A Spoonful of Creativity
A quarterly dispatch of pop culture faves, small business love, and creative tips
Hi everyone, and thanks for being part of my community. I have some exciting news to share, so let’s jump right in!
Seed of Doubt is an official selection of the 2024 Minnesota Film Festival!
About six years ago, I wrote a screenplay (based on an original story by Jon Julsrud & William J. Cox) for an independent feature film, Seed of Doubt.
Logline: Melissa and Scott's dream home turns into a nightmare for the young couple when they take on new tenants to make ends meet. As Melissa descends into paranoia and delusion, they must fight to save their unborn child.
I’m pleased to report that Seed of Doubt will premiere at the 2024 Minnesota Film Festival on Friday, April 5. I can’t wait and am already frantically preparing a Film Writer™ lewk with the help of my stylish cousin and sisters.
More importantly, THANK YOU to everyone who took a chance on it when it was a fledgling crowdfunding campaign, and everyone who continues to support me in my writing pursuits. It can be lonely, and I’m so lucky to have a community that lifts me up and keeps me going.
If you should happen to find yourself in Duluth on April 5 - let me know! I insist on buying you a ticket.
Small Business Corner
ArtScraps! A place to find inexpensive art materials and reduce waste at the same time.
(Hat tip to my friend Megan, who always has the best recommendations. I have personally found hair stylists, anti-racism classes, and 18 gazillion other things because of Megan’s resourcefulness.)
Call & Response Chicago This South Side Black woman-owned bookstore will open soon, and in the meantime, you can support them via Bookshop.org. They center narratives of Black authors and people of color.
The Best Advice I Never Took
A long time ago, I received feedback & mentoring from a women in screenwriting mentoring program (run by the incredible Liz Garcia). I asked my mentor (it was anonymous so I can’t attribute the quote) about any specific classes I could take to improve my television/screenwriting.
Here’s what she said:
There is so much information and advice available for free (or for the price of a used paperback)... I'd never recommend paying for a class.
Naturally, I ignored this advice. I love classes! I love registering, finding out what’s on the syllabus, reading, writing, connecting with the teacher and other students.
But I think she has a point. After all, you could drop a lot of $$ on classes and not necessarily get better at writing. It’s a strange alchemy to me what levers to push to actually improve your craft. Classes? Workshops? Critique partners? Relentless repetition?
In this spirit, I’m sharing ten *free* resources for creatives. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me!
Scriptnotes. I love this thoughtful, practical, weekly pod about screenwriting. It’s a great mix of craft advice and industry talk. I recommend Episode 99 to anyone having any kind of creative block.
QueryShark. Literary agent Janet Reid does not mince words in her efficient, direct feedback on queries. If you are currently seeking literary representation or if you’re just trying to become more concise, check out her infrequent but highly educational posts.
The Acknowledgments section of your favorite books (borrowed from the library to make them meet the ‘free’ criteria). Who is the author’s agent? What residencies have they attended? What organizations/publications are they thanking? You can get ideas where to apply with your own work.
No Film School. If you don’t have the funds or the time to go to film school, check out Darius Britt’s DIY crash course - you just need 30 days and some basic equipment/whatever you’ve got lying around.
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri. This rec came from my late writing teacher Michael McCarthy, and can be applied to all kinds of writing.
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum. I find all of Courtney’s work to be down-to-earth, easily digestible, and funny! This was a practical guide to all sorts of publishing scenarios. She also offers a great Substack.
Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell. This book has made novel drafting and revisions approximately 70% less painful for me. It’s tactical, wise, and a short read. You can read it in one fell swoop or read it in chunks as you draft your book, since it’s organized by stage - first draft, second draft, etc.
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing with Bianca Marais, Cece Lyra, and Carly Watters. This podcast is like Scriptnotes but for fiction writers. The hosts go through query letters and give authors feedback, interview published authors, and provide craft talks. I especially love their comps section, where indie booksellers answer listener questions about competitive titles for their manuscripts.
Dan Harmon’s translation of Joseph Campbell - Story Structure. This was one of the links my afore-mentioned women writing mentor passed along, and is broken down into little chunks with pictures, helpful for me and my fellow visual learners/others who never quiiiiiite made it through The Hero with a Thousand Faces1.
Submission Grinder. You can find places to submit your work, learn more about average response times, and generally feel less alone when sending work out into the void.
Whew, thanks for reading this far! What have I missed? I’d love to hear your favorite free resources for writers/creative types.
Miscellaneous
My pandemic baby turns four soon! We don’t share much publicly, but all I’ll say is: toddlers are WILD. Parenting is hard. Fun, but hard. If you want more, I wrote an entire novel2 about it (and some other stuff).
I never did end up starting Sunday night meatballs as I promised in a post from last year, but I do have plans for Friday morning art play dates! It’s a way to scratch my itch for community while also being outside and creating with friends and their creative little moppets.
I’m perpetually behind on my unrealistic #TBR list and my to-watch list. I’m LOVING One Mississippi from Tig Notaro. I managed to watch all the Oscar movies and really enjoyed many of them. Past Lives stole my heart. I think I’ll return to its cinematography; I found it to be so creative and elegant. A recent book I devoured and adored is In Memoriam by Alice Winn.
To date, I have not made it through The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
Because that won’t be public at all (also no book deal at the moment, to be clear)
Ahh congrats on the film! This is so exciting! <3
Also thank you for the rundown of writing/craft resources. I'm going to spend some time digging into the ones that are new to me.