Hi Reader, This week we are talking about one of my favorite of templates – classic movies! Classic Movies If you want to create entertainment – books, movies, TV, & comics, you need to be well-versed in movie history. The stories that we are creating today build on what came before. The people you will work for and with — the executives, producers, and writers — will often reference other movies, and you need to know what they are talking about. Even more important, for your writing to...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Last week we talked about templates in general and how to use legends, myths, and fairytales as inspiration for your stories. This week it’s classic literature! Classic Literature All of those books you read in English class are a great place to go hunting for ideas. Most of them are in the public domain, so you can write a straight adaption without having to pay for an option. These books get made into movies and TV series again and again because they are wonderfully cinematic...
16 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, You want to write something – the next billion-dollar movie, hit TV show, or bestselling novel. Maybe a story so stellar it becomes all three. But you don’t have an idea. And staring at that blinking cursor isn’t helping inspiration strike. The good news is that you don’t have to start from scratch. You can build upon the thousands of stories that have been told before you ever sat down at your computer. Picking one of your favorite yarns to use as a template for your own project...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, It’s that time of year again—November is just around the corner, which means one thing in the writing world: NaNoWriMo! For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a wild, caffeine-fueled sprint where writers across the globe challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Yeah, you heard that right. It's like a marathon, but with word counts and deadlines. And victory dances! Why Writers Love NaNoWriMo For many writers, NaNoWriMo is a gateway to...
30 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, As writers, we know how important the first five pages are. It’s where we introduce the world, the characters, the concept, theme, and tone. Most importantly, it’s where we hook our readers. It’s a big job! So naturally, we rework, rewrite, and fine-tune those pages until they gleam like the Hope Diamond of storytelling. But what about the ending? It often gets a lot less love. After all, if we write in order, by the time we reach that final scene, we might be exhausted. (Or let’s...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, All writers struggle with finding their voice. There is no magic button you can push to figure it out. The only way is to keep writing. Write a lot. The more you write, the more your own voice will come out. You will gradually find your voice, your author brand, and your favorite genres. On the latest episode of The Screenwriting Life podcast, they had two Austin Film Festival (AFF) winning screenwriters on Alex Convery and Tate Hanyok. Hanyok said that the first two years she...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, My biggest obsession is Mahjong. I started playing in February with a group of friends, and now we meet every week. What's the connection between Mahjong and creativity? A lot! Learning new skills rewires your brain. You’re forming new neural pathways, making your brain stronger and sharper. Think of it like working out at the gym—except instead of biceps, you’re flexing that beautiful brain of yours. A brain that’s in tip-top shape helps you think outside the box, make wild...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Do you ever come up with a big idea but find yourself stuck figuring out the story around it? You’ve got the world, but where are the characters? Or maybe you have an amazing protagonist, but no conflict to throw them into. Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Every storyteller hits this roadblock. My favorite way to power through it? A little something I call the Fairy Tale Fix. The Magic of Once Upon a Time In the enchanting land of fairy tales, every story starts with these classic...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I was lucky enough this past week to go to a screening of the new movie Reagan. Biopics are tricky because a person's life doesn't follow a three act structure. Telling someone's story from birth to death is a lot of territory to cover. The writer and director of Reagan’s challenge was to whittle down lots of wonderful anecdotes and make them a cohesive story. This got me thinking about different ways to approach a biopic. The Outside Narrator – Reagan by Howard Klausner One...
2 months ago • 2 min read