My Top Ten Electronic Media Writing Revelations, Part II

#6 - Writer's Professional Creations Are Not Their Own

On page 20 Hilliard says the director considers it a nuisance when a writer suggest camera movement or other productions techniques. This is silly because the person writing the scenes should have a say in the way the scenes are presented. It has become clear that in a lot of places where writers get their start, they will not be able to have total control of their work.

Why would a director be upset at some suggestions? It's less work for him or her! That's the dream, isn't it? I understand that directors want their say too, but the writer has that same desire.

Also, a new writer heading into the business will probably be told what to write and how to write it, not left to his own ideas and potential sparks of innovation. Is innovation mainly reserved for those who has persevered through the beginnings of a writing career? Is it only after years of being tempered in the forges of professional writing that one can be left to his or her own actions and ideas?

Photo from here.

#7 - Professional Personalities Have Writers

This seems obvious, but to somebody who came into studying writing believing otherwise, somebody who thought Stephen Colbert and John Steuart were brilliant on the spot, this is certainly a revelation. Hilliard says on page 267 that some programs have formats that have been used for a long time and are thus routine. I imagine that, at this point, John Steuart is pretty familiar with how he's going to deliver the material his writers are giving him.

Stephen Colbert talks a little bit about his word being formed by other writers in his book I Am America (And So Can You) because he says that the content of the book is him yelling into a tape recorder for a bit, handing it to one of his agents and saying, "Sell this."

Hilarious and reflective of the point this revelation wants to make. How amazing is that picture? I would have it bigger if it didn't look ridiculous next to the text.

Photo found here.

#8 - Simplicity Can Be Effective

On page 434 Hilliard says that good comedy has always come from commenting on the seriousness of life. Fantastic comedy has come from commenting on the not so serious parts of life. In a previous post I discussed my love of Seinfeld. This show's effective comedy comes from partially the seriousness of life, but more dominantly the humor comes from the simplicity of certain things. For example, Jerry Seinfeld has a stand up bit featured in one of the shows that talks about the 'what ifs' involved with a plane take off delay. He says that maybe the pilot forgot the keys at home, but they say they are just checking the plane once more for safety reasons. Imagine, he says, that the crew is frantically running around searching for the keys on the runway or somewhere similar. That's quite funny and quite the opposite of serious.

Here's another instance of effective simplicity from the legendary sitcom:

#9 - Writing Can't Be Taught

Techniques and mechanics can be taught, but how to apply them and in what context is up to the writer. You can't teach someone to write for Seinfeld. Jerry Seinfeld captured the cultural life of New York City and daily life so well in his stand up routines. This transferred to his sitcom beautifully. I feel confidant saying that no body told him what his material should be. He thought of a lot of it in his early days I'm sure.

On page 444 Hilliard says that writing requires talents - basically. Kids, or at least me, who grow up thinking about being a writer often base these desires off of the cleverness and effectiveness they see in the big time shows and programs. This builds up a beautiful fantasy but an unfortunately unrealistic concept of getting into the business and getting to that level of success.

Like everything else, good writing depends on the personality, devotion, and motivation within the writer.

Photo from here.

#10 - Companies Need Us

By us, I mean young people, college students, looking to break into the world of the media. On page 459 Hillard says that the internet is a communications phenomenon. Since it is still quite recent, traditional companies might not have a full grasp on the uses of the internet. We college kids grew up saturated in this stuff. We have an edge. Companies might be wiling to throw us a decent wage to help guide the success of their presence on the internet. Already this is being taught at Champlain. In my Sophomore Portfolio class we were tasked with pitching ideas to various Guitar and Music festivals about enhancing their place online.

Having talked to the head of these festivals, Tim Brookes has said that these festivals embrace knowledgable youth such as myself. This raises questions for a writing major, however. What else should be known? Should I take graphic design courses? Web design courses? How much writing course time should be sacrificed so that I might gain a foot hold in another element of convergence on the internet?

Photo from here.