Is Ken Levine comedy writing’s Larry Brody? What would either of them think if they were asked?
Oh dear. If we had to ask that second question, that means we’re worried that the answer wouldn’t go down well. And if we’re worried about it, then it probably won’t. So forget we said anything. No comparisons from here, no sir. Just, you know, read:
by Ken Levine
Here’s a question I get (and am happy to answer) every year.
In his best-selling how-to-write book, Television Writing from the Inside Out, our Fearsome Leader, LB, makes the argument that all books, movies, and television episodes are story-driven because writers, consciously or unconsciously, always end up creating characters whose personalities will work most effectively within their preconceived story structure. Even the best-written of those characters only seems be be pushing the story forward; s/he is actually capable of only choosing, or, rather, seeming to choose, moves that the story already wants to make.
Over the years, TVWriter™ ‘s boss has caught a lot of flak for this, which made it particularly interesting for those of us who work for him and want to suck up a bit to encounter this particular post on AdvicetoWriters.Com last Christmas weekend:
What? Confidential screener DVDs sent out to Motion Picture Academy members (and WGA and DG members too) are ending up on the web? The peeps within the Industry are betraying their golden geese? Biting the hands that feed them?
Maybe it’s just us, but this doesn’t seem like such a bad thing at all. Or as “enigmax” puts it on TorrentFreak.Com:
John’s writing about comic book writers, but until you’re an established TV/film pro that net is pretty damn tenuous too:
by John Ostrander (ComicMix.Com)
As the comics world knows, writer Peter David recently had a stroke. I’ve known Peter for a long time and I both respect and often envy his talent, skill and the breadth of his work. Peter has health insurance but there are plenty of bills that just won’t get covered and, as pointed out here on ComicMix, fans who want to show financial support can do so by purchasing his work at Crazy 8 Press. That’s incredibly easy; not only do your help Peter and his family but will probably get a damn fine read out of it at the same time. Like I said, Peter is a very talented writer.