Video · 1 min
[Video]: Cryptic Clues from True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto
Could we find a video any shorter than Ira Glass' exortations to persist? TSD challenged itself to deliver. In an interview so short and sweet it's…
The Journal
Vol. 17 · 1,240 entries
26 August 2026
Quote of the day
Take what’s useful, argue with the rest.
Vol. 17
Story & Structure · 5 min
WTF Is Voice? …And Why You Should Stop Obsessing About It.
Voice - Do you have it? Every new writer struggles with this question. But before they can even begin to find answers, let alone develop their…
Video · 1 min
[Video]: Ira Glass on Taste and Talent
Ira Glass is a bit of a polymath - an iconic radio personality on This American Life, a novelist and producer, he has been instrumental in…
Video · 1 min
[Video]: Clooney and Heslov’s Art and Masculinity
Beyond being perhaps one of the most iconic actors of his generation, the Silver Fox has been an active filmmaker since 2002, directing several feature films…
Pitching & Selling · 4 min
Writing Drama With Ambition and the Rise of the Co-Production
We’ve long had a love-affair with American television drama and the list of US shows we love to watch is long. by Hayley McKenzie Whether you…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best of the Web 9 Mar
Story & Structure :: Why Television Loves Its Antiheroes Script Perfection :: 5 Tips to Becoming A TV Showrunner :: Contagion Screenwriter Scott Z Burns Pitching…
Pitching & Selling · 3 min
You Finished Your Script, Now What?
So you’ve completed writing a couple of screenplays, now what do you do next? Writers constantly ask me this same question over and over again. by…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best of the Web 2 Mar
Story & Structure :: Interview: Cary Fukunaga Talks HBO's 'True Detective' etc :: Screenplay Review - Fantastic Voyage Script Perfection :: Downside of a Microbudget Empire…
Story & Structure · 6 min
Why Her? (Part 2)
2013 was an excellent year for movies – perhaps the best in quite a few years. And there are many films that I would be very…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best of the Web 23 Feb
Story & Structure :: How To Conquer Your Third Act! :: Screenplay Review - Seed :: Screenplay Review - Mortdecai Script Perfection :: Fall In Love…
Uncategorized · 11 min
TV Writing: Interview with Tony Morphett
TV Writing, and more specifically Serialized TV has caught much attention lately. This is due to the success of such top-notch shows as “Breaking Bad”, “House…
Story & Structure · 5 min
Why Her? Part 1
2013 was an excellent year for movies – perhaps the best in quite a few years. And there are many films that I would be very…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best of the Web 16 Feb
Story & Structure :: How to Write a Better Female Protagonist :: Screenplay Review - Under The Skin :: Screenplay Review - Transcendence :: Daily Dialogue…
Video · 1 min
[Video]: Brick by Brick with LEGO’s Screenwriters
THE LEGO MOVIE (mandatorily written in all caps, on pain of death) cashed in on the mass anticipation surrounding its release and broke a record $69.1…
The Screenwriter's Life · 4 min
3 Keys to Failing as a Writer
If you’re going to fail as a writer, then you might as well get it over with now. Then you can focus on your day job…