This is Your Country on Drugs

I never stopped and took the time to realized that LSD was gone. It was everywhere when I was a younger. We were gobbling up hits by the handful but today a 22 year old hippie at Phish Show couldn't find the chemical.


Ryan Grim digs into this very question while wondering, Why do Americans Get High??? Ryan also guilds us though the opium dens scattered across the country in the late 1800's, Introduction of marijuana into America, The MKULTRA project, Crack, and other still legal readily available drugs that anyone can but online.

Book Review: Save the Cat

I've finally started to read "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder. I was on his website blakesnyder.com today and he has a formula for writing loglines, handy if you are trying to write a query letter:

On the verge of a Stasis=Death moment, a flawed protagonist has a Catalyst and Breaks Into Two with the B Story; but when the Midpoint happens, he/she must learn the Theme Stated, before the All Is Lost, to defeat (or stop) the flawed antagonist (from getting away with his/her plan).

Example:

On the verge of another “suit and tie” assignment, a tomboy FBI agent is assigned to go undercover in the American Miss Pageant and has a complete makeover to blend in with the other contestants; but when the pageant receives a new threat, she must learn she can be a woman and tough, before she gets thrown off the case, to defeat the warped pageant organizer bent on revenge. (Miss Congeniality)

Book Review: Creating Ficton

In Creating Fiction edited by Julie Checkoway you will learn hundreds of exercises on the craft from some of the most notable writers of today. magine having 23 professional writing coaches at your disposal - each instructor teaching the fundamentals of writing they've perfected over the years. "Creating Fiction" is the best of nationwide creative writing programs taught by respected novelists and short story writers.

Established authors offer their expertise in these informative essays. Every entry ends with related exercises pertaining to the writing elements you've just learned. In fact, you'll find over 100 writing exercises taught in expensive workshops.

These writing essays tackle the challenging aspects of your writing venture. This in-depth guide to writing covers:

* Thinking About Fiction

* Characterization

* Point of View

* Plot, Structure and Narrative

* Style and Voice

* Revising, Editing and Marketing

Every category provides a variety of essays, offering several unique perspectives to help you perfect your craft.

Book Review: Alone in a Room

Alone in a Room : Secrets of Successful Screenwriters
by John Scott Lewinski (Ingram Pub Services; Aug 1 2004) is not a how-to-write-a-script book written by , rather it is a field guide to navigating the system of being a working writer in the business, from coming up with marketable ideas, to writing alone in a room on spec before the terrifying specter of the blank page, to accepting writing assignments and collaborating with others, to overcoming the challenges of adapting someone else's work for the screen or blog. The art of comedic writing, dealing with those dreaded "notes" and how to best utilize constructive criticism, dramatic writing for TV, being professional in meetings and making a good impression, getting your work out there to the people who can say yes or no, and how to deal with rejection as well as acceptance and, hopefully, success. As "they" say sometimes success is more frightening than failure.

Reading this book, as an aspiring screenwriter myself, I felt as though the author cared not just about my fate, but about the fate of all writers, and that personal respect and shared understanding makes this book inspiring and motivating. Alone In A Room is honest to be sure, but in a way that will make your path as a screenwriter all the more easy to walk, having now been awakened to many of the obstacles you may encounter.