FROM THE DESK OF
Amy Suto
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto, a published author and freelance memoir ghostwriter. Subscribe to my newsletter & writing job board here!
4 Lessons Writers Can Learn from Yoga and Meditation
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm in the middle of training for my yoga certification so I can teach yoga for writers. As someone who loves to experiment with ways to improve my writing and creative mind, yoga and meditation were always something I turned to in order to find space for my process. Now, I'm taking a deep dive, and it's been transformative.
Method Writing: Exercises to Experience the Stories You're Writing
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.)
How I Made My First $10k as a Freelance Writer on Upwork
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.
Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer
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.
Writers' Life: How Your Examined Life Informs The Stories You Tell
Just like you are what you eat, you write what you live. While I believe that write what you know is a narrow way to approach the vast expanse of stories you could be telling, I do believe that our own experiences create a prism through which we see the world and write about it.
How to Write a Series Bible for Your TV Show
It's the top of the New Year and I hope you're as ready for this year as I am! Every year after Christmas I let my OCD tendencies take over and deep clean my apartment and get my projects in order by making a project calendar. I also get started on new scripts, so I thought I'd write this post about how to write a killer series bible for your TV show. Let's write stacks on stacks of final drafts this year guys, OK?
5 Best Writing Articles of 2017 from AmySuto.com
In 2017 I worked on two different TV shows, wrote lots of pages, and took far too many artsy photos of my cat. I also wrote some blog posts. If you missed them, here are some of my best articles about writing from 2017:
How to Work with a Writing Partner (and not murder each other!)
So if you're starting in a television writers' room or are about to embark on writing a script with a writing partner, here are some things you should keep in mind so that you get along with other creatives and homicide stays on the page:
3 Tips for Getting Organized and Motivated after a Setback (Writing in Hollywood)
We can't control a lot of aspects of writing in television, but what we can control is our own mindset and how we approach our work. By investing in a sense of humor, a positive perspective, and some organizational habits, we can re-route ourselves and get back on track no matter the setback. So, here are six ways I reset myself and my goals after a setback:
Writing the Half-Hour TV Drama
I hate the phrase "dramedy."Every half-hour TV show that isn't quite a comedy has been given that title. NURSE JACKIE? WEEDS? TRANSPARENT? GIRLS? Dramedies, despite the fact that the spine of these shows are unequivocally dramatic.
Assistant Life: Surviving Vs. Thriving, Strategies to Keep Writing
I've been writing a lot recently about creatives in the industry and posting images of aesthetically pleasing and meticulously organized writing spaces (aka: my therapy) so this blog post is continuing the trend.At holiday parties this past month, I've been meeting other writers who are holding down jobs in the industry, from showrunner's assistants to writer's PA's to researchers.
Writer's Life: Finding Creativity & Maslow's Hierarchy
I work Hollywood hours. Up at 5am or 6am to write (depending on the project I'm working on), out the door by 8am, at my agency by 8:30am, and back home by 8pm if I'm lucky (if I have networking drinks, make that 10pm.)
3 Steps to Successful Worldbuilding (How to Prewrite)
It's an absolute crime how pre-writing is so overlooked in the writing world. Have you read Stephen King's On Writing? That was one of my favorite writing books as a kid and I took his advice as gospel. One of the tenets of his book was that too much outlining and prewriting killed the story, which made me instantly afraid of killing my story before I could discover it through the actual process of writing.
Antidote 15: Web Festivals, TV Interviews, & More
The past seven days have been a whirlwind of press and exciting events to celebrate Antidote 15's season two and all the amazing people who are the lifeblood of the show. On Friday, Antidote 15 screened in the Charlie Chaplin theater at Raleigh Studios, and I was able to talk on a panel about the inspiration for the show, and why ex-boyfriends, deadlines, and drinking things you're not supposed to be are common college struggles.
Creating Detailed Character Backstory
I'm working on some new characters for a feature I'm writing this fall, and am reminded that character backstory is like trying to get to know a person and they keep ignoring you, so you have to make up things about them until they tell you the truth.
![How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60956f69f8fafe4b3e171dcd/1623700032303-Z5MQ2EJE0PXCZEL7G26Q/howtocreateawebseriespart2.jpg)
How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]
Finding quality actors is so important, especially for a web series with recurring roles. With Antidote 15, we were incredibly lucky to find the cast we did. This article will teach you everything you need to know about casting for your web series!
6 Tips for Setting Writing Resolutions
Which brings me to the importance of setting writing resolutions. It's far too easy to lose your shining writerly aspirations in the whirlwind inferno of daily life if you don't have "WRITE A HOMELAND SPEC IN 2014!" sticky-noted all over your desk/room/forehead.
