"As he speaks about the potentially apocalyptic implications — for Hollywood and for humanity at large — Ray sounds both incredulous and downright scared." —Josh Rottenberg for The LA Times.

"As he speaks about the potentially apocalyptic implications — for Hollywood and for humanity at large — Ray sounds both incredulous and downright scared." —Josh Rottenberg for The LA Times.
Ever been lying in bed and have an entire scene of dialogue pop into your head practically fully formed, to the point where you just have to get up and go to your computer and write it down?
Anyways, good night (take 2)!
"Unapologetically Herself: Writing Bold and Complex Young Women" Panel at the Writers Guild Foundation – Friday, August 8, 2025, 7pm
During every MFA Residency Workshop I moderate a panel of writers – often proudly including one of our MFA alums – and this August we’re doing it again. Join us on Friday, August 8, 2025 from 7:00 PM 8:30 PM at the Writers Guild Foundation (7000 West 3rd StreetLos Angeles, CA, 90048) for:
Unapologetically Herself: Writing Bold and Complex Young Women
We’ll explore how writers develop these strong characters, how to approach sensitive scenes intentionally, and how they navigate nuances of character personalities, behaviors, and motivations.
Made a pass on this script, and see where I have two scenes/sequences still to write. But really liked reading it after a long time away from it. I needed that today.
A teenage witch is possessed by a malicious fae, which wreaks havoc on her grandmother's small town. Our bread baking witches return in this prequel to their story, that may also be an allegory about vaccination?
Listen now: http://bit.ly/44upYCd
Emily definitely does NOT do what the men tell her.
After their father's death, a dusty old bottle of wine stirs up conflict among three siblings—not just over whether to drink it, but over who he loved most.
Listen now: https://bit.ly/441rtZn
Lorna Moon, she liked the ring of it,
transformed from Nora Helen Wilson Low.
Names need to have a resonance, a fit
and this could take her where she yearned to go…
—Kay Clive, “Lorna Moon”
published in NORTHWORDS NOW 40 (Autumn-Winter 2020)
4/4
“The story of how Marion & Kate Corbaley tricked the studio executives into paying Lorna Moon $7500, while reviving Marie Dressler’s career, should be a legend in the history of female networking in the motion picture business”
from the Women Film Pioneers Project, Columbia University
3/4
As well as scriptwriting, Moon achieved critical success with her 1929 novel DARK STAR – “an uncompromising picture of rural life… it explores the precarious social structures, sexual instabilities & surface hypocrisies that shape its confines”. It was adapted for the screen as MIN & BILL (1930), starring Marie Dressler & Wallace Beery
2/4
The Far Side of Lorna Moon
“I’m always either convinced that nobody can write as I can – or that I’m the world’s louseyest writer.”
Lorna Moon (1886–1930) was born #OTD, 16 June, as Nora Helen Wilson Low, in Strichen. Dr Glenda Norquay writes about her journey from Aberdeenshire to Hollywood
1/4
How Stories Find Structure: Acts, Scenes and Beats Reframed
If stories are chaotic potential energy, scripts and novels are structured kinetic energy Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-stories-find-structure-acts-scenes-and-beats-reframed-84ce93ba87f
#storytelling #writingtips #structure #authors #screenwriting
@indieauthors
Daughter, Wife, Widow, Screenwriter: The Heroines’ Journey of Dorothy Davenport – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, June 2025
The Lunts and Barrymores may be more famous as theatrical families, but during their heyday, Dorothy Davenport’s parents, Alice and Harry, were also staples of the vaudeville circuit and expanded into motion pictures. Alice Davenport appeared in many films with Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and Harry appeared in more than 150 films through the 1950s. Born in 1895, their daughter, Dorothy joined them on stage as a child, moved into acting in films where she met her husband, actor Wallace Reid. They married in 1913 and appeared together in nearly 100 short films. After Davenport gave birth to their son in 1917, she retired—or so she thought.
"…give a formerly flat character some _single defining trait_, obsession, or problem to deal with. Just this one weird-yet-relatable thing. And suddenly, this character and the scenes they were in would come alive."
- Tony Tost
https://practical.substack.com/p/the-mark-of-the-one-note-character
Three Things You Should Know When Writing Your First Screenplay
And how you can avoid the same mistakes I made Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/three-things-you-should-know-when-writing-your-first-screenplay-c7b29eb8853
#filmmaking #screenwriting #howtowrite #savethecat #screenplay
@indieauthors
We return to the hippie commune from our Snowflake episode—this time for a wedding! Snowflake Johnson is finally tying the knot, and among the guests is his little sister: June Bug. The cartel, still reeling from their losses in the previous episode, hatches a plan to kidnap several high-profile DEA agents during the ceremony.
Listen now: https://bit.ly/4kjIwLU
In this interview, screenwriter, author, and podcaster @colehaddon talks with fellow screenwriter, author, and podcaster John August, whose #film credits include “Big Fish”.
https://fanfare.pub/q-a-john-august-wants-to-make-things-happen-e51513afce4f