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Sep. 25th, 2016 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. I've decided that Facebook is dangerous - it keeps giving me tempting distractions, and ahem, somewhat expensive ones. The latest? Aaron Sorkin teaches a Master Class online in Screen Writing - that's right for the sum of $90, you can take a 36 lesson course on screen writing from Aaron Sorkin, who wrote amongst other things, the screenplays for The Social Network, Steve Jobs, A Few Good Men, and the television scripts for The West Wing and Sports Night. Starts out with character development, then discusses "research", which gave me a complex -- because I hate research. Someone at my workplace asked me if I do any research -- I said that I tend to use what I know already and blend it in. But that's not exactly true, I do inadvertently research -- I'm just insanely fast and accurate at it.
If you know how to do it right -- you can pretty much find what you need on the internet. It does help if you took a couple of legal research courses and library reference courses, and ahem, worked for a library reference company. And have a family filled with information junkies. Not to mention an avid interest in what other people do for a living.
For my last book -- I researched gun shot wounds. And guns. Also looked into PI's and what was required to be one. Identity theft. And shifting funds from one account to another.
Everything I wrote was loosely based on something someone had told me or I'd seen.
So, complex aborted.
Sorkin does say something interesting about dialogue in the video that reminded me of something a creative writing prof told me once. (BTW all of my fiction writing instructors, including my father, were men, the only female writing instructor I've had was for poetry. Which may or may not explain a lot about my writing style.) Anyhow, what he states is that "dialogue is where the art comes in, taking the words someone has said, holding it in your hands and then punching them in the face with it" and "it's not just that dialogue sounds like music to me, it actually is music." A creative writing prof, it was in a Gotham fiction writing course, that you should think of dialogue as two characters jockeying for position. It should be written like an action scene. If it doesn't further character and/or action - don't do it.
Few handle dialogue as well as Sorkin. And he's right - there's a rhythm to it. I adore Vince Gilligan's dialogue. And oh, the guy who did Justified. Diane English had good dialogue, and Shondra Rhimes...hit or miss.
He also says that no one ever has started a sentence with Dammit. I'm not sure that's true. After, all, "Dammit, Janet, I love you" is rather famous.
2. Finished watching Notorious and tried Son of Zorn -- I don't know, me and the television critics do not appear to be seeing eye-to-eye at the moment. Their two favorite new sitcoms, The Good Place and Son of Zorn, did not work for me. Son of Zorn -- I found unwatchable.
Just cringed all the way through it. It seems to take the worst bits from The Family Guy and melds them with The Office. It's another satire meets parody, which don't work for me. I'm beginning to realize that American satire and parody don't work for me at all. I don't know why. Every time I watch it, I'm either bored or cringing. (shrugs)
Notorious -- on the other hand, was rather intriguing. It's not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a bizarre legal procedural like Bull. It's not. It actually has more in common with last year's THE CATCH and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER.
The set-up? Julia (played by Piper, from Covert Affairs) is a top-notch producer of a Cable News Series that breaks the headlines on high profile crimes before anyone else does. Her source is a top rung defense attorney, Jake, who often feeds her exclusives on his cases, which she helps twist in his direction. They have a close friendship and a touch of sexual chemistry, but obviously chose long ago never to act on it. Their pack is never to lie to each other.
Along comes a high profile case, with twists and turns, about a high profile tech billionaire who allegedly run down a 15 year old kid. Except he didn't do it. And he may have been having an affair.
And his wife may have been having an affair. Then his wife ends up dead...and wait, maybe Jake, his attorney was involved?
Two former Buffy vets guest star, Marc Blucas as the Julia's soon to be ex-boyfriend, and August Young as Jake's brother and partner.
Also, Aimee Teagarden of Friday Night Lights is one of the attorney's working for Jake.
I'm not sure it totally works, bit jarring in places, but it held my interest and I'm curious about what happens next. The critics hated it. Not sure why.
If you know how to do it right -- you can pretty much find what you need on the internet. It does help if you took a couple of legal research courses and library reference courses, and ahem, worked for a library reference company. And have a family filled with information junkies. Not to mention an avid interest in what other people do for a living.
For my last book -- I researched gun shot wounds. And guns. Also looked into PI's and what was required to be one. Identity theft. And shifting funds from one account to another.
Everything I wrote was loosely based on something someone had told me or I'd seen.
So, complex aborted.
Sorkin does say something interesting about dialogue in the video that reminded me of something a creative writing prof told me once. (BTW all of my fiction writing instructors, including my father, were men, the only female writing instructor I've had was for poetry. Which may or may not explain a lot about my writing style.) Anyhow, what he states is that "dialogue is where the art comes in, taking the words someone has said, holding it in your hands and then punching them in the face with it" and "it's not just that dialogue sounds like music to me, it actually is music." A creative writing prof, it was in a Gotham fiction writing course, that you should think of dialogue as two characters jockeying for position. It should be written like an action scene. If it doesn't further character and/or action - don't do it.
Few handle dialogue as well as Sorkin. And he's right - there's a rhythm to it. I adore Vince Gilligan's dialogue. And oh, the guy who did Justified. Diane English had good dialogue, and Shondra Rhimes...hit or miss.
He also says that no one ever has started a sentence with Dammit. I'm not sure that's true. After, all, "Dammit, Janet, I love you" is rather famous.
2. Finished watching Notorious and tried Son of Zorn -- I don't know, me and the television critics do not appear to be seeing eye-to-eye at the moment. Their two favorite new sitcoms, The Good Place and Son of Zorn, did not work for me. Son of Zorn -- I found unwatchable.
Just cringed all the way through it. It seems to take the worst bits from The Family Guy and melds them with The Office. It's another satire meets parody, which don't work for me. I'm beginning to realize that American satire and parody don't work for me at all. I don't know why. Every time I watch it, I'm either bored or cringing. (shrugs)
Notorious -- on the other hand, was rather intriguing. It's not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a bizarre legal procedural like Bull. It's not. It actually has more in common with last year's THE CATCH and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER.
The set-up? Julia (played by Piper, from Covert Affairs) is a top-notch producer of a Cable News Series that breaks the headlines on high profile crimes before anyone else does. Her source is a top rung defense attorney, Jake, who often feeds her exclusives on his cases, which she helps twist in his direction. They have a close friendship and a touch of sexual chemistry, but obviously chose long ago never to act on it. Their pack is never to lie to each other.
Along comes a high profile case, with twists and turns, about a high profile tech billionaire who allegedly run down a 15 year old kid. Except he didn't do it. And he may have been having an affair.
And his wife may have been having an affair. Then his wife ends up dead...and wait, maybe Jake, his attorney was involved?
Two former Buffy vets guest star, Marc Blucas as the Julia's soon to be ex-boyfriend, and August Young as Jake's brother and partner.
Also, Aimee Teagarden of Friday Night Lights is one of the attorney's working for Jake.
I'm not sure it totally works, bit jarring in places, but it held my interest and I'm curious about what happens next. The critics hated it. Not sure why.