More Writer's Education

David and I became buddies of a sort- we were the same age, single and writing, He was Jewish and a Texan, I was a tall Wasp from Indiana. Absolutely nothing in common in our backgrounds. I was friends with a writer actually making a living at it, and he was friends with someone he thought was talented, but also had "had" a life and was having one. I could sleep without a lot of women, he only had a handful of relationships in his whole life, He introduced me to a friend of his that was also a TV writer, and we went out. This was at the time when I was very cynical about popular culture and television. I hadn't had a TV in years. Anyway, I recall a discussion over dinner with this lady and saying "you know, that claptrap they put on television, the Love Boat school of writing."

And then I realized that this was probably the person he had meant when he was telling stories about a friend that had written for The Love Boat. It was. She had written for Mary Tyler Moore and Laugh-In and had wrote part of the pilot for Love Boat. Then things began to slide.

Anyway, she and David and I would have these dinners where we would pick apart each other's writing and everything else we had seen and watched and read. They both suggested Bob McKee (see below). Back then, his seminar was like a six class thing over several weeks and it was money. I took it. It was well worth it. It convinced me that a novel had to have as much structure as a movie or a play, Even if you are writing something serious, rather than a potboiler. I had thought that maybe he had died, but I guess not. This ad just came from Scripped, an on-line screen and play writing format for those of us who don't want to have to think about if it is the proper format. 

She and I started a screenplay together, but it fell apart like our friendship. I have always pushed and moved on with things. My characters (except for ole Joe Strong, in the lastest finished novel) have always pushed. David never would write with me. I offered him a partnership on the Robert Louis Srevenson screenplay, and he didn't want it. After I finished it, we were no longer in touch. I certainly wasn't going to ask him for help to peddle it. 

But that was a good time- at those dinners. It made me feel like a professional, even though I wasn't. At that point they treated me as an equal. I'd recommend this guy.

Robert McKee offers StoryLogue and Seminars for Scripped PRO!

Considered by many in the industry as an authority on the craft of screenwriting, Robert McKee is best known for his Story Seminar and his book Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting. McKee now offers an immersive online practicum for writers called StoryLogue which is packed wall-to-wall with insightful, practical content for writers and storytellers of all disciplines.  StoryLogue features include:

• Weekly Lessons
• Weekly Interviews
• Daily Q&A
• Social Networking

As a Scripped PRO member, you get all the benefits of McKee's StoryLogue for half the price!  Read more!

Additionally, Scripped PROs can attend McKee's world-renowned Story Seminar for $50 off the regular price!  If McKee is holding his seminar in your cit