Advice — expert series

As writers, we are practitioners of an ancient art: the art of storytelling. Storytelling is a continually evolving form of expression. The first storytellers had only one simple tool at their disposal - the spoken word. Later storytellers had more sophisticated methods of spinning tales, using staged dramas, printed texts, and ultimately, recorded sound and filmed images. But while these innovations offered us new ways to convey plot, depict characters, and portray action, the fundamental elements of storytelling essentially remained the same. Today, however, thanks to the development of digital technology, not only do we have a whole new set...

"Writing a book is like driving a car at night. You only see as far as your headlights go, but you can make the whole trip that way." -E.L. Doctorow Hollywood studios test market their major motion pictures before releasing them to the public. They spend millions of dollars to gauge audience reaction, to find out, simply, if viewers are satisfied. What constitutes a satisfying experience? Is it universal? Is it something that can be manufactured? Why can't it suffice for us to watch merely a synopsis of a story? Why do we want to sit down with a 500...

This morning I received an Industry email with a headline reading "Get it together. Start fresh!" I don't want a fresh start. Despite all of the spiked eggnog-fueled New Year's Eve resolutions we make, the winter months can end up as creatively fallow as the Siege of Leningrad for writers not on assignment or under contract. This time of year especially, we feel tremendous pressure to cast out the old in favor of the new. Often the problem goes beyond our typical writers' malaise and lies in trying to make too many "jump to light speed," across-the-board changes at once....

Reader Lauren Machin from Atlanta, Georgia asks:How do I become a television writer if I don't have any contacts?Writer/Producer Lee Goldberg responds:I get this question a lot, but it's disingenuous, since I'm a TV writer/producer and whoever is asking me that is really asking me to either read their script or to invite them in to pitch. So, theoretically, they already know somebody in the business.They're luckier than I was when I got started. I didn't know anybody in the TV industry. But I got in. How did I do it? Everybody's story is unique. Most of those stories, however,...

If you make explicit what you already know intuitively about the structure of movies and stories, you'll have yourself a conscious plotting tool. The rhythm of story is in all of us right now, especially for those who were read to as youngsters and continue to read today. Storytellers often intuitively tap into this rhythm and are able to weave all three plot lines without much conscious thought to structure. When they get stuck, it is always because one or more of the three elements has been ignored by: * Concentrating on action only, forgetting that character provides interest and...