Advice

Five years ago, we set forth from Maryland cross-country to Los Angeles. We were following a script we had sent out there a few weeks before. The script was being submitted to producers and studios as we drove across the heartland, and our agent informed us she'd call us on the road with an offer. We carried with us an ancient brick-like cell phone, and each time the routine was the same. Ring. (This was before Caller ID). We'd answer the phone in great anticipation of the million-dollar deal, only to hear our mom's voice on the other line checking...

Last week we looked at the three profound journeys. This week we'll turn to the seven "surface" journeys, journeys which are less profound, but equally important when crafting fiction. The profound journeys are internal and substantial; the surface journeys are external and might not be substantial. Nonetheless, they are highly visible, can have a great impact on a story, and must be used to fully complement a work. Before we turn to them, though, let's pick up where we left off last week. Last week we talked about a character's taking a profound journey and coming to a realization about...

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....