Clik here to view.
I Haven’t Forgotten You…
It just seems that way. Spending my time prepping a pitch for a TV series and rewriting a gangster screenplay. Pretty much all consuming and I haven’t had time or energy to give any thought to my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A thought on pitching…
Not that it’s easy to get in the room where you actually pitch. But. Even if you don’t, you still will have to tell your story over and over and over. Not a real pitch, but you, telling your story and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trim, trim, trim…
Currently doing a rewrite on a project I’ve been working on a while. This current draft is the kitchen sink draft… the last draft was good, now a lot got added to round out the story, make it bigger,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Still trimming…
This time, on my children’s novel. I dictated it. Maybe that’s the culprit. Who knows? Remember, all this is a process. You can’t beat yourself up for not solving problem #7 earlier. You have to solve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Isolate One Story, and fix it…
Just got finished with a bit of work on my script. What I have done for the past day may be useful to you. In this piece, the Father / Son relationship is the spine of the tale. It has to work before...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comment from a client… Unearned Gift & Off Screen Action
This will be two complete chapters in the sequel to my book. Got this email from a client. I had critiqued his Middle Grade children’s novel. He felt like he was channeling me… I had crit group this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Film Festivals Think
I was just in conversation with the head of a film festival. Nice woman. Lovely woman, actually. As Henry Higgins said, “The milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein.” But, man oh man, when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tony Gilroy’s gerunds
A wise reader suggested I look at Tony Gilroy’s use of gerunds. As the thing I’m working on at the moment is not going well (no surprise there!) I cast about for something else to do besides suffer....
View ArticleClik here to view.
tooting the client horn!
Just heard that one of my consulting clients won the Nebraska Screenwriting contest and another was a finalist in the Story Pro contest. Yay!
View ArticleClik here to view.
Get In Touch With Your Demons
I know it seems I’ve been ignoring you lately. I’m sorry, but I’ve been busy writing the sequel to my book. To be successful at this writing game, you’ve got to give us something we’ve never seen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don’t set up without paying off…
A tough thing about writing is knowing the effect of your words on the unseen reader. He or she is going to assign meaning to everything you write down. If you wrote it, it must be important, right?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Surprise your reader! IRON MAN does, and in a great way!
Saw IRON MAN 3 last night. I got a tad bored partway through, but it picked up nicely after the middle and had a strong finish. Especially if you like seeing stuff get blown up or Gwyneth Paltrow’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The “Don’t Repeat” thing is tough to root out.
Just finished giving notes to a client. A client I’ve given notes to twice before. So, they are used to what I hit on pretty hard. One is proofreading. I ended up telling her she has to find someone...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You HAVE to be clear!!!!
Nice quote: “We should not write so that it is possible for the reader to understand us, but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.” Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, c. 35-100 The more I work...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Be ruthless on your script. Guess what? The reader will be.
Do not think, “Hey, this is wonderful.” when you read your script. Think, “They’re going to burn my house to the ground for making them read this unless I can get it perfect.” If you THINK it works, it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I APPLAUD THIS BEHAVIOR!
A script consulting client of mine has won a contest or two with her screenplay. Her script is a finalist in another contest. Big time Hollywood folks have told her they want to help get her movie...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Notes. They’re no fun!
I’m helping a friend with her screenplay. For free! What a mensch. She’s told me her story and I gave her notes. No one likes getting notes. I don’t like it. I bet Tom Stoppard doesn’t, either. (Happy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Asterisk and a use for it. Research is Good. “Stacks of files.”
When you’re writing, and you come upon a thing you are writing about, but you don’t actually know much about it… don’t stop writing. Don’t go down to the library (or flip to the Internet) to figure out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tell your story to people while you’re working on it!
It’s a great idea to tell your story to actual people at many stages of the process. Short version. High points only. Long version, the whole story scene by scene. Or anything in between. You will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Logic is king, queen, and pope rolled into one.
You better pay attention to it. Just because you wrote it, doesn’t mean it makes sense. Just because you see a scene flowing effortlessly by on the page, doesn’t mean the reader won’t shriek out, “What...
View Article
