Posted 11:55 AM by Blah blah

Read this!

Thank you to Pjammer for this link:

You MUST run to read this splendid dating story with a great sense of humor: She Hates My Futon. The writer, Craig Mitchell, has written 23 chapters so far of this novella but leaves us hanging and the story unfinished.

What I like so much is Craig keeps surprising me with these details and comments that ring true. They hit the bullseye about relationships, men, and women. They are so real they make you laugh. His story is such a joyride to read, a birthday present ESPECIALLY for men. I can't believe how closely he nails some of men's private conversations---some of what guys have told me and what I really think sometimes. The story is such a male fantasy, but it's told in a believable and in-depth way so people just leap out naked at ya! His main characters are so well developed and shaded. I have gone out with divorced women. One of my friends did date a wild-and-crazy girl like one of the characters. Craig laces his tale with details that make you think he's been through it himself.
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"Girlfriend-Express," it read. "We'll find you Ms. Right."

They were offering to find me a girlfriend for $19.95....

"Mr. Mitchell?" a teenage sounding voice says.

"Yes."

"This is Randall from Girlfriend-Express."

"Ohhh. Yeah. " I say, still trying to wake up.

"We have a date set up for you tonight at 8:30 PM with a potential girlfriend."

This wakes me up immediately.
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Excellent site on screenwriting: Screenwriters Utopia. See script reviews. Excellent, funny essays on the craft by Daniel Knauf. If I wanted to improve as a writer, I'd practice by trying to write economical, vivid, compelling scripts. I'd study scripts from sites like Drew's Script-O-Rama.

By Daniel Knauf, How to Become a Good Screenwriter:

"First and foremost:

Stop writing screenplays.
Then:

Start reading poetry;
Read more poetry;
Write poetry;
Lots of poetry;
Stop talking;
Listen;
Read;
Masturbate like a doomed lab-monkey;
Write more poetry;
Shoplift food;
Work at a series of meaningless jobs;
Get betrayed by someone you cherish;
Be afraid;
Watch THE SEVEN SAMURAI without reading the subtitles;
Pray for forgiveness. Mean it;
Read your poetry out loud to an unappreciative audience;
Get stoned;
Contemplate suicide;
Help someone for no reason;
Hitch-hike;
Get angry;
Read Bukowski, Fante, Vonnegut and Ellison;
Drink coffee all night;
Be true;
Fall in love (at least twice);
Observe;
Get fired for hitting your supervisor;
Doubt yourself;
Flip back and forth from A&E Biography and The History Channel until you're sure Tammy Wynette built the pyramids;
Drop acid;
Throw an ashtray through the television set;
Have kids;
Quit a job without giving notice. At lunchtime;
Fail;
Listen to music. Very loud;
Toss and turn;
Understand nobility and treachery, practice both, favor the former;
Make passionate love to someone you don't even like;
Tilt windmills;
Get evicted;
Suffer pointlessly;
Pay attention;
Be foolish;
Go to jail (at least once);
Survive all the above, but imperfectly.
Then:

Write a screenplay;
Write another screenplay;
Rewrite the first one;
Write a third screenplay;
Rewrite the second one;
Burn the first one;
Repeat the above instructions indefinitely.

Well, here's the ugliest truth of all--I'm perfectly serious. There is not even a trace of a smile on my lips as I write this. Nobody wants to read a movie about a movie written by somebody who's only seen movies."

Why an acting class might be the best screenwriting class you can take.

Magazine on writing scripts and screenplays: Scr(i)pt.