Erik | November 25, 2009
One issue I commonly find in scripts I read is a lack of clarity on whose emotional point-of-view the story is being told through. I think that we as writers don’t instinctively realize just how important it is to choose a main character and STAY WITH THEM. I know I didn’t, for a very long [...]
Erik | October 29, 2009
Most story (and series) ideas fail at the level of concept. Sad, but true. I’ve learned this the hard way. Of course, “fail” is a harsh word. What I mean is simply that they fail to become something that millions of people would happily pay money to watch or read. Because that is what [...]
Erik | October 7, 2009
Here’s something that comes up a lot when I work with writers who have original series ideas, and spend time mapping out multiple episodes, character breakdowns and “show bibles”…
If you’re not yet established and not yet represented, your spec pilot is primarily a WRITING SAMPLE. Yes, of course you hope that the idea sells [...]
Erik | October 2, 2009
To my mind, there are four things a concept has to have for it to really work.
The first is, it has to be COMPELLING. By that I mean that we have to CARE about the character(s) and situation — to be emotionally involved, and to stay involved. We want to see what’s going to happen, [...]
Erik | September 9, 2009
Even when your full-time “day job” is working on a writing project (as it is for me), chances are there’s something else you would like to complete on the side, “on spec.” I’ve often commented that the phenomenon of having one thing that pays the bills, and something else you’re pursuing “on your own [...]
Erik | August 7, 2009
I never met the man in person, but ever since a producer turned me on to SAVE THE CAT a couple years ago, it has been my most-quoted resource to other screenwriters, especially at the all-important stage of deciding basic concept and type of story. I think his fun new take on the ten [...]
Erik | June 25, 2009
I’ve been working on my primary current project, now, for nine months.
That might not seem like such a long time, until you consider that that “project,” in its current written form, is a four-page document.
It’s not a script. It’s not even an outline for a script.
It’s a pitch.
A television pitch. A proposal for a potential [...]
Erik | May 29, 2009
Because screenwriting is such a competitive field, and a “tournament profession,” where there are a very limited number of paid jobs compared to the vast numbers of people who want to be doing it for a living — and a system designed to keep most of them “out” until they can demonstrate the sellability of [...]
Erik | January 14, 2009
Writers are known for procrastinating, for working in spurts and at odd hours, and for waiting to be inspired. Sometimes, there is resistence toward what a voice inside (or outside) us says we “should” do, or need to do. Intuitively, we know that the best, most worthwhile creative work tends to come from [...]
Erik | December 30, 2008
I realize now, after about ten years making my living as a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, that there is really only one kind of movie (or story of any kind) that I really love — that inspired me to want to create more of.
It’s the kind where a character (or characters) believably changes into a better [...]
