writer. screenwriter. learning person. loves being human.
I wrote this today as part of my commitment to the Clarion West Write-a-thon. A dedication means that person sponsored it by donating to CW, and then provided me a writing prompt that sparked the piece. If you would like something written especially for you, please consider sponsoring me. Here’s all the work of the … Continue reading “CW 15: Feeding Time”
Can’t see the video? Open it here. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years shopping for film and television writing coaching. I’ve taken workshops, I’ve had professional coverage, I’ve read a hundred books and countless blogs. Of all those possible learning resources, the only one I’ve ever recommended is the workshop series offered by Corey … Continue reading “Corey Mandell screenwriting/TV writing workshops – highly recommended”
(Hey, guess what? You can now find The OtherLife Journals on Medium!) One of the biggest mistakes I made as a brand-new screenwriter with a real project at stake was that I was afraid to ask questions about my craft and my role. What did Real Movie People expect from a professional writer? I had … Continue reading “Faking it is a bullshit way to become a pro writer”
I came up in pre-internet publishing. I built my fiction career one painstakingly white-out-corrected typed story and SASE1 at a time. (Thank you, humans of earth, for inventing the word processor and also the internet, although I am not convinced that the ability to publish without reflection is a great gift to aspiring writers.) I submitted to pro markets, and … Continue reading “Would you do it for a dollar?”
What does it mean that I read this entire fabulous post ranking every single episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer from worst to best in detail? And found myself nodding or making the Dude you are so wrong in your wrongness here frowny face? You tell me ::grin::. I miss Buffy, and Firefly (heartbreak!), and … Continue reading “Because: Buffy!”
I’m crossposting this from Sterling Editing. Writing is what I like to call a long game. It takes as long as it takes to write the best book we can. It takes as long as it takes to find the right editor and publishing path. It takes as long as it takes for the book … Continue reading “Notes on the long game: Hild”
Clarion West will hold a one-day workshop in Seattle on Sunday, December 2, on The Business of Writing. Every writer needs to understand the business, not just the craft. We’re all responsible for our own careers, and today writers have more options than ever before. It’s an exciting, challenging, and potentially confusing landscape. That’s why … Continue reading “The Business of Writing: workshop”
Recently a Jet Blue flight from New York to LAX was diverted to Denver so an unruly passenger could be taken off the plane in handcuffs. I don’t know if this happens more often than it used to, or if we just hear about it more. In this case, the world heard about it from … Continue reading “The sadness of madness”
Many people know the Clarion West Writers Workshop as the world-class summer boot camp for emerging writers of speculative fiction. We are now accepting applications for the 2012 workshop, with an absolutely spectacular lineup of instructors: Mary Rosenblum, Hiromi Goto, George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, and Chuck Palahniuk. The deadline … Continue reading “Clarion West, all year long!”
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my experience of 41 Days of Story. The background for those of you scratching your heads: I’m the Board Chair of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. This past summer, to raise money for CW, I accepted donations and wrote a new piece of fiction to a prompt … Continue reading “The writing days of summer”