Failing Better
Paying a reader to give you notes on your script is like paying a prostitute to give you notes on your sexual technique. Yes, they’re a professional.Yes, they’re good at what they do.And yes, if you’re just starting out there’s a case to be made that advice from someone who’s been around the blocks a […]
I’ve just finished playing Ico. It’s a game for the PS2 in which you have to escape from a castle – and take your companion with you. The game is beautifully drawn, and instead of music features a soundtrack of ambient sound: the wash of waves on cliffs, gulls crying on the wing. The light […]
A couple of weeks ago I went to an event at BAFTA hosted by mediaXchange. MediaXchange are a company who try and bring creatives together across the Atlantic – so for example TV execs in the UK might be taken across to LA in order to shadow a showrunner for week. In this case, though, […]
If you don’t have Jane Espenson‘s blog on your must-read list, you really ought to. She writes regularly on the process of creating spec scripts. Also, about what she had for lunch, but as that’s a story on a par with Tom Baker’s Scarf, we’ll let it slide. Having started out as a comedy writer, […]
Some people claim that writing can’t be taught. That there’s an indefinable spark in a few which, in time, will blossom. That if you don’t have such a spark, training will do nothing for you. That hard work and experience is not as important as talent. This point of view is, in a word, bollocks. […]
It’s a really simple concept, and you’d think it would be more widely done. You’ve written your spec. It’s as good as you can make it. You’ve been through a dozen drafts, stripped back the action paragraphs and deflowered the prose. The characters have objectives that they’re working towards, and problems that they need to […]
noun (pl. sanctuaries) 1 a place of refuge or safety. 2 a nature reserve. 3 a place where injured or unwanted animals are cared for. 4 a holy place. 5 the part of the chancel of a church containing the high altar. ORIGIN originally denoting a church or sacred place in which, by law, a […]
Japanese poem Five syllables, then seven Then five at the last To be true haiku A season must be invoked Use a metaphor Kigo, season word Cherry blossom used for spring Snow stands for winter Now use a cutting Haiku should be two pieces Complementary For english haiku Merely form will be enough Five, seven, […]