Often when I’m around a group of writers it doesn’t take long before one of them starts to complain.
“My agent won’t call me.”
“The producer didn’t like my script.”
“Everyone I know is doing so much better than I am.”
“I’m not getting anywhere in this business.”
“There’s nothing going on […]
It’s a New Year and time to make some choices.
At this point in my TV writing career I feel fortunate to have an attorney on my “team”. He deals with contracts for me. Most recently those contracts are for my work the new drama for TNT. I’ve also had my lawyer create collaboration agreements for projects […]
I got my first agent (as an actor) when I was a senior in high school. I was riding the bus to school with a girl who studied at a performing arts center near my house on Long Island, and one day, she asked me if I wanted to come […]
Before I was brave enough to call myself a writer, I was writing. It came in spurts. I’d get an idea and I’d start putting words on the page. At the time, I was writing short stories. I wanted to write novels. Inevitably, I’d hit a wall. I didn’t have […]
The holidays are whipping by as they usually do. They might be leaving you breathless with parties and shopping and other celebrations. Or perhaps you’re relaxing in front of the TV with your feet up or making trips to the movie theatre or obsessed with your favorite […]
This used to be my biggest impediment as a writer: I’d get so excited about an idea that I’d just start writing. No outline, no nothing. Somewhere along the line I’d become stuck and have no idea how to proceed. I believe that’s because I didn’t have […]
This happens all the time: I’m out somewhere and I meet a new person who is excited to hear that I’m a writer and a writing coach. The person claims she is “not yet” a writer, but has “great ideas”. Then she proceeds to tell me […]
In any dramatic scene, the energy should flow back and forth – like a tennis match. Someone says or does something and the other person responds. In the best scenes this movement is palpable – the power dynamic shifts – and the resulting momentum moves us into […]
Recently, I saw a post on Facebook about contest submissions for writers. The person who posted was making the point that assessments about the winners and losers are “sometimes subjective”. I posted an alternate view: they’re always, 100% subjective. 100% of the time.
It can […]