Advice — jonathan dorf

It's been more than two years since the last Writing in Restaurants, and in that time I've come across many new writing-friendly venues. Today, I'll be serving a five-course meal of writing tips as I introduce you to some of my latest favorites. Unless otherwise noted, these aren't plug-in or wireless venues, but they're wonderful places to stoke your creativity nonetheless. Square One Dining, Los Angeles, California Get your writing day started right with what may be the best breakfast in town at this outpost in Silverlake. They open at 8:00 AM and close at 3:30 PM, serve breakfast all...

Telling a great story has always been the key to writing a saleable screenplay or a play that everyone wants to produce--and it's always been the hardest thing to get right. No matter how many car chases or dramatic screaming matches your script may have, if the story stalls, you're going to lose your audience. Want to know the single biggest story staller there is? It's exposition. What is exposition? It's information. Who are these characters? What do they want? Where and when is the story taking place? What's going on in the world you've created? Obviously, these are all...

What do such movies as The Hours, Shakespeare in Love, Empire of the Sun, Wag the Dog and The Untouchables have in common? Here's a hint: their authors are David Hare (The Hours), Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love and Empire of the Sun) and David Mamet (Wag the Dog and The Untouchables). Still stumped? Each of these movies--and we're talking about some very good films--was written by a playwright. OK. So a few good playwrights needed to make some extra cash, and they turned to the much more lucrative film industry to finance house payments and upscale vacations. That may...

Your new play is finally ready for submission. ("New play" means your targets are theatre companies and contests - save publishers for plays with a production history.) Of course, too many writers think their scripts are finished when they're not, but that's another story. We're sticking to the story that begins, "your play is finally ready for submission." But now what? Submitting scripts is time-consuming, the costs add up, and the odds are against you. A major theatre may have one new play slot a year, and if Sam Shepard or Paula Vogel has a new play, no matter how...

I wrote the original Writing in Restaurants for the eZine nearly two years ago. But dining out is still one of my favorite things to do. And, of course, so is writing. So it seemed only fitting to revisit Writing in Restaurants with some new restaurant suggestions and writing tips designed to help you, whether you write plays or screenplays, take your script to the next level. ~ Appetizer Writing Tip A common note is "not enough conflict" or "the conflict needs punching up." But what does that mean? It often means that the characters need to move closer to...