The View Up Here

Last night I attended a wonderfully inspiring event at the Writers Guild Theater: Beyond Words - A panel discussion with WGA and Oscar-nominated screenwriters, sponsored by The Writers Guild Foundation , the Writers Guild of America, West , and Variety. I went courtesy of Ithaca College's Pendleton Center (they take good care of me). I took notes - though I didn't see many students taking notes - this is because I've still got a grad student alive and well somewhere in my head. Here are some of the gold nuggets from the panelists: Tate Taylor - (The Help) - Write it long and cut it. Be fearless to write everything, then cut and slash later. "Don't be afraid to take a crap on your computer." (That got a lot of laughs.) You'll figure out what you were going for after the first draft is done. Don't over-think it while you're writing it. Stan Chervin - (Moneyball) - Get your pitch to two sentences so that anyone can see your movie immediately. Aa...

Today’s my fifth day in L.A.. I’ve spent most of my time going back and forth along 134 between Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Burbank and Glendale. The Steves at Ithaca College’s L.A. center were instrumental in helping me feel at home here, as have been Kristen Elizabeth and Katy Whiskey, both former students of mine who are living the dream here. I’ve also made a new friend, a project manager at Disney Animation Studios, who, as it turns out, is a fellow nerd girl, and a talented Shakespearean actor. She invited me to see the end-of-summer show for the Disney Animation employees’ arts classes, which were part of their professional development – only instead of taking a class to improve the skills they already used, they were encouraged to take something that was outside their comfort area. There was sculpture, digital photography, water color, creative writing, and five monologues from Shakespeare. My new friend played Viola from Twelfth Night (my favorite of the comedies I’ve seen or...

Hey y'all. I'm in L.A. right now, and I promise to write about that soon, but first I want to express my thoughts about the Rod Serling Conference at Ithaca College held Sept. 9-10, for which I served as Academic Coordinator. The week leading up to the conference was a bit nutty, as you'd expect, made even nuttier by the fact that the Northeast had just been slammed by a tropical storm (I forget who) that left flooding, evacuations, power outtages and destruction in its wake. Thankfully, the Ithaca, NY area was spared, but many of our attendees and presenters had to carefully pick their routes among roadways and airports not underwater. A few people did have to back out at the last minute, which was very unfortunate. Still, we were ready to go Friday morning, and as if to honor the mood of the Twilight Zone, the fog was intense and didn't let up until close to noon. Our presenters were wonderful, and the overall quality of work presented was by far the most academic o...

I really wish my house were clean right now. But I don’t have the energy or the stomach to clean it. This is my perpetual dissonance. Wanting a clean apartment – wall-to-wall carpeting vacuumed, kitchen floor swept and mopped, dishes washed, counter tops cleared and spotless, cupboards organized and easy to access, furniture dusted, cobwebs whisked away, laundry folded and put away, winter turtlenecks and sweaters swapped for spring tops and summer shorts in the dressers, kitty litter changed, garbage all collected and tossed into the dumpster, patio swept, bathroom swept, mopped, scrubbed, disinfected, polished, bed linens changed, windows cleaned, desks organized, books rearranged. Now really – would I expect anyone to do that in one day? Of course not. But do I feel like shit because I can’t do it in one day? Naturally! I think I have this superhero image of my mother in the eyes of a six-year-old doing all this work in one day. Saturday, to be exact. The day that eve...

Just found this great blog about freelancing, and this article in particular: 10 Creativity killers you should avoid I have felt the draining effects of every one of these killers, and I'm betting a lot of creative people have as well. Something to think about as we all dive into our new year with high hopes, goals and aspirations.

This weekend I attended a science fiction convention, which, instead of being based around talks by TV & movie actors, autograph signing sessions, and huge gaming and dealers rooms, was centered on the writers and writing of SF. Some names of note who were on panels and who presented their work: Nancy Kress , Daniel A. Rabuzzi , David DeGraff, and Robert J. Sawyer , best known for writing FlashForward, which is now a hit ABC TV series (he's now working as consultant on the series, and will be penning at least one episode.). A sampling of panel topics included writing for YA (Young Adults), podcasting, writing alternate realities, routes to publication, and "Twitter My Jetpack," about future technologies that didn't come to pass, and ones that have blindsided us. I wasn't sure what I would get out of a convention aimed at writing and publishing fiction, as opposed to writing the screenplay or teleplay, but the gem for me was meeting and hearing Rob Sawyer s...