The modern writer’s life comes complete with amazing tools engineered to make the writing process as painless as possible. Of course, the actual writing of a piece will always be fraught with difficulties, but there are several applications available now for the Apple iPad and iPhone that make managing the development stages of a work of fiction frictionless and enjoyable.

If you looked up the word ‘subtext’ in the dictionary, this is what you should see. Everyone refers to HBO’s The Wire as one of the greatest series ever produced for television. This sequence would be a good example why.

One of the biggest lessons any teacher can discover is that sometimes, one learns more by teaching. Instructors can often be so focused on their lesson plans that they sometimes gloss over a new perspective. Not on purpose, of course, but thankfully their students are there to provide a fresh and possibly enlightened interpretation.

J.K. Rowling discusses the true power of imagination.

David Milch inspires.

Structure is all that matters…if you hope to have meaning.

The possible dangers in following the rules of a revolutionary story theory.

A unique and interesting take on how to write creatively with the Dramatica theory of story.

A look at Dramatica, OneNote and MindManager and their ability to aid the writing process.

A look at how the Dramatica theory of story can help you clarify the ideas you come up with.

A look at David Milch’s book on writing Deadwood.

Neat writing tools.

A good technique for making your stories less about yourself and more about the characters you are writing about.

For the longest time, I have always been the type of writer who likes everything spelled out in advance - mostly with the help of Dramatica. But lately I’ve been reconsidering this approach.

I discovered a fantastic book about generating story ideas out last night.

You do not have to fully understand all that Dramatica offers.

Review of a brand new book on screenwriting.

Dramatica can be used to write anything, novels, comic books, documentaries, whatever. It just so happens that I focus the application of the theory on what I love most - movies (and the screenplays that get them started).

Discussion regarding the use of software aimed to help you write a story.

Here is a very interesting essay on how stifling Dramatica can be to your creativity. As is usual, it doesn’t have a lot of nice things to say about the program or the theory:

In the latest issue of Creative Screenwriting (Volume 12, #5) Editor-In-Chief Den Shewman opens up with a great piece about not “thinking so much” when it comes to writing. But this goes against all that Dramatica stands for!

Struggling to get back to my own writing (after a very long bout of writer’s block), something struck me as being very beneficial about Dramatica.