Archive for December, 2019
Dec
26
2019
 
Malcolm Gladwell on Lowering the Bar as a WriterPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“The task of the successful writer is to lower the bar. You want to avoid areas of high difficulty. So a high difficulty task is having your story in your head before you write it. That’s too hard to do! You got to be really smart to do that. I’m not smart enough, so why […] My wife is a pianist and I took this photo during the candlelight portion of a Christmas Eve service she was a part of last night. It’s one of my favorite traditions of the whole year.
Dec
25
2019
Country Christmas with Dolly PartonPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaThis month I started listening to the new nine-part podcast Dolly Parton’s America produced by Shima Oliaee and hosted by Jad Abumrad. Christmas Eve seems like as fitting a time as ever to post my first ever Dolly Parton video on this 11 year old blog.
Dec
23
2019
‘Art stands on the shoulders of craft’—Ann PatchettPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art you must master the craft. If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there […]
Dec
20
2019
If You Can’t Write What You Want to Write, Write What You Are Capable of WritingPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Every time I have set out to translate the book (or story, or hopelessly long essay) that exists in such brilliant detail on the big screen of my limbic system onto a piece of paper (which, let’s face it, was once a towering tree crowned with leaves and a home to birds), I grieve for […]
Dec
19
2019
David Sedaris on Getting Paid to Write About Everything That’s Gone Wrong with Your LifePosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I divide the world into two groups of people. There are those who pay someone to listen to their problems. And there are those who get paid for telling people their problems. I am very fortunate to be in group number two. . . . I can’t wait to hear everything that’s gone wrong in […]
Dec
17
2019
David Sedaris on the Hard Advice Most Writers Don’t Want to HearPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“You know, when you first start writing you’re going to suck. And so it’s good to keep it to yourself, until maybe you don’t suck as much.” David Sedaris The sweet spot for the essays that David Sedaris writes is five pages. The shortest are the two pages he does for CBS Sunday Morning and […]
Dec
16
2019
David Sedaris on Making Note of What Makes People LaughPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Notice when you’re talking to people, notice what people laugh at. If you tell a story and somebody laughs, then they sort of ask you some follow-up questions, that’s a pretty good indication that that might be a good thing to write about. Carry a notebook— make note of those times. I do.” Humorist David […]
Dec
13
2019
Filmmaking 101: There’s Never Enough Time or Money (and Your Proper Response)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“We didn’t do any color filtration….” Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael on shooting Ford v Ferrari Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron once said that the problem with filmmaking is there is “never enough time or money.” While I was reading this morning about the making of Ford v Ferrari that Cameron quote popped into my mind. When […]
Dec
12
2019
‘Art is Work’—Milton Glaser 2.0Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaFollowing yesterday’s post Writing is Work …, I thought it would be a good time to revisit a post from 2012. It’s based on the phrase/book Art is Work that I first heard about from artist Gary Kelley when I lived in Iowa: “If graphic design has a grand master, then Milton Glaser is Michelangelo.” […] |
