After this blog had been established for a few years, a friend suggested to me that I should find a way to expand my audience to YouTube. At the time, it was enough of a novelty that it wasn't unreasonable for someone with an existing following to have a shot at reaping some extra coin vial ad revenues.
There was just one problem - having been concerned from the start that such blunt criticism could hurt my employability (remember kids, the internet is written in pen), I wasn't keen on throwing all that away so soon and subjecting the internet to my face. In pondering this dilemma, the solution arose initially as a joke - what if I used a puppet and HE became the face of The Bitter Script Reader?
If I thought merely being anonymous added a level of mystique to my writing, speaking through a puppet only inflated that novelty. I don't think anyone would have sat for screenwriting lessons delivered by the "real" me on video - but put that stuff in a puppet's mouth and it becomes almost surreal enough to get the audience more engaged.
We first introduced the puppet in "Shit Script Readers Say," figuring it couldn't hurt to tie into a then-popular internet meme. Alas, I learned very quickly I was no Jim Henson and there was quite a learning curve involved in making the puppet come alive. It's a very subtle thing, giving a puppet life on screen and I came out of the experience with a new respect for real puppeteers.
After that video, we soon transitioned to basic screenwriting lessons. I tried to offer my own sort of MasterClass (before there even WAS such a thing as MasterClass) via 12-Step Screenwriting. It was a weekly series that took you through the broad basics of writing a screenplay, act by act.
I tried hard for this series to be a guide rather than a list of "rules" and mandates that things MUST happen by particular page numbers. Hopefully it was taken in that spirit. I try to be a guide more than a guru. People have told me that this helped them understand some of the basic concepts of screenwriting and I'm always flattered to hear people got something out of this.
For now, the puppet is retired. A big factor was that it was a lot of effort for very little reward. I found it limiting to always have to stick the puppet behind a desk and I feared the audience would become similarly bored too. We considered a couple sketches, more elaborate pieces that would have the Bitter puppet interacting with people and other puppets, but the simple fact was that the effort of producing those videos on a weekly basis was greater than what we were getting out of it.
This reminded me of something that occasionally slipped my mind - my goal was to be a professional writer, with blogging being sort of my side hustle. The more I put into YouTube, the more I was working harder at being The Bitter Script Reader than actually writing screenplays and spec episodes. When I've got something to say, I can dash off a blog post pretty quickly, but a video? That's at least an entire afternoon of shooting and then editing.
If you consider Bitter self-promotion, then then lesson I learned here was to not let self-promotion eclipse the product. As important as it is to market yourself and network with others in pursuit of work, all of it is meaningless without product to show for it.
That's the screenwriting lesson no one ever gives you - you only get to spend each moment once, so make sure you're putting enough of those moments into your pages.
Showing posts with label 12-Step Screenwriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12-Step Screenwriting. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2019
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 12 - Table Read
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the final chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video discusses how you can benefit from staging a table read.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
That's it for this series. We're going to take a few weeks off, but the Bitter Puppet will return soon with more videos!
This is the final chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video discusses how you can benefit from staging a table read.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
That's it for this series. We're going to take a few weeks off, but the Bitter Puppet will return soon with more videos!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 11 - Rereading
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the eleventh chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video offers suggestions on how to give your script a thorough re-read.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
This is the eleventh chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video offers suggestions on how to give your script a thorough re-read.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 10 - Rewriting
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the tenth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video offers suggestions on how to prepare for a rewrite.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
This is the tenth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video offers suggestions on how to prepare for a rewrite.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 9 - WGA Registration vs. U.S. Copyright
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the ninth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video weighs the merits of registering your script with the Writers Guild of America vs. copyrighting it through the U.S. Copyright office.
For WGA registration, go here.
To register a copyright, go here. "You want the Form PA" PDF.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
This is the ninth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video weighs the merits of registering your script with the Writers Guild of America vs. copyrighting it through the U.S. Copyright office.
For WGA registration, go here.
To register a copyright, go here. "You want the Form PA" PDF.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 8 - Coda
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the eighth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the coda of your story, the final grace notes after the main problem has been resolved.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
This is the eighth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the coda of your story, the final grace notes after the main problem has been resolved.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 7 - Climax
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the seventh chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the climax of the third act.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
This is the seventh chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the climax of the third act.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 6 - Third Act Turning Point
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the sixth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the climax of the second point, also know as the "All is Lost" moment.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
Help me out here guys. What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
This is the sixth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video deals with writing the climax of the second point, also know as the "All is Lost" moment.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
Help me out here guys. What are you finding useful about these videos? What else would you like to see from future series?
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 5 - Mid-point
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the fifth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the importance of a strong mid-point.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in two months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays. Has anyone been keeping up so far?
This is the fifth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the importance of a strong mid-point.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in two months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays. Has anyone been keeping up so far?
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 4 - First Act Turning point
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the fourth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the most important elements to have in the second half of your first act, up to the first act turning point.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
This is the fourth chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the most important elements to have in the second half of your first act, up to the first act turning point.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 3 - Inciting Incident
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the third chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the most important elements to have in your first ten pages, leading up to the inciting incident.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
This is the third chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the most important elements to have in your first ten pages, leading up to the inciting incident.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week 2 - Three-Act Structure
It's time for another episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the second chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the basics of the three-act structure, something every writer should know.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
This is the second chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the basics of the three-act structure, something every writer should know.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So while at some point we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
12-Step Screenwriting: Week One - Idea, Concept and Story
I'm pleased to introduce the first regular episode of the Bitter Script Reader YouTube series!
This is the first chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the difference between idea, concept and story. You wouldn't believe how those simple distinctions seem to elude many new writers. You shouldn't start writing a script until you can say that what you're working on is a story.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So later on we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
I also won't pull the Writers Boot Camp stunt of introducing a lot of vocabulary that isn't common to the business. The good news is that since I'm not charging for any of this, I don't have to go to ridiculous lengths to make it seem like the basics of screenwriting can only be understood by unlocking a Sphinx-like riddle.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
This is the first chapter of a 12-part series designed to guide and motivate a writer to complete a screenplay within three months. Recognizing that I had an opportunity to reach a new audience via YouTube, I decided to start with the basics.
This week's video covers the difference between idea, concept and story. You wouldn't believe how those simple distinctions seem to elude many new writers. You shouldn't start writing a script until you can say that what you're working on is a story.
As you can see, this is back-to-basics information, but hopefully some of you will take up the challenge of completing a screenplay alongside the weekly lessons in this series. I've done my best to minimize the jargon here. So later on we'll be talking things like Act Breaks and Climaxes, but I won't ask you to commit things like "Fun & Games" to memory.
I also won't pull the Writers Boot Camp stunt of introducing a lot of vocabulary that isn't common to the business. The good news is that since I'm not charging for any of this, I don't have to go to ridiculous lengths to make it seem like the basics of screenwriting can only be understood by unlocking a Sphinx-like riddle.
As always, it really helps me out to see some engagement with these videos, so please click through to the YouTube page, Subscribe and leave a few comments there. Feel free to embed these on your blogs, and if you find the tips useful, tweet about them or put the videos on your Facebook page.
I hope that in three months time, a lot of you will be reporting back with completed screenplays.
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