Authoring & Playwriting

For all the authors and playwrights in our community, a place to discuss, share content and post tips and advice.

Liked by Matthew Parvin and 6 others

Sam Ornstein
Ashley Renee Smith

There are a lot of playwrights here in the community, Sam Ornstein. What is your musical about?

Sam Ornstein

Thanks for responding Ashley, my musical about being regressed to ancient Egypt. The music’s not yet written, and my first choice is Hans Zimmer. 90% of the dialogue is rhymed . I do have an experienced producer committed, while I search for a theatrical attorney.

Lisa Johnson Mitchell

Yes! I wrote five plays years ago - and still have heart for this genre. Please share what you've written about!

Marian Betts

I have one on the back burner while I'm working on a script at the moment

Liked by Matthew Parvin and 4 others

Leonardo Ramirez
Check out today’s AMA with screenwriter, Cole Quirk in the screenwriting lounge!

Cole Quirk is a screenwriter and playwright that grew up in Blue Bell, a small town outside of Philadelphia. She assisted writers on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS), The 100 (CW), Resurrection (ABC), Scream (MTV), and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC). She was a staff writer on Justified: Cit...

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Ashley Renee Smith

Thank you for sharing, Leonardo Ramirez! Cole has so much valuable wisdom to share from her experiences!

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks, Leonardo Ramirez. So is your question. Knowing what a TV staff writer does each day will help up-and-coming staff writers know what to expect.

Leonardo Ramirez

You're very welcome Ashley Renee Smith. Interested to hear what misconceptions exist about working in the writer's room.

Leonardo Ramirez

I"m curious as well Maurice Vaughan. I like to learn from others so when our shows hit the ground we can learn from those that came before us.

Maurice Vaughan

That's one of the best ways to learn, Leonardo Ramirez. I'm thinking about writing a series, so Cole's answers will definitely help.

Liked by Leiter S. Daniellson and 8 others

Laura Preble
I'm new here...

But I wanted to ask...my situation is that I have a novel that's been published, but it is now out of print. I've asked a few people who have literary agents (I've had them in the past, but not now) and they all say that once something is out in the world, even if it's out of print, no agent will ta...

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Leonardo Ramirez

That's a great question Laura Preble . I'm in the same boat and I've heard different takes from different people (including producers and attorneys). Some do look at numbers of the initial release whi...

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John Clive Carter

Agents will take anything if there's business to conduct (not every agent, but someone). By the same token, they won't take it if there isn't. A few literary agents I've met have an author's estate as...

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Robin Gregory

I've been told that most literary agents won't take on a pre-published work unless they expect big returns. But film agents are looking for published IP. Lots of us are pitching novels to film agents,...

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D.E. White

You could sub it and try with the agents? I know authors who have had previous book reissued, and with one of mine, I got the rights back from a publisher, and my agent sold it to another publisher. I...

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Tabitha Baumander

simply self publish with Amazon it's free and the work will be out there

Liked by Maurice Vaughan and one other

Writer Cole Quirk is today's Ask Me Anything in the Screenwriting lounge

Screenwriter & Stage 32 Educator, Cole Quirk, is hosting a 24-Hour Ask Me Anything ("AMA") in the Screenwriting Lounge today, focused on Television Drama Writing. Cole recently wrote on the FX/Hulu hit JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL and has written o CSI and ZOEY'S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST.

Here's the AMA L...

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Liked by Leiter S. Daniellson and 2 others

Leonardo Ramirez
Check out the feature on our fearless leader, RB, in Authority Magazine.

You will be encouraged by it. Never underestimate the power of encouragement that you have.

https://www.stage32.com/blog/stage-32-founder-ceo-richard-rb-botto-featu......

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Matt Watters
Verbal pitch session via Skype

What is required in a verbal pitch session via Skype? Can I present a pitch deck or is it just talking heads? My project requires images to convey the concept. Thanks.

Should Authors Get An Advance?

Hi All. We were just kicking this around in conversation last night and I thought it was a really good discussion point for those who are traditionally published. Having been in the biz a long time now, I'm swaying towards, yes authors should definitely get an advance.

My reasons are:

a) If the book...

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Jeff E. Gregory

I thought advances were clawed back through a percentage on book sales. If it bombs, isn't the author on the hook to repay?

Jonathan Jordan

Jeff E. Gregory correct. Often, the agreements state the author does not receive any royalties until the advance is paid back via book sales, hence the reason it's called an advance....

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Ty Strange

Are traditional publishers no longer offering advances, @Daisy?

D.E. White

Really interesting comments on here as always! From authors I know, there does seem to be a trend for offering less in terms of advances, and for digital first publishers, often nothing at all. I have...

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D.E. White

This is really interesting and I think explains it all very clearly. https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/company-article/book-advances-and-roy......

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Randolph Randy Camp
Character Development

Whether you’re working on your next manuscript, or writing something for a school assignment, or simply writing something for your own pleasure, it’s imperative to show some type of growth within your characters. How are your characters different at the end of your story than from the beginning? Hav...

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Maurice Vaughan

Great advice and insight, Randolph Randy Camp! All of my protagonists change (positive change). Sometimes other characters change positively. Love interest, antagonist, etc.

Ashley Renee Smith

Great share, Randolph Randy Camp!

Jonathan Jordan

Thanks for your service Randolph Randy Camp. My dad is also former USAF. Way to spend some time really thinking about your characters and their journey. Makes for a much more engaging reader experienc...

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Debbie Croysdale

@Randolph Thanks for share. Character development cannot be emphasised enough. We don’t need to even like the characters but must feel “something” for them. The norm for writers is goal, want V need,...

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Karen "Kay" Ross
George R.R. Martin Among 17 Top Authors Suing OpenAI

Ooof, Y'ALL! If you thought the WGA strike was ugly... authors have a HUGE library of material to draw from to "teach" AI.

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/openai-chatgpt-lawsuit-george-rr-m......

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Jonathan Jordan

If you listen to John August & Craig Mazin's podcast, they brought up a great point about AI with the new deal. Turns out the studios are also concerned about AI because of data scraping and potential...

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MB Stevens

I hope A.I. doesn't turn out to be Pandora's Box. This will be messy for sure.

Leonardo Ramirez

Here's the clue: “numerous AI-generated books that have been posted on Amazon that attempt to pass themselves off as human-generated and seek to profit off a human author’s hard-earned reputation.”

If...

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Maurice Vaughan

The article says, "According to the Authors Guild-led lawsuit, the books OpenAI used to train ChatGPT 'were downloaded from pirate ebook repositories and then copied into the fabric of GPT 3.5 and GPT...

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Maurice Vaughan
Stage 32’s $100,000 Education Giveaway!

Stage 32 is giving away $100,000 in free webinar education to help members sharpen their skills or learn a new craft or aspect of the business during the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Here’s how to redeem your free webinar:

Enter code: NFCFPUR

This code is good for one webinar per...

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Maurice Vaughan

You're right, D.E. White. It's a great opportunity. Really generous of Stage 32.

Ashley Renee Smith

That's awesome, Erin Leigh! I hope you enjoyed it!

Ashley Renee Smith

Robin Gregory, which one are you thinking about getting?

Robin Gregory

Ashley Renee Smith I just signed up for Michelle Alexandria's webinar on how to make a feature pitch deck. Yay! Than you, thank you, Stage 32!

Maurice Vaughan

Michelle Alexandria is one of the best at pitch decks, Robin Gregory.

Leonardo Ramirez
Stage 32's October 2023 Education Schedule!

Check out the October Education Schedule provided by Ashley Smith. These are all pretty awesome! Thanks Ashley!

https://www.stage32.com/blog/stage-32s-october-2023-education-schedule-3501...

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Maurice Vaughan

I really like the logline and concept, Leonardo Ramirez! "Captain Ash" could be a transmedia project (book series, movie, show, video game, mobile game, etc.).

Carina S. Burns

Leonardo Ramirez, WOW SUBLIME logline! It leads me also to wondering what that "interdimensional travel" would be;)

Leonardo Ramirez

You’re very kind, Carina S. Burns. I may have to tuck this one away and perhaps pursue it. Theoretical physics was once a passing interest. It’s fun to think about. :o)

Terrence Sellers
Xtreme Saga Book 1 - Chapter 3 is available Now!

You may have seen me post previously about the sci-fi novel I wrote under contract. They're publishing it chapter by chapter digitally. Chapter 3 was just released today. They originally planned to do 1 chapter a month, but I'm happy to report that they've decided to do 2 a month starting in October...

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XPG XTREME SAGA
XPG XTREME SAGA
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, an evil empire known as the Cult of Ios scoured the planets for resources, spreading terror along the way. One unlucky world to suffer under their tyranny w…
Ty Strange

Exciting stuff, Terrence!

Karen "Kay" Ross

Hey, my friend! Long time, no see! So excited to see this project continue to move forward! Hope you're doing well!

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