John August

Follow Up

Doing, not thinking

Episode - 178

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Film Industry, Follow Up, News, Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and Craig start the new year by discussing Chuck Palahniuk’s advice to avoid thinking verbs. Then it’s a new round of the Three Page Challenge.

We also do follow-up on the Sony hack.

Links:

* [The Year of Outrage](http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2014/12/the_year_of_outrage_2014_everything_you_were_angry_about_on_social_media.html) on Slate
* [North Korea responds with fury to US sanctions over Sony Pictures hack](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/04/north-korea-fury-us-sanctions-sony)
* The LA Times on [The Interview’s opening weekend](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-box-office-the-interview-unbroken-into-the-woods-20141229-story.html#page=1)
* Chuck Palahniuk [on thought verbs](http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-%E2%80%9Cthought%E2%80%9D-verbs)
* Three pages by [Mike Litzenberg & Bridge Stuart](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/MikeLitzenbergBridgeStuart.pdf)
* Three pages by [Meredith DePaolo](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/MeredithDePaolo.pdf)
* [Dunning–Kruger effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)
* Three pages by [Mimi Jeffries](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/MimiJeffries.pdf)
* How to [submit your three pages](http://johnaugust.com/threepage)
* [D20 Critical Hit Mini Cake Pan](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1cd7/?srp=5) and [Death Star Ice Mold](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f0b6/?srp=3) on Think Geek, and [Smarf L’Héroïque](http://shirt.woot.com/offers/Smarf%20L’H%C3%A9ro%C3%AFque?ref=cnt_ctlg_dgn_2) on Shirt.Woot
* [Critical Hit LED D20 Die](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/deaa/) on Think Geek
* [Vitamin D3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D) on Wikipedia
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_178.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_178.mp3).

**UPDATE 1-8-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-178-doing-not-thinking-transcript).

The Perfect Reader

Film Industry, Follow Up, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Craig and John discuss the qualities of the perfect reader, whether it’s a studio professional or your screenwriting buddy. What should a reader look for, and how should she communicate her thoughts?

We also discuss loan-out companies and why writers need them, and offer advice on starting a podcast. Plus a lot of turkey talk.

In follow up, most of what we thought we knew about Franz Kafka was wrong — but maybe that’s okay. Bob Odenkirk already made a sketch about judging. And if you haven’t purchased tickets for the live show on December 11th, get on that.

Links:

* [Mary’s Heritage Turkeys](http://www.marysturkeys.com/)
* [Get your tickets now](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-holiday-show/) for the Scriptnotes Holiday Show
* [American Contestant with Bob Odenkirk](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/da114dc7e4/american-contestant-delicia)
* [Dan Benjamin’s podcast guide](http://podcastmethod.co/), and [Marco Arment’s](http://www.marco.org/2014/11/29/easy-listening)
* [A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night](http://www.analilyamirpour.com/#!untitled/c13ay) by Ana Lily Amirpour
* [Bread Stuffing with Bacon, Apples, Sage, and Caramelized Onions](http://heatherhomemade.com/2011/11/bread-stuffing-bacon-apples-sage-caramelized-onions/) from [The New Best Recipe](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0936184744/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Betty Spinks ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_173.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_173.mp3).

**UPDATE 12-10-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-173-the-perfect-reader-transcript).

Lotteries, lightning strikes and twist endings

Film Industry, Follow Up, Genres, QandA, Scriptnotes, Words on the page, Writer Emergency, Writer Emergency Pack

John and Craig look at the nature of fluke hits, everything from #alexfromtarget to huge spec sales. Is luck just luck, or is it about how often you play the game? Where does talent fit in?

We walk through a great breakdown of twist endings by Alec Worley, looking at how expectation both inside and outside of the story shapes the experience.

Then we answer a bunch of listener questions, on topics including using real-life locations, breaking up dialogue, and passing gracefully when you don’t like a project.

The Scriptnotes Holiday show is December 11th in Hollywood, featuring guests Aline Brosh McKenna, B.J. Novak, Jane Espenson and Derek Haas. Check the link below for tickets.

Links:

* Tickets to the Scriptnotes Holiday show are on sale tomorrow at the [Writers Guild Foundation website](https://www.wgfoundation.org)
* Big Fish: The Musical is now playing [at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach](http://www.musical.org/MusicalTheatreWest/bigfish2014.html)
* [Writer Emergency Pack](http://writeremergency.com) is going strong [on Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/913409803/writer-emergency-pack-helping-writers-get-unstuck)
* [The Five Types of Twist Endings](http://alecworley.weebly.com/blog/the-five-types-of-twist-ending) by Alec Worley
* [Alex from Target](http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/alex-from-target-fame.html)
* [Darius Kazemi’s XOXO talk](http://boingboing.net/2014/10/28/every-artists-how-i-made-i.html)
* [Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465026567/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Douglas R. Hofstadter
* Screenwriting.io on [intermediary slugs](http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-slug/)
* [Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgrjhtbQlOQ) by Joe Callander
* [Too Many Cooks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGrOK8oZG8) by Casper Kelly, and [his interview in Entertainment Weekly](http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/11/07/adult-swim-too-many-cooks/)
* Get premium Scriptnotes access at [scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) and hear our 1,000th subscriber special
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_170.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_170.mp3).

**UPDATE 11-17-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-170-lotteries-lightning-strikes-and-twist-endings-transcript).

Development Emergencies

Follow Up, Producers, Story and Plot, Writer Emergency

[Vineet Dewan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0223528/), who was nice enough to co-star in the Kickstarter video for Writer Emergency Pack, decided to film his own version pitched at [development executives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z4judce0H0):

So, yeah. Sigh. I can imagine Writer Emergency Pack being used this way, as a shortcut to actual notes about an actual script. But these wouldn’t be the worst notes I’ve gotten in a meeting. ((The worst note I got was, “She should be a flight attendant. Women aren’t airline pilots. It’s unrealistic.” This was from a female producer.))

If pulling a card from a deck fosters a good discussion about the script, at least it’s about the story and not useless minutiae.

Meanwhile, the real Writer Emergency Pack is [roaring ahead on Kickstarter](http://kck.st/1obEMOQ). With 10 days to go, it’s fully funded, with 2,400 backers. Huge thanks to everyone who’s joined us.