Me Me Me

Room 222

by

Bill Rabkin and I are teaching another four-week, online course of  "Beginning Television Writing" for Writers University. For more information on the session, which begins Sept. 5, click here. I don’t know how the students feel about it, but we’ve been really enjoying the experience. This is our third or fourth time doing it and I’ve discovered that helping others learn how we do what we do has sharpened my own writing. In fact, I applied some advice we gave a student the other day (she was having trouble structuring her story)  to one of our own pitches and it made a big difference.

My Evil Doubles

by

I was procrastinating this morning, so I decided to see what folks were saying about me in the blogosphere (via Blogpulse). And I found this:

My friends at WJBQ made mention
of the blog again yesterday…and let the cat out of the bag that I love
Lee Goldberg.

Surely she’s not talking about me. So who is this Lee Goldberg who fills her heart with passionate yearning? Who torments her nights with unquenchable lust? I had to find out. So I searched the web for my evil, sexy double…

0523154918_goldberg2

LeeLee_goldberg  Goldberg1Grne0712_smPierce7

5421158Here are few of the "Lee Goldbergs" out there.   I’m surprised by how many of them are writers or TV Goldbergsdnewscasters. I wonder if they get hate mail from fanficcers, too?

Extreme Make-Over

by

You’ve probably noticed the blog’s new look… it’s been redesigned so it will seamlessly integrate into the all-new websites Heidi Mack has created for LeeGoldberg.com and Diagnosis-Murder.com. The new sites aren’t up yet — they should be ready in a few days to coincide with the publication of DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE PAST TENSE. I’ll post a giddy annoucement here when they’re live.

Typical Day

by

Today was another typical working day for me (yeah, I know it’s Sunday, it makes no difference).

I spent the morning working on my second MONK novel. First, I revised the work I did yesterday, then worked on a new chapter. I managed to write 9 new pages.  I had lunch, then I spent the next few hours studying the three pilot pitches I’m going to be doing at various studios and production companies tomorrow (while keeping one eye on my daughter, who was in the pool with a friend). And then, just before logging on here, I spent some time sending out emails to some booksellers to arrange signings in October for THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE. Once I’m done with this post, I’ll BBQ some chicken for the family and then go back to work on MONK for a while before taking one, last look at the pitches before going to bed. 

Tomorrow moring, I hit the road at 8 a.m. to make it on time to our first meeting of the day, a 10 am pitch  in Hollywood.  I probably won’t get home until after 5 pm and then, after dinner, I’ll revise the MONK pages I wrote today and, if I still have some energy left, I’ll try to work some more on the book.

Okay, time to go, the BBQ is calling…

Room 222

by

We’re back in the classroom again…well, the virtual one, anyway. William Rabkin and I are teaching "Beginning Television Writing" for  Writers University, starting on August 1.

In this four week course, we’ll give you an inside look at the world of
episodic television. You will learn—and practice— the actual process
involved in successfully writing your spec episodic script (the sample you’ll need to start getting TV work). You will learn how to analyze a TV show and
develop “franchise”-friendly story ideas. You will develop and write a
story… and then, after incorporating our brilliant notes, you will be
sent off to write your outline. Finally, you will develop and refine
your outline with us… and leaving you the course
ready to write your episodic spec script…the first step in getting a
job on a TV series.

For more information, click here.

Not My Words

by

I was procrastinating this morning, reading through the comments on my blog, and decided to do what an anonymous commenter in the "Hypocrisy 101" discussion did — run my name through Blogpulse.  What I found astonished me.

Naturally, there were a lot of folks (mostly on LiveJournal) trashing me for my views on fanfiction, which is fine and to be expected. But what surprised me is that on far too many occasions, I was being crucified for things I never said (and, in many cases, never would).  People were attributing to me comments that other people posted on my blog and trashing me for them.  There’s nothing I can do about it now, but the irresponsibility, laziness and stupidity of attaching my name to someone else’s opinions is infuriating and frustrating.

I was tempted to defend myself at each of those blogs or discussions, to say I never said those things they said I said, but it’s futile and time consuming and ultimately pointless. The damage is done.

I’m not sure what I can do to stop it.. I mean, I take responsibility for my views and deserve to be held accountable for them. That’s why I put my name on everything I write.

How hard is it to make the distinction between my views and those of complete strangers  –and a few of my friends, colleagues, and family — who post comments on my blog? Here’s a hint. My opinions are the ones with my name on them.  Trash me for those, not someone else’s.

UPDATE – Here’s an example:

"The number of people worldwide into a particular segment of fanfic would
probably have trouble filling a bar for a Thursday night set by your average
garage band. Those who read it are even fewer."

~ Lee Goldberg,
winner of the WTF?!YouLoseAtTehIntarweb award, 2005 ~

I don’t know which of hundreds of commenters here over the last few months actually posted that, but it wasn’t me…nor is it something I would say.

Breaking Rocks

by

When writing is going well, the words spill out of me faster than I can type. I feel like I am in a losing race to keep up with the scenes playing out in my head.

When writing is going badly, as it has been the last couple of days, I feel like I am trying to chisel granite.

I have an outline, so it’s not like I don’t know where I’m going… I just don’t know how to get there. Every word, every sentence is a struggle, and even when I get them down on paper, it hardly seems worth it, since every single word sucks.  The writing is flat, the dialogue rings false, and the humor is non-existent. But I keep pounding away, waiting for that moment when I will write the line that sings, that unlocks everything, and then suddenly I will be on a roll again. Writing will be easy, the characters alive, and the world they live in filled with color and details. Not only will I go back and fix all the crap I wrote before, but I will steamroll ahead  without a moment’s doubt or uncertainty…

Until I hit that granite again.