Your suggestions for GITS
At the end of the year, I like to take the pulse of the GITS community. So here are some questions I want to offer up for discussion with the hopes that we can continue to improve the quality of our experience here:
* Is there something I’m doing you’d like to see more of? If you’ve followed the blog for awhile, you probably know the general flow of content. While I keep the focus on screenwriting and writing in general, I also cover a wide range of subjects from the movie business to creativity. Are there areas I currently touch on that you’d like to see focused on more?
* Are there areas I’m currently not covering you’d like to see introduced? For instance last year, some people suggested I track what was happening in the area of TV more. I tried to do that this year including a some series of posts on TV showrunners, interviews with TV writers, etc. Is there something else you would like to see touched on here more often that is somehow related to the general focus of the site?
* How about the weekly series? Here is the current lineuup: On Writing (Monday), Screenwriting 101 (Tuesday), Script To Screen (Wednesday), The Business of Screenwriting (Thursday), Great Characters (Friday). Are these working for you? In the past I’ve run Great Scenes, Scene Description Spotlight, and others. Would you like to see any of those reprised? Other ideas for weekly series?
* Are there any specific subject areas you want to suggest for a weekly series? You probably know that I often run a weekly series on a specific topic such as the current one on Writing Goals: 2012. Are there some I’ve done in the past you’d like to see brought back? New subjects you think would sustain up to five daily posts you’d like to see covered?
* What about the GITS Script Reading and Analysis series? This was something that rose up from the community. During the last four months of 2011, we covered 14 scripts and as a bonus got special insight into Buried from its writer Chris Sparling and Bridesmaids from Universal script consultant Billy Mernit. But my feelings about it are mixed. It’s a lot of work for me personally and at times participation was great, other weeks not so much. So should we dump it? Only focus on super popular movies? Do it once every 2 weeks? Once a month? How many of you have been participating privately and not posting? Are there ways to improve it?
* Is there something else we could be doing to engender the community experience on GITS? During the year, I spotlighted GITS readers from numerous countries around the world. We initiated a few GITS Meet-Ups. I did a live blogging event where I interacted with GITS folks for an hour online. Re the latter, would you like to see that happen on a monthly or bi-monthly basis? Any other ideas re community-building?
One area I know I will be focusing on more in 2012 is Q&A’s with screenwriters, TV writers and filmmakers. I already have several in the works which I will be rolling out in the first quarter of the upcoming year. I think it’s important to peer into the minds of working writers to learn how they think and write.
Another thing we launched this year and I’d like to see expanded is the Dispatches From the Front Line series, first-person essays by members of the GITS community describing where they are in their process of breaking into the entertainment business. Here is an example. If you want to participate, please email me to discuss.
Any other ideas, let me know. I’m always looking for ways to benefit you in terms of your writing, creative process, and understanding of the business, so your input is extremely helpful.
And as always, thanks for being a part of the GITS community.
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