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”.

Screenwriting on the iPhone • Part 1

This is the first of a two-part post I plan on throwing up about screenwriting on the iPhone and I want to be clear up front that there is *no* way I’d ever try and write anything of size on such a small device – the scale of the screen and keyboard would become very maddening, very quickly. But if I could use a full-size, Bluetooth keyboard this would be a very different article.
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Done Is The Engine Of More

I first came across this *brilliant* bit of inspiration on John Roger’s blog Kung Fu Monkey. It’s hanging in the writer’s room at “Leverage” and undoubtedly in many other places as well, but I’m not sure where it originally came from. (more…)

“Stiffing Staffing Season”

This is one of my favorite episodes of KCRW’s “The Business”. Although the show being discussed is no longer on the air, the story of its creators should prove inspirational to anyone trying to make it as a TV writer. The unconventional path they took is yet another example of there being no real rules in Hollywood…enjoy.