ScriptSuperhero.com

It’s still five months away, but a lot of people seem to have a need for Halloween invitations in recent years. This is one thing I can’t understand.

Sure, as kids, we might do some trick-or-treating and go to a friend’s house for some apple-bobbing and watching a scary movie, but that was about the extent of it. But recent retail surveys are reporting that Halloween is now second only to Christmas as a retail holiday season, beating out Indepdence Day, Easter and even New Year’s. I find it hard to believe it’s bigger than Thanksgiving, since turkey meat sales alone have to beat out Halloween and its candy sales.

But maybe not. Maybe Halloween is the second-biggest holiday at retail.

If so, I hope it doesn’t spread out from October the way Christmas as spread out from December. If I start seeing Halloween decorations going up before Labor Day, I think I may just sit down and weep. This country’s got something seriously wrong with it; could it be the “Stephen King effect” at work?

Of course, even if I don’t like it, remaining culturally aware of shifts like these is very important as a writer. If I never see another modern kids movie that features a Beatles tune, it’ll be too soon. I know the scribes in Hollywood penning these things might remember the Beatles, but I guarantee you most 10-year-olds have a hard time remembering a time when Britney Spears was known for her singing, not her child custody issues, they have no clue who Billy Joel is, and the Beatles are a non-starter; the Beatles are their grandparents’ music, not theirs.

When one writes both history and fiction, it’s sometimes a bit of a chore to remind yourself which genre you’re working in, so as not to make embarrassing mistakes. For example, in fiction, one can generally have license to go inside a person’s mind, imagine their motivations and personal thoughts, and use that to further the plot.

Can’t do that with true crime or history writing, at least not without a ton of personal interviews to make sure you’re at least in the ballpark of truth and historical accuracy. That’s because you’re writing about real people, and even if they aren’t alive, relatives or descendants might be, who would take offense if your fiction-esque reverie were somehow off-base. The pressure of history and relatives can make a room so uncomfortable, you’d need Santa Fe dehumidifiers just to breathe easy again.

So far, I’ve done well avoiding the pitfalls; it’s just important to never forget they’re there.

As mentioned earlier on my HollywoodIdiocy blog, AFTRA, one of two actors unions active in Hollywood, reached a tentative three-year deal with the AMPTP today, the first sign of hope that a second major labor stoppage in Hollywood might be averted. AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, controls only about a dozen programs on cable or prime time television, so it’s small potatoes compared to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), which controls pretty much all other television, but it’s a step in the right direction.

“This is a challenging time in the entertainment industry and this was a tough negotiation,” AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said in a statement. “We recognized the hard realities currently affecting the traditional TV business and we focused on creating framework that would allow union members to participate fully in the emerging new media marketplace.”

The new contract contains these advances for AFTRA members:

+ Actor’s consent must be given for use of clips outside of promotional use. This includes clips used in online media and represents a concession on the part of AMPTP, which was hoping to get rid of the consent clause.

+ Although details on residuals for new media are sketchy as I write this, word is that AFTRA’s deal includes a new media compensation package similar to the deals reached by the DGA and WGA; like all those others, no increase to DVD residuals was offered, a concession on the part of AFTRA, but one that is in-step with the DGA and WGA deals.

+ Establishes union jurisdiction for programming created for Web or other new media distribution. Includes a new structure and increases in residuals for paid Internet downloads (e.g. iTunes) and other new media forms of distribution.

+ Wage increases in traditional media, as well as increases to the employer contribution portion of health and retirement plan benefits.

In all, it appears at this hour to be a fair deal for both sides; AFTRA scores credibility by being the first of the two actors unions to break through on retaining actor’s consent on clip use as well as winning Internet jurisdiction for its union, and both sides gave some ground while gaining ground.

At this point, the ball is now in SAG’s court; they could continue to play hard ball and force a strike in Hollywood, but now could face membership loss if they do so, as some shows could hold votes to decertify with SAG and certify under AFTRA, in order to stay in production, in the event of a SAG strike.

Or, SAG could recognize the writing is on the wall for this three-year stretch, sign a deal similar to AFTRA’s, keep Hollywood working, retain its stranglehold on most prime time and cable shows, and aim for the next round of negotiations in 2011 to make their next stand for making significant strides.

Given that AMPTP now has an actors deal in place with AFTRA, it is unlikely AMPTP would surrender major new concessions to SAG that were not given to AFTRA. So go ahead and invest in that leather home theater seating arrangement for the fall TV season: unless SAG gets really pig-headed, it looks like TV will be back to normal this fall!

The romantic image of a writer pounding out a script in cheap hotels while hoping to land his first big break in Hollywood is familair to most people, but that’s not usually how it’s done.

Typically, Hollywood producers meet with proven writers and want to hear thumbnail sketches of several “high concept” ideas, rejecting most of them out-of-hand before a word has even been typed. The real writing work comes after a studio’s at least offered concept approval.

It may tarnish a favorite Hollywood legend; heck, the mythical image of the struggling writer sweating and pounding away at a typewriter has been a popular one; it was even the core setting for “Barton Fink,” by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Unfortunately, it’s a false image.

As the old joke goes, I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for quite some time, but I’ve just never felt the time was right. Just like a bunch of Circuit City coupons, it takes a bit of enticement to get me to jump in the pool on a topic like this.

Truth is, though, while few seldom talk about it, procrastination makes ragdolls of us all. It’s so easy to let the hustle of everyday concerns draw us away from that which is most important to the life of any writer, and that’s time to write. When writing becomes more of a job than an aspiration, one feels tempted by just about every other activity as being more fun and more enticing than the writing task in front of them.

I think it’s just human nature to wish you could be anywhere by at work; the danger is that in most writing jobs, you don’t have a boss holding you accountable on a daily basis for showing up, completing your work and staying focused on the task at hand. It has to come from self-motivation, or not at all.

There’s no accounting for taste. Sometimes you have to create characters you simply don’t like. After all, while I’m sure Thomas Harris loved the character of idealistic yet flawed Clarice Starling, I can’t imagine he gets much true joy out of dwelling in the dark, dank mind of Hannibal Lecter.

Sure, as actors are fond of pointing out, villains can be great fun and far more interesting; but personally, anyone who’s ever had to pour over court and police transcripts of real crimes, as I have of late in researching my latest work in true crime/history writing, will quickly realize that the path of destruction and ruined lives killers leave in their wake is no bubbly matter of frothy entertainment.

While it’s perhaps a bit creative to imagine a scene where a killer strikes down a PGA champion with a 3-wood from Cobra golf, it can’t be something one enjoys too much, or we as writers become no better than the worst of our characters.

Have you ever wondered who makes Schlage locks and keys? What is their day like? Who are their coworkers? How does he interact with sales guys and contractors?

These may seem like random, stray thoughts. Maybe to an extent, they are.

But the next time someone asks you, “Where do you get your ideas?” wouldn’t sharing something like this be a bit more enlightening, and considerably less snotty, than a reply like, “A warehouse in Trenton, NJ!” or “eBay!”?

One of the things I enjoy most about writing is finishing a project. Whether it’s a short piece or a long one, there’s nothing more satisfying than coming to completion on something and knowing that the next project can finally begin.

Of course, I don’t always begin the next project immediately. Sometimes, especially in the summertime, I like to take a break. Whether it’s a fishing excursion or a perhaps just a weekend with my wife or a trip to see family. Usually in the summer it involves being outdoors, though if I’m careful there’s not a need for any MiracleBurn.

I’ve been enjoying the completion of a couple small projects lately. The good thing about being a working writer, however, is that there are always more projects to begin.

I recently picked up an Insignia MP3 player; one of the reasons I chose it is because it is able to play Audible.com audio book files, which is one of my favorite ways to do some extra reading. While I was able to snag a 4GB player on clearance for under $75, the great thing about this player is that it has a Micro SD slot available for expanding the available memory of the player.

I enjoy listening to music on it, too, of course; in fact, ever since I started writing about 27 years ago, I’ve always worked better with some music playing in the background while I type. It was a cue I took from Stephen King, who in the 1970s and 1980s often mentioned what albums he primarily listened to while composing various novels of his.

I find I can’t work so well listing to music if I’m doing research-based or theological writing; but for creative writing, there’s nothing better than a soundtrack to work by.

With the recent trend toward hiring brand-name writers with Hollywood credentials, Marvel Comics and the comic book field in general is no longer a place where a rookie writer can get their foot in the door of the script-writing field.

Who can argue with the business side of such practices, really? I mean, if you had a choice of publishing a 12-issue run of the X-Men franchise penned by Joss Whedon or JJ Abrams, versus a 12-issue run of X-men written by Jay Nobody, who would you choose?

Still, it’s a sad day when a field that once was so low on the writing totem pole that it led a young Stanley Lieber to write all his superhero work under the now-famous pen name of Stan Lee, is now almost completely closed to fresh young talents like Lee, looking for their first big break.

A little spy action can really help a story that’s otherwise dragging, although it of course depends on the kind of script or story you’re writing. But NBC’s Chuck proved that spy action can take place even in a rather mundane setting like a computer electronics store.

Imagine a scene where a customer comes into a store specializing in MP3 players, wearing a diamond ring. On the surface, they talk about the standard stuff, like which MP3 player is best, but that could all be code for passing along spy information.

Then, the salesperson notices the diamond ring and the customer asks him if he likes it. Sure do, he tells her, but I can’t get anything like that on my salary. The customers smiles and tells him it’s not as spendy as you think, and besides, there’s a coupon code for 10 percent off.

The salesman is skeptical, so the customer gives him the code in order to check it out: THTM10P801321 at JewelElegance.com. In the show, that would be a key plot device, what Alfred Hitchcock called the McGuffin. But it’s also a real code that works at that Web site. (Not a bad idea, what with Mother’s Day coming up and all.)

Well, I’m finally getting ahead on my writing of bar and bat mitsvah lessons for my shul. Of course, by getting ahead, I only mean that, at the moment, I’m no longer writing them at the last minute.

I think one of the things that’s been energizing me is running into my old friend Simon again; we knew each other years ago when we both went to a different, non-messianic church. To run into someone who went down the same path toward messianic belief and is now following the same path toward ordination has been an energy-boost and an encouragement.

It’s given me a fellow traveler to talk to and fellowship with. I find myself more energized and perkier in ministry-related tasks as a result of not feeling quite so isolated on this journey. So that’s been a good thing, indeed, and makes the whole pursuit a bit more comfortable, like adding pillows to a straw bed.