Scribbling is a balancing act between what you show and what you leave out. In prose and screenwriting, the power lies in trusting your audience to connect the dots. This balance takes many forms.

I’ve got a pitch coming up, and it got me thinking about people I’ve worked with who can effortlessly pitch a TV show, making others believe in it so completely it gets bought in the room.

Brilliant scribbling advice from writer/director James Mangold ganked from an awesome YouTube interview.

As a scribbler with ADHD and a lot of projects on my plate, staying focused has been a challenge. I’ve developed a schedule that helps me stay disciplined while allowing room for creativity, flexibility, and fitness.

I’ve been researching UFO’s lately. I mean - UAPs. This led me down a rabbit hole of patents people have applied for. Active Camouflage. Anti-Gravity Drives. Etc. It prompted me to generate a patent proposal of my own. I did this for fun. Just to get myself in the headspace of a character I’m working on. If you’re curious - have a look.

Let's peruse the wisdom of Jeff Gomez and consider how we might find ways to incorporate his transmedia insights into our own work.

I’ve spent countless hours in front of whiteboards, plotting entire seasons of TV. Those boards can look like chaos, with disconnected beats and arcs. But to my ADHD-addled brain, it’s like stepping into a tesseract. I don’t see pieces; I see the whole. Is my ADHD perception of connections and narrative a small-scale version of how quantum beings in the 10th dimension experience reality? And no, I didn’t write this at 4:20 PM.

Reports of unexplained drone swarms have been popping up in New Jersey, the United States, and even in parts of Europe. These sightings, often described as eerie, coordinated, and untraceable, have sparked global speculation. The drone unknowns reminded me of how communities develop around mysteries to fill gaps in their knowledge through storytelling.

Game designer Justin Gary’s latest Substack wisdom bomb offers his take on crafting tension in game design to engage players. When scribbling for TV and film, I endeavor to employ similar principles.

Decades of stories crafted by some of the best comic book writers in the business inspire the filmmakers adapting the works for the screen. But when it comes to adapting Video Games, where are the stories?

On YouTube, Joel Haver cranks out feature-length films made with just a few friends and a modest budget. He’s on track to make and release 12 feature-length films in 12 months.

I downloaded my movie-watching history from Lettrboxd. A list that included hundreds of flicks from the 1930s to 2024. Then, I had ChatGPT identify patterns in my viewing taste and artistic sensibilities.

For shizz and giggles, I downloaded my Lettrboxd data and uploaded my watchlist to ChatGPT. I asked the LLM, “Using this list, what is a concept for an original screenplay based on the genres I gravitate toward?” It claims the result combines my love for sci-fi, action, noir, and complex narratives with a bit of dark humor and visual flair. What do you think?

Starting a new project can feel like standing at the base of a mountain. Whether you're developing a game, crafting a TV series, or planning a film, those first steps often determine your entire journey.

When diving into development of a new concept for a TV series, I like reflecting on what’s worked for me in the past. I've compiled some elements I often consider and figured I’d share.

When a recent pitch didn't sell, I found myself at a familiar crossroads. Creative careers can be loaded with dips, reversals, and moments of reckoning. So, while walking through the neighborhood, I dictated some context and asked Sam Altman’s baby how I might reframe and recommit.

Character desires, and the juicy roadblocks that stand in their way are the heart of storytelling.

Every line, every carefully chosen word uttered by your characters, is an opportunity to push your narrative forward, reveal character details, and sneak in some thematic goodness.

I saw the amazing new Wild Robot flick. It’s filled with amazing art, heart, and excellent filmmaking. It reminded me of another cinematic combo of machine and fowl -- Bastion and Ganymede from Overwatch.

The sublime art of making your audience feel through the power of a well-timed eyebrow raise or a subtle lip quiver.