Three Essential Questions to Ask Your Supporting Characters

                      

My drama teacher used to say, “There are no small parts. Only small actors.” While this might have been used at the time to assuage the ego of a rather precocious eight-grader, the truth of it nonetheless rings true. The supporting characters of any play, film, or novel are arguably one of the best ways to make your story well-rounded, timeless, and engaging. 

Imagine Harry Potter without Neville or Luna. Imagine Pride and Prejudice without Lydia. Imagine Romeo and Juliet without Mercutio. Imagine Step Up II without Moose.

Across genre, style, and century, supporting characters are the legs that hold the story-table up. But character development of any kind is tough, and the smaller roles are usually the first to be neglected.

Don’t fall into that trap.

How To Handle Criticism (As A Writer)

Dealing with criticism can be a seriously tricky business as a writer. After all, the words we put on paper are us. They're our thoughts, our hearts, our words, our souls. Criticism of your words can feel like criticism of your very person.

This, in fact, is one of the reasons many writers get stuck. We don’t want to take risks, or--if we do--we don’t want to show anyone those risks. When we do share our work, if it’s not met with unabashed aplomb, we often react with either severe pain (retreating and licking our wounds, kicking ourselves and vowing never to write again) or anger (a harrumph and a growl, a vow that your reader is uncultured swine and just doesn’t understand your genius).

Both reactions, it might be noted, are rooted in fear. Fear that we’re not good enough. Fear that we don’t measure up.

10 Awesome Contests for the Television Writer

There's a lot going on in television right now. In fact, according to CBS, we're currently enjoying the second golden age of the medium, and I have to agree. Movie stars are flocking to a genre that used to be looked down upon (Zooey Deschanel in New Girl, Matthew McConaughey in True Detective, Kevin Spacey in House of Cards), and so are viewers. And you know why? There's incredible content on television right now (like those three amazing shows I just listed...). The ante has been seriously upped. It's a great place for great writers, but how do you break in?

Let's say you've got a spec* script for your favorite sitcom, or maybe you've written a pilot** for a new sci-fi drama. What's the next step? Well, there's a lot of equally difficult routes to get your script*** in front of the people who can make it a real, live show, and writing contests are one fun option. They certainly come with a lot of competition, but the potential prizes and exposure are super exciting! Recently, a fellow writer asked the twitterverse if anyone knew of the best TV-writing contests out there, and as a resident of Tinseltown myself I couldn't help but respond. Here are my 10 favorite writing contests for television****, organized by their impending deadline.