The Writer's Advantage. Laurie Scheer
Channels
So Many Options, So Little Time
A Mention About the Publishing Industry
Content Is King
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: A Wizard, Some Questions, and a Mysterious Millionaire
CASE STUDY: The man behind the curtain and a classic American text.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: A mysterious millionaire.
CHAPTER 2
FRAGMENTATION
We’re Not Getting the Whole Picture Any Longer
Was It An Evolution of Dance, or Rather a Confusion of Dance?
References Are Completely Off
Mashed Up
Generational Gap
Some Brief Notes About Each Generation
So There You Have It
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: A Sailor Man, Some Questions, and Some Old People In Love
CASE STUDY: Popeye the Sailor Man.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: The Notebook.
CHAPTER 3
TRANSMEDIA
Publishing in a Transmedia World
Movie Transition in a Transmedia World
TV and the Transmedia World
Television’s Third Golden Age
Talk of the Town
Transmedia Summary
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: A Woman In Pigtails, Some
Questions, and Could There Ever Be Another Wonderful Life?
CASE STUDY: Come back Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Could there ever be another Wonderful Life?
CHAPTER 4
WITH SO MANY OPTIONS,
WHAT’S A 21ST CENTURY WRITER TO DO?
Three Questions
The Now Factor
Who Cares, Who Really Cares?
A “Baby at 43” Pitch
Authentic Ideas
What We Need
Wonderment
What We Don’t Need
Naive or Just Plain Stupid?
“Stormy Weather” Pitches
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Oh!, To Be Like Your Idol, Some Questions, And Rebooting The Remake?
CASE STUDY: Lynchian, Spielberg-like, and Tarantino-esque.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Reboot a remake.
SECTION TWO
ARMING YOURSELF
CHAPTER 5
THE GENRE TOOLKIT LIST
What’s Your Genre?
Genres
More about Development Departments
The Cream Rises to the Top
Why You?
Lack of Confidence
Know It, Own It, Make the Genre Better
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Some Questions and Your Fave Writer
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: My favorite writer.
CHAPTER 6
IDENTIFY YOUR GENRE’S QUINTESSENTIAL TEXT
36 Plots
The Quintessential Text
How to Find the Quintessential Text
An Abundance of Generational, Ethnic, and Subjective Differences
Room for Debate
Game Changers
Sifting and Winnowing
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Twilight Isn’t the Only Game In
Town, Some Questions, and Disaster-Rama
CASE STUDY: Vampire literature and finding the
quintessential text.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Disaster-rama.
CHAPTER 7
IDENTIFY THE TRAITS OF YOUR GENRE
AND HOW THEY RELATE TO YOUR STORY
How to Identify Traits
Traits That Morph Between Genres
Characters Have Traits Too
“Good” Traits and “Bad” Traits
“Good” Traits — The Scream Franchise
A Fan of Mad-Slasher movies
What Kevin Williamson Did
“Bad” Traits — The Cabin In The Woods Example
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Non-Utopian Worlds, Some
Questions, and Fish-Out-Of-Water Stories
CASE STUDY: Know your traits in dystopian literature.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Fish-out-of-water stories.
CHAPTER 8
IDENTIFY THE MASS PRODUCTION HISTORY OF YOUR GENRE
Run The History
Hybrid Genres
Manuscripts vs. Scripts
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Steampunk’d, Some Questions, and Westerns, What a Great Combination
CASE STUDY: Steampunk’d.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Go west.
CHAPTER 9
ANALYZE AUDIENCE REACTION — MASS OR CULT?
Mainstream or Cult
And Speaking of Lists
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: De Palma’s Obsession, Some Questions, and The Room
CASE STUDY: Brian De Palma and his obsession with Hitchcock.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: Inside The Room.
CHAPTER 10
TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF YOUR GENRE
Nobody Knows Anything
Spotting Trends
Copying Genre Traits
Two Ways To Go
TOOLKIT SANDBOX: Real Reality Tv, Some Questions,
and a Fun Lunch
CASE STUDY: Why Reality TV has been all the rage.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
EXERCISE: My favorite writer.
CHAPTER 11
CHECKLISTING