.A. Superior Court (read it here), Josephson says the “unrelenting” broadcaster stiffed him and others for potentially millions in promised profit participation…. read article