John August

Challenge

Austin 2017 Three Page Challenge

Episode - 326

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Challenge, Film Industry, Formatting, Scriptnotes, Television, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, Words, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig review four Three-Page Challenge entries with the help of Daniela Garcia-Brcek (Literary Manager at Circle of Confusion) and Cullen Conly (Literary Agent at ICM). We then invite the writers up to discuss the notes.

It’s not just craft, though. Our special guests give us a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of representation. What do agents and managers look for when they read (or “look at”) scripts? How important is a logline? Who reads queries? Daniela and Cullen tell us the unvarnished truth.

Thanks to the Austin Film Festival for hosting us and to our brave participants!

Links:

* Tickets available for the [Holiday Live Show](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-holiday-live-show-john-august-craig-mazin/) now!
* 2017 Austin Live Three Page Challenge — you can check out the pages [here](http://johnaugust.com/aff2017) or on [Weekend Read](https://quoteunquoteapps.com/weekendread/).
* Want to [submit](http://johnaugust.com/threepage) a Three Page Challenge?
* [The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!](johnaugust.com/guide)
* [The USB drives!](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive)
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Find past episodes](http://scriptnotes.net/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Matt Davis ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_326.mp3).

**UPDATE 11-29-17:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2017/scriptnotes-ep-326-austin-2017-three-page-challenge-transcript).

Getting Stuff Written

Books, Challenge, Education, Psych 101, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Words, Writing Process

John welcomes Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo and author of Pep Talks for Writers, to discuss the writing process and how to get out of your own way creatively.

We explore the ubiquity of the Other Syndrome and the perils of envy. We also look at pen names, “throw-away writing,” and the advantages of being a beginner.

Links:

* Grant Faulkner’s [website](http://www.grantfaulkner.com) and [Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Faulkner).
* Pep Talks for Writers by Grant Faulkner is available [here](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452161089/?tag=johnaugustcom-20).
* You can participate in [NaNoWriMo](https://nanowrimo.org/), too!
* [I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061994987/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Sylvie Simmons
* [The Last Invention of Man: How AI might take over the world](http://nautil.us/issue/53/monsters/the-last-invention-of-man#comm) by Max Tegmark
* [The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!](johnaugust.com/guide)
* [The USB drives!](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive)
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Grant Faulkner](https://twitter.com/grantfaulkner) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Find past episodes](http://scriptnotes.net/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Rajesh Naroth ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_321.mp3).

**UPDATE 10-23-17:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2017/scriptnotes-ep-321-getting-stuff-written-transcript).

Tuesday Reviewsday

Challenge, Projects, Reviewsday, Store

As someone who makes [apps](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12) and [other things](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00R6ZLIOY&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20&linkId=KG2OFS7AER67FMGO), I know how helpful reviews are. They let makers know how much you love their products, and encourage potential customers to give new things a shot.

One of my goals for 2016 is to be better about writing reviews for the products I love. Every Tuesday I’ll be leaving reviews on the applicable store.

Today’s picks are:

– [Way of Life](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/way-life-ultimate-habit-maker/id393159800?mt=8) (iOS)
– [Slack](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-team-communication/id618783545?mt=8) (iOS/Mac)
– [Throwing Shade](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/throwing-shade/id479583266?mt=2) (podcast)
– [Sushi Go](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J57VU44/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00J57VU44&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20&linkId=KRC76AABLCUBZOEF) (game on Amazon)

Leaving reviews is not a big time commitment. I wrote all four of these while waiting for an appointment.

If you’re looking for something to review, many readers are probably familiar with some of the things we make, including [Highland](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12), [Weekend Read](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8) and [Writer Emergency Pack](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00R6ZLIOY&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20&linkId=KG2OFS7AER67FMGO).

Podcasts are especially review-dependent, because they signal to the powers at iTunes to feature certain shows. A review for [Scriptnotes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496?mt=2) would be much-appreciated.

Craig dreams of sushi

Challenge, Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, WGA

Craig and John look at the results of the WGA screenwriter survey, which found widespread reports of bake-offs, prewriting and other shenanigans.

If there’s any solace to be found, it’s that *it’s not just you.* Things are frustrating for the vast majority of screenwriters.

After some follow-up discussion about the low percentage of women screenwriters, we get to the meat of this week’s podcast: round two of the Three Page Challenge, in which we look at the first three pages of listener-submitted samples. If you have a chance, read the PDFs ahead of time. You can find them in the links.

Big thanks to Sarah Nerboso, Jesse Grce and Austin Reynolds for inviting us to talk about their work on-air.

Also discussed this week: groin injuries, Japanese documentaries, earworms, and John’s feel-free-to-use motto: “Ikea: For Now, It’s Fine.”

LINKS:

* [P90X](http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do)
* [What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307393887/?tag=johnaugustcom-20), by Marc Norman
* [WGA’s Summary of 2011 Survey Results](http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2012-07/71296881-24182601.pdf), from the LA Times
* Three pages by [Sarah Nerboso](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/sarah_nerboso.pdf)
* Three pages by [Austin Reynolds](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/austin_reynolds.pdf)
* Three pages by [Jesse Grce](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/jesse_grce.pdf)
* [Jiro Dreams of Sushi](http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/)
* [PRI’s The World in Words](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-world-world-in-words/id279833390) podcast
* INTRO: [Hallmark cards, 1981](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgiZmdJocdc&feature=relmfu)
* OUTRO: [Part of Your World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkb5nbqPoE) by Darren Criss

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_48.m4a).

**UPDATE** 8-2-12: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2012/scriptnotes-ep-48-craig-dreams-of-sushi-transcript).