How to write if you have a long commute behind the wheel? “Talk out your story. Record your words. Transfer to your computer. You can get a LOT done that way.”
Reader Question: Do you have any suggestions to ‘warm up’ for writing? Two suggestions to help you overcome the dreaded ‘how to get my ass into the chair and writing’ conundrum.
Writing and the Creative Life: “The hard is what makes it great” Wisdom about writing and creativity from the movie ‘A League of Their Own’.
Page One: ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975) Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey
Screenplays are stories, not formulas William Goldman has famously written, “Screenplays are structure.” That is true in a tangible sense because at some point, a script becomes…
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: “Get Off Your Ass” Sitting. Typing. Sitting. Thinking. Sitting. Stressing. Sitting. Sitting. Sitting…
Page One: ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ (2000) Written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, based on the epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer
Go Into The Story interview: Jessica Bendinger An in-depth conversation with the screenwriter of the beloved 2000 comedy Bring It On.
Screenwriting 101: Brian Duffield “I find that by starting with theme, you instantly gravitate towards a character who is almost at an opposite place to deal with that…
Page One: ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007) Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, novel by Cormac McCarthy
Theme = Meaning More than just the moral or premise of the story, theme can best be understood to be about what a story MEANS.
On Writing “I have a mantra in class: ‘Readers do no work.’ If you’re James Joyce or Toni Morrison or any other writer lavishly blessed with the…
Sundays with Ray Bradbury “I can imagine all kinds of worlds and places, but I cannot imagine a world without Bradbury.” — Neil Gaiman
Interview (Audio): Scott Frank An in-depth conversation with the writer-director of the Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit.
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Free Association Sometimes if you’re stuck in your writing, it’s best just to cut loose.
Page One: ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939) Screen play by Sidney Buchman, story by Lewis R. Foster
Writing and the Creative Life: Something is Better Than Nothing “No matter what you write, good or bad, it’s an improvement to a blank page.”
