Desk of Amy Suto

TV writer who eats danger for breakfast

The Third Man (1949): Spy Month, Day 1

by 1 Comment

Welcome to day 1 of my new blog series about my all-time favorite spy films and television shows, in which I reveal the inordinate portion of my life I’ve spent re-watching the Bourne Identity.

(This is also my go-to excuse whenever someone persecutes me for not having seen The Wire in its entirety. Seriously, I would rather just have a dance party to the opening credits of the Bourne Films for all of eternity rather than be forced to sit down and watch a series in which I have seen the pilot ten times and have yet to get past it. “Not Having Seen The Wire” also apparently constitutes as a war crime every conversation I have with people who’ve seen The Wire, which makes me want to watch it even less just out of principle, but that’s for my next blog series: 31 Days of Not Watching The Wire)

If you missed it, here’s my little introduction post about the series. If you didn’t, good job. You’re caught up.

I’m not really going to summarize plot in these series because A) I’m not in film school anymore and no longer have to write papers analyzing storylines for six pages to pad my wordcount B) you just have to trust my taste and go watch these movies, and C) I think it’s more fun to just jump in and talk about the fun parts. It’s my blog, I can dance if I want to.

I will link to the trailer, though, so you’ll have some idea what I’m talking about even though I mostly just want you to go see these damn films and tv shows because they’re amazing.

I also won’t be talking about the directors as much because this is a writing blog, so if you want to fight me on this, just do it on Twitter. @AmyMSuto

Today’s film is none other than the classic 1949 film, THE THIRD MAN. It’s not squarely in the spy genre as it’s set in post-war Vienna and pre-Cold War, but the noir style and general sense of intrigue place it in my definition of the “spy” genre:

[Read more…]

31 Days of Spy Films and Television

by 1 Comment

In honor of starting in a new writers’ room for a spy show, I’m writing 31 blog posts about some of my favorite movies and TV shows within the genre. That’s 31 days filled with intrigue and conspiracy and white men angrily hanging up the phone as Jason Bourne gets away yet again.

At the end of the month, I’ll tell you which show I’m starting on (hint: it’ll be in one of these blog posts!)

Part of the reason I’m writing these is to dig in and analyze the reasons why I love this genre so much. As a kid, I blew through five seasons of ALIAS in a week and religiously re-watched La Femme Nikita until I memorized the words. I used to hop on Twitter and Tweet at writers of my favorite spy shows and share what I loved about their episodes — some of whom were nice enough to humor 15-year-old me and respond.

What I love about this genre in part is how female characters get their due. Women can be strong and unstoppable and morally complex in a way that I didn’t see in the action movies I grew up with, wielding feminine wiles and trickery just as effortlessly as their guns. 

While men grow up with plenty of tough on-screen heroes, it’s harder for women to point to our equivalent of John McClane: women were either the victims or the wives or the over-sexualized villains. However, spy films helped to change that.

As I talked about extensively in episode #10 of writer Jorge Molina’s podcast Blind Spots, Yvonne Strahovski’s character Sarah in the NBC show CHUCK shaped my love for television. It’s one of the first female characters I remember who could kill a man with her bare hands, but also had complex storylines where she grappled with internal conflicts about her duty to her country versus her love for Chuck, and her own happiness versus her commitment to her job. Some of the best episodes delved into her troubled backstory, watching her go from the scrappy daughter of a con artist to falling into the ranks of the CIA and facing challenging ethical decisions. 

It’s not just about representation on screen: this month is about celebrating the cinematic perfection of some good ol’ fashioned spycraft. You’ll definitely be reading dissertations from me on the masterpiece that is the original Bourne trilogy before this month is over.

Ready to look down the barrel of a gun with me? Let’s do this. Read all the posts here.

Method Writing: Exercises to Experience the Stories You’re Writing

by 1 Comment

I love collecting weird hobbies and experiences, and often joke that I’m a “method writer.”

It’s only partially a joke: I’ve been known to seek out adventures in the same flavor of what I’m writing. (See: this deep cut from my archives where I shot guns and learned about them six years ago for a novel I was writing. Baby Amy was — and still is — a die hard method writer.)

When I was writing a story about my hometown, I made the trek back to Middle of Nowhere, Arizona, and made a point of meeting up with as many old acquaintances as possible. I visited gun ranges to learn about what my characters would know about owning and firing a gun, I hung out with tumbleweeds in the desert and watched the sunset. (The sun setting in the desert is probably the only beauty I’ll admit exists in the wasteland that can be endless stretches of brush and plants that want to fight you. Jumping cacti, anyone?)

The stories I’m working on now are being continually reshaped by the experience I’m seeking out — and vice-versa. I make an effort to be a method writer, and it pays off.

I truly believe the more wildly we wander, the better our words become.

So here’s how I approach “method” writing. [Read more…]

How I Made My First $10k as a Freelance Writer on Upwork

by Leave a Comment

I just passed my $10,000 milestone on Upwork, time to pop the champagne and share some tips for those of you also looking to jump into the freelance writing world!

As I mentioned in my previous post (Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer) I do freelance writing full-time when I’m in-between writers’ rooms. It’s a great way to keep my skills sharp while doing interesting freelance writing for amazing clients all around the world, and a flexible schedule means I get to travel and have time to do other creative projects during the week (like the immersive theater event I’m working on with my writing partner!) It’s a luxury to be able to abscond to somewhere like Lake Tahoe to do some writing on a Tuesday.

I do most of my freelance work through this platform called Upwork, which connects freelancers with people who want to hire us.

So, here’s how I made my first $10k, and how you can, too! [Read more…]

Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer

by 4 Comments

san francisco cliffs
cliffs outside of San Fran

Hello friends! I’m back from doing some travel (San Fran for work, Tahoe for play) and also just moved into a new apartment with my best friend who also happens to cook the best Italian food you’ve ever tasted.

I thought I’d share a little bit about what my days are like as I’m in a weird hiatus period for the TV show I work on, which is more and more the norm for those of us who work on shows with short orders that don’t fit into the traditional, 22-episode broadcast television season.

When I’m not working in a writers’ room, I work on my own projects and moonlight as a ghostwriter. My bread and butter is ghostwriting people’s memoirs and helping them find the right words to tell their stories. I work for fascinating clients I can’t really talk about here, but they include accomplished lawyers, former professional athletes, and people dealing with great loss and tragedy and finding strength through their experiences.

Oh, and I also write blog posts and short stories and op-eds for various companies and publications, so I keep busy. What’s nice is that I only take on work I believe in, and every writing project I’m working on I love. I also get to make my own schedule, which is so important.

Here’s a day-in-the-life of what it’s like being a freelance writer/ghostwriter: 

//7am: coffee & planning the day

I have a Google home, so as soon as I wake up I tell it “good morning” and it turns on all my lights, my coffeemaker in the kitchen, and starts playing the news. (Creepy or efficient? Probably both but the faster I can get caffeinated the better my morning is.) It takes about 30 seconds of hearing about how much of a mess the world is in to get me to get out of bed and stumbling toward the coffee that’s waiting for me in the kitchen.

Coffee in hand, I immediately get to work plotting out my day. I use a BestSelf journal to track habits, record what I’m grateful for, and set my intentions and goals for the day. I’ve been using these for the past six months and love the pen-and-paper organization. I always have a mess of projects, to-do list items, habits, and other responsibilities I need to hold myself accountable to get done. It’s important to me to get everything I have to do on paper and out of my head so I can clear up brainspace for the work I have to do. [Read more…]