All Of A Sudden Summer Ended and The Coolest Book on TV Writing

Aadip — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:00:52 +0000

All of a sudden, I turned around and our “summer” ended. OK, so we didn’t
get much of one to begin with. With the leaves turning…wet and season passes
for snowboarding purchased, I’ve accepted the change of the season. Brando
and I are celebrating our joint birthday party tonight and he just came in
two-toned Half Maltese, half mud monster aka the Mudtese. He hasn’t been this
dirty since last September when we were on a hike in the peninsula.

Anyway, the party will be catered by Laura, of course. At my bequest or behest or whatever the word is, we’re having
mini-pb&j, ants-on-a-log, and deviled eggs. Awesomeness will ensue as we play ROCK BAND 2 and discuss what it’s like turned 29, again.
So F U Seattle weather, we’re gonna party anyway. We’re that hardcore.

As for the Coolest Book on TV Writing…I’ve been reading Pamela
Douglas’s book, WRITING THE TV DRAMA SERIES (2nd Edition).
Put out by our friends at MWP, this is an extremely comprehensive and exhaustive
book on breaking stories, writing a spec, the business of TV writing, getting
a job, and contains great interviews with people like Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue,
Hill Street Blues), Ann Donahue (CSI:Miami), Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter),
Georgia Jeffries (China Beach, Cagney and Lacey), Damon Lindelof (Lost),
and Ron Moore (BSG).

This is a must read for anyone who wants to write for one-hour television
and do it the right way. There are no illusions here, as Pamela breaks down
all the myths about dramatic TV writing. There’s no doubt that it is hard work,
just a little different type of hard work than writing an original feature. They’re
all incredibly difficult at times, no? Since
I’m in the process of writing my spec of Burn Notice, it’s come in quite handy.
As many of you know, I’m a total procedural junkie, having written a spec of
Law and Order some time ago and embarking on writing more this/next year.

Did anyone see that Danny Boyle and Charlie Kaufman are going to be at Austin
this year? Holy crap. I’m so glad I’m going. Well, signing off. Got partying
and gorging to do. Finished up my bio for the Austin Film Festival program/website.
Need to get my photo, but having a bad skin week. (Got my passport
photos for Sweden. Had a big zit in the picture, which will be there in perpetuity,
Oh well.) Anyway, there is something surreal about being listed as a panelist
with people who’ve done real/huge/awesome/stellar/kick-ass/sublime work.

Catherine Ann Jones: The Way Of Story

Aadip — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:02:12 +0000

I just met with the delightful Catherine Ann Jones. She is in town for her Way Of Story workshop in Edmonds and a book signing in U-District. My favorite story is when she heard Indian music for the first time – at her marriage to Raja Rao in Paris, with non other than Ravi Shankar playing during the reception.
She’d love to come up this April and do a whole weekend workshop with us, just in time for The May/June competition season: Sundance, Nicholl Fellowship, Zoetrope, Slamdance, Shriekfest, Austin (screenplay competition), I.S.A., PAGE, Disney Fellowship, and the Expo competition opening.

Way of Story may appear as a deceptively simple memoir/manual, but it is not. Catherine rockets you into the essentials of craft, as well as urging you to dig deep into yourself and transmit your emotions to the page, and the story. Few books simultaneously pay equal attention to both the architecture AND the soul of the story. Finally, I think the book offers gems to both novice and experienced writers, including advice and a bounty of challenging exercises to get the ideas out of your head and onto the page. I wish I’d had this book when I started!

Los Angeles Or Bust » Book Review

All Of A Sudden Summer Ended and The Coolest Book on TV Writing

Catherine Ann Jones: The Way Of Story