• About

Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

~ I TEACH emerging female writers in tv/film & novels HOW to create stories to fall in love with✨© Stephanie Bourbon 2022

Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Good Wife “Hitting The Fan”

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alicia, Hitting the Fan, Season Five, The Good Wife, Will

Wow is all I can say about last night’s episode of The Good Wife. I thought it was raw, emotional, exciting and a great ride. I felt for both Alicia and Will. You could see the hurt in Will’s eyes when Diane told him what was happening. You could FEEL it in his reaction. The dialogue was perfect. “What?” He said simply, “WHAT?” he was confused, hurt, angry, confused, confused, confused, then his raw emotions came out. It was one of the best episodes this show has ever put on. 

The scene when Alicia is home with her new firm and her husband comes home and they have a quicky was amazing as well. It perfectly showed us her high from her adrenaline running through her system. We saw he strong and powerful.

Yet we got to see a softer side of her in the lift after Will told her to get out where she broke down and cried because she knew that her actions crushed him.

This show is so good that if you are not watching it , you are missing some of the best network television out there. 

Getting Past a Reader-Screenwriting Errors Will Get You Tossed

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

character, Getting past readers, Hollywood Readers, screenwriting, Screenwriting errors, Story

I just finished helping judge a screenwriting contest and the two biggest issues were:

Character-you must know your character and write in “their” voice not in yours. Yes you have to have a voice. Many great screenwriters have a voice, but every character is unique. Dialogue is such a huge part of character. I used to teach a class on it, I haven’t done it again, but can always go over dialogue with you for a discounted rate. It’s important, really important. 

Also in character, writers weren’t describing their characters. You NEED to describe them-what they are wearing, what they look like. Don’t tell us who they are, describe them or show us. 

Story-you must know what story you are telling. I read so many scripts with great premise but no story. Other issues were; bad first 10 pages-in reality a reader won’t go past page 5 if they don’t have to. Make those first pages count. Voice overs and flashbacks-get rid of them until you are established. Pacing-if you don’t know how to pace a story use Save the Cat or Contour to help you-I know it sounds weird, but when reading a lot of scripts, it is easy to get bored and want to move on-which will be a “pass”. Just thought I would share this insight, hope it helps. We all have these issues for sure.

Sadly you have to get past the reader. Readers are bored easily and since they have tons and tons of scripts to read, it is really easy to not get through a script that probably would make a great film. 

My advice is if you have the means, get your scripts covered. Join screenwriting groups and get your scripts reviewed by your peers, take classes and don’t be afraid to get rid of that genius scene if you need to. 

Don’t submit your first draft to contests. I am sad to say that even I did that in the past. It’s not a good idea.

Don’t ever write on the cover page or last page “million dollar award winning screenplay”. That’s like bragging about your I.Q. If it was true, you wouldn’t need to.

Use common sense people and you will get read, make these mistakes and I can pretty much promise that you will end up in the deleted emails, or waste basket by page 5.

Good luck and happy writing!

 

Good Sales Pitch, but Novelists Do NOT Make That Much

03 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

author, contest, Novels, screenwriting

Haha just received this email about a screenwriting contest..”This is a life-changing opportunity to become a published author, enjoying an income stream from your book’s royalties!”… I am a published author and this sounds much better than the get rich slow reality that is novel writing. Trust me writing screenplays is much more lucrative..even the unsuccessful ones make some money, with novels even the successful ones don’t always bring in a lot of dough. 

I love writing novels and would love to be the next J.K. Rowling, but she is the exception. I have several friends who are successful novelists and they still have day jobs on the side. Publishing is a tough business and while some do great, it’s not the norm so you don’t enter a screenwriting contest in the hopes of becoming a published novelist, you enter for screenwriting. You write novels because it’s a calling not to make money. 

If you make money, great, but you do it for the love of it. 

Categories

  • Children's books
  • Just For Fun
  • My journey into Hollywood writing :0)
  • NEWS
  • Novels
  • Writing (film & television)
Follow Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach on WordPress.com

Blogroll

  • I'm Just Sayin'
  • My Website
  • Stephanie's Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Crushing Your Query Letter
  • Why Silicon Valley Has It All
  • Why Jerry Maguire Is The Perfect Bromance
  • How To Write A Story That Works
  • Romantic Comedy Character Archetypes & Who Needs To Be Included

Tweet tweet~

  • RT @NHLFlyers: It’s 2️⃣3️⃣’s night. #HockeyFightsCancer | @oskarlindblom https://t.co/YQiiZTUYt8 1 year ago
  • RT @frankolivieri40: gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of… 2 years ago

Older and more wiser. . .

  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (3)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (2)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (10)
  • June 2019 (9)
  • May 2019 (11)
  • April 2019 (15)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (3)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (1)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • October 2015 (2)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (2)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • January 2015 (2)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (2)
  • March 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • October 2013 (3)
  • September 2013 (1)
  • August 2013 (4)
  • July 2013 (3)
  • November 2012 (1)
  • October 2012 (3)
  • September 2012 (4)
  • August 2012 (15)
  • July 2012 (5)
  • June 2012 (3)
  • May 2012 (4)
  • April 2012 (5)
  • March 2012 (9)
  • February 2012 (6)
  • January 2012 (17)
  • December 2011 (6)
  • November 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (1)
  • January 2011 (2)
  • November 2010 (1)
  • October 2010 (4)
  • September 2010 (16)
  • August 2010 (8)
  • July 2010 (14)
  • June 2010 (23)
  • May 2010 (16)
  • April 2010 (12)
  • March 2010 (1)
  • January 2010 (2)
  • December 2009 (3)
  • November 2009 (4)
  • October 2009 (14)
  • September 2009 (11)

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,602 other subscribers
October 2013
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Sep   Dec »

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach
    • Join 31 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar