I’m consistently shocked by how many young kids and teens say they can’t write. I write say they can’t write because they can actually write – if given the right tools and motivation. Unfortunately, the right tools and motivation aren’t often given to kids and teens within the school system. Heck, sometimes even in...
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Any writer knows there’s no right or wrong way to start telling your story. You’ll hear writers talk about outlining versus little-to-no outlining; some prefer to do detailed outlines while some (like me) do their best work when writing on-the-fly. You don’t hear quite as much talk, though, about the order of creating characters...
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I’d imagine the toughest feat for a writer would be that of adapting a novel into a screenplay. The two are such distinctly different animals in development, and yet in execution both must convey the same essence. In writing a screenplay based on a book, you are writing for two different kinds of audiences...
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CBS’ little known TV comedy, Partners just got canceled in its first season, and logically I know I shouldn’t be sad. The show was not great; it was barely good, and to tell the truth, it really, really sucked. With its godawful writing and predictable plots, it was a mediocre show at best. It’s...
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I’m not gonna lie, sometimes writing dialogue sucks. (Especially when I’m writing a script. At least with a novel, you can make the narrative carry the weight of your words even if your dialogue is less than witty. But that’s a topic for another post.) So where was I? Oh yes. Dialogue sucks. If...
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“Please do not limit this CD to your iPod and earbuds, play it at parties and with your friends and make memories with us. Illegal duplication is encouraged.” When I first started blogging a few years ago, I wrote a little known article on Handshake Media about Chris Anderson’s Free: The Future of a...
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“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Just the other day, in the middle of a week where I’ve started exploring my own fears, my mom shared with me a Facebook interview with Oprah. In the interview, Oprah mentions she’d never felt fear before. Ever. Not a day in her life. According to...
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“Nothing about my old life went away. But now I’m supposed to pretend it doesn’t exist because reality is too horrible for normal people to handle.” A foster teen with a sketchy, sexually-abused past and less than altruistic urges, Peter Holmes expects to have his usual hell-of-a-time adjusting to his new (fourth) “too good...
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As an artist, I’m sure you more than likely run screaming at the dreaded word, marketing. It’s true that marketing has kind of gotten a bad rep in the eyes of the public – what with all the typical salesmen and media advertisements out there, all with the underlying mantra to sell, sell, sell....
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Lately everybody’s brimming with excitement over American Idol, and in the wake of this week’s (very entertaining) auditions for season 9, I’d say there’s a lesson for us artists to take away. Even if AI is not your thing. Even if you think you’re the hottest thing since Madonna. Or Picasso. Or William Shakespeare....
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My junior high English teacher once told my class that the best love poems never used the words, “I love you”. Maybe not even the single word, “love” itself. Not much a fan of writing clichés in the first place, especially where love and romance is concerned, I’ve always kept this small piece of...
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