Screenwriting From Iowa

“If you can’t pitch an idea — if you’ve got an idea for a story, whether it’s a book, a TV show or a movie, if you can’t pitch it in like 30 seconds and hook somebody and make them believe in it, you’re probably in trouble…Many, many years ago, I had just finished A […]

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead.”  Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) The old Hollywood adage is “If you want […]

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“When I was younger and finally got an agent—I was turned down by everybody—finally an agent who said he would represent me I may have told my family there was a book in the works. I really don’t remember, it was a long time ago. I had read so much about how to get published […]

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“Routine is what it’s all about. You’ve got to get into a [writing] routine that is second nature. Something you love. I wrote the first two books real early in the morning because I didn’t have any extra time. Now it’s about 7:30. Same small office behind the house where I’ve been writing for the […]

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  “I’m doing the outline [of my story] upfront so I always know where I’m going. I work on the outline for weeks, months, sometimes even years if I can’t get it right. But when I start the book on January the first to finish by July the first I’ve got a clear outline—I know […]

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