Welcome to GITS!
GITS has had a recent spike in traffic and I see a lot of new names in comments, so how about a quick tour of the site.
First and foremost, GITS is about screenwriting. It’s about honoring the craft and those who practice it which is why I post profiles and articles on screenwriters, aggregate interviews with screenwriters (Interviews — Audio, Interviews — Video, Interviews — Written) and pull quotes from screenwriters (Screenwriting 101). We celebrate when a movie does well in part because of its story and when screenwriters receive acclaim. Indeed it’s why in Daily Dialogue, I list the screenwriters of the movies only. No directors. They get enough attention as it is. Here, screenwriters rule.
The site is also about aspiring screenwriters. When I broke into the business nearly 25 years ago, frankly I barely knew what the hell I was doing. I started GITS in part to provide what I hoped would be solid information about the craft and business of screenwriting to those who live outside the Hollywood system. So through GITS Reader Questions, The Business of Screenwriting, and other posts, I do my best to provide readers with a balanced view of the craft, both the upsides and downsides, grounded in the practical realities of being a screenwriter.
This site is about the screenwriting market. As I’ve done virtually every day since 1987, I keep tabs on what sells in Hollywood. Over the years, I’ve sold or had optioned five spec scripts. It’s how I broke into the business, so I am hard-wired to track that particular part of the acquisition and development market. You can go here — 2008 Spec Script Sales Analysis, 2009 Spec Script Sales Analysis, and 2010 Spec Script Sales Analysis — to see how I’ve broken down the last three years of spec script sales. And you can go here — GITS Q&A Interviews — to read interviews with first timers, writers who started working in The Biz after selling a script as well as more exclusive conversations with other industry professionals.
This site is also about inspiration. I know how hard writing is. How lonely it can be. I also know there is nothing comparable to the feeling of typing FADE OUT on the first or last draft of a screenplay. So I try to provide GITS readers with an uplift through quotes by writers On Writing or with my occasional rhapsodic outbursts about the joy writers experience in creating a living, breathing story out of nothing.
This site is about movies. To me, they are the greatest form of storytelling known to humankind. Sitting in the dark in a theater sharing a story with a group of strangers can be every bit as sacred as church. It can also be hysterical, terrifying, risque, thrilling, sorrowful, adventurous — and at its best deeply immersive, transporting us in some unfathomable way from this world to that.
This site is about you. 1.2M unique visits to GITS last year. Over 5,000 followers between Google Friends, Google Reader, and Twitter. But it’s much more than the numbers. We are an active community. Each of us drawn here on our respective life-journeys to find a way to express our creativity through stories. If you have suggestions, ideas, or questions, you know where to find me.
For those who haven’t figured it out, I even have a schedule for the posts here:
Every day at 6AM EST, I post a Daily Dialogue.
At 10AM EST, I post the following:
Monday: On Writing
Tuesday: Hollywood Tales
Wednesday: Screenwriting 101
Thursday: The Business of Screenwriting
Friday: Great Characters
Saturday: Written Interview
Sunday: Video Interview
At noon, I tend to run weekly series such as the recent Screenwriting Lessons or the current There Is No Right Way To Write.
And on the weekend, I post something called Saturday Hot Links which is an accumulation of interesting and oftentimes humorous links I discovered during the course of the week.
Again if you have any ideas of things you’d like to see me cover, you know where to find me.
So there you have it, a quick tour of the site. And there’s a lot more: Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work, Great Scenes, Scene Description Spotlight, all of the information free and available for your edification.
With that, I end with one of my favorite writing mantras:
“The only way out is through.”
Writers, I want you to know, you can always come to this humble blog for a little help through your own creative journey.
P.S.: While you’re here, if you haven’t signed up to follow GITS on Google Friends, please do.
P.P.S.: And if you’re new, why not introduce yourself in comments? If you have a writing blog, I’ll be happy to add it to my Friends blogroll.