Screenwriting business process explained at Vancouver Film School
The Writers Guild of America West has launched a campaign suggesting to writers that they do not write for free. Aimed primarily at screenwriters, the campaign, which uses the hashtags #NoWritingLeftBehind and #NoFreeWork, focuses on so-called “pre-writing” such as film treatments and outlines that are requested by producers without any promise to the writer of being hired or paid. However, the suggestion is a good one for any writer who has gotten past the beginner stage of creating a set of clips. It’s important for writers to stand up for their rights and to advocate for the value they add. Plus, more income lets those writers hire great editors!
Photo by Vancouver Film School, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/2lXfug
Here’s a New York Times piece from op-ed writer Frank Bruni, explaining how he likes to use “who” or “whom” instead of “that” to refer to people in his writing. I agree with Frank that it should be “the man who bumped into me” rather than “the man that bumped into me.” When editing the writing of others, I regularly make this change. It’s the humanitarian thing to do.
A defamation lawsuit by actor James Woods could have implications for users of Twitter, Facebook and other social media. As these court filings indicate, in July 2015, Woods was engaged in a war of words on Twitter with anonymous user “Abe List,” when the latter tweeted: “cocaine addict James Woods still sniffing and spouting.” Woods sued the anonymous “John Doe” user in Los Angeles County Superior Court for defamation and invasion of privacy, and has asked for $10 million in damages.
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Smiley frog texting
A new study undertaken at Binghamton University in New York suggests that using periods at the end of text messages isn’t only unnecessary, it’s insincere, unfriendly and even heartless. We’ve known for some time that texting doesn’t require proper punctuation or spelling if the meaning is clear. Who wants to type out “talk to you later” or so many other phrases when “TTYL” and the myriad of other texting acronyms will do? But a period as a sign of aggression? That’s something new. Perhaps the period typist is seen as giving his or her texting partner short shrift, even though that’s unlikely the intent in most cases.
Interestingly, exclamation points were not given the same stigma as periods in a follow-up to the study. On the contrary, they were viewed as being quite helpful. Maybe that’s because, in a text-only environment, it is otherwise difficult to convey emotion, which is of course why emoticons are so popular.
It’s clear that texting is a language unto itself. But we shouldn’t mistake the loose convenience of texting for acceptable writing in other media. Articles, blog posts, business presentations, organization and outreach communications, academic papers, legal and official submissions, job applications and many other writings still need to be correct if you want to make the best impression and achieve your desired result. That’s where sharp editors and communications consultants come in. Contact us if you need to hire one!
Photo by Kevin Dooley, used under Creative Commons license. http://is.gd/h0mtnf
Ever since the advent of the Internet and email, experts and other folks with common sense have warned us to be careful about what we write online. Every time a new form of electronic communication or social networking comes along (Facebook, Twitter, texting via smartphone, etc.), we are reminded of this sage advice. The latest case in point involves veteran CNN correspondent Jim Clancy, who just lost his job because of some things he posted on Twitter.
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Here are excerpts from an interesting article about best-selling author Amy Tan’s search for a new editor after her longtime editor died of cancer. According to Tan, “it’s kind of like getting married.”
As an editor, I can attest to the intimacy and trust involved in a great editor/writer relationship. This sometimes involves very lively creative discussions, but having this kind of partner is essential for writers, as well as business owners and organizations, to communicate their messages in the most effective way.
Surgeons want to perform surgery. Editors want to edit. That may be the motive behind these graffiti incidents taking place in the Pratt Institute‘s sculpture garden in Brooklyn, NY. Each sculpture has a plaque describing the work of art. Someone (or perhaps more than one person) has been going around with a marker correcting some pretty bad and obvious typos on the plaques. The artist/professor in charge of writing the copy for the plaques says that the mistakes may have happened because he relies on his assistant, who is French, to create them, and there may have been a breakdown in the language and writing.
Not to denigrate any foreigners, but this is yet another example of how hiring a good editor beforehand can avoid some embarrassing mistakes that need to be corrected — one way or another — later.
Here’s an interesting TED talk from linguist John McWhorter, who maintains that texting, far from being the English language killer that some say, is really a second language. McWhorter says that texting is more like actual speech transcribed than some attempt to bastardize written English. According to McWhorter, young people benefit from texting because it makes them bilingual. This could be a key point to remember for marketers and others who constantly try to determine what that all-important youth demographic is thinking.
The writer of the This is Horror website, Jasper Bark, says it best: “Without editors, gentle reader, most people in my profession would be screwed.” Whether one is a writer of fiction or corporate communications, it is crucial to run one’s work by a second set of eyes, not just to spot mistakes, but to offer suggestions as to clarity, tone, etc. And it is just as crucial that those eyes belong to a trained professional editor.
Please contact us to find out about our professional editing services.
Here’s a great new article by P.R. and online expert Chris Abraham explaining why businesses should use outside social media consultants, experts and agencies. Chris should know — he’s a pioneer in online social networks, blogging, and all things Internet, who developed expertise in these areas long before most of the public had even heard of them. I was fortunate enough to be one of Chris’ blogging students years ago, when relatively few people even knew what a blog was.
According to Chris, “social media is no longer a land of tinkerers; it’s a land of consumers” that requires real experts to navigate. Chris goes on to explain that most small businesses outsource a variety of specialties, from legal counsel to publicists, and for good reason: “Why incur internal staff bloating when you can keep your staff limited to core expertise and services in focus?” Likewise, according to Chris, “specialist vendors … have the benefit of being able to load-balance and mind-share across the experience of multiple clients.”
We agree, and would add that using the right outside experts for social media and other types of communications services (website content, newsletters, emails, etc.) gives the added comfort and security in knowing that your experts are taking the time to keep up with the latest and greatest trends and tools to maximize your business’ success. We do it not only because we have to, but because we really love it!
