I like the second idea a lot. Since I don't have as comprehensive a background in film, knowing what I should be reading or watching in the genre I love would be helpful I have a lot of movies and scripts I'm a fan of, but I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing.

Thank you for opening up the discussion to us, Scott. I hope, first and foremost, you pursue topics that interest you as a teacher and as a writer. * Nothing around here feels played out to me. (And I've read the blog cover to cover.) * Re: Transmedia / Multimedia. There are a handful of blogs that cover this really well. If it's an area of interest for *you*, or if it's an area where you feel you have something to say, please go for it. But if it's just that you feel you ought to...you cover the art and science of spec screenwriting better than anyone and I'd hate to lose that focus. * I'd love more genre-specific posts and resources. The series you propose sound fantastic. - If you're up for it, I'd love to see some discussion of genre tropes and expectations, too, and the difference between what it takes to write a successful script in a genre vs a cliched genre script (for specific genres). - I'd also love to see discussions on some of the big sub-genres. In comedy, for example, rom-coms are a world all their own.... BTW, if you were to ask the readership here some time "what are the top three areas you are working on, or struggling with, or find challenging in your own writing right now"--you should get a list of topics as long as your arm. Likewise, if you ask for reader input on "must-read [books / screenplays / resources / etc.]" people will tend to re-iterate the "cannon" (whether they've read the items in question or not), whereas if you ask "what are the books you've found the most helpful and why"--you'll get completely different answers. (My point being that asking the question in different ways will elicit really different answers.) As far as brainstorming topics go, given that you have books in the works (yay! go, Scott!) another way to find good blog topics is to outline your books (I'm taking a guess that you pre-plan your books in a similar way to how you pre-plan your screenwriting), look at the gaps where you're short on material...and fill those gaps with blog posts. But really, it all sounds great, and any topic your heart is in is by definition a topic worth pursuing.

Liking what you do, keep doing it. The suggestions above are great, and a week's worth of focus on a different genre each month seems like a sound strategy to me. Each day could be devoted to a different angle - best films/reads, writers, characters, books/advice/blogs/paradigms - to focus discussion on thrillers one month, romcoms the next, something like that. Just a thought. I wouldn't mind seeing some kind of forum or opportunity to do script swaps seeing as how it looks like you've got a fairly prodigious readership, but that would be a different kind of blog altogether really, not to mention a logistical nightmare.

OK, that was strange... My comment just wiped itself clean. Hmm. Anyway, as I was saying, all the features you develop seem integral from the moment they appear. So I am in favor of the two ideas that you suggest. I'd also like to put in a plug for romantic comedy as a genre. It has expanded to the guy-oriented romcom and the raunch romcom, so it would be intriguing, and instructive, to see what GITS members recommend as "must see" movies, etc. Thanks for asking.

I think this all sounds incredibly helpful - especially the second one. I've been told that it is important to 'brand' yourself, but I've also found that I want to try out all kinds of genres. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm good at all of them. I just think it's important to let my movie writing tastes reflect my movie viewing tastes - varied. Maybe I'm wrong...I'd love to explore it, though.

Might be fun to have posts about different writing exercises that writers use to strengthen different parts of their writing, For example how to make your writing more lean. I think I read on this site an example from a writer who said write the entire scene with just dialogue. Then slowly add just enough action lines until it makes sense. Then add embellishment/voice.

Nothing on the site feels played out to me. Love the "story idea" series - wish it was more than once a year! I would love to see a series on the emotional aspect of writing. Maybe not even how it relates to writing a particular screenplay, but on being a writer in general. The Artist's Way has helped me tremendously and I've heard great things about The Tools, but I haven't read it yet. Maybe just ways to encourage creativity, or ways to combat obstacles to creativity? I also like the idea of a series on genre. I hate the idea of getting pigeonholed into a genre, but I know it happens. Whether or not it happens to me, I would love to dig deeper into genres and sub-genres. Awesome ideas, Scott!

I really like the genre idea a lot.

Hi Scott, I definitely vote for the emotional / spiritual aspect of the process, which is so rarely underlined. I think that exploring these aspects would not only be opening a great new territory on GITS but : 1/ would be of great help for each of us, since all writer experience it, while few will really reach a pro level 2/ is somehow key to the best writing. And last, thank you for The Quest. How you did find the time and comitment to generate this impulse around you, study all loglines, all this is a major achievement. Something is happening...Groovy !

This is a hard one for me because 1)I think we could all use more help on genre's but 2) I agree with Marc in that rarely does a writer delve deeply into the spiritual journey of writing. So I think both would be greatly beneficial to us. Perhaps the genre category would be best to start with but then later talk about the spiritual journey? All in all, whatever you choose, will be greatly inspirational. Thanks for all of your insight. =)

all your ideas are really good especially the one about essentials a writer needs to know per each genre ( if you could start with comedy it would be great ). you have an amazing website.

I'd really love to see some discussion on how to write a web series. I make short films and have done the pilot for one web series and am working on the other, but it's all guesswork as far as writing these things. (I'll post something in "Movies You Made" eventually). Honestly, I've only seen ONE web series that truly engaged me on its own terms (and not just because I was enamored with the subject matter, like "The Guild", which I don't think is entertaining unless you like World of Warcraft). My own web series pilot doesn't make the cut. All web series seem to be missing something, and I'd love to see Scott's analysis and our discussion on why that is and how to get around it. Contrary to what you'd assume, web series aren't just mini-movies, and approaching them that way leads to muddled, over-written stories. I think this is especially important because more and more, screenwriters will start shooting their own screenplays or make web series or short films. Cameras and software have never been better AND more affordable. But inevitably, they'll be starting off with a web series. But how do we write a GOOD web series?

"Story Ideas" section you had for a month should be daily always and forever.

I've never actually considered the spiritual side to writing before, so I think that would be an interesting path to walk down. See what jumps out, maybe some feelings I've had are shared by others and they found out something? Transmedia... nah.. what Shaula Evans wrote. Genres? Yes! Absolutely. I see myself as a science fiction/fantasy writer but I also need to know about other genres as well, but am stumped about where to begin. That would be hugely appreciated!

I really like the genre idea. I find I slip between genres more than I would like, start in drama, pass through thriller and fudge up a tense scene with comedy. Then the story shifts to something I didn't intend or want. Top tens are great. I've very little time to watch mediocre films with all these rewrites.

I agree that nothing feels played out. I really like the genre identification idea. My only addition to this would be to also ask professional script writers what scripts/films/books they would suggest for the list. It could be a chance to reach out again to the likes of Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, and John Swetnam – ask them what their top 5 would be for a given genre, then have the rest of the GITS community to suggest the remaining 5.

I liked both ideas. Specially the second one. I always wanted someone to advise me on from which scripts I can learn best this genre and that genre. Amazing idea. Please make it happen.

More requests / suggestions: I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to do a comedy punch-up. I've cobbled together some resources on my own and come up with my own method, but I've never seen a definitive article presenting a systematic approach. Right now I'm analyzing comedy set pieces on my own to figure out what makes the ones I like work, and abstract how to write them well. You've already got some great resources on the site about set pieces in general, and I'd love to hear anything else you have to say about comedy set pieces specifically. Something else I'm up to on my own these days is reading scripts looking specifically at character introductions. It's a topic you touch on frequently (thank you), and you can't say enough about it for my taste.