Comments for My Other Career

Comment on Pride is Forever by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:53:47 +0000

Storyville was based on real facts, but no stories. It was my job to tell the stories. It was really difficult at first to flesh them out, but eventually I realized there were no barriers. I could make these people up anyway I wanted, and so I did.

The unique opportunity you have here that I did not, is to get to know the character really well. You can embellish, for sure, and don’t forget events that happened, historically, at that time, things that might overall influence the way he makes his decisions, or has them thrust upon him. Relationships also make a big difference – family, girlfriend, puppy, whatever.

I find it an intriguing story, sorta like “Invincible”, or “Without Limits” which you should check out as research, explaining Steve Prefontaine’s life and how he changed foot racing. But overall, I definitely think its worth a stab. And if you don’t come out with anything, I’m glad to hear you tried.

Comment on Puppy by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:18:11 +0000

I’m not sure if you listen to “This American Life” but there was a story about a guy that wanted to start a cable network completely based on puppies. He wanted to go around and shoot puppies playing, puppies sleeping, puppies competing, puppies being cute puppies. This was back in 1995, and obviously it never progressed, but I think you’re onto something here…

Comment on V by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:16:08 +0000

I’m looking forward to catching it. I saw the original series as a kid and really enjoyed it on the first pass, so hopefully this will be as entertaining.

Comment on Good Feedback by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:14:46 +0000

Hey, thanks for the props. I appreciate it. I can’t reiterate how important it is to give constructive criticism. Let’s face it, its a hard enough industry for us to break into, so why not help out the next guy. Its only going to make us better writers in the long run. You never know, it could be YOU helping ME get a writing gig someday. But I digress. Notes are incredibly important, and you said it: a first draft is all about criticism. Because if we don’t get the crap ideas out of the way, well, then we will give birth to…a pile of crap.

It looks like your blog has been inspirational, that is fantastic. Keep up the good work.

Comment on Back To The Ho, Back, Back To The Hotel by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:05:18 +0000

Good to hear. A rookie mistake is writing something that might not be ready to be written. As I go back over my old scripts, they aren’t awful ideas, my execution is what was awful. It was nice to get things on paper, because lets face it, as a writer, we have to keep writing. But as I get more wise in the ways of writing, I know that great ideas truly take time to culminate and this is a big step in writing maturation. So, good to hear. The question is…now what?

Comment on I Feel The Need… by Dusty McCloud

Dusty McCloud — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:59:45 +0000

Awesome. It looks like a blast. I’m getting my home entertainment system together little by little. But am going to get the PS3 as it streams Netflix, has a Blu-Ray player, and well, duh…the games. I’m very excited to get back into the realm of playing games once again. I like racing games a lot, but like military games more. Modern Warfare is a must buy. Need for Speed was pretty badass as well. You’re getting my psyched!

Comment on Good Feedback by steveonfilm

steveonfilm — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:42:49 +0000

Will do. BTW, and I can’t stress this enough, the more time you spend planning your screenplay, the easier it will be to write. Don’t half-ass on the outlining, or note cards, or whatever method you choose. Put in the time up front, and the writing is all that much easier.

Comment on Good Feedback by Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:49:40 +0000

Thanks Steve, keep writing! (both your blog and your screenplays…)

Comment on Good Feedback by steveonfilm

steveonfilm — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:35:37 +0000

You know, that’s not a bad idea for a post. I think I’ll write something about that later this week.

The political thriller sounds like fun. I’ve written one but it’s still rough around the edges. It’s called Marianas. There’s some old posts on the blog about it if you’re interested.

As for watching movies… quick version….

I pause it a lot to see at what time certain events occur. That goes a long way to help me with timing and pacing.

I rarely take notes.

I pay close attention to try and figure out when various acts start and end, again paying attention to when those occur.

Comment on Good Feedback by Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:13:47 +0000

I’ve got a few. For my first screenplay I’m going to try a political crime drama from a reporter’s POV. Still working on characters and plot.

I do have a question for you, maybe you could even do a post on it. What do you do when you watch movies? I’m still trying to get my head around structure and character development, and I was wondering if you had some kind of method for analyzing what worked and what didn’t in a movie you’ve seen in order to help you with your writing. Because I watch movies all the time, but I feel like I need to become better at critiquing them to become a better writer. Thanks again for your blog!