Category: production
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Story Q&A: When should budget limit my film’s genre?
One of the questions that has come up in Free Lance Friday was posed by a screenwriter and filmmaker: when should my budget limit my story? The answer is either always or never, but not both. First, “never.” Your budget, as a screenwriter, should never limit your story when you write to sell your screenplay.…
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On Your Calling in Life
No one, not even Milton, ever made a living off of writing good poetry. Only those who were patronized by the rich could ever afford to do only poetry, but even then they did not generate an income off of the sale of their poetry. That’s a historical “never,” which are pretty hard to come…
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Sitting at the feet of : a Male Model
A decade ago in a town of eight thousand people two hours away from St. Louis lived a class clown named Logan McNeil. Logan always talked. Logan always entertained. Whether by photo bomb or family portrait, he loved getting his picture taken. “Never. I never thought those characteristics would lead to becoming a male model.”…
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Another Letter to the Literators: On Slowing Down and Drilling Deep
Dear Literators, I’ve got disagreeable news and wickedawesome news. The wickedawesome first: Business is picking up. I’m learning more about my craft than ever, and am even drawing up plans for massive collaboration with names bigger than my petty John Handcock. It’s a blast. Now for the disagreeable news: I’m running on fumes in my…
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Two Approaches to Art
If art’s an island, then you can get to her by two approaches. The first is the most common direction, the direction that seems most obvious, the broad way. Everyone who survived this direction once erected a lighthouse to persuade people from all over to enter by that side of the island. That house, if…
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A Near-Death Experience for Poetry
Our nation’s in crisis and doesn’t even know it. “What are you talking about, Lance, of course they–” Not like that. The moment you ruin funding for the arts, the moment music becomes an elective, the moment you have more copywriters than poets, you start down into absurdity. The poets are always the first to…
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Free Lance Friday & Discounts!
Freelance ain’t free [except when it is]. It’s that time again–time for you shy or procrastinating or wary people to send your stories, poems, articles, research papers, opening novel chapters, book proposals, etc. and I send them back to you, line-edited, critiqued or written free of charge. It’s only this Friday, and it’s first-come-first-serve. Two…
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Pigs, Poems & Paradise
I’ve Doberman (one of you Literators) to thank for the sudden outburst in poetics. Forgive me if I don’t try and publish poetry these days–the time involved pays significantly less than stories, articles and freelance editing. I like to think there’s value in the mere act of crafting poems. And occasionally sharing them. Anyways, awhile…
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Bloom: 28,000 Flowers Installed @ Massachusetts Mental Center
You people know me. I never reblog. Ever. I try to create things here, but this was so amazing, so productive, so dangarang gorgeous that I had to share: In 2003 a building housing the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC) was slated for demolition to make way for updated facilities. The closure was a time for…
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M.I.T. Free
No, that’s not a typo. Thanks to Logan K. Stewart’s suggestion, I’m now going to take on M.I.T. free at the same time as my Harvard Classics readings. Basically, there’s a list of classes: Courses by Department Aeronautics and Astronautics Anthropology Architecture Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Biological Engineering Biology Brain and Cognitive Sciences Chemical…