Advice — expert series

Read the rest of the series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 6 Some historians and anthropologists believe that the earliest art was created while under the influence of mind-altering substances. Well, duh. Artists, by their very nature, are a breed apart and have access to brilliant worlds but dimly perceived by what Hogwarts-trained magicians would call 'muggles.' Art, by its very nature, is the translation and transmission to others of perceptions of those numinous worlds through various media - petroglyphs, music, dance, drama, novels, movies, games, etc. Yet how can you the artist possibly transmit the...

Throughout my 18 years of screenwriting I have read and analyzed thousands of scripts from writers of all levels, including screenplays from my students at Buffalo State College, Cornell University, Syracuse University's Newhouse School, and R.I.T.'s School of Film and Animation.During this time, I discovered 11 Laws of Great Storytelling - trends that tend to exist in many of the most memorable stories of all time. Of course, creating unforgettable heroes and villains is an integral part of all the Laws and should always be in the forefront of your mind as a writer.So while it is impossible to have...

When I was a young aspiring writer, I had a strong aversion to the use of "said" in a story. My justification was that it was blah. It was uninspired. It was pedestrian. Why use "said," I rationalized, when there were so many other words in the English language that were way more expressive? Throughout high school composition classes, my characters squeaked, pontificated, reflected, mused and accused. As if that weren't enough to spice up their conversations with one another, I was also generous in my deployment of adverbs. After all, who's going to make for a scarier villain: the...

Read the rest of the series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 5; Part 6 Archetypes are very in, very cool, very now. That's great. There are lots of fine books, seminars, and consultants to help you understand the various and sundry archetypes. That's great, too. But now, are you and your characters ready for the next step up? Are you ready for the ArchePaths? You may now be saying, "Good grief! I just want to write my stories, I don't want to have to deal with all this theory and patterns and craft stuff." Ah, but that's where...

Read the rest of the series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6 Metaphysics is not for amateurs. And that's on purpose. Everything you think you know about Conscious Media, spirituality, or metaphysics is probably wrong, half-wrong, upside-down and/or backwards, out of date, or too advanced to be of any use. Just think for a moment -- are these truths really true? All the time? Without exception? "What you think about you bring about." "The full moon is the most magical time." "40 days is the optimum time to set a new pattern." "The Law of Attraction...