for tv and movies,
by a working screenwriter
and political theatre.
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Dead Things on Sticks: Denis McGrath is on fire in Toronto.
Jane Espenson wrote Buffy. She worked with Joss, baby. And she's all about screenplay craft.
Kung Fu Monkey: John Rogers is one of the top writers in LA.
Kay Reindl From the heart of Tee Vee.
Jill Golick blogs about pilots.
By Ken Levine: Top sitcom dude (M*A*S*H, Cheers, Simpsons, Frasier). He knows.
The Artful Writer: Thought-provoking posts for pro writers from a WGA honcho.
What It's Like by Lisa Klink. Credit list as long as your arm.
How to Buy Art. Lisa Hunter blogs intelligently and wittily about the art market. And you can ask her questions.
Victoria Lucas is one of the rare development people who understand how scripts really work, and can show you how
to make yours structurally better. I treasure her insights. You will too.
Social Security Administration: Most popular names by year.
Name Trends: Uniquely popular names by year.
Doris Egan's LiveJournal. House, Tru Calling, etc.
Creative Screenwriting. Podcasted interviews with fascinating screenwriters.
John August: Screenwriter of Charlie's Angels and Big Fish.
DISC/ontent: blogs about direct to DVD movies. Bracing.
Ni vu ni connu: Martine Page is a working Montreal screenwriter
Danny Stack, chipping away at his keyboard across the Pond.
The Thinking Writer: Jon Deer went through pretty much the same mill I did, and has a lot of helpful stuff to say.
Fun Joel: Joel's a professional script reader. In other words, he'll be reading your script. So listen to what he says.
Chad Gervich's Script Notes. Writer's Digest-sponsored site from a veteran development executive.
The Legion of Decency. A producer's blog!
Alligators in a Helicopter by Scott the Reader.
Shouting into the Wind. Showbiz news'n'gossip.
Screenplay Europe: Reports on festivals, grants, and other Euro bon-bons.
Scrivenor's Error: Legal issues involved in writing.
The Futon Critic: What's in development? What's on TV?
TV Tattle: Thought-provoking articles about TV gathered from all over.
TV.com: Episode guides and cast and crew lists.
TV, Eh?What's doing on Canadian TV.
EntertainmentCareers.Net: Looking for a job in the biz?
ShowBizJobs.Com: Ditto.
Amanda the Aspiring Writer. Amanda works at an Agency. Go Amanda!
101. My intrepid assistant's blog.
Bluestocking LA - The Life and Times of a Writer and New Mom in LA Andy Coughlan is writing screenplays and producing short films. Scriptland: series in the LA Times. The Onion AV Club and its archives.
Famous Films Re-Enacted by Bunnies in 30 Seconds Andy Diggle. A great entertainer, a great humanitarian, and a personal friend of Johanna Constantine.
Justin Gray. A great entertainer, a great humanitarian, and a personal friend of Jonah Hex. Er, if anyone is.
Kody Chamberlain. Nice, really gruesome art.
Glenn Hauman, assistant editor on Grimjack and others...
David Bishop, who is trying to make the leap to the screen...
Reverse Dictionary Search: "What's that word that means....?" Most Popular Baby Names by Year, courtesy the Social Security Administration Baby Name Voyager graphs baby name frequency by decade.
American Amazon:
Monday, April 30, 2007
On the plane, I was listening to Neil Gaiman read his Sheherezade story from Fragile Things. To go by his blog and his take on the famous storytelling wife, Neil depends on inspiration to visit him. Which she does a lot, to judge by his output. Me, I'm one of those blessed with few inspirations and a lot of analytical tools.
But the story of the 1001 Nights struck me because it's a metaphor for TV and its relationship with the audience. Every night, Sheherezade told a fantastic story ... and stopped at the moment where her king and husband would most want to know the outcome.
That way, he wouldn't cut off her head in the morning. Because if he did, he wouldn't find out how it turned out.
That's an act out.
Would your act outs prevent a homicidal king from chopping off your head in the morning? Is there a way you could twist or amp up your act out so that you get to keep your head?
Because the king could also tune to American Idol. And that Jordan Sparks sure does sing good.Labels: act structure, Crafty TV Writing
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