Erik | May 27, 2010
In my coaching and consulting I help a lot of writers with original series ideas: evaluating concepts, reading pilots, and sharing my knowledge from the work I’ve done developing, pitching and selling series ideas - which has given me a lot of insight into what agents and managers, production companies, studios, and most importantly networks [...]
Erik | April 24, 2010
I guess I’ve become a fan of acronyms. First, it was “CURE”: what I think we as writers should aim for with every concept, every story, ever scene — that it be Compelling, Unique, Real, and Entertaining. (I posted about this here.) Now it’s “POP”: the three qualities I think we all need to develop [...]
Erik | March 24, 2010
For those of you who use the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (which I highly recommend, and use when I consult with writers), I recently came across an archived blog post from Blake himself, where he goes into greater detail on how he thinks the “Finale” section (that huge chunk of Act 3 that decides the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 time” [...]
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 basic [...]
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 [...]
