As I hunted through my resources this weekend, I came across some screenwriting DVDs I’ve enjoyed and wanted to share with you. 1. The Dialogue DVD Series: This series of DVDs includes interviews of successful screenwriters talking craft, breaking in, and the films they love. I’m a big fan of crawling inside other writers’ heads [...]
I think a lot about my characters. They come with me everywhere I go. Last weekend I sat in on Welcome Day at my daughter’s new college and listened to a professor of psychology talk about fear, comfort and commonality (how fitting is it that my girl is studying psychology?). I was jotting notes… yes, [...]
To celebrate the launch of Jen Grisanti’s new column Story Structure, I’m sharing my top picks for screenwriting structure and writing style products at The Writers Store: 1. The Screenwriter’s Bible by Dave Trottier – Dave’s book was one of my very first screenwriting resources, and is still one I turn to when I have [...]
Congratulations to all of the writers who went to Screenwriters World Conference East last weekend in New York City. It was an honor and a pleasure to meet our community of writers and learn alongside you. Since my return, my inbox has been popping with post-pitchfest questions, starting with the Pitch Slam experience. I wasn’t [...]
For all of those who went to Screenwriter World Conference in NYC this past weekend, CONGRATULATIONS on putting yourself and your work out there to execs and agents! I know from personal experience how hard that can be. Pat yourselves on the back! Now before you submit your work, make sure you have it registered [...]
When pursuing a screenwriting career, you have to get out of your writer’s cave and meet executives face-to-face. The BEST way to pitch your work is to sell yourself! After all, should an exec like your script, s/he will have to work with you for a long period of time developing it. It’s just as [...]
I love hunting for treasure. In fact, I grew up with a mom who was a thrift store junkie. Once, she even bought a van full of dungarees for $100. Again, you see why my therapy file is so big… To honor my family tradition of treasure hunting, each week I’ll share with you my [...]
Last week, I flew to L.A. to spend four days locked in Doug Richardson’s writing cave. It may seem extreme to fly cross-country to sit in a room full of cigar smoke with another writer, but he isn’t just any writer. He has 30 years of screenwriting experience, wrote box-office hits like Die Hard 2, [...]
After posting Balls of Steel: 10 Tips to Prepare for Opportunities When They Knock last week, my email and Facebook messages were flooded with responses from my network. “I hear Neil Peart, the drummer from Rush, say his old drum teacher tell him that between gigs, you should prepare since you don’t know when the [...]
