Meet Liz Tigelaar

“Life Unexpected” is one of the best show on TV today. For me, it harkens back to The WB salad days when they were dealing us shows like “Gilmore Girls”, “Dawson’s Creek”, and “Felicity” – snappy dialogue, real characters, and stakes that are grounded in reality.

I happen to know a bit about “Life’s” creator Liz Tigelaar and it’s no surprise that she wrote on two of the three shows mentioned above. In fact, her resumé is chock full of awesome credits and the story of how “Life” leap-frogged over pilots with stronger pedigrees last year is inside-Hollywood legend.

If you want to learn a bit more about someone who followed the assistant->staff->showrunner path we’re all trudging along, check out her interview over at the WGA’s website:

What To Spec • 2010

Alex over at A TV Calling is killing it with two new posts about the best shows to spec for the upcoming staffing season. This isn’t recommended reading – it’s straight-up required for anyone hoping to land on staff this spring…it’s amazingly comprehensive. And the comments have a few nuggets too.

Check ‘em out ASAP:

Drama Spec Script 2010

Comedy Spec Script 2010

Great New Blog

Margaux Froley first popped up on my radar when she was one of the winners of the Warner Brothers TV Workshop a couple of years ago and became one of the only folks I could find to cover TV scripts.

Although I didn’t engage her services, I did appreciate the interviews she did on Julie Grey’s old site. And when I came across an interesting article “Are You Good In The Room?”, I was happily surprised to see she had started her own blog.

Finding folks whose TV careers are in second gear and willing to share details can be rare…so be sure to give her site a shot.

This Is Your Pilot Speaking

Path To Staff Writer

The Bitter Script Reader has a cool series of interviews with a staff writer from “Human Target” about the path he followed to get the job. I *love* stuff like this because it helps demystify the writers room to guys like me who haven’t worked there. Yet.

Interview with JERICHO and HUMAN TARGET’s Robert Levine

Do. Not. Wait.

I’ll admit it: it’s really difficult for me to start writing some mornings. But I know I have to persevere, even if I’m not chomping at the bit to get going most days.

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Golden Garbage Dump

Last year, I needed to crank out another original one-hour sample for a potential rep. Fast. I already had the show’s basic premise, characters, arcs, and theme in mind…but I knew I wouldn’t have as much polish time once I pounded out the first draft as I’m used to. And (as I’ve mentioned before) those rewrites are where I really find my scripts come alive.

So, once I hammered out that first draft, I opened up a special document where I’ve been stashing little pieces of awesome for close to a decade. Great stories I overheard, cool dialogue parted out from abandoned projects, unique characters I’d imagined but not utilized yet, etc. …it’s basically where I bury the babies I’m forced to kill – but plan on reanimating at the right moment.

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Screenwriting on the iPhone • Part 2

This is a follow-up to my first post about using Screenplay to write scripts on the iPhone. To recap, although I love the idea of a dedicated screenwriting app on the iPhone (Final Draft, can you hear me?), Screenplay fell way short of what I’m looking for.

Ironically, a general note-taking/word processing app does a much better job of handling screenwriting on the iPhone. Writeroom is not an unfamiliar name to Mac-based writers. Their ultra-simple, fullscreen word processor has been famous for years and their iPhone effort is (in my opinion) an even greater triumph.

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It Has To Be Bad To Get Good

I’m a serial rewriter – when I’m in the middle of a script, I can’t stop myself from reading back over what I’ve accomplished in prior sessions and doing a little polish work. Of course, this means I’m rewriting all of my scenes multiple times before finishing the first draft.

And it still sucks. Always.

This used to get me down because of all the work I’d put into that first draft. What I didn’t realize was that, despite it’s first drafty-ness, I’d done most of the heavy lifting. Which is to say I’d written everything down – front, middle, and end. Now, I can go about making it actually good.

Which is why I’m writing this post. Forget Hemingway, EVERY writer I’ve ever heard interviewed or spoken with directly has emphasized that the first draft is the first effort – and that it should never see the light of day. It’s quite simple to identify missteps when you have an entire story to contrast it against – not so much if you only have part of the whole and don’t know where you’re headed.

So I guess the long and short of this thought is: don’t be afraid to be bad. Because we all are. It’s how you work the rough shape that helps add a distinct voice and focus to the script you will show other folks.

Matt Weiner @ “The Treatment”

Although “The Treatment” usually deals with films, Elvis Mitchell occasionally interviews small screen folk. His recent interview with “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner is a superb look into the mind of a writer who’s working on a level that a lot of us never get to. His insight into character and truth in writing is worth a listen for anyone looking to sharpen their skills.

Running “Sons of Anarchy”

Another great post from Kurt Sutter about the responsibilities and mechanics of running his brilliant FX series, “Sons of Anarchy”.