Any writers here?

20W-50 and blood

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Feb 4, 2004
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Writing is fun. We do a lot of it here, mostly poorly, and pointlessly. The erBB is like an open pickup hockey game for hobby writers. I'm curious if any of you write for work, though. Any pros here? Not specifically novelists, but editors, niche stuff, any type of writing.

Edit: my bad, forgot to include "for your troubles":


Too late, you snooze you lose. Genuine interest thread time
I offer a classic prose
 
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Autoprax

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, but writing for entertainment needs to be, above all... entertaining.
Aristotle was on point when he said the plot needs to be surprising and inevitable.

sh!t writers rely on god in the machine and spectacle.

Mammet turned me on to Aristotle.

 

casa_mugrienta

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Apr 13, 2008
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Did news writing in my early 20s as a local politics and crime reporter.

Once you become accustomed to news style it becomes difficult to write in any other style.

The only thing enjoyable about that style is the game of using subtle humor while attempting to be unbiased.
 
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Autoprax

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sh!t writers or TV writers

But I repeat myself
Aristotle was attacking the playwrights of the time.

They would have probably been the TV writers of now.

I salute anyone who can get paid to write.

I always wonder if the writers of a show like "Succession" make fun of the crappy TV shows like CSI: Miami.

The people I knew who wrote for TV have said the money is good but the job eats you up.
 

stringcheese

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Jun 21, 2017
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Did news writing in my early 20s as a local politics and crime reporter.

Once you become accustomed to news style it becomes difficult to write in any other style.

The only thing enjoyable about that style is the game of using subtle humor while attempting to be unbiased.
It still shows :LOL:
 
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youcantbeserious

Billy Hamilton status
Oct 29, 2020
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Aristotle was attacking the playwrights of the time.

They would have probably been the TV writers of now.

I salute anyone who can get paid to write.

I always wonder if the writers of a show like "Succession" make fun of the crappy TV shows like CSI: Miami.

The people I knew who wrote for TV have said the money is good but the job eats you up.
It’s intense. In TV you write and produce your episodes so writing the script is just step one. Production is a whole different beast, dealing with actors, directors, heads of all the creative departments - they all have questions it’s your job to answer, because it’s your script. Lots of bullshit power games to navigate. I do well because I’m pretty laid back, I know what actors want, and I was the surfer guy living in the van so no one knew what to make of me. That helps.

The Succession writers are all playwrights, I know one woman who writes on it, local girl (Korean), Punahou grad. Insanely talented. The big procedurals like CSI, NCIS are where you make the big money. Those are million dollar a year jobs if you go multiple seasons on one that hits.
 

enframed

Tom Curren status
Apr 11, 2006
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Del Boca Vista, Phase III
I'm eternally grateful
To my past influences
But they will not free me
I am not diseased
All the people ask me
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

Life should be full of strangeness
Like a rich painting
But it gets worse day by day
I'm a potential DJ
A creeping wreck
A mental wretch
Everybody asks me
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

The book is called Dr. Buck's Letters

 
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b.r.

Phil Edwards status
Dec 19, 2003
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I have kind of been the jack of all trades master of none kind of guy as I stumble through this thing called life. The last time I had something published was in the 90s and they paid me 25cents a word and I was stoked, bought a new 6'0 with the windfall. I thought it was easy and everything after that was rejected. I am currently working on the next great American novel, but won't kick it into overdrive until i retire, which might be sooner rather than later.
 

oneworlded

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Jun 4, 2004
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Don't hang out, but definitely a fan of his work. Oh yeah and @oneworlded is not only a great writer but has probably penned more words for cash than anyone here.
More stories - quite possibly.
More cash? Quite possibly not.
Send me any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
Edit: But you have to buy one of my books if you seek an answer that purports to actually serve some practical purpose in life.
 

ZZ Soft Top

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Sep 22, 2013
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Graduated college with a creative writing degree. I've been working as an advertising copywriter for the past 10 years. I've written TV spots, social media posts, print ads, billboard headlines, blogs... anything you can think of.

I've also written a spec script, original pilot script, and a bunch of comedy sketches. (Was trying to break into TV writing, but then the pandemic happened and I also heard mixed things about it from people doing the job and took my foot off the gas in pursuing it.)
 

abalone

Michael Peterson status
Jan 16, 2002
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Not a writer, but I spent much of my career editing the work of others. A few positions from the '80s and '90s no longer exist; for example, I was Apple's managing editor of develop, a printed technical journal that was eliminated when Jobs returned to the company. (I'd left the year prior.) I ended up an early adopter of WFH, initially cobbling together various editing jobs so that I could stay at home with my then 5 & 4 year old sons. I remained working from home for the next 20 years, and spent most of it editing for a Big Pharma company web site. It was mind-numbing work, although I really enjoyed the eight-person all female crew, great pay, and the independence of working whatever time of day I wanted, as long as I got the work done. Most of my kids' friends thought I was a stay-at-home mom, since I was able to drive on field trips and volunteer in the classroom. The pros outweighed the cons, until they didn't. Hubby and I are both retired. (BTW, he was a technical writer, the last 18 years with Nvidia.)
 

Boneroni

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Mar 5, 2012
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I've written a bunch of personalized comedy sketches for friends and families birthdays/retirements/etc. I then turn them into audio with me and my wife doing the voices, and I do the sound design and even a bit of foley. It's super fun and people usually cry when they get something so personalized. I've considered trying to do it for a profit, but the amount of time spent on it means I would have to charge a ton, so there may not be a consistent market.

Here's one I made for my dad: https://soundcloud.com/mattkevans%2Fthe-dad-bday-2020-final
I've also written a ton of music. It's composition, just with a different lexicon. I'm much more comfortable working in the musical vernacular.