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I don’t like to say I told you so, but I really, really want to.
I likened the writers of Lost to con men or derivative traders who “are shamelessly abusing their viewers’ trust. They rack up the profits from bizarre and outrageous turns in character and plot without any intention of ever repaying the emotional [...]
Watching Heroes the other night, I realized I was suffering from plot whiplash.
Heroes is just one more nail in the coffin of the implied compact between storytellers and their audience. Maybe it all began back with Twin Peaks. It has certainly flowered in Lost. But some time, somewhere, smart script writers figured out how to [...]
Story Surgeons has been up for about six months now. It’s been a great experience for me so far. I hope my clients have felt the same way. If you’ve used my editing services, I invite you to leave a comment here.
Read More and CommentJust had a weird experience with a book editor on a book project I was helping a writer with. To keep it anonymous, I’ll have to relate the story in parable form. Imagine it was a wonderful book about a cat who wanted to have an adventure in the world, then encountered a big, mean, [...]
Read More and CommentAn every-day expression offers a fabulous glimpse into how a mindless decision to shorten something turned it from brilliant to drivel. The expression is, “happy as a clam.” There is nothing whatsoever happy about a clam, and yet the phrase has insinuated itself into the language. It’s a mystery, and like all good mysteries, if [...]
Read More and CommentWhen I was editing magazines, everyone always wanted to know, Who is your target demographic? And I always thought: people with lively minds. It seemed to me that any general interest publication’s most crucial audience was people who cared for, were curious about and interested in the world around them. What became very clear over [...]
Read More and CommentPeople ask me, Tom, what’s your proudest accomplishment? Turn’s out,
that’s an easy question to answer. It’s not any journalism prizes, book
titles, or even paternity
It’s having an indie rock song named after me. A DC group called the Gena Rowlands Band, led by a guy named Bob Massey who was once a news aide at the [...]
Afraid of letting Hank Stuever run away with the day, Joel Achenbach dug deep and came up with a classic post on Achenblog, vintage Achenbach — smart, funny, self-referential to a self-deprecating degree, and actually making a good point that needs to be out there, ie: Tiger wasn’t really fooling anybody about being Mr. Family [...]
Read More and CommentHank Stuever is just now shifting into high gear in his new role as Washington Post TV critic. He totally kicked ass with his review of the new Spartacus. What other TV writer would think to begin as follows?
I am Spartacus’s trainer: We worked his core group for three hours a day, then did lower [...]
For those who have a vested interest in decently compensated professional journalism, a sentimental fondness for it, or a core belief that what it contributes to democracy is essential, a recent OJR post by Robert Niles is important, if severely depressing, reading. I’d recommend the whole piece, but the killer paragraph comes at the end, [...]
Read More and CommentEditor Tom Shroder writes, "This is the time: Write Now."
Have your manuscript or articles edited by Tom Shroder