One of the few benefits of semi long-term (abeit temporary) illness is the ability to read, read, read. Most mobile working people don't have this much time on their hands, but a couple of must reads --
Fun Joel has a very good article in Scr(i)pt about story and concept. Joel's article is thorough and he has a knack for making no-brainer screenwriting basics sound like fresh news. Example? Joel quotes Michel Shane who pretty much says that scripts can be fixed but it's tough if the story or concept is weak. Sure, I write it and you say "duh". Joel writes it and you say "slow down a sec, I'm taking notes."
Speaking of stories and concepts, turn to page 44 in Creative Screenwriting (take your nitro or two blood thinning aspirin first) and read up on an intellectual properties claim and the implications of implied contacts. This could be disastrous for us newbie and wannabe screenwriters who already need an agent just to submit a query. Who's gonna want to hear a pitch from a nobody writer who can claim "implied contract" if they later see a project similar to theirs? Yeah, I'm over-simplifying. Just read it.
Meanwhile, I really shouldn't have read the Snakes on a Plane article right before the one about a seventeen year old Kansas kid who struck screenwriting gold. Not only am I now drinking Geretol laced Tequila and writing on a Big Chief in crayon but I just noticed my latest draft about a teenage entrepreneur somehow got titled Penis in a Paper Shredder.
Yeah, I know. What's a Big Chief?
