The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers unveiled the nominees for this year’s Scribe Awards. Early this year, they announced that prolific tie-in writer Dayton Ward had been named the recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award for the year. ADAPTED NOVEL · Blast from the Past! By Chris McGuire (The Racoons) · Cwej: Requiem by James Hornby…
With the annual Scribe Awards, the IAMTW celebrates and honors excellence in the field of writing tie-in fiction for media franchises. These works include novels, short stories, audio dramas, and graphic novels tied to licenses of movies and TV shows, as well as video games, comics, songs, and even book series. The licenses run the…
My Mary will sometimes pop into the office to chat a bit. If I’m just goofing off (a lot of my work day consists of goofing off), that’s fine but if I’m actually working she has to leave. She understands and doesn’t take offense; she can get the same way when she’s creating. I don’t…
Back then, when the universe was trying to create justice from whatever scraps of phantom it could find, I was working for one of the all-time excellent comic book editors, writing stories about a superheroic archer. I once gave this archer a line that conflated a politician with… I don’t remember the exact wording, but…
All right now, settle down. Here it is, already the new year and we haven’t even started yet. Started what? That’s just about the kind of question I’d expect from you, mister smarty pants! We can begin with a gripe, follow with a premature digression and then maybe segue into a topic. Ready for the…
On Story – Screenwriters and Filmakers on Their Iconic Films Edited by Barbara Morgan and Maya Perez 247 pages, $20, University of Texas Press The Austin Film Festival is a great place to watch films and hear from filmmakers as co-founder and Executive Director Barbara Morgan assembles a winning lineup of producers, directors, screenwriters, and…
Recently on Facebook, a father asked me what advice I could give his 13-year old daughter who wanted to be a writer. I had to be succinct but I think my reply was moderately useful and I thought I’d repeat it here. As I’ve done columns about writing before, some of this may be familiar…
One of the interesting facets of talking about writing is the contradictions you find in the craft. For example: All your characters are you. All your characters are not you. All of your characters are you. Every character you write must have some of you in it. All of them. Not just the ones you…
ThereâÂÂs a rule for tightrope walkers: donâÂÂt look down. If you look down, youâÂÂll fall. Focus instead on the other end of the wire, where youâÂÂre headed. Focus on the goal. IâÂÂve always felt thatâÂÂs good advice for writers as well. DonâÂÂt look down. If you doubt that you can write, you canâÂÂt. If asked…
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” • Dorothy Parker “I think there are two types of writers, the…
While trolling my Facebook feed for potential Kickstarter backers the other evening, I ran into an errant picture from a pair of sisters I’d grown up around since kindergarten. They were smiling and hugging their father, my former freshman year honors English teacher. I will spare you the visceral detail, but suffice to say he didn’t…
So, this week has been plagued. Yes, I have been plagued with writer’s block. I know you’ve heard of it. I just can’t settle on a column topic or a message or anything else. Right now, I’m probably breaking the unwritten rule of telling the reader this, but I’m naturally a maverick. All week, this…
