Countdown to Newness

So, the new site is coming. It's nowhere near finished, but if you are wanting to update bookmarks, you can point it at Shoutingintothewind.com

I won't be posting anything major here for the next week while I gear up for the relaunch. Status updates on the launch will be posted on the new blog.

Changes Afoot

As you can see, things are a bit in flux for me right now. San Diego Comic Con is fast approaching this week, and I am almost entirely devoted to getting ready for my wall to wall coverage of the event.

Also, this blog will be changing soon. I've registered the domain shoutingintothewind.com and the blog will be moving there, on Wordpress. I've already had a good friend of mine transfer over all of the archives, and most of the new posts will go over there once Comic Con is over. Meanwhile, I'll be posting over at the Geekerati Blog for the duration of Comic Con.

August 1st the new blog will go live with even more changes to be rolled out in the coming weeks. Once Comic Con ends, I start ramping up for the fall TV season. That means a new watch list must be created!

What's that? What about my writing? Oh there's that too. And don't think I haven't forgotten why I started this blog. I'll be talking even more about writing, mine and others, over at the new blog. I'm really excited about making these changes, and I hope you'll like them too.

So, look for me at Comic Con, read up on what I'm doing this week at Geekerati, and I'll point the way to the new blog soon enough!

She Returns

Yes, hello, I'm back. Wow, I need to do some dusting, remove the cobwebs...

So, did you miss me? I missed you! No, I did. Honest!

Noticed we're getting a trickle of new tv news lately...but right now, I'm more concerned with how everyone's writing is going. So, answer the following in comments:

1. Are you currently writing? (this had better be a yes)

1a. If you are NOT writing, what is your deal?
1b. If you are writing, what are you working on -- new draft, rewrite, tv, film, etc?

2. Do you see yourself entering any contests or fellowships this year? What is your goal before the end of 2008? What do you want to have accomplished?

Believe me, I know that second question is really tough -- looking ahead is difficult, especially when mired in a draft. But, I've found it important to take stock of where I am and where I want to be over the last month, and there's a pretty wide chasm between the two. I've got some work ahead of me.

Tomorrow, we'll get back to business. I'm also gonna be spinning up some new blogtastic ideas. Stay tuned, as we say...

The Education of Shawna

Yes, I know, I keep popping in, even though I'm on "hiatus". I guess I just can't stay away.

I don't like blog posts that tease. You know, someone says 'I have this awesomely cool thing to tell you but I can't tell you so you'll just have to sit there wondering what it is until I can tell you and even then it might not be as awesomely cool as you thought it would be.' Or something like it.

I'm about to tease you. But really, I don't mean it!

It's just...it's hard, when you have weird, amazing things happening all around you...and you just. can't. talk about it. Not yet.

It's still progressing in baby steps. A little bit this week. A little big next week. But as I stand back and look at the whole thing, it's turning into an amazing journey. Lots of steps, taken together, that are going to make one hell of a story when I can tell it.

Let's just say, I'm meeting amazing, interesting people who like my work, and might even want to work with me. These are amazing, interesting people that I would NEVER get to meet in normal circumstances, but some of you may know that my circumstances aren't exactly normal. If you don't know what my circumstances are, go back to January on this blog and you'll figure it out.

For now, I remain bewildered. And it is so faaaaar from over.

Summer hiatus

As you have probably noticed, I haven't had much to say this week. That's because I'm busy writing a new spec. Apparently I can't blog and write scripts at the same time. Go figure.

Of course there isn't as much news over the summer months, so I'll be taking a brief blog vacation. I have plans to do a major relaunch of this blog for the fall, but in the meantime I'll pop in when time allows to update on TV happenings and my own project status.

Please do drop me a line though if you get lonely. Sometimes it's hard to remember to come up for air.

See you back here for regular blogging again next month. July 1st I'll be back in full force, but the blog relaunch won't happen until September 1st.

Recalibrating

I don't blog much about the craft of TV writing. You can get far better advice and teaching from Jane or John.

And I don't blog too much about my own personal writing process. Mostly because I don't know that my process is relevant to you, as a reader. Everyone has to find a process/method that works for them. Some of my friends LOVE notecards -- putting beats or character notes on cards and tacking them on the wall. Some love outlining. Others don't outline at all (those are the ones I marvel at...if they claim not to outline and yet come up with something resembling coherence). You, as a writer, have to find what works specifically for YOU. If one method doesn't work, you try something else until you find something that does.

Some people write early in the morning, some late at night. Some people like to write in cafes, others in their homes, even still others like to write outdoors.

Some like to dictate notes. Others scribble notes on post-its. Some people write in sequence, others write out of sequence, skipping around from one scene to another.

It all doesn't matter. There's no 'right way' to put together your writing.

What matters is that YOU ARE WRITING.

And that's something I haven't been doing enough of. I try to keep my blog updated, simply because it helps me know what is going on 'out there', but also to keep my mind sharp. I used to use my blog as a warm up exercise for my script writing, but lately the blog writing is its own thing. I'm by no means giving it up, but I've had to think hard about my own writing process and why it hasn't been working for me lately.

Part of the problem, is that I went down the wrong road story-wise. I ended up in a cul-de-sac, stranded, and had to find my way back to the start. Now I've turned around and headed a different direction. I also find I need deadlines to keep moving forward. I have a tendancy to 'idle' too long...I'll sit, revise a line here, a line there, but not make any forward progress...to extend the car/road metaphor, it's like revving the engine in neutral.

Good thing: going to the gym again. This has made it much easier to clear my head for actual writing. Story problems can be broken down in the 30 minutes on the elliptical, or I can watch 'Law & Order: SVU' on the treadmil on mute and play 'guess the plot twist'. That's always fun.

I've been struggling with whether to gear up for contest season. I promised a 'what to spec' post, which I am almost finished with, research wise and will have posted in the next few days. I've asked myself what the contests or the fellowships can do for me now...and, in some cases, if I even have a shot at them. I won't rehash my reasoning, but suffice to say, at this moment I don't think I'll be submitting to any contests or fellowships this year.

I'm still going to write a new spec, and I'm going to finish my two new pilots before fall. I'm trying to stay optimistic about the potential of certain circumstances, and hope that I can pursue my aspirations along a slightly different path. Some of you will understand this, I think.

In any case, I'm back to writing. It's all good.

The Post Pub Blog

Stumbled across this blog tonight while ego-surfing. Kristen is a smart cookie, and her blog My Back Pages has been in my sidebar for ages. She has another blog about the art of blogging, where she actually linked over to me, so thanks for that, Kristen!

Check it out. You might learn something, fellow bloggers.

The Post Pub

Welcome Link Immigrants!

I'm seeing a lot of new 'faces' appearing here, so I want to give a shout out to y'all!

Those of you coming from tv.com I'll continue to post Californication news and all other show news as it comes in!

Welcome, Time Magazine Blog readers! Hopefully I'll have news on "Friday Night Lights" status very soon. In the meantime, the link to the Watch List can be found under "Best of Blog" in the sidebar (or scroll down the page, it gets updated at least once a week so it's usually viewable).

Those of you looking for info on Paris Hilton's lazy eye, welcome to my abode. I was very scared that I had contracted her lazy eye issue last year, but my friends have assured me that I was, perhaps, only squinting slightly.

And you people looking for "weird writing"...well, I don't know what kind of weird writing you are looking for, but I can assure that all of my writing is certified 100% strange, and perhaps only 57.8% can truly be classified as "weird." Sorry about that, I'm working on it.

Oh and I think I have some new blog readers coming in due to my recent appearances on the Shaun OMac Radio.

I'll be doing a new edition of my "TV Junkie" radio show on Sunday at 4 PM Pacific / 7 PM Eastern. It's live so feel free to call in with questions. I'll be talking pilot slates!

Casting a Long (Digital) Shadow

So I recently tallied up my various 'presences' on a variety of Web applications, 2.0 widgets, etc etc. Here's what I found:

This Blog
The Sistercritics Blog, which I run with...my sister.
Geekerati Media Blog
A LiveJournal account
A Facebook account
A Myspace account
Geekerati Radio Show
My (TV Junkie) Radio Show
A LinkedIn account
Twitter account
Pandora account
Photobucket account
Youtube account
Google News Reader/Google talk
AIM
Yahoo Messenger
MSN Messenger (which I never use anymore)
Yelp account
My CellarTracker Account (Wine)

And Fusing most of these together is my new FriendFeed account.

And we don't even want to count the forums I'm a member of...

Geekerati Radio Blog Open for Business

We've been doing the show (almost) a year! We finally have the companion blog to the radio show up and running. Do check it out for links, stories and other stuff we deem geeky enough to publish.

Go Here!

I feel a great disturbance in the Force...

According to Jane, Disney has already been interviewing people for the Fellowship next year. I had been under the impression that the interviews were on hold, but apparently no. This is three strikes and out for my "Medium" spec.

On to the next one...

New features coming to this blog

Starting in January I'll be starting a weekly feature called "Meet the Scribosphere". I plan to highlight a screen-blogger each week, asking questions, some of which may come from the readership, and highlighting what they emphasize in their blogging -- do they provide writing tips? review films and tv? talk about their lunch? Whatever it is, you'll learn about it and perhaps meet a blogger or two you haven't visited before.

Also, I'm going to start doing reviews of new shows. I'm working on increasing the number of screeners I am sent, and hopefully that will allow me to post reviews in a timely manner. To kick off this feature I'll be reviewing two shows next week -- the Dec. 10 episode of "Saving Grace" and the 2nd season premiere of "10 Items or Less". We'll see how it goes from there.

Opinions? Suggestions? Lay 'em on me.

I blame Liz.

It's all her fault. She's been laying out her total A game on her blog...being all smart and revealing and funny and interesting and just...sublime.

I got jealous.

First, go visit her and show her love. That means leave a comment. She's putting out lots of words for you to read, the least you can do is toss a few back her way.

Second, I'm seriously asking her to take me on as a Padawan. She has much juju which I desire to know.

2007 has been a decent year for me...okay, actually it kinda kicked ass until November. 2008 needs to step up and really represent. I need the WGA contract issues to be resolved. I need to sell my flippin show. I need to shoot my web series. I need to finish 3 pilot specs. I need a new episode spec too.

I need a new computer. I need to lose 15-20 pounds.

By the way, current creative writing endeavors taking place with my sister over at a new blog we started -- Sistercritics.

Get yer writer's strike news here

There's a good Facebook group for people who want to keep up with strike news.

Check out Facebook's Writers' Strike News Central group and join it if you are on facebook.

Also, a shout out to Jumptheshark.com for being awesome.

Rob Long has a blog

Rob Long, who has commentary on NPR's "Martini Shot", is a contributor to National Review, and has been a successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) sitcom writer has a blog about the strike.

If you want even more information about the strike, you can play or download the Geekerati interview with writer/producer Rob Long below.




P.S. You can always click on the post title to link to referenced sites.

Wading into the Red Sea

Look, I don't talk about it much, because to do so puts me at risk of vilification, but I'm not a liberal. I'm even right of center, though on many issues, you'd know I was not part of the evangelical right wing. But here's the thing. We, as writers, need to engage this vast population of conservatives to help get the message out. Republicans tend to be anti-union, pro-big business, but they are also about questioning and repudiating patent unfairness (hey, if you disagree with this, don't bother to tell me why, I don't want this to degenerate into a political discussion, necessarily). So, it occurred to me, that no one is making this case to the red staters and really getting the Average Joe Republican on our side. I found that a very widely read conservative blog had a lot of misinformation about the strike, so I responded in the comments in a very civil tone to try to correct some of the misinformation. If I got anything wrong, please correct me and I'll go amend my post on that blog, because the last thing I want to do is spread more misinformation.

Anyway, if any of you think you could possibly engage the right-wingers in a civil tone without hatred or spittle, you can use my approach as a guide. It's important to get these people on our side, as they are the ones who will be fervent supporters. Also remember, the union is not made up of 100% Democrats. There are conservatives in your midst who adamantly support the strike. I think there's a way to bring both sides together on this issue.

Here's my comment on the Captain's Quarters blog:

I'm dismayed that so many people lack understanding of the issues involved. I am a conservative living in Hollywood, an aspiring TV writer, and believe me, I'm no union lover. But, consider the following:

* Not every writer sells work every year. Yes, there is the MBA (Minimum Basic Agreement) for works sold to studios, and many writers make more than the MBA on a screenplay sale, but often that screenplay is the result of a year or more in writing. The contracted minimum for a screenplay today is between $53,000 and $99,000. TV writers, who often only write one or two scripts in a season, can make up to $30,000 for an hour long episode (story and teleplay). Because staff writers are on salary, this is often counted against their salary. Meaning, that in order to make more than $50,000 a year, you'd have to write at least 2 TV scripts in full. Usually the only people making more than the minimums are the head writer (showrunner) who is also a producer and a handful of the exec-producer or co-producers.

* If a songwriter sells a song or a novelist publishes a book, should they not be compensated based on the sales of those works? TV and Film residuals are no different than the royalties other writers receive for their published works.

* Many TV shows today do not get re-run. 'LOST' episodes don't re-run well, and so the network has decided to run the episodes consecutively with no repeats. Without a repeated episode TV writers are not compensated as they used to be.

* Recording a program on a VCR is NOT like downloading or streaming on the internet. The networks sell the broadcast programs for advertising. Those advertising dollars are then used to pay the writers, actors, directors. The studios are selling advertising on streaming video and are selling shows directly to consumers on platforms such as iTunes. The writers receive NO COMPENSATION from these methods of sale. In short, the studios are keeping all of the profits from these distribution methods and are not paying writers at all. Nick Counter, the lead negotiator for the studios stated at the end of the contract talks that shows streamed online or available through paid download services were considered "promotional" and therefore not subject to the residual formulas for DVD, and they do not know how profitable the internet will be for them. By the studios own talking points to their shareholders, however, they sing a different tune.

* The $200,000 average is a misleading indicator of most writers. There are 12,000 Writers Guild members (and I'm not one of them), The MEAN income of a guild member is $4,000 a year. Yes, that means there is a very large distribution. There are the A-list writers who make a lot of money, there are writers making the minimum, and there are writers who aren't getting paid at all because they sold nothing in that calendar year.

* You may not watch a lot of scripted television today, but consider that the DVD formula applies to older shows you may watch and enjoy. 4 cents for every DVD sold. And that's for films. TV is an even more convoluted formula. Ken Levine, a writer on MASH and other shows, stated the following on his blog: "The producers say we already receive royalties from DVD sales. There are no less than fifteen box sets of TV series with my scripts in them. I haven’t received a dime. I have gotten $0.19 from American Airlines for showing eight of my episodes on maybe 10,000 flights."

Sorry for the long post, but this isn't a Dem vs. Republican issue. And it isn't a 'big evil corporations' issue, as some would frame it. The business model is changing, and what you are seeing is an industry that is grasping desperately at the remains of the old way of business. As far as the new way go, they fear making a deal with talent to share the wealth, because of uncertainty as to how much wealth they will have. The writers are looking at this form a standpoint of "Won't Be Fooled Again." In 1985 the studios pleaded with the unions that they didn't know how much money was to be made from home VIDEO. They promised that if the guilds agreed to a lower residual rate on video, they would 'make good' on it at some point in the future. 20 years later, the writers, actors and directors are still waiting.

I hope I did right by us. Again, I think it's important to get people on both sides of the political discussion engaged in this debate.

UPDATE: My comment got moved into its own post on the site and there were about 45 comments on it. I'm feeling like I actually made a dent and got some conservatives to think. I did see some solid support and those on the fence. There's still work to do.

Part of convincing people is to acknowledge that the world is changing, and that we are well aware of it. As writers, we want to take advantage of the new opportunities available to us in the online space, but we also don't want the studios to become a barrier to that by not paying us fairly for work needed to be performed.

Late Show Writers start a Strike Blog

Or an "interwebblognetwebblog".

Link: Late Show Writers On Strike.

TV Junkie on the air at 4 PM PDT today

I'll be talking about Nielsen ratings -- what they are, how to decipher them, and the impact that a 19% DVR penetration this season (vs. 8% last year) will have on the ratings for primetime.

Podcast will be available here after the live broadcast.

** CANCELLED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ** We'll try again next week.

Fall Season Starts in Earnest Tonight

It's time, people. Time to celebrate TV and the glorious return of our favorite shows!

It's also time to start sizing up the new ones.

If you are on the East coast, you can kibbitz about what you watch tonight with me and my mates on Geekerati Radio. West Coast, our show is at 7 so we'll be previewing the new shows and trying desperately to stay spoiler free.

Call in and join the fun! And listen to my scratch throated voice. Yes, I'm still sick.

K-Ville has a promising premiere

The premiere numbers were a bit better than the numbers "Vanished" got last year. Whether it holds up in week 2, will really depend on how much it loses from going up against 'Heroes' premiere next week.

And really Jill's breakdown of K-Ville's pilot is a must read for aspiring TV writers.

In fact, her blog is now one of the top ones I read every day. Just too much good insight and analysis to NOT read it.