Thursday 25 November 2010

It's So Cold


Sorry to complain about the weather, but it is *&%$@y freezing!!

My post Nano giddiness continues. I'm getting the hang of the 2.0 version of Scrivener which I downloaded earlier this month. I've raved here about Scrivener before, so I won't bore you with the details, except to say it's definitely improved with lots more smashing features and more accessible buttons on the toolbar. Definitely gets Sandra's Seal of Approval.

With a view to outlining a comedy project next I raided my piggy bank to spring for John Truby's Comedy Class. I've already read his excellent Anatomy of Story (which you should read, if you haven't already) and heard enough about his genre classes to know the guy has a clue about his subject. He is a Hollywood story consultant so there isn't much he doesn't know about story structure, and with comedy more than any other genre, structure must be right from the word go.

What I got for my $50 (about £32) is six hours of MP3 files of his talks on the subject. So far I've listened to about a third of them, and taken notes which I'm transcribing. It's intelligent and thought provoking. He doesn't impose a formula but points out features and aspects common to successful stories. As I listen I find it is sparking my ideas, just like Anatomy of Story did. His talks are lean and relevant; no padding or irritating diversionary anecdotes, and so packed with information I sometimes need to listen to sections more than once. I'm impressed, but we'll see how it goes.

Here is one of his general story talks from Youtube.

Keep warm, folks!

6 comments:

Lyndsey Davis said...

No problem commenting on the weather. It has universal appeal. LOL

I, too, just downloaded Scrivener and worked it for NaNo. Love it, so far.

John Truby is interesting. I have some of his lectures in my dvd collection. Excellent resource.

Good writing, and thanks for stopping by at my blog. http://lyndseydavis.blogspot.com. Your comment was insightful and appreciated.

Good luck with NaNo 2010.

Sandra Patterson said...

Thanks Lyn. I'm so impressed with Scrivener, mainly because I couldn't see how they could improve it, but they have. Just discovered the new templates too - great.
Glad to find someone else who likes Truby. I usually find people are negative about these writing gurus for some reason, but he does know his stuff.

Kate Kyle said...

downloaded Scrinever yesterday and I'm going to use it to edit my NANo novel. I've a Beta for Windows and haven't worked out how it works, but never mind I will get there eventually (hate reading instructions)

ps and again thanks for your Nano wisdom - kept me entertained :)

Lyndsey Davis said...

I had NaNo Wisdom?

Is that an oxymoron? LOL

Kate Kyle said...

NANo wisdom were Sandra's tweets.
Sorry I didn't make it clear - my brain must be still catching up with me after Nano.

Sandra Patterson said...

Thanks Mema, glad you liked them!