Friday, January 04, 2008

Sources for Buying Screenplays

Samuel French (main website)
or:
Search by author or title
Samuel French's Catalogue lists not only plays but monologues, audition material, classroom guides, classic works and the latest plays from the professional theater and is available for $5.00, includes Catalog rate postage for US orders.

Hollywood Book and Poster Company
6562 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA. 90028
323-465-8764
323-465-0413 (fax)


Script City
Script City has the largest selection and lowest prices on all of your favorite movie and television scripts. We have titles from Hollywood's golden era all the way up to the most current films and television shows. Script City also has a large selection of books and guides on the film and telesion industry. We also carry gift items such as hats, t-shirts, ballcaps and mugs from your favorite movie or TV show.
Movie Scripts Section

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Writing.Com website (a.k.a. Red Pencil)

What's here?Authors, authoring, articles, blog, blogs, blogging, books, book reviews, business, technical and creative writing, online creative writing, essays, letter writing, writing journals, fiction writing, online fiction writing, freelance writing, novels, writers workshops, writer exercises, poets, poetry, poetry contests, poem contests, poem and poetry writing, story writing, short story writing, writer resources, stories, writers, writers and writing contests, writing prompts and tips, writer inspiration and much more!

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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A writer's must have list

I did find this "out there" on the web... someplace... and originally posted it to my writer's messageboard in 2003 but I had even forgotten by then or lost the information as to the source for this and I would like to give attribution, so if you know who the original composer of this list is, please leave a comment. Thanks!

BOOKS/TOOLS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL WRITER

A fine dictionary. Oxford Edition, Webster's, etc. (It'll weigh 25 pounds.)

A good thesaurus, such as Roget's Thesaurus. (This is what Stephen Sondheim uses to create all his clever lyrics.)

A complete, current encyclopedia. Random House. Columbia. You must keep current.

A basic style manual. New York Times. Webster's American Standard. Prentice Hall.

An atlas of the world.

The New York Public Library Desk Reference. Times and dates; weights and measures; symbols and signs; animal facts; math and science basics; inventions and discoveries; basic literature; religion and religious data; grammar and punctuation; etiquette; useful addresses, and anything else you need to know. (See the movie Desk Set for credentials.)

The New York Times Guide To Reference Manuals. The main reference source to begin searching. Faster than the Web.

The World Almanac (St. Martin's Press). Facts, facts, facts.

What's What (Ballantine). The name of every part of every major thing cf. philtrum, bung.

The Browser's Book Of Beginnings. (Houghton Mifflin). The first time anything happened.

AMA Encyclopedia of Medicine.

The Bible. A Biblical Concordance.

Bulfinch's Mythology.

Bartlett's Quotations.

Norton's series of poetry anthologies.

How Does A Poem Mean? by John Ciardi

A Shakespeare anthology wouldn't hurt.

Literary Market Place (reference work in large libraries)

The Poet's Market. Updated annually. {But I bet you already know about it.}

The Writer's Market. Ibid.

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WRITER'S ROLODEX: LITERARY AGENCIES

Storyteller Magazine

Canadian writing magazine, publishes four times a year, approx. forty stories. Visit the website.

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Bloomsbury Magazine

Welcome to the Writers' Area

The Writers' area is devoted to writers — published and unpublished. You'll find lots of practical advice, our Reading Club with reading guides, a chance to study online through Bloomsbury's reading courses and links to other sites. There's also free access to our online library of reference books, which includes the Guide to English Literature, Guide to Art and the Bloomsbury Good Word Guide and some fun stuff including competitions to win free books.

Guide for Unpublished Writers
Everything a writer could need to get published: how to prepare and submit typescripts, advice from the industry and a full list of literary agents among other features.

Reading Club
As a member, you will have unique access to some of the world's greatest authors, and an inside track on the latest literary events. You can also find everything you need to set up a reading group and a range of readers' guides to support your discussion.

Reading Courses
Scratch any successful writer and you're sure to reveal an astute and wide-ranging reader. Bloomsbury.com's comprehensive, on-line Reading courses will help you get up to speed.

Etc.
Fun, informative features including our Word of the Day, On This Day in Literary History, competitions and our greetings centre where you can create and send a card for every occasion.

Resources for Writers
The Bloomsbury Research centre is a FREE on-line database of reference books. Over 17,000 entries are cross-referenced providing a wealth of information all linked and all fully indexed.

Web Directory
Useful Web links for writers.

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American Sign Language Dictionary

This is a marvelous website for non-signing people to learn how to communicate in ASL (American Sign Language). If you are a writer, you might one day create a deaf character or need to have your character find alternate ways of communicating.

When I was a Girl Scout Troop Leader, we had a deaf girl in our troop and the girls thought it was wonderful that they could pick up a little signing from this girl and use it to "speak" to each other in school without the necessity of having to pass notes and get caught by the teacher. Ha ha, kids will figure out how to be mischievious.

It's a good thing to learn at least a little of another language, especially one used by millions of your fellow Americans.

FROM THE WEBSITE:

Here are a few American Sign Language terms to help those of you who are trying to communicate with a person who signs, but does not hear. New word definitions are being added, and this will soon bring the total number of ASL terms to more than 1270! Also included is the basic alphabet and numbers 1-10.

This dictionary has both animated and text definitions. The text definitions also have letter or number sign images to aid in visualizing the sign. This will allow you to quickly locate a word, read how to sign the word, and choose to view the animated sign if you wish.

The sign images are displayed from the perspective of the viewer, not the signer. It is easy to remember this if you imagine that someone is signing to you while you are viewing the word definitions.

Our goal in making this resource available is to help those who desire to learn ASL, and enable them to communicate more easily with others.

Animations use the QuickTime plug-in.

A FEW EXAMPLES:

Thank you (you're welcome) : Touch the lips with the fingertips of one or both flat hands, then move the hands forward until the palms are facing up.

Please (enjoy, like) : Make a counterclockwise circle with the right flat hand over the heart.

Beautiful : The right hand, fingers closed over the thumb, is placed at or just below the lips. It then describes a counterclockwise circle around the face, opening into the '5'position, to indicate the whole face. At the completion of the circling movement, the hand comes to rest in its initial position, at or just below the lips.

How are you? : Both middle fingers quickly sweep up and out from the chest. The eyebrows are raised in inquiry.

Huh? : The downturned curved right index finger is thrown out and forward very slightly, while the signer follows the finger with a very slight forward movement of the body. An expression of inquiry or perplexity is assumed.

Help (assist, aid) : The left 'S' hand, thumb up, rests in the open right palm. Both hands are then pushed up a slight distance.

Danger (eous) : The left 'A' hand is held palm toward the body, knuckles facing right. The extended thumb of the right 'A' hand is brought sharply over the back of the left.

Safe (noun & adjective) : The 'S' hands, crossed in front of the body, swing apart and face out.

Error (mistake) : The right 'Y' hand, palm facing the body is brought up to the chin.

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A.Word.A.Day

"The magic of words -- that's what A.Word.A.Day (AWAD) is about. We are a community of more than 600,000 linguaphiles in at least 200 countries. You too can sign up. Come, explore the world of words, share, and delight in the joy of words."

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Bibliomania

Eek. All that bright red background. You need sunglasses to visit this webpage but it still might be worth it. From the website:

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Black Writers United

Wow. Talk about unfriendly, lol. This used to be a viable thriving community of writers when I first posted this link back in 2003 in my old messageboard for writers, but now all you get is the cryptic message: "Sorry, this group is available to members ONLY.You are not allowed to access this group."

Gee. Does that mean they don't want any new members or does that mean they no longer have any members at all? Does the "dead page" mean they no longer exist? That would be a real shame.

Hmmm... I think I'll do a tiny bit of digging...

Ah-ha... they have moved from the old MSN addy to a Yahoo addy: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BWU/

However, when you get there, they say they are "closed" and they refer you to a website which is a forum: http://blackwriters.org/forum/

From the Yahoo group page they say:

"PLEASE NOTE: We are no longer accepting new members for this list serv. BWU has been converted from an e-mail list to a web forum, which you can join at http://blackwriters.org/forum.Black Writers Forum exists for members to discuss various aspects of writing, publishing and reading. The primary objective of this group is to help members to hone their crafts and to promote fellowship by giving members an avenue through which to share advice, encouragement, and resources.The forum is a friendly place where members are encouraged to ask questions and share tips and insights with fellow writers. Membership is free and open to authors of African-American literature, drama, poetry, and nonfiction--published and aspiring--with selfless agendas.To join the forum, visit http://blackwriters.org/forum/"

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ByLine Magazine

ByLine is a monthly magazine for writers. Since its founding in 1981, ByLine has published--and paid for--the first work of hundreds of poets and writers of fiction and nonfiction. We encourage and advise novice writers; we publish the work of beginners and veterans alike.

The magazine presents articles on the craft or business of writing, including regular columns on writing poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children's literature. We also publish short stories and poetry, and a special feature for student writers.

ByLine sponsors monthly contests designed to motivate writers by providing deadlines, competition and cash prizes. These contests are open to anyone.

SEE THE WEBSITE

Does anyone have any information about this publication and their contests other than what appears on their own website?

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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Tip Sheets From Fiction Writer's Connection

FWC is happy to provide all visitors to our site with the following tip sheets. FWC members receive even further assistance. Click on the tip or tips below that interest you, then bookmark the pages so you can easily find them again.

Revising Your Manuscript
Before You Write
Attending Conferences
Contracting with an Agent
Finding and Working with an Agent
Firing Your Agent
Frequently Asked Questions
Manuscript Formatting
Novel Writing
Query Letter Writing
Submission Do's and Don'ts
Writing a Novel Synopsis

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Random Logline Generator - for fun!

Here's a few that the website gave back to me when I clicked on their magic button:

A traffic cop takes care of a crocodile found in a Mexican border town in a restaurant kitchen.

A wind-up plaintiff plans for a wedding in a pastry shop.

Three mutant software engineers exchange insults.

A dessert chef, an ambassador, and a hippy gain valuable experience in a palace.

Six incredulous magicians form a rock band while riding a limousine.

HAVE FUN AT THIS WEBPAGE!

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Categories of Mysteries

The Straight Mystery -- The Puzzle Mystery -- The Hard-boiled Mystery -- The Novel of Pursuit -- The Whodunit -- and lots more!

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Short Story Group

The Short Story Group is a small, friendly and free critique group devoted to the purpose of helping writers to refine and polish their writing skills through group interaction and critiquing.
Our membership includes published authors as well as nonpublished writers. Some members write for profit and others for enjoyment.
Short Story Group is also a meeting place for writers to exchange ideas or find help and inspiration.

Through the sharing and analyzing of each others' work within a friendly atmosphere, many who have joined this group find their writing skills improving.

The only requirements for joining our writers' group is that you are actively writing, submit your own original stories or poems, participate in critiquing others' work, and have the determination to improve your writing skills.

For more details on what is required, please go to the Short Story Group and Poetry Rules.

SEE THE WEBSITE

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Full Coverage: Writers' Guild Strike

Query Letters That Rocked

This is something useful that all writers can learn a little something from - how to write query letters that get results. Although the query letters written were for magazine articles that writers wanted to publish, the reasons given as to why they were successful might be illuminating to any writer.

VISIT THE WEBPAGE

NOTE: This website is trying to sell you a product, their book on how to write query letters. However, the two samples they give are worth reading.

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Freelance Writing Links

As an end of the year "gesture of love," this website lists some of their best links for freelance writers.

Just my casual observation that probably means nothing: Many, many of the freelance writing websites I've found on the internet are actually marketing schemes dressed up as "help websites" for writers when, in fact, they are only seeking to make some kind of money off of writers.

Making money is not a sin. What these websites are doing is not illegal. It's smart. They are using the desire of writers to make a living with their words to make a living for themselves. That's not against the law. But, writing consumer, be forewarned about the smooth operators who promise you entry into the writing working world when all they really care about is selling you whatever product it is they are selling.

There is one "circle jerk" operation that I've discovered much like the graphics and clipart circle jerk operations: You think you've landed on a productive website and wow, just look at all those links to "other" websites but when you click on them, you just get yet another page of links and ALL of them use a similiar webpage template, language, articles, etc. almost as if one person created them all, linked them up, and there you go...

So, be a smart web traveller. Some of the articles on these so-called freelance writing websites are actually worth reading. Just be aware of the cyber-waters you are navigating.

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The Gobbledygook Manifesto -- Cutting Edge! Mission Critical! An analysis of gobbledygook in over 388,000 press releases sent in 2006

From the website:
Oh jeez, not another flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry-standard, cutting-edge product from a market-leading, well positioned company! Ugh. I think I'm gonna puke! Just like with a teenager's use of annoying catch phrases, I notice the same words cropping up again and again in Web sites and news releases—so much so that the gobbledygook grates against my nerves and many other people's, too. Well, duh. Like, companies just totally don't communicate very well, you know?

Many of the thousands of Web sites I've analyzed over the years and the hundred or so news releases I receive each week are laden with these meaningless gobbledygook adjectives.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE

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Monday, December 31, 2007

Copyblogger

Why Copywriting is the Key to Successful Online Marketing

What’s the missing ingredient that prevents most people from successfully marketing online?

Copywriting skills.

Content drives the Internet, and the quality of your writing will determine not only how well your site converts visitors into sales, but also how well you rank in search engines and how many links you get.

Now that blogging has become the smartest strategy for growing an authoritative web site, it’s your copywriting skills that will set you apart and help you succeed. Copyblogger is all about helping you:
get traffic
gain subscribers
attract links
sell something!
All you need to do is write in a strategic, persuasive, compelling manner.

LEARN MORE AT THE WEBSITE

Some of their featured articles:

Ten Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques
Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking?
Do You Make These Mistakes When You Write?
Zen and the Art of Remarkable Blogging
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
The Five Immutable Laws of Persuasive Blogging
10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers
7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work
Ernest Hemingway's Top Five Tips for Writing Well
5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang

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FLY Fusion™ Pentop Computer

The FLY Fusion™ Pentop Computer might be marketed at students but it's also a great idea for writers, especially writers who jot down things on-the-go or they simply prefer to brainstorm in longhand. Now, you can do that and the pen will interface with your computer so you can upload to your computer everything you've written by hand.

There are also over 38 software titles available for customizing this computer pen.

As of posting this post, the price is: $79.99 USD.

What you get:
FLY Fusion Pentop Computer
Rechargeable Battery
FLY World™ Application Installer
FLY Fusion Notebook
USB Cable
$10 FLYbucks™ Coupon
Quick Start Guide
Reference Card

Included software:
FastComp Math: Basics
FLY Fusion Music Studio
Spanish Translator
MP3 Player
13 Games
FLY Notes (so you can record what you write)
Scheduler

Other software titles range from 9.99 to 49.99.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Writer's Character Chart

Once filled out, this chart helps writers get a firm grasp on characters...

VISIT THIS HELPFUL WEBPAGE

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Advice on Novel Writing by Crawford Kilian

Foreword by the Author

Developing Efficient Work Habits
Elements Of A Successful Story
In the opening...
In the body of the story...
In the conclusion...
Throughout the story...
Style: Checklist For Fiction Writers
Manuscript Format
Storyboarding
Ten Points on Plotting
The Story Synopsis
Understanding Genre: Notes on the Thriller
Symbolism and all that
The Natural Cycle
The Natural Versus the Human World
The Hero's Quest: Mysterious or unusual birth
Symbolic Images
Symbolic Characters
Narrative Voice
Constructing a Scene
Show And Tell: Which Is Better?
Character In Fiction
The Character Resume
``Let's Talk About Dialogue,'' He Pontificated
Some Dialogue Conventions to Consider:
Writing A Query Letter About Your Novel
The Letter Itself
Researching Publishers and Agents
Reading a Contract
Delivery Of Satisfactory Copy
Permission for Copyrighted Material
Grant Of Rights
Proofreading and Author's Corrections
Advances and Royalties
Author's Warranties and Indemnities
Copies to Author
Option Clause
Going Out of Print
A Word of Advice
Afterword by the Author

...and there's more at the website!

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100 Words

The idea is simple:Write 100 Words a day,Every Day, For one Month.

You can write about anything you want. Anything. Some people open tiny windows into their lives; others write surrealist poetry. Some writers post finely tuned, perfectly crafted vignettes; others show up at the end of the night and spew drunken nonsense onto the screen.

You bring the content. We set the format.

This is an exercise in disciplined creativity. Writing exactly 100 words at a time -- not a single word more, not a single word less -- isn't as easy as it sounds. The word count may be arbitrary, but the motive is not. To borrow from Proust, the tyranny of rhyme often brings out the poet's best work. By working within a standardized form, the writer can concentrate on other matters.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Voice of the Shuttle - website for Humanities research

Welcome to the new VoS. Started in 1994 as a suite of static Web pages, VoS has now been rebuilt as a database that serves content dynamically on the Web. Users gain greater flexibility in viewing and searching, while editors are able to work more efficiently and flexibly.

We've tried to maintain most of the original structure of the site, which models the way the humanities are organized for research and teaching as well as the way they are adapting to social, cultural, and technological changes. But some shifts in organization and navigation are necessary for technical reasons. (
Navigating and Bookmarking VoS)

Important: the new VoS is still a work in progress, but we have turned it on because it is already more functional than the original site. There are still some mis-orderings of categories and author names that we are fixing as we convert our legacy resources. We've also temporarily removed as many of the broken links as we could find and will restore them when we can (or find substitutes). Some categories have thus been temporarily decimated. If Michel Foucault wrote about The Order of Things, then VoS may be said to be about "the ordering of things"—the ceaseless reconfiguration of humanities knowledge assisted by the new technologies of dynamic information.

VISIT THIS AMAZING RESOURCE

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Literary Resources on the Net

Black on White

What is Black on White?
Above all, it is a web site designed to help writers overcome hurdles (including fear) that are preventing them from producing pages on a regular basis. So often a person will have the desire to write, but fail to complete a work. You'll hear this often: In order to be a writer, one must WRITE. Lord knows I've wasted too many months (OK, years) making excuses when I could have been getting my writing projects done. I want writers use this site as a resource which will encourage them to make a commitment to a project until it's done. To learn more about the philosophy of this page, and more about me, check out The Dust Jacket.

Who's it for?
It's for any writer, or those interested in writing. I hope novelists, short story writers, screenwriters, and nonfiction authors will find it equally enjoyable and useful.

Is this just another way for some jerk to get my money?
Emphatically, NO. I will not charge any fees, or try to sell a service on this web page. Call me a misty-eyed dreamer, but this site is designed with the intention of being a place where writers can come together just when you feel like throwing up all over your keyboard and giving up. A lot more of this philosophy will be explained in detail if you read The Dust Jacket.

What's required for me to participate?
Nadda. Zip. Zilch. Zero. BoW is here for you. There's no sales pitch and no low monthly payment. And I promise not to call just as you're sitting down to dinner.

I only ask that you make the most of this website and what it offers. Our mailing list is a great place to get going if you want a daily nudge in the right direction. If you choose to join, please read our posting guidelines to help keep the list running smoothly. Otherwise, come on in and look around!

Table of Contents

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Forward Motion Writer's Online Community

Forward Motion for Writers -- a site where you can connect with others interested in sharing both the joys and the insanity of writing.

Forward Motion is filled with people working at various stages of their careers -- from those who have been repeatedly published to others starting their first manuscripts.

Our members write in various genres, and people at the site are working on everything from multi-book series to occasional bouts of poetry.

If you love writing, Forward Motion is the site for you.

Forward Motion's core purpose is to help writers become professionally published. To that end our classes, boards and scheduled chats are aimed at those who are looking for publication.

We welcome serious writing hobbyists as well, but our purpose and goals are geared toward professional careers.

We do not allow fanfiction posts, and we don't promote self-publishing.

Forward Motion has undergone numerous changes through the years, but the site remains true to its purpose of 'writers helping writers.'

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Fiction Writing

The Fiction Writing section of About.com contains numerous helpful links that are probably of great interest to all writers. They even have sections on "finding an agent" and "short story contests by the month."

Go see for yourself.

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The alt.usage.english Home Page

THE WEBSITE
web site of the alt.usage.english newsgroup

Here you'll find:
Information about newsgroups in general and alt.usage.english in particular: our logo, our people, more, in About the alt.usage.english newsgroup.

FAQs: We've got lots of them!
The Introductory documents (mini-FAQs). Newcomers to the a.u.e newsgroup should start with Intro A: Welcome and Guidelines for Posting, and will find further useful help and answers in Intros B, C, D, E, F, and G.

The large and fascinating AUE FAQ, written in 1997 by Mark Israel.

The AUE FAQ Supplement, containing additional entries from recent years.

Listen to the sounds of English from across the USA and around the world in the Audio Archive. It's amazing how many different ways there are to say the same words.

The Links page has hundreds of categorised links to English usage and other interesting web sites.

Another English usage site, that of the uk.culture.language.english newsgroup, is hosted here. The newsgroup is alive and well, but their Web site is no longer active, and is frozen in time at UCLE Corner.

If you're a regular visitor, you might like to look at What's New? to find out about recent changes and additions to the site – also convenient links to new features that you might have seen announced in the newsgroup. In What's New you'll also find links to archive copies of this site going back to August 2000.

If you know what you're looking for but not where to find it, try the English Usage Site Search facility, which searches this site and other English usage sites in one operation. Read about these and other search methods on the Search Suggestions page.

The Site Map is a hierarchical list of all the pages in this site, allowing you to explore the site structure, or to search for a page using a part of its title.

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The Shaw Guide to Writers Conferences & Workshops

Hmm... this webpage looks like a business directory, listing writer events that the sponsors of the events wanted to advertise. Maybe there's something there that's worth checking out.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Imaginaries


the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Co-operative

Imaginaries, formerly the mouthful "The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers' Co-operative", is a global writers' co-operative for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and whatever else happens to slip through the cracks; we work together to improve each-other's writing by sharing works, ideas, news, and criticism. Membership is open to anyone interested in participating in this process. To learn more, see the FAQ, or just poke around for a bit.

NOTE: IE users (because I'm assuming this is an IE problem although it might happen on other browsers), the CSS on this page is a bit screwy in that the navigation panel on the right seems to be superimposed over the top of the text that forms the body of the page. Plus, the fun little clickable links that let you change the page's color scheme entirely blots out the navigation on some of those color schemes.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Writers Click 101 [MSN GROUP for Horror writers]

Writer's Click 101 Purpose and Goal

You will learn the basic writing rules and the fundamentals necessary to become a good writer.

You will have the opportunity to begin your writing endeavors and improve your skills.

If you are already a experienced writer, you will have the opportunity to tweek your skills and works,receiving honest, professional critiques, editing and any additional help you might need.

VISIT THE WEBSITE (well categorized)

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Viable Paradise - science fiction/fantasy writers' workshop

"Viable Paradise is a unique one-week residential workshop in writing and selling commercial science fiction and fantasy. The workshop is intimate, intense, and features extensive time spent with best-selling and award-winning authors and professional editors currently working in the field. VP concentrates on the art of writing fiction people want to read, and this concentration is reflected in post-workshop professional sales by our alumni."

September 21th through 26th, 2008,
on Martha's Vineyard
Submissions open January 01, 2008
Submissions close June 30, 2008

SEE THE WEBSITE

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TUTORIAL: Movie Genres

QUESTION: Formats, genre, structure…How long do you think the typical learning curve is for an aspiring screenwriter?

Question: I recently completed a romantic comedy that reads like a modern day fairytail. How do I market this ‘genre’?

Question: I write thrillers and I have a list of producers who have done great thrillers – is this a good way to start submitting my script?

Question: What genre is Hollywood looking for currently?

Question: How do I know if my project belongs on TV or in the movies?

READ THE ANSWERS HERE.

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Main Film Genres

Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films that are recurring and have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, syntax, filmic techniques or conventions - that include one or more of the following: settings (and props), content and subject matter, themes, mood, period, plot, central narrative events, motifs, styles, structures, situations, recurring icons (e.g., six-guns and ten-gallon hats in Westerns), stock characters (or characterizations), and stars. Many films straddle several film genres.

READ MORE...

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The Cafe.Blue Writers Email List

The Café.Blue is a virtual Café in the form of an online mailing list. Subscription is free and all are welcome--send "subscribe cafe.blue your name" (inserting your name, of course) to listproc@ebbs.english.vt.edu. You'll be sent an acknowledgement and a welcome letter that will give you the guidelines for list participation and also instructions for signing off. Should you misplace these and wish to leave the Cafe, send "signoff cafe.blue" to the same address above.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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LifeTips: Writing Tips

Looking for some good writing tips? Or, maybe you know a bit about writing and you have some wisdom to share with others? This website will let you do both! If you'd like some practice at writing for a mass market, then try your hand at writing some writing tips. Be sure to read their writers' guidelines.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

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Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

Online Writing Workshop - Web-based, peer-review writing workshop for aspiring horror authors. Includes reviews, discussion list, and newsletter. Also works with fantasy and science-fiction writers.

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Get Into It - Fight Writer's Block

Get Into It - Deals specifically with writer's block. Includes advice, resources, exercises.

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All About Screenwriting

Basic Screenplay Structure

FORMAT
PLOT POINTS
CHARACTER
QUESTIONS to ask yourself
SCRIPT CHECKLIST

I posted one excerpt below, in the previous post to this one. I think this whole webpage might be helpful so, here's the link.

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Screenplay/Movie Plot Point Checklist

Between pages 1-5: The HOOK, something that grabs our attention and pulls us in.

Page 10: At this point in your script you should have the "MINI CRISIS". The "MINI CRISIS" should lead us into...

Page 17: ...The DILEMMA. Creation of the team and what the movie is about.

Page 30: The REACTION to the dilemma or situation.

Page 45: First "REVERSAL" of the 17 minute point. This point furthers the characters and pushes them deeper into the situation or the dilemma.

Page 60: The "TENT POLE" of the movie. Where the passive characters become active or vice versa.

Page 75: Second "REVERSAL" to the 17 minute point. To reaffirm what the story is about.

Page 90: The LOW POINT of action. The place from which our main character has to rise up from.

SEE THE WEBPAGE

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The American Short Story: A Selective Chronology

Includes:

1830-1865--Romantic Period
1865-1900--Realistic Period
1900-1910--Naturalistic Period
1910-1945--Period of Modernism
1945-1963--Postwar Period
1963-1980--"Confessional" Period
1980-?--Period of Postmodernism
Of Critical Interest

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To Live and Die in L.A.

Original Publication Date: May 2003

To Live and Die in L.A.

Information leaks, bid-rigging, pumping and dumping. Just another day inside the secret network that will make or break you in Hollywood.

By Ben Mezrich

I'm at a party, and it's as crowded as it is glamorous. Elbowing my way to the balcony for a breath of fresh air, I gaze down at the unreal scene below: Fur coats draped over pink tank tops, sable hoods dyed to match, Gucci boots with impossibly high heels, designer cell phones in waterproof holsters, pashmina scarves, sunglasses hanging from platinum straps. Nobody seems to care that it's 30 degrees outside, with a stiff wind sweeping down from the mountains. There's enough star power here to keep everyone warm: Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire, Kate Hudson, J.Lo, Ben Affleck.

"Welcome to fucking Sundance," somebody next to me says. I turn to see Dana Brunetti, who's also watching the crowd. Brunetti is a producer with TriggerStreet.com, Kevin Spacey's production company. He's the reason I was able to get past the black-clad goon at the door.

The truth is, I don't belong here. I am not a Hollywood player. I am a writer from Boston, a novelist and occasional journalist. Over the past few years, like a million other struggling writers out there, I have chased the dream of breaking into the movie business. I've collected hundreds of rejection slips from agents, producers, and studios. Recently, all this changed. I wrote an article last year called "Hacking Las Vegas" (Wired 10.09), and the next thing I know I'm being approached to turn it into a movie starring Spacey. (We're in the very early stages of negotiating a deal.) I want to believe that Hollywood sat up and took notice of my talent and hard work. But I've heard rumors that have made me question my confidence - whispers of a dirty little industry practice that has brought me here to Utah on a mission both personal and journalistic.

I've been tipped to the network of semisecret cyberhallways, called tracking boards, that are open only to the most elite power players in the industry. In simplest terms, these boards are sophisticated chat rooms and BBSes where high-level executives at various studios trade information about potential projects.

REST OF ARTICLE

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Sunday, December 30, 2007

Brendan's On-Line Anagram Generator

Here's a bit of online fun and, who knows, it may actually be useful to some folks. Input any word and the anagram generator will give back all other words that can be made from those letters.

The website is no longer updated but the anagram generator still works, so have some fun!

THE WEBSITE

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Film Underground a.k.a. Cyber Film School

I'm not exactly sure which name they prefer but that doesn't really matter because they have many articles on their site that should be of great help to aspiring filmmakers and writers.

Their main website is here.

Here's a sampling of some of their articles:

Budgeting an indie film
resolving audio
Film Camera for Shorts
music copyright I
treatment format
Adapt and Overcome
Agent's and Manager's Needs

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