Dystopia. The word hisses off the tongue with sibilant ease, a slow slide into the dark cellar of the collective psyche. The black regimes of our fears, the fascism, the rage, the oppression which mirrors our inner shades, often realized in nightmarish reality. Conversely, Utopia sounds so hopeful, so inclusive, like a suspended note of a celestial choir. A future where technology is used compassionately to further creative pursuits, knowledge and collective awareness. What's it going to be? One of the great tasks of Science Fiction is to explore humanity in the context of earth shattering change. In the case of Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 with its mechanical hound or George Orwell's 1984, the startling portrait of the darker probabilities of the future, shaped the minds of a generation. The word "Big Brother" is now part of our lexicon of ideas. On the Utopian side, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek inspired cell phones, interactive computers and has scientists noodling over the possibility of matter transfer and warp drive. Because I'm writing a dystopian novel, I … [Read more...] about Future Shock: Writing Sci Fi, Drones & Paranoia
David Mamet’s Memo: To the Writers of The Unit
If you've never read David Mamet's memo to the writers of The Unit, prepare to be amused. The author of 50 plays and 25 screenplays, Mamet is a study in why playwrights often dazzle when it comes to screenwriting. They learn to move the plot forward dramatically, scene by scene, through character and dialogue, without the help of Lizard men descending from the ceiling or massive car chases. Known for his witty, acerbic style, staccato musicality of dialogue and ability to render the dynamics of complex human emotion into nuanced, yet dramatic turns, Mamet's writing is sometimes surprising and often lovely. His dialogue is so distinctive, it spawned the slang phrase Mamet Speak. But in 2006, Mamet was working in the Hollywood Dream factory at the breakneck pace television demands, as executive producer on a weekly drama for Fox called The Unit, based on his co-producer's book Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counter terrorist Unit. The show ran for four seasons. In this letter, David Mamet's frustration with his writer's is apparent, but between the lines … [Read more...] about David Mamet’s Memo: To the Writers of The Unit
Brave New World of e-books
1. Write book on typewriter 2. Send to typesetter 3. Receive galley proof 4. Mark up galley proof 5. Create layout 6. Corrected proof arrives 7. Paste type to boards (including page numbers) 8. Send boards to printer 9. Correct blueline proof 10. Print 11. Distribute Sound crazy? Back in the day, publishing had a slow, relentless tempo, like a sacred choral work. Individual voices rose in gestalt to make a whole. Books were planned a year in advance. The minute there was a cover, the sales force courted bookstores and distributors. Editors and proofreaders checked every dangling participle and questionable fact. Copywriters wrote sales pitches and back covers. The art department assembled the physical object. Finally, the book was printed, boxed and sent out into the world. Licenses were handed out to foreign publishers and the process repeated. The Heirarchy of publishing grew around this process; writers, publishers, editors, copy writers, art directors, proof-readers, traffic controllers, marketers, publicists, salespeople, etc. … [Read more...] about Brave New World of e-books
