Notes from Felicia
The apostrophe is the most troublesome mark in all English punctuation. And there is no automating a fix for the various problems it presents the writer. There is only taking the time to learn the over-loaded ways of the apostrophe and quote mark. So let’s take the time.
The rest of the article.Getting paid for putting the right words in the right order is a trade and a profession before it is anything else.
Selling your precious creations to strangers is almost the entire writing game. You make a pitch to a person in a position to give you money for your words. They accept the pitch and ask to see the work. If they want it, they give you money and you get a credit. (Byline; name in print; and published are other terms for the same thing: the visible sign someone’s paid you money for words.) If they don’t want it they say ‘thanks but no thanks’ and you find someone else in the market for words and make the pitch to them.
The rest of the article.Whether you are writing articles for a major Web-site or a quick post to your favourite mailing list, an increasing portion of those reading your words will not be residents of the US. If you don’t want to spend extra time reiterating what you wrote or correcting misapprehensions, consider the following specific suggestions. As an Australian writing mainly for US and European audiences over the last seven years I’ve find them more than useful. Moreover, I’ve not found any of them prevent me from maintaining a personal style.
The rest of the article.Standard screenplay presentation format. Ask about it on most mailing lists or web-sites or at most screen-writing seminars and you’ll get a variation on the following:
20 pound bond US Letter
Card stock covers
3-holes
Brads in top and bottom holes
Which is all well and good but overlooks two things.
These requirements don’t apply outside the US film industry.
Even for those marketing their work into the US, this shorthand advice is of no practical value.
When people in the US and Canada reach for a sheet of paper to write or print on, chances are they reach for a piece of Letter-sized paper, measuring 8.5″ by 11″. When people everywhere else reach for a sheet of paper to write or print on, they reach for a piece of A4-sized paper, measuring 210mm by 297mm.
The rest of the article.Screenwriters produce an intermediate product. Although a screenwriter has to be a good writer to make a sale (with occasional market-driven exceptions) what they sell isn’t what the general public pay money for. Put broadly, screenwriters sell instructions for film-makers. Which is why screenplays have so many technical constraints and requirements.
Prose writers, however, are selling the finished product, so they can please themselves with regards things like formatting and typeface choice, right?
Wrong!
The rest of the article.Copyright isn’t on a par with the right to life, liberty, fraternity and equality before the law. It’s a privilege extended to us by our fellow citizens…
The rest of the article.