Kal Bishop, a management consultant based in the UK offers up some encouragement for writers struggling with their next “great idea”:

Rather than wait for the “big idea,” the chances of hitting on the “big idea” increase when writers engage in not so dynamic projects, develop their competencies, identify and solve problems in a regular and sustained way. We know this to be true because screenwriters tend to come up with their best ideas WHILST they are working on a project.

Mystery Man pontificates on the need for a screenwriting revolution, calling for a rejection of structure and gurus. While I agree that McKee’s version of storytelling can come off a bit stifling, there are many other concepts of story out there that are actually quite beneficial, challenging writers to be even more creative and even more experimental. Discounting all gurus because “they’re not writing stories” seems to be a strategy primed for failure. One should be open to all learning regardless of the source.

Found this great piece on the new thinking towards spec script lengths (as first mentioned yesterday). David Trottier on the changes over the past two decades:

Throughout the 1990s, there has been a movement towards “lean and clean” screenwriting: Shorter screenplays, shorter paragraphs, shorter speeches, more white space, and the omission of technical instructions. It should come as no surprise that this gradual evolution continues to refine spec style.

Really great info in this one. Short and sweet. Like I guess your spec is supposed to be.