Anne Faye

On Story: Screenwriters and their Craft , edited by Barbara Morgan and Maya Perez is a project of the Austin Film Festival.  As Morgan states in her introduction, "This book is about the moment a film is born and how it evolves, told from the perspective of its originator - the story teller." The text is excerpts from conversations well-known screenwriters have had over the years as part of the Austin Film Festival. Topics include Inspiration, Story, Process, Structure, Character and Dialogue, Rewriting, and Collaboration. Excerpts from actual classic screenplays are also included which adds to the instructive quality of this book. There is nothing like being able to read the masters at work! This book is highly useful for anyone interested in screenwriting. There is also corresponding series on television also called "On Story." There is much more information on http://www.onstory.tv/ .

Show Your Work! : 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon is a gem of a book. I truly didn't know what to expect of it, but I had seen it advertised in Bookpage and decided to give it a try. After all, I have come to the sad realization that I stink at marketing. Anything that can help me is greatly appreciated. But, this book isn't really about marketing - it's about sharing, and I like that. I do that and feel good about it. I hate self-promotion. Honestly, I wish we could go back in time to when bragging was considered in poor taste. Instead we live in a world where it seems everyone is vying for people to pay attention to them. Trying to take part in that, however necessary it might be as a writer, causes me pain. Kleon wrote this book for people like me. He writes, "I'm going to try to teach you how to think about your work as a never-ending process, how to share your process in a way that attracts people who might be intereste...

Guest Post by Nikolas Baron In each of us is a unique capability to learn and overcome challenges as we play to our strengths and downplay our weaknesses. Our brain is a source of multiple intelligences that are just waiting to be tapped. The thing is, there isn’t just one way to learn. Sure, there is the ‘normal’ way by sitting in a classroom, but just because it’s the conventional method, doesn’t mean that it’s the best approach. Kids on the spectrum really absorb information at entirely different ranges. Writing to express their wants and feelings is usually one of the first few hurdles they’ll have to conquer. Though the writing barrier for spectrum kids may seem more like a mountain than a molehill, like every other individual, we simply need to play to their strengths, and downplay their weaknesses. Here are some tools that can be easily used at home to cater to the needs of spectrum kids and make writing easy. TRY TYPING to simplify writing. As spectrum kids ofte...