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The Value of a Skillful Writer
A paragraph struck me while I was reading an open letter by Joss Whedon about the writers’ guild strike:
Writers can be replaced, as we are constantly reminded. But so can companies. Power is on the move, and though in this town it’s been hoarded by very few, there are other companies with newer ideas about how to make money off of – or possibly, wonderfully, with – the story-tellers.
It struck me how valuable good writers are and how much TV networks–and fans, too–undervalue them. Joss Whedon is an exception to the rule, because he actually has a fan-site. Most fans never truly appreciate how thoroughly they are indebted to the creators and writers of their favorite shows. (Read more…)
Fourteen-Day Screenplay Starts Saturday
Two Weeks, One Screenplay, Are You Up To The Challenge?
It’s “the NaNoWriMo for screenwriters,” the 14-day screenplay, and it’s almost upon us, June 3 - 17, at 14DayScreenPlay.com. The challenge is to write a feature-length screenplay in just 14 days. Starting at midnight Saturday morning (June 3), ending before midnight Sunday morning (June 17)&mdashYes, that’s 14 days—can you create a 90 to 120-page screenplay?
-TimK
The Fourteen-Day Screenplay
As an aspiring screenwriter, have you ever felt left out by the aspiring novelists and their NaNoWriMo? What kind of a silly name is NaNoWriMo anyhow? No one can even pronounce it right! It’s much easier to pronounce “14-day screenplay,” and it rhymes! (Well, I guess “NaNoWriMo” would rhyme, too, if we could actually say it.)
The next 14-day screenplay is coming up fast, June 3 - 17, at 14DayScreenPlay.com.
(By the way, the part above, about NaNoWriMo, is just funny silliness, good-natured ribbing at what is actually a great annual event. )
-TimK
Short Stories for Success
Holly Lisle said something pretty profound on the latest episode of her podcast. She was talking about prologues, whether or not to include them, but the advice applies to writing in general: (Read more…)
How to Measure a Good Story
If a few people don’t hate you, you’re doing something wrong. Or at least that’s how writers ought to feel, instead of feeling that if someone hates their work, he hates them. We know that’s not reality, that a negative review of our work says nothing about us. Yet we pour ourselves into the stories we write. Of course it affects us personally. But a writer’s feelings isn’t really what I want to talk about. Rather, I want to point out that a good writer will have a few naysayers. And those naysayers will be vociferous. And if he has no vociferous naysayers, he isn’t that good. Instead, he’s mediocre. And mediocrity is a powerful trap that any of us can fall into.
The Uselessness of Genres
In the latest episode of his podcast, Tee Morris tells a story about how he got into an argument over which genre one of Tom Clancy’s books “is.” The main feature of the podcast is a half-hour rant on James Frey. I’ve already commented on Frey. Tee, however, goes on as though Frey is the first jerk ever to pull this stunt. Off the top of my head, Mike Warnke some years ago was found out to have constructed his so-called true story out of whole cloth, after selling 3 million copies of the book and 1 million copies of his album. This truly is off the top of my head. I’m sure others have done it as well. How can I be so sure? Because human nature is human nature. The publishing industry didn’t implode from the scandal then, and it won’t now. Get over it. Move on.
What I’m really interested in is a tiny tidbit in the introduction to this episode, about 4 minutes in. (Read more…)
EFF and Sony BMG Reach Preliminary Settlement over Flawed DRM
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced Thursday that it had reached a preliminary settlement with Sony BMG over their controversial CD copy-prevention software.
Sony BMG and That Darn DRM
No, not the XCP rootkit debacle. This time it’s MediaMax. But something comes to mind about those who fail to learn from history. Ars Technica reports, as Yogi Berra once said, It’s déjà vu all over again.
Me? I’m looking forward to the day when watching a DVD will infect your computer or TiVo or IPTV system. Oh how exciting, eh?
Free Culture
He was speaking of software, not stories. But with DRM and storyline patents now upon us, Lawrence Lessig might as well have been thinking about literature, film, and interactive media when he spoke at the O’Reilly Open Source Conference in July 2002. Actually, maybe he was. In this poignant, inspirational speech, he contends that copyright and creative patents restrict creativity rather than motivating it, urging us to take action.
Security, DRM, and Sony
On Distributing the Future, an O’Reilly Network podcast, the latest episode, “Security, DRM, and Sony,” is essential listening for podcasters and anyone who listens to CDs or watches DVDs. (Read more…)
