[...] Myers over at “Go Into The Story” has a great post on what actually goes into being a screenwriter. I’ve mentioned this before, but [...]

What a great post, Scott, and how entirely awesome you dream in scripts, even editing. I'd love to dream in scripts. And yay obsessions, so fun to be consumed by them, just be careful what you're consuming, it might be catching: http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/13589347782/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-art Example, today our kindergarten monkey took in a book she made, after watching mom and dad write and draw stories, from index cards she found and politely asked to have. "Guidebook to Animals", most recent entry, "Long ago when dinosaurs were alive alligators were as big as school buses", along with a beautiful drawing of an alligator. Sad part? Monkey's written more than I have recently. But at least my brain can remain consumed by story while life obligates me in other ways. The cool part about screenwriting, I don't think there's another creative medium that allows you to wrap in so easily and relevantly everything you've ever learned about life, the universe, and all the fish. Fun and satisfying.

Ha! Your monkey sounds like a writer! Good for her. And thanks for that Neil Gaiman link. I have some Gaiman news in this weeks Saturday Hot Links. Re your thoughts about screenwriting: I love novels, short stories, poetry, but there is something uniquely compelling about screenplays as a narrative form. Maybe it's just because I have had a lifelong passion for movies, but once I found screenwriting, I knew that was it. A screenplay can have the emotional depth and narrative expanse of a novel, but also the literary intensity of a poem, the restrictions of format, style and page count forcing a screenwriter to choose his/her words with the care of a poet. In other words, screenplay = cool!

[...] And this too… no matter what kind of stories we write, we live in the world of the story. [...]

What beautiful observations about the different forms, Scott. I am growing so partial to the screenplay format, and your thoughts help me understand why. It truly is art with purpose, poetry with function. Just 26 letters and a very precise format, now go at it, and pack it with as much meaning as you can :-) So monkey composed dinosaur line night before, picking her up at bus next day, she informed me she had a way to say it that was shorter ("In ancient times"). I fought for the more accurate longer first take (trust your instinct, good lesson), but was so darn charmed she's editing her work (writer indeed). I think the primary obligation of pets and children is to entertain, extra points for charming, and monkey gets all kinds of points. Re 26 letters (so few, to read Japanese, recommended minimum to know, 1,000 characters), fun detail learned yesteday, we used to have another letter. You know how folks say "ye" to sound historical? Well, there was a letter that looks kind of like a Y that was actually a "th" sound, thorn.