Screenwriter David Koepp has a website where you can read drafts of his scripts. Box office-wise, he's one of the most successful screenwriters of all time. Though I'm a hit and miss (mostly miss) on much of his work, I do quite like Panic Room and The Trigger Effect (which he also directed).
Writing
6 PostsEnsĹŤ is a writing tool that helps you enter a state of flow.
Basically, you write, and EnsĹŤ only allows you to see the most recent lines you've typed. The previous words become invisible so you're not tempted go back and make changes. The Backspace button on your keyboard works, but the arrows don't. So, if you are tempted to go back, you're deleting, not moving the cursor to make changes.
Done writing? Hit the download button in the top left of the screen and a txt file of what you've written drops into your documents folder. Easy-peasy.
It's free on the web, or there's a pay-for-it app. The only thing missing is a Dark Mode.
The New Yorker has the latest piece by Nobel winner, Annie Ernaux. I've read just about everything she's written that's been put into English and this piece is on par with her best. If you like this, you will like her books and understand why she was awarded the Prize in 2022.
On Cancer and Desire — Images from a complicated year.
Want to know more? Here's Ernaux's Wikipedia entry.
The HTML Review is an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web. Spring, 2024, means the third issue has been posted. It's broken into three sections: Poetry, Possibilities, and Expeditions.
As always, it's beautifully designed.
the html review 03
the html review is an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web
Past issues are also available:
the html review 02
the html review is an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web
the html review 01
the html review is an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web
They're brought to you by Maxwell Neely-Cohen and Shelby Wilson.
In Appendix-B of his book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders asks us to write a 200-word story using only 50 unique words, constraints which Saunders suggests typically encourage an escalation of tension. Of course, someone's gone and coded a site to help you do just that, The George Saunders Escalation Exercise.
The GSEE reminds me of David Milch's process for defeating writer's block:
- Write for no less than 20 minutes and no more than 50 minutes.
- Write no description, only dialogue, using the descriptors Voice One and Voice Two.
- Take what you wrote, put it in an envelope, and seal it. Never look at it again.
- Do this every day at the same time until you're no longer blocked.
Believe it or not, this works.
(David Milch is a TV writer, which is why he's focusing on dialogue.)
Anecdote Alert
I believe Milch to be one of the greatest writers of all time. I've loved his work for many years. He's one of my heroes in art and heroes in life. I think Deadwood is as good as any Shakespeare, Picasso, or Dylan.
Years ago, after reading Mark Singer's terrific 2005 New Yorker profile, The Misfit, I reached out to Singer to ask if he still had the transcripts mentioned in the piece. He wrote back quickly to say he didn't.
About a year later I received an email from David Milch's assistant. The email simply said, "I hear you're looking for these." PDFs of the transcripts were attached. Just over 100 pages.
I've owned davidmilch.com for years and one day will make a site about him. I'll be sure to put those PDFs on them.
The Kelly Writers House is a 13-room house on the University of Pennsylvania campus that serves as a center for writers of all kinds from Penn and the Philadelphia region at large.
Archives of the Fellows from the Kelly Writers House - mp3s and videos from some great writers, including my main dude, David Milch, Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Didion, Art Spiegelman, EL Doctorow, Richard Ford, Robert Creeley and many others.
