--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00002 Date: 12/13/97 From: JACK RUTTAN Time: 12:51pm \/To: CRAIG LOEWEN (Read 3 times) Subj: Scriptwriting Book Recom CL> Could somebody recommend a good book on the basics of scriptwriting? Syd Field - _Screenplay: The Foundations of Scriptwriting_ (Dell, New York, ISBN 0-440-57647-4) CL>PS: For those who are now lunging for their computer >keyboards with twitching fingers to tell me to go to the >library and just take out any book they have, I hate to >disappoint. I did and they don't. :-P No one polite should do that. After all, you were looking for recommendations of what people found to be useful, not for them to do your research for you. Jack Ruttan --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: Juxtaposition BBS. Lasalle, Quebec, Canada (1:167/133) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00003 Date: 12/13/97 From: JACK RUTTAN Time: 01:08pm \/To: RICH VERAA (Read 3 times) Subj: computerized books RV>JR> Maybe exotic monitor cases. I hate this "putty gray" uniformity. RV>Mine's black. :-) Mine's now Cd-Rommed, and upgraded from 14.4 to 56 (theoretical, at this moment) Kbps. Yay! Maybe now, I'll renovate the home page. Just so it doesn't go unmentioned (could be the start of something, you never know), this comic strip, "Skinny Nameless Punk," I and a friend have been working on, will appear as a sample in an alternative weekly here. But it will be on the editorial page, so maybe they want to pick it up. We'll be sending this all over, so maybe you and Fido will be able to see it someday. Jack Ruttan http://www.axess.com/users/jackr --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: Juxtaposition BBS. Lasalle, Quebec, Canada (1:167/133) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00004 Date: 12/14/97 From: PHIL MCCLOUD Time: 06:02pm \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Rudolph Who can tell the story behind the actual creation of the character, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer? The town the writer was from, what company he worked for, and the name of said writer. I'll give you a hint... ...the author worked for a large department store chain. Do your research...:) Phil McCloud Can also be reached at: philmc1@juno.com --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: -= * THE WARZONE II * =- Portland, OR 503-777-3754 (1:105/38.67) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00005 Date: 12/12/97 From: EDMUND WONG Time: 01:45am \/To: BARBARA SHAFFERMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: MY NOVEL Hark! Did BARBARA SHAFFERMAN whisper to CHRIS KLING about: CK> "TANSTAAFL!" - RAH BS> Translate please? There Ain't no such thing as a free lunch. :) Take Care Edmund -=Team OS/2=- --- * Origin: In ways than not, I should be a . (1:153/7083) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00006 Date: 12/12/97 From: BARBARA SHAFFERMAN Time: 01:31pm \/To: LAURIE CAMPBELL (Read 3 times) Subj: CAMPBELLNEWS LC> fear and grief. When you are wiped out you are just as wiped out LC> whether or not you take anyone with you. We've had the possibility That's true from the individual's point of view. But from a worldwide viewpoint, there were still many more survivors. Today the possiblity of any survivors seems remote. LC> of all life being extinguished since the 1940s, and we've always LC> been in more danger from one nut LC> than from organised powers. But today that one nut has more power than all the organized powers of the past. LC> Come to that, all life could still be wiped out by another meteor LC> impact. Yes it could. And the world could be flooded by the icecap melting from the Greenhouse Effect. But somehow, I'm more afraid of the certified nut cases like Saddam Hussein. Barbara --- * RM 1.3 03095 * barshaff@juno.com * Origin: PC BBS : Massapequa, NY : (516)795-5874 (1:2619/110) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00007 Date: 12/10/97 From: LISA PHILBRICK Time: 08:08am \/To: MICHAEL NELLIS (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Suggestions for story LP> story. I'm trying to fix the problem but I'm having some LP> difficulties. But it'll come eventually. =) MN> MN> That it will. The problem I had was, instead of moving just the MN> recreational ring (it contains entertainments other than the gym), I had MN> completely flipped the order of the rings in my mind. I've gotten it MN> straightened out now, though. Rings one, two, and three are in that MN> order from "bottom" to "top", but the number four ring was inserted MN> below ring one. I had pictured it as being added above ring three, the MN> public quarters ring, but I had move it out of the way of the airlock. MN> Otherwise I couldn't have an airlock. MN> MN> Now I'm trying to work out an action scene for the big climax and I'm MN> not sure just what is going on in it. I can't add too many people into MN> the mix, but as it stands, I might not have enough to keep things moving MN> long enough. One of the characters has to be kept out of the fight so MN> another character, a secondary one, but important, can betray his boss MN> and be killed by the protagonist. Wow, sounds like you've got quite a story going here. I understand about trying to write an action scene for the big climax. I've had times when I have an idea for a great scene and when I put it on paper it just doesn't come out the way I saw it in my head. Of course, the way I see it in my head is usually what it would look like if if were on TV or in the movies; a lot of quick little shots all spliced together. Very tough to write something like that unless I wrote it in a strict teleplay or screenplay format (of which I'm not very familar with). =) And deciding which characters to have in the scene and which one will be the (pretty much) main focus is sometimes difficult too. You want to keep the action going but you don't want a lot of uneccesary characters cluttering up everything and you don't want so many characters in the action that you lose track of who was doing what and what the significance of it was. (Yep, I've been there with that!) Lisa --- V. Lane TOSS v1.69 * Origin: Victory Lane BBS * (603) 225-0351 * Concord, NH (1:132/229) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00008 Date: 12/14/97 From: CRAIG LOEWEN Time: 04:45pm \/To: BARBARA SHAFFERMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: FINALLY! BS> CL> I'm just hoping this isn't a fluke and that I was flirting more with BS> CL> Lady Luck than I was with the Muses. BS> BS> It's no fluke. it's just that you finally hit an editor with good BS> taste! BS> I LIKE you! :-) Thanks for the encouragement. Here's to hoping your book also does VERY well! Craig Loewen @ Gettysburg, PA ><> --- FMail 0.98 * Origin: Lava Lamp * Gettysburg PA * 717 337 2222 * (1:2700/119) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00009 Date: 12/14/97 From: CRAIG LOEWEN Time: 04:47pm \/To: TIM ESAIAS (Read 3 times) Subj: SCRIPTWRITING BOOK RECOM TE> Yeah, as a matter of fact I have two good ones sitting on my desk right TE> now. TE> The Elements of Screenwriting by Irwin R. Blacker; and The Screenwriter's TE> Wordbook by Syd Field. Both are fairly inexpensive paperbacks, and the TE> second is a step-by-step guide. I'm familiar with Syd Field. Thank you for the leads. They will soon be in my library. Craig Loewen @ Gettysburg, PA ><> --- FMail 0.98 * Origin: Lava Lamp * Gettysburg PA * 717 337 2222 * (1:2700/119) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00010 Date: 12/14/97 From: CRAIG LOEWEN Time: 04:51pm \/To: CHRIS KLING (Read 3 times) Subj: Scriptwriting Book Recommendation CK> CL> PS: For those who are now lunging for their CK> CL> computer keyboards with twitching fingers to tell CK> CL> me to go to the library and just take out any book CK> CL> they have, I hate to disappoint. I did and they CK> CL> don't. :-P CK> CK> good pre-counter there, Craig!! ;-) Maybe, but it didn't work. I still got a message telling me to go to the library! :-( Anyway, it's best to head the critics off at the pass. My wife says she still hears me mutter about Irish Wolfhounds in my sleep. :-) Craig Loewen @ Gettysburg, PA ><> --- FMail 0.98 * Origin: Lava Lamp * Gettysburg PA * 717 337 2222 * (1:2700/119) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 159 WRITING Ref: EGJ00011 Date: 12/14/97 From: CRAIG LOEWEN Time: 05:01pm \/To: ROSE (Read 3 times) Subj: The Exorcist R> Now there is another thing I don't know, what is a polemic for R> agnosticism? polemic = an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another or the art or practice of disputation or controversy. What I was saying is that the first three-quarters of _Pale, Blue Dot_ is an attack against theism and an argument for agnosticism. Admittedly, I think calling it a polemic was too strong a word. It also implies arguing with emotion which Sagan wouldn't do. Though he can get passionate about his subject, he retains a strong air of unattached rationality. R> Anyhow, I've never read that novel. Sorry. _Pale, Blue Dot_ is a nonfiction book. _Contact_, to my knowledge, is the only fiction he wrote (and very good too). My friends would find a delightful irony in this ... a member of the clergy extolling at length on Carl Sagan's agnosticism. :-) Craig Loewen @ Gettysburg, PA ><> --- FMail 0.98 * Origin: Lava Lamp * Gettysburg PA * 717 337 2222 * (1:2700/119)