Monthly Series: Your feedback wanted!
Even though I’ve been hosting this blog for over 5 years, it continues to evolve and I continue to learn things about it.
For example, I ran the annual “A Story Idea Each Day for a Month” series each day in April of this [the series’ 4th year]. People really responded to it, getting into the spirit of brainstorming ideas.
Meanwhile I had been collecting a bunch of emails from people who had made movies, requesting I feature them on the blog. So I figured, why not make May “Moves You Made” month. So each day, I shared an original short, feature length movie or web series episode with the GITS community. Once again people seemed to really like that.
Then I dusted off something I had been meaning to run for a while: “30 Days of Screenplays” to encourage people to read scripts. And that’s what we’re doing in June to good response.
So maybe we’re onto something here and I wanted to ask what you think about us having a different monthly series? Every day at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, you could check in to see the next installment in the month’s series. That’s the first thing: Would that appeal to you?
The second thing is can we come up with 12 interesting series themes? I wouldn’t want to do it just to fill space, each theme would have to be of value to readers.
We already have three I think are worthy candidates: A Story Idea Each Day, Movies You Made, 30 Days of Screenplays.
Here are some other suggestions I’ve pulled from a brainstorming list created by my research assistant Wendy:
Great Opening Scenes
Character Introductions
Online Screenwriting Resources (Websites, Blogs, etc.)
Movie Story Types
Great Characters
Great Scenes
Interviews
Reader Questions
The Business of Screenwriting
Script to Screen
GITS Script Reading & Analysis
Obviously some of these would be pulling content from the archives, but I keep getting reminded by readers that they cannot believe the amount of subjects covered here, just sitting there collecting dust. This would be a way of presenting that content to newer GITS followers as well as reminders for those of us who have been around for awhile.
Here are three that would require more time from me in terms of thinking and writing, but depending upon when I scheduled them in the year, I could possibly take them on:
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
The Theology of Screenwriting
Writing Mantras
Finally what about something a bit more interactive: A daily scene-writing exercise? For example, are you familiar with those 24 hour short film contest where they give the filmmakers a line of dialogue and a prop, and they have to go make a movie using them? What if we did something similar? Each day, a line of dialogue, a setting, and a genre. Write a 1–2 page scene, copy and past it [don’t care about format] for our general edification. Maybe a contest angle to it with some free Screenwriting Master Class courses as prizes or some such thing.
If there was a groundswell of support for this idea of monthly series, and if we could surface 12 strong candidates that we feel would benefit the conversation about screenwriting and you individually, what I could do is come up with a schedule, January-December.
Think about that for a second. That would mean every day, you could visit this site and be assured you’d be getting: Daily Dialogue, Monthly Series, Screenwriter Interview.
Those would be defaults. Then all the other information and analysis you’ve come to expect.
So I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions. If any of those listed above are particularly interesting, let me know. As always, if you have any other ideas for the blog you feel may be of value to the community, I’m all virtual ears.
Onward and upward!
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