Writers Resources | Wait until next year

January 17, 2012

Pay The Writer? Don’t Pay The Writer?

What with being around five years behind the rest of the internet, I only recently watched this video from the writer Harlan Ellison, ranting at expectations that writers need not be paid for their work. It is a pretty funny rant, but pretty flawed. I found it kind of funny that the keeps using the word “essay” rather than the correct phrase “filmed interview about a TV programme” to make a point about being paid for his work, as if his every utterance is on a par with a carefully constructed and argued piece of writing. I have no problem with him wanting paying for everything and anything he does, that’s up to him, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves – talking about Babylon Five is hardly on a par with the finest literature. Read the rest of this entry »

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July 6, 2011

There may be a point, somewhere

So, it starts with an anecdote. Something small, something simple. It might relate to the author, if it’s that kind of article, or it might relate to some other individual. Then it broadens out, introduces the larger Issue, probes some Big Themes or whatever, then concludes with a cute little aside that wraps up the matter at hand in relation to the original anecdote. “And then I realised what grandpa had meant all those years ago.” Maybe throw in a neat photo or picture, that’s kind of retro or obscure or something. Make it look pretty. I mean, the photo may not even really relate to what’s been written. But it might make it all look more mysterious, or considered, or cool. You know the drill, that’s how these things work, right? Read the rest of this entry »

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March 11, 2011

New adventures from my RSS Reader

And so, your correspondent tumbles towards the refuge of the weekend without offering you, the reader, a whole lot of insight, value or entertainment. It’s been a long week, and I doubt any further inspiration will spark anytime soon, so instead I’m falling back on other stuff I’ve read on the internet, that you may or may not enjoy. It’s a old, well-used format, but who doesn’t approve of a little link-love now and then? Read the rest of this entry »

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