Depending on how long you’ve been exploring the business of being a writer in Hollywood, you’ve probably asked or heard someone ask, “How do I get a writing job?” One of the first answers to this is often, “You need to have an agent.” The following question is, predictably, “How do I get an agent?” … Read more
This spring I’ll be taking a cross country trip in order to teach three classes at University of Florida. Two of the topics I’ll be teaching will be very similar to classes at USC that I feel were the most valuable to my writing career. One of them I enjoyed greatly. The other, I did … Read more
Because this blog is sadly neglected of late, I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I’m teaching a screenwriting class this term. A friend alerted me to the opportunity around the same time that I was leaving my other day job, and it seemed like a message from the universe saying things would be all right. That … Read more
Have I mentioned that I’m taking a directing class? Maybe not, because I spent the first three weeks thinking I might drop out before I officially added it. I’m a little fearful that I won’t make some of my deadlines lately, and one might think that adding this new weekly activity, that meets at a … Read more
When Steve Kay, Dean of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, took leadership of the school in October of 2012, he said, “As a biologist, I have often focused on “nature versus nurture” to help me understand how we form ourselves and become who we are,” but, he said, he had come … Read more
As a rule, I often downplay naming people and things in my blog posts, thus the program where I take writing classes I tend to refer to, generically, as “the program where I take classes.” Today, however, I want to name it: It’s a graduate program at USC called the Master of Professional Writing. I’ve … Read more
P.S. This week I learned MORE about Miles Davis. He treated women like shit. He beat his wives and was psychologically cruel. I’m still looking forward to exploring his music, but this information definitely taints things for me. Kinda like how I don’t think if I’ll ever watch Braveheart without thinking of how messed up … Read more
Right now, I’m reading Kind of Blue by Ashley Kahn. It’s about the making of the Miles Davis album of the same name, but, in the first chapter at least, it’s about the making of Miles Davis as a fully formed artist and leader of other musicians. I’m reading the book for class, and didn’t … Read more
Our spelunking school offers a limited number of scholarships, based on need and merit. So, last spring, for the second year in a row, I wrote a five-hundred word essay, printed my hundred page screenpl—ahem, spelunking document, filled out application forms online and on paper, drove across town, paid to park then stood in line … Read more
One of the things that I like about writing is researching. I’m working on a piece right now, as I may have mentioned, that involves some aliens. And I’ve thought for awhile that the protagonist might work with a guy who is into conspiracies and alien cover-ups and stuff. I want to really ground his … Read more