Writing Tips

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Writing Tips

	Why Films Are So Bad

"Motion picture and television executives tend to clone past successes. They actively discourage originality because of the high financial risks of dream making. And all too many members of the creative community are willing to collaborate with them. American mass entertainment has always been based on the bottom line, but now it’s increasingly from the bottom of the barrel . . . (MORE)

	The Art of Film

Yes, there is an art to screenwriting, and successful writers know the rules and break them at their peril. Check out the McKee Story Structure file at the right for the seminar notes.

The Best How-To Book

That would be The Weekend Novelist by Robert Ray, available at any book store or at Amazon. Ray's invaluable book posits writing on weekends while you make a living Mon-Fri, and if you follow his lead, in one year you'll have a finished novel. I used this book to write my first novel I Hated Heaven, and it served me well.

	INTERVIEW Cindy Penn of The Midwest Book Review interviews me about my books, writing rituals, and the 15 Minute Rule.
	INTERVIEW Jenna Glatzer of AbsoluteWrite interviews me about Dad Was a Carpenter.
	MCKEE STORY STRUCTURE The ultimate, intensive course in screenwriting, presented by the master teacher of the craft.
	WRITING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION The outline from another powerful UCLA film program class I took in Los Angeles.
	WHY THEY WIN: NOTES FROM THE JURY BOX My article about what makes an award-winning film, after judging the CINE Golden Eagles for almost ten years.
	5 KEYS TO WRITING A SUCCESSFUL MEMOIR What makes a successful memoir. From an article I wrote for Writers Digest magazine.
	UNLEASHING YOUR CREATIVITY Outline from the popular seminar I give to new writers.
	WISDOM ON WRITING Writing quotes I've collected. Some serious, some hilarious, all absolutely true.
	WRITING RESOURCES Books, magazines and websites crucial to the writer.