AboutRoger S. H. Schulman Expertise I can answer questions on the creative aspects of writing for features and television comedy: brainstorming, character development, plotting, story structure, dialog, rewriting, editing, etc. I can also address the business side of show business: pitching, writing and presenting treatments, "taking" meetings, common pitfalls, etc. I'm also well versed in the relationship between screenwriting and computers: software for scriptwriting, brainstorming, presentation, outlining, an d general organization. I'm also a producer, and so can answer questions regarding the ins and outs of television production, specifically the half-hour arena. Visit my scriptwriting blog at http://scriptwriting.blogspot.com.
Experience I have been working in Hollywood as a screenwriter for both TV and features for many years. I'm an Executive Producer and "showrunner" who has run several prime-time and cable comedies. I've written several featurs and contributed to many more for several major studios.
Organizations Writers Guild of America, West
Publications Newsweek, BusinessWeek, GQ, Connoisseur, UPI, New York Daily News, please visit my blog at http://scriptwriting.blogspot.com
Education/Credentials I have a Masters of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
Awards and Honors Academy Award Nomination, Best Adapted Screenplay
British Academy Award, Best Adapted Screenplay
NAACP "Image" Award, Best Television Comedy
"Annie" Award, Best Animated Film
Thank you very much for your valued feedback and thanks for the link on
John Truby. I found out that he has various genre software programs and I
wish to learn them all, but the problem is they each cost $49 and if I were to
buy them all it would cost me a fortune.
Therefore, I was wondering if there is a software program that teaches me
how to write in each genre in one package?
Best regards,
Julian
Answer I'm not aware of any other software that breaks it down by genre in this way, save possibly Dramatica. And I certainly wouldn't recommend buying every Truby module; that's a way to benefit the software company, not you.
You might take a look at SuperNoteCard for Scriptwriting, by Mindola, and Movie Outline, by Movie Outline. While they don't break it down by genre, they do include scripts from several different genres fed through the software as samples. They're both good examples of outlining software; SuperNoteCard is a more simple digital index card system; Movie Outline is a more expensive and more elaborate outliner and scriptwriter.
However, I recommend you go the book route. There are many books that describe various genres and the differences between them. Go to a writer's bookstore or browse online; with the purchase of one carefully selected book, you'll save yourself a lot of money.
Julian, I want to re-emphasize that, be it book or software, you're not going to find any magic formulas. Genres are more alike than they are different. Learn how to write a good story and you're 80% of the way there. For the rest, you can always watch your favorite movies in each genre and take notes. That's a great interactive way to learn while enjoying yourself. One Netflix subscription of about $8 a month will get you as many movies as you can watch. And if even that's too much, the public library still lends movies!
