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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Your Favorite Relative: Writing Prompt and Gift Suggestions

By Antonia Crane and Marilyn Friedman

Stressed out by the holidays already? Here's a writing prompt to loosen those shoulder knots. Family visits can be stressful and fattening, but they can also be a time to build sweet memories and remember happier times. Scroll down below to use your favorite family members as inspiration for your writing! In the meantime, here's a few places you could buy a gorgeous card and a new journal or a gourmet gift basket for your favorite relative to show your appreciation—then treat yourself to a cupcake at one of these places:


But Writing Pad has the best treats of all because our classes not only make your literary dreams come true, they won't add an inches to your waistline! In fact, someone once told Marilyn that writing burns calories, and she would really like to believe that.

This Sat., learn how to infuse true stories with subtext and conflict with successful screenwriter and show runner Lamar Damon ("Bunheads," "Celebrity Exes") or make your memoir a page turner with bestselling memoirist Brett Paesel ("Mommi.es Who Drink", More) On Sun., get a customized plan for landing that agent and primo book deal with successful author and book consultant Derek Taylor Kent ("Scary School")!

Then next Tues. you can learn everything you need to know to become a successful freelance journalist with Taffy Brodesser-Akner (NY Times freelancer, Self). Taffy has helped 21 students get published. You're next! Or on the Eastside, get your 15 minutes of fame with your very own one-person show with Emmy award winning writer and Moth host Brian Finkelstein!

Who said that there wasn't enough time left in 2012 to work on making your writing dreams come true? Not us!

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting Week of Dec. 3 - 9
Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy
So You Want To Be A Freelancer*
The You Show: A Solo Performance Intensive
Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class

Classes Starting Week of Dec. 10- 16
Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

2013 Classes



Writing Prompt: Make a list of your three favorite family members. Pick one. Make a list of three great times you shared with them. Pick one. Now add a sensory detail to that event (smell, taste, sound, touch). Now write about that great time for 10 minutes, making sure to include the sensory detail. Then post your story in the comments of this blog to get entered in the contest for Oct./Nov.! There's only a few days left (and not much competition) so we hope that you'll post something!

For instance, Antonia is going to either write about the time when she was supposed to be in bed by 10 p.m. but instead her aunt took her to the county fair and let her ride The Zipper until she was sick or that time she had a really big secret and told her big brother who never told a soul. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Write about your favorite family member and a fun time you shared with them. Then post your ten minute write in the comments of this blog to get entered into the contest for a free class!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Here Comes Family Writing Prompt

By Antonia Crane and Marilyn Friedman

Thanksgiving is a time of family which, for some, means a smorgasbord of suffering and trauma and for others, a time of cozy snuggling and full tummies. For me, it's somewhere in between my Dad's emotionally reticent wild rice stuffing and my Mom's overbearing cranberry beet salad. My sister's kids bring me joy but also remind me of my fallow shortcomings. Family invites a complex palette of emotions and lots of distracting entertainment. My relatives are coming to visit this T-day weekend so I found some fun places in LA to bring your crazy family:
  • Little India in Artesia for exotic shopping and a delicious lunch at Rasraj.
  • J. Paul Getty Museum for a picnic.
  • Huntington Rose Garden Tea Room for high end treats after a peek at Blue Boy and Pinky.
  • Stark Bar at LACMA for a trendy cocktail after a jaunt to the Stanley Kubrick exhibit.
  • Tula Tea Room inside the Museum of Jurassic Technology for free tea and a sampling of something odder than your family.
And here are two refuges to race off to for a few hours when your family is napping in your bed:
For Her: Olympic Spa in Korea Town.
For Him: Yoga for Men (Stephen Ewashkiw's class at Urth Yoga in Silverlake).

And don't forget that Writing Pad has a wonderful collection of classes to keep your muse sharp and warm in the last two months of 2012. For instance, on Tues., Dec. 11, transform that hellish T-day visit into a hilarious stand-up comedy routine with master comic Johnny Walker ("The Tonight Show," "The Hollywood Improv,"  "Laugh Factory")! Find out how to land that plum staff TV writing job so your Dad will stop bugging you with Emmy award- winning writer Ed Crasnick ("Hot In Cleveland", "The Sopranos") on Sat., Dec. 8. A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full!

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

OTHER CLASSES BY GENRE

Book Publishing
Writing for Actors
Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy
The You Show: A Solo Performance Intensive
Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class
Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

Screenwriting
From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room


Writing Prompt: Your Most Annoying Family Member
You know that family member who makes you want to stab his or her eyes out? Use that relative to write a deeply flawed and wonderful character for your next story. Make a list of your three most annoying relatives. Pick one. Write down something that relative does that make you want to scream. Make up a code name for that relative based on that annoying behavior so you don't get into trouble posting about them (e.g. Competitive Buddhist, The Nagging Queen). Give your character a life dream and a unique physical characteristic. Now, place that character in their favorite setting like a dude ranch, a casino, or hammering tiles on the roof. Start with a scene in that setting where your character is doing that annoying thing and include their life dream, code name, and unique physical characteristic (or whatever you get to in 10 minutes). Before you know it, you will fall in love with the character on the page and so will your reader! Then post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email marilyn@writingpad.com if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest).

Write about your most annoying relative!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Comfort Food Writing Prompt and Recommendations

By Marilyn Friedman

Last week, it started to get pitch black at 5 p.m. every day, and the weather finally cooled off. Although I'm not a fan of the early darkness, I am enjoying the chillier weather and the excuse to light my fireplace and excavate my winter wardrobe! Another thing I love about winter is indulging in a hot bowl of soup or some comfort food before sitting down to write. Here are a few of my favorite places to get comfort food in LA so my muse feels toasty and ready to get to work:
And don't forget that Writing Pad has a wonderful collection of classes to keep your muse cozy and amused in the last two months of 2012. For instance, on Tuesday, Nov. 27, you can learn how to write a hilarious stand-up comedy routine with master comic Johnny Walker (“Just For Laughs” TBS Las Vegas Comedy Festival, "The Tonight Show","The Hollywood Improv", "Laugh Factory")! Johnny will show you how to mine your life for hysterical material and how to master the mix, act out, and logic play. By the end of the class, you'll have a short set written that you can perform at the Pad! 

Also, on Wed., Nov. 28 find out how to land that staff TV writing job and keep it with Emmy award winning writer Ed Crasnick ("Hot In Cleveland", "The Sopranos") in From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room! Ed will show you how to create and market a pilot or spec script to get that writing job that you've always dreamed of and share how to excel in the writer's room. You'll even get feedback on your show idea.

A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full, my darlings.

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

OTHER CLASSES BY GENRE

Book Publishing
Writing for Actors
Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class


Yum! Butternut Squash Soup!


Writing Prompt: Cold Weather Comfort Food
It's cold outside which means it's time to make baked apples with caramel sauce, Mama's crock pot chili, and of course, roast turkey with wild mushroom stuffing and heaps of piping hot gravy! Start by making a list of your 5 favorite comfort foods (or your fictional character's favorite comfort foods). Pick one. Now add a specific memory that comes to mind when you think of that dish. Last, add a sensory detail to this comfort food (sound, taste, touch or smell) that goes with your comfort food. Now write for 10 minutes about this comfort food, and make sure to include the memory and the sensory detail. Then, post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest). I'm going to write about my mother's homemade hot borscht that she made on cold winter days. It was full of wonderful vegetables like beans, carrots, and potatoes and tasted like a warm hug.

Write about your favorite cold weather comfort food!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Fall Break: A Dream Retreat At A Dream Of A Price


By Antonia Crane

Here is what I love about writing retreats and why Writing Pad's Fall Break Writing Retreat on Nov. 2-4 is above and beyond all of them:

1. Stars, Baby
When I part with my cold hard cash for a writing retreat, I want to study with successful writers whose writing I admire. At Writing Pad's Fall Break, you get access to so many literary rock stars. In the Screenwriting track, you can study with Robbie Fox ("So I Married An Axe Murderer", "Playing For Keeps") who has sold 60 projects and Chris Hauty ("Never Back Down", "Homeward Bound II") who has had 12 films produced. In the Memoir/Fiction track, you can learn from bestselling memoirist Monica Holloway and award-winning writer Ron Koertge who has published 19 novels and 12 books of poetry. In the Personal Essay track,  you'll get down to business with successful journalist Taffy-Brodesser-Akner (NY Times, Self, Salon) These are critically acclaimed superstars who will give you feedback on your work and shepherd you to literary greatness.

Screenwriter Robbie Fox with Jessica Biel and Gerard Butler On Set of "Playing For Keeps" (To be released Dec.!)
2. Time
Having hours away from work, pets, spouses, dirty dishes and Facebook to concentrate on writing and learning writing craft is essential for finishing a project.  In Writing Pad's Fall Break, if you take the Personal Essay track with Taffy Brodesser-Akner, you will complete an essay and send it out for publication or die. If you sign up for the Screenwriting track or Memoir/Fiction track, you will have a weekend to finish that screenplay or book you've been dreaming about. It's that simple.


3. Writing Family
Writing retreats are an opportunity to meet with other writers, share work and get support. At the retreats that I've attended, I've met writers who champion my every success and become life long friends.


4. Money and Bang For Your Buck
Many writing retreats are expensive and have crappy food and stuffy dorm-style rooms. This one is local and reasonably priced. After a scrumptious gourmet breakfast, lunch, and dinner catered by a professional chef, dessert and dancing in a gorgeous loft space with an incredible view of DTLA, you go home to your comfy bed. No extravagant plane flight tickets or hotel bill necessary! It all takes place over the course of one weekend so you don't even need to take time off.

Remember: Fall Break is fast and furious, affordable, local, and you will study with uber instructors!


This is how it works: Choose your track. Here are your options:

1. Screen Writing Track with Robbie Fox, Chris Hauty and Lamar Damon
Whip that pilot or film into shape with the heavy hitters of Hollywood: Robbie Fox ("So I Married An Axe Murderer", "Playing For Keeps") and Chris Hauty ("Never Back Down", "Homeward Bound II"). Get feedback on your screenplay ideas, find out how to get an agent and how to come up with commercial ideas and get to work! Costs: $245 for Weekend Pass (includes 3 classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies),  $75 for one-class pass (add lunch for $16, wine tasting for $16, Art Games class for $16, Writing Pad Hoedown for $16 or dinner for $21).

2. Fiction/Memoir Track with Ron Koertge and Monica Holloway 
Learn how to structure your book with pizazz and get feedback from the best in the biz. This weekend intensive includes courses with Writing Pad Founder Marilyn Friedman, bestselling memoirist Monica Holloway (Driving with Dead People, Cowboy and Wills) and with prolific, award-winning novelist and poet, Ron Koertge (Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses, Stoner & Spaz). Costs: $245 for Weekend Pass (includes 3 classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies), $75 for one-class pass (add lunch for $16, wine tasting for $16, Art Games class for $16, Writing Pad Hoedown for $16 or dinner for $21).

3. Personal Essay Track with Taffy Brodesser-Akner
By the end of Taffy's Personal Essay Bootcamp, you'll have an essay ready for publication (like the 21 other writers she's helped get published!). Taffy will dig out your naughty truth, figure out your essay's beating heart, and give you the structure you need to complete that essay that's been percolating in your gut for years. Taffy's essays have been published in The New York Times, The LA Times, Self, Salon and lots of other places. If you sign up for this track, you will be with her all weekend long. You must commit. I double dog dare you. Cost: $400 Weekend Pass (includes classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies.)

I'll see you at Writing Pad's incredible Fall Break the weekend of Nov. 2-4! My recommendation to you: sign up before it is sold out.

Don't Miss Your Moment With Susan Orlean

By Antonia Crane

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS.

It's a Writing Pad miracle: Susan Orlean is coming to Writing Pad on Thursday, November 1st from 8-9:30p.m. for a fireside chat. Do you want to know how to twist one life changing moment into a bestselling book? Of course you do. This is one of those moments. Don't miss yours. Seize this opportunity to grow as a writer and hear a literary icon speak about her process
 


Here's the deal: Susan  has been a staff writer for the New Yorker for 20 years. She is an award-winning author who turns journalistic scoops into literary gold. In 1999, Susan parlayed her exposé of high-end flower poaching in the Florida Everglades into a New York Times bestseller with The Orchid Thief which was the inspiration for the Oscar wining movie Adaptation.  More recently, she created another bestseller with her investigation into the exotic world of a canine film star in Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. Come hear Susan share her thoughts on everything from the art of storytelling, being a staff writer at The New Yorker, to being portrayed on screen by actress Meryl Streep!




After the chat, we will be gathering for a snack and drink or two. That's right, snacks, champagne, and the company of an amazing novelist! What more could you ask for? Click here to grab a spot before the event sells out! 

From Exposés To Epic Tales: A Fireside Chat with Susan Orlean 
Thurs., Nov. 1, 2012
8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Event Only: $20
(Includes snacks and champagne)
Event and Copy of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend: $32
(Includes event price, paperback, snacks and champagne)
Location: Writing Pad East (Downtown LA at the Corner of 7th and Santa Fe)

Here's a little more about Susan Orlean:
Susan Orlean is the bestselling author of eight books, including My Kind of Place, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, Saturday Night and Lazy Little Loafers. In 1999, she published The Orchid Thief, a narrative about orchid poachers in Florida, which was made into the Oscar-wining movie, Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. In 2011, her book Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, an account of Rin Tin Tin’s journey from orphaned puppy to international icon, was a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. It won the Ohioana Book Award and the Theatre Library Association’s Richard Wall Memorial Award. Susan has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1992. Her work can be found in Esquire, Rolling Stone, Outside, Smithsonian, and The New York Times. Orlean graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2003. In 2012 she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan.

Summer Comment Contest Winners

By Marilyn Friedman

We had so many fantastic story submissions for the summer comment contests. Below are the contest winners. If you didn't win this last round of contests, please continue commenting on this blog with your wonderful stories and poems. Remember, there is a new contest for October/November!

But before we tell you who won a free class at Writing Pad, here are some amazing courses that we have coming up soon on the West and East side of LA. You won't want to miss them!  Classes with an * will be held on the Westside of LA.

Comment Contest Winners
Jesse Sage Noonan
 May I have a drum roll please? The April/May Comment Contest Winner is Jesse Sage Noonan! Congratulations, Jesse! I asked the Jesse what inspires her to write. She says, "On a good day: a great novel will spark the desire to craft sentences or explore ideas for stories. On a bad day: guilt." You can read Jesse's wonderful piece about a memorable concert here.

Ethel Watson
The winner of the June/July Comment Contest is Ethel Watson!
Congratulations, Ethel! I asked Ethel about her writing practice. She says, "I like to write early in the morning at the computer, especially if I have hit on an idea or solution that I want to get down quickly. Often, though, I prefer to write in longhand in one of my many notebooks -- writing in longhand is more like meditation, and my notebooks are home to many of the writings from my Writing Pad classes and a source of inspiration. "
You can read Ethel's charming pieces about motherly talents and what's in her refrigerator here and here.

I hope to see you soon either on this blog or at Writing Pad West or East!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Favorite Cafes and Meaningful Words Writing Prompt

By Marilyn Friedman

Sometimes you just need a change of venue to get those creative juices flowing. I love writing in cafes. I escape the distractions of home and indulge in cafe latte's and tasty treats. These LA cafes have plenty of outlets, comfortable seating, and the perfect environment to motivate your fingers to start tapping on on your laptop: Bread Lounge, Bulgarini Gelato, Conservatory of Coffee, Le Pain Quotidien, Sweet Butter.

Speaking of motivation, we have a bunch of classes starting this week that will help you find the best, most productive writer inside of you. Showcase yourself as a writer! Craft an essay that will mystify an audience in Moth Me Baby starting this Sun., Oct. 21 with Pinata curator and Pushcart Prize nominee Christine Schoenwald. Or, launch your acting career with an amazing one-person show with award-winning performer and writer Lauren Weedman in Get Truthy starting this Tues., Oct. 23! Both classes include show bookings.

If screenwriting is more your thing, learn what it takes to craft an irresistible pilot in Writing A Pilot That Can Fly with Emmy-award winning writer Jeff Kahn starting Mon., Oct. 22. Jeff's sold 13 pilots and worked on every major network. He'll read your entire pilot and give you a one-on-one consult at the end of class!

Also, this Sun., Oct. 21, the amazing Annabelle Gurwitch (Huffington Post, More, LA Times) is back with Punch Up Your Prose. Annabelle's class will add TNT to your writing. She'll show you how to blow up small details and flip descriptions in surprising ways to end your stories with a BANG!



A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full, my darlings.

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting This Week
The Found Story: Finding Your Story In The Street*
Get Your Book Published Intensive
Punch Up Your Prose: Extracting Story Gold
It's Playtime: Writing For Kids
Fist Fights, Car Chases and Shoot Outs: Writing Action Scenes for Fiction*
Moth Me Baby

Classes Starting Next Week
Writing A Pilot That Can Fly 
Get Truthy: A One-Person Show Intensive
So You Want To Be A Writer?*
Finishing School*
Do Re Mi, Baby: Humorous Songwriting Made Easy
Hanky Panky: Writing The Erotic*

Events
From Exposés To Epic Tales: A Fireside Chat with Susan Orlean

Retreats
Writing Pad Fall Break 

Book Publishing
Fiction and Memoir
Fall Break Fiction/Memoir Track
Get Your Grimm On: Finding Your Inner Fairy Tale*
True Tales: Writing A Compelling Past

Journalism, Personal Essay and Web Writing
You've Been Featured: Writing The Magazine or Newspaper Article*
Fall Break Personal Essay Track
Query Letter Clinic: Writing The Pitch That Sells Your Story

Writing for Actors
Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

Screenwriting


Writing Prompt: Meaningful Words
Make a list of your 5 favorite words or words that you mother used when she was angry with you. Pick one. Write down an image that comes to mind when you think of that word. Add a sensory detail (sound, taste, touch or smell) that goes with that word. Now write for 10 minutes and post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!


I am going to write about how my mother used to call me a piggy when she was mad. "Don't be a piggy," she said! It was a catch-all word she used to describe nasty behavior as well as bad table manners.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest).

If you need more inspiration than what I've provided, here's an amazing poem on the word F*ck by Kim Addonizio.

Write about your favorite word or a word that your mother used as a weapon!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

LA Storytelling Shows and Inherited Trait Writing Prompt

By Marilyn Friedman

Wow, I blinked, and we are only two days away from October. How did that happen? Do I always say that?

I have been very busy loading up the fall schedule with fantastic classes on both East and West sides of LA, my dears. So I'm sorry that it's been a few weeks since I posted.

I have taken a few respites from work to attend fantastic storytelling shows like Sit n Spin where our instructor and Emmy-award winning writer Jeff Kahn performed a hilarious essay from his new memoir and Taboo Tales where Writing Padder Julie Evan Smith read a funny, very moving essay on her search for love. Other terrific storytelling shows that I like to go to in LA include Pinata at Bang, Tongue and Groove, and The Moth. They are inexpensive, entertaining, and a great place to showcase yourself as a writer if your essay gets accepted!

Speaking of showcasing yourself as a writer, you automatically get booked in two storytelling shows (optional) and get feedback on an essay if you take Moth Me Baby next Sunday with Pinata curator and Pushcart Prize nominee Christine Schoenwald. If screenwriting is more your bag, learn what it takes to move your pilot to the green light pile and how to get a staff writing job in Let Your Pilot Take Off with Cartoon Network' and 3 Arts Entertainment's Julie Whitesell this Monday. And we haven't forgotten about you fiction writers either! Multi-award-winning writer Maureen McHugh will help you whip a novel chapter or short story and get it published in her Fiction Bootcamp starting this Tuesday.

A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full, my darlings. I hope to see you soon. Note: classes with an asterix will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting This Week/Next Week
Let Your Pilot Take Off: Crafting A Compelling TV Show (2 Day)*
Fiction Bootcamp: Mastering The Art of The Tale Tale*
So You Want To Be A Writer?
Finishing School
From Bedtime Stories To Tales Of Teenage Woe: Writing For Kids And YA*
Punch Up Your Prose: Extracting Comedic Gold
Moth Me Baby: A Performed Essay Workshop

This is one of the traits that I inherited from my mother. Scroll down for a writing prompt that capitalizes on inherited traits.

Book Publishing
Fiction and Memoir
You Wanna Get Theoretical?
Pitching For The Press: A Query Letter Clinic
You've Been Featured: Writing The Big Story
You In 1200 Words: Writing and Publishing The Personal Essay (5 Wk)*
Personal Essay II: The Advanced Class*

Writing for Actors
Get Truthy: A One-Person Show Intensive
Do Re Mi, Baby: Humorous Songwriting Made Easy

Screenwriting




Writing Prompt: Inherited Traits
Trapped in your house because you are afraid of Carmageddon 2? When LA traffic is too hellacious to fathom, it's the perfect time to write, my loves. Make a list of your 5 things that you have inherited from your mother (father, grandmother, etc.). For instance, you could write down the way you and your brother always leave the cabinets open, the big, pear shaped butt you got from your mother, or the eerily similar laugh that you and your father share. Pick one. Add a sensory detail to it (e.g. smell, taste, sound, touch). Now write for 10 minutes and post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class at Writing Pad!

I am going to write about either my pear shaped Friedman fanny or the intense bossiness I inherited from my mother. I try to hide my bossiness from most people, but in reality, I am so bossy that my husband has given me the nickname, Bossy Bear, which is an actual cartoon character with her own picture book.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest).

Write about those pesky, or not so pesky, inherited traits!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

You've been Kahned! Master Screenwriter Jeff Kahn Tells All

By Priscilla Leonard

Jeff Kahn's writing, which fluidly crosses genres as diverse as screenwriting to personal essay, elevates silliness to a high art. His distinct wit consistently transforms the painful absurdity of daily life into comedic gold.

Emmy award-winning writer, Jeff Kahn got his big break co-writing and co-starring in“The Ben Stiller Show” on MTV. Since then, he sold over a dozen television pilots both on his own and with his writing partner Aline Brosh McKenna of “The Devil Wears Prada” fame. He also sold three original screenplays and produced pilots at every major network including FX, MTV and Comedy Central. Jeff had overall writing deals at Sony and Castle Rock. In 2010, he co-authored "You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up” with his wife, Annabelle Gurwitch, which received rave reviews from People Magazine, Publishers Weekly and the Washington Post.

We caught up with Jeff in Atwater Village to hear his insights about the screenwriting life.

Jeff Kahn Expresses His Affection For Wine
1. When did you start your screenwriting career and how did you break in?

I wrote a TV pilot (hand written, not typed) for MTV called "Patio Party". It never got produced, but it was good enough to land me a job on MTV’s hit show "Remote Control".  From there, Ben Stiller and I (we were doing stand up together at that time) created our own MTV pilot, "The Ben Stiller Show". We did 13 shows for MTV, got a pilot deal at Fox from that, and two years and three pilots later did 12 episodes for Fox. The year after the Stiller Show won an Emmy, I sold a feature script I had been working on for years to Universal called "Spies and Innkeepers". It was a comedy set in the American Revolution.

2. You have sold an impressive number of pilots and screenplays and have written for every major TV network. What is the secret to your success?

Please, I have no secrets, and as far as success, it comes and goes. I guess the best thing you can say about me is that I’m spunky and refuse to go away.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters? A) For folks who want to become working TV writers? B) For anyone who has an original screenplay or TV show that they want to sell?


Never let the dream crushers (the gatekeepers whose job it is to say “NO!”) get you down.  Persevere, keep writing, and never give up. You do something that they can’t do. You can write. Create. Make something out of nothing. They can’t have a TV show or a film without a writer. So write. And after you’re done, rewrite. Rewriting is the key to writing.

4. You’ve collaborated with a number of well-known writers, including Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Aline Brosh McKenna, and even your wife, Annabelle Gurwitch. Do you recommend having a writing partner? How do you select your writing partners?

I highly recommend having a partner. It’s good to bounce stuff off each other, make each other work harder and become better writers. I’ve loved all my partners. Partnerships can be particularly helpful when writing comedy. You know something is funny if you can make them laugh. 

All of my writing partners have come about by luck. I met Ben through mutual friends, and he wanted to do stand up so I said, “Okay, let’s do it together.” So we started performing a stand up act. I had no idea that someday he’d be a major international movie star and I’d be still me. Little known writer at the time, Judd Apatow, Ben and I wrote the pilot for the Fox Ben Stiller Show. 

Aline is a different story. We were set up on a “writer’s date” by a mutual friend who was an executive at Newline at that time. She had an idea for a TV show that she thought needed both a male and female POV.  Aline and I hit it off right away and although we didn’t end up selling that pilot we did have five very successful and fun filled years together. As far as Annabelle is concerned, well, we’re married and writing with your wife should be against the law. 

5. You have been able to pursue a career as a screenwriter, memoirist, and playwright, in addition to having a family. What advice do you have for people trying to find the time for a regular writing practice?

Having a family opens your heart and head to so much, inspires your imagination, answers a lot of interesting questions about life, asks even more interesting questions as well as sucking you dry.  Having a baby is like taking care of a helpless vampire who you love more than anything but is also draining you of your life force. Being a parent of a teen now, just doing his laundry takes hours away from writing time. So, you have to write when you can, anywhere you can. For me, it’s in my car, when parked of course, multiple Starbucks, at his baseball games and bass lessons, during lunch at restaurants, at night in bars, and even on the toilet.

6. How did you learn your screenwriting craft?  How much of it did you teach yourself (and how did you teach yourself) and how much did you learn from people you worked with?

When I first started writing in 1888, I mean 1988, most of my formal training stemmed from Improv comedy that operates without a script. But even those sketches demand something of an outline, character attributes and some light plot devices. Ben helped me immensely.  He was and is a perfectionist and he scrutinized every word I wrote. He was a dictatorial taskmaster of epic proportion, but I needed it. I didn’t have formal training... 

During this time, I read screenplays that Ben had lying around and copied the structure I learned from reading them when I wrote my first screenplay, "Spies and Innkeepers".  David Kissinger who was an exec at Disney along with his partner at the time, Jordon Levin, schooled Aline and me on pilot writing after they bought our first pitch. The legendary Larry Charles of Seinfeld writing and Borat-directing fame was my boss on my first animated show "Dilbert". Recently, the brilliant TV producer, Nina Wass acted as a college professor for Annabelle and me as we turned our book into an hour-long dramatic pilot for Lifetime.    

7. You have a very distinctive, humorous voice as a writer. How did you cultivate your comic style?
My voice has changed over the years. I think it’s still evolving. I have more, for lack of a better word, command over my voice now than when I was younger. Basically, I started out as a Woody Allen wanna be.  Later, performing in an Improv group in Madison, Wisconsin during college helped me to channel what I was studying – political science, history, literature – into short satirical sketches and parodies. For a few years that sketch writing was my voice. 

With Ben, this sketch writing became streamlined to focus exclusively on his comic vision skewering cultural and media content. That was my voice for at least five years. Then I started to write sit-coms with Aline, and I found a new, more irreverent comedic voice bouncing stuff off of her.   I found that voice to be closer to who I really was…

I began writing personal essays/stories about my life, my past, my marriage and performing them at literary salons around LA.  Eventually some of these stories became the roots of the book "You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up", I co-authored with my wife.  That voice, the voice I found writing with her, is the nearest I’ve gotten at writing something truly genuine and authentic.

8. What do you think makes a good TV show?


Many of the great TV writers are very good at distilling writing to its most accessible essence.  Some call this mediocre or formulaic, and that may be true to a certain extent, but if everyone could do it and do it that well, there would be a lot more show-runners and show creators than we currently have.

9. You have penned so many TV shows, plays, movies, and books. What inspires you to keep coming up with new ideas? Do you ever get writer’s block?

Money.  (Or the lack there of.) Also, I’m still very hungry for success because many of my friends are super successful, famous and rich and I’m insecure and in need of validation. (Hey, at least I’m honest.)  Also, I use writing as a cathartic tool so it serves the psychological function of cleaning out my head...  Luckily, my life is complicated, problematic, funny and entertaining, so I never run out of ideas. 

Writing Pad is pleased to host two classes with Jeff Kahn, Work The Room: Mastering the Power of the Pitch starting September 19 and Writing A Pilot That Can Fly starting on October 22. Click the links above to sign up before they are full! You are also invited to join the Writing Pad crew at Sit 'N' Spin this coming Thurs. September 6 to hear Jeff read a hysterical story from his new erotic memoir, "Lust and Found".

Welcome To Fall and Writing Prompt: Memorable Hotels


By Marilyn Friedman

I don't know what you did over the past few days, but Mr. Writing Pad and I had a busy Labor Day weekend that included some of my favorite summer activities: grilling steak and corn with friends, long writing sessions inside with the air conditioning going full blast, and dips in the pool near our home to cool off.

Let Writing Pad help you take the sting out of summer being over. We have a ton of wonderful new classes planned for you in September and October to make your fall as special as your summer. This weekend, we are honored to have Kenneth Johnson, the creator of "V", "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Bionic Woman", and "The Incredible Hulk" teaching a class on how to write a TV series that has legs (producing infinite story ideas) and appeals to both men and women. Don't miss Nice Legs! Creating The Series That Keeps On Giving this Sunday afternoon!  

To sign up for this and any other one of our terrific classes before they are sold out, click on the links below or email marilyn@writingpad.com. *Classes with an asterix will be held at our Westside location in Culver City! 

Classes Starting This Week
Short And Sweet: The Art Of The Short Story*
Fantasies, Flashbacks, and Fictions: The Inner Life of Your Characters
Nice Legs! Creating The Series That Keeps On Giving

Classes Starting Next Week
Short And Sweet: The Art Of The Short Story*
Pitching For The Press: A Query Letter Clinic
From Cheng Du to Timbuktu: Writing The Road Less Traveled
IAMAWESOME.BLOGSPOT.COM PLUS!
Page One: Writing The Feature Article
You In 1200 Words: Writing and Publishing The Personal Essay (5 Wk)*
Personal Essay II: The Advanced Class*

Writing for Actors
Get Truthy: A One-Person Show Intensive

Writing A Pilot That Can Fly


Writing Prompt: Memorable Hotels
I'm assuming that a lot of you had travel plans this weekend so perhaps you have a new story idea to contribute to this writing prompt.

Make a list of 5 memorable or crazy hotel stays for you (or a fictional character). For instance, you could write about the time that you got locked out of your room, got an amazing upgrade and saw a Cindy Crawford in the elevator, stole all of the towels and got caught by housekeeping, etc. Pick one of the memorable hotel stays. Add a sensory detail to this scene (smell, taste, sound, touch, sight). Now write for 10 minutes about your memorable hotel stay, including the sensory detail and post the results in the comments of this blog!

This prompt reminds me of the time that my husband and I went to Guilin, China, and the glass shower doors in our hotel bathroom fell off of their hinges and broke into a million pieces at 3 a.m. The hotel blamed us for this mishap even though we were in bed the whole time!

Write about a memorable hotel stay! If you post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, you could win a free class!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Chicago and LA Restaurant Picks and Home Town Writing Prompt

By Marilyn Friedman

Me, Top Chef Winner, Stephanie Izard, and Mr. Writing Pad

I can't believe that it's August already! I don't know what you've been up to, but I've spent the last week and a half with my family close to my home town: Skokie, Illinois. I am reminded of how much slower the pace of life is in the suburbs and after 10 days, I'm more than ready to launch back into my urban lifestyle.
Ironically, although I've lived in cities for over 15 years, going to the city of Chicago still seems exciting and forbidden to a former suburbanite like me. I even get excited when I see the signs for city streets like Pulaski and Randolph as we race down highway 94.

My one fun excursion to the elusive city during this trip was very memorable. We dined at Girl & The Goat, the restaurant of Top Chef Winner Stephanie Izard, and had a stellar meal, then trotted over to Ing Restaurant for some Miracle Berry drinks that turned ultra sour beverages to sweet, and then somehow, Jeff had room in his stomach for a burger so we went to Grange Hall Burger Bar and had a fantastic burger with sauteed mushrooms and blue cheese. I will definitely be going back there for their homemade ice cream and locally sourced libations the next time I blast into town.

Fantastic Escargot Ravioli at Girl & The Goat

Pig Face at Girl & The Goat (I know it sounds gross, but it was amazing!)

Next weekend, I hope that you will join me to celebrate the best places in LA, including my new favorite downtown bakery, Bread Bar and of course, Writing Pad. On Sat., Aug. 18 we will be having an adult Summer Camp with award-winning novelist and short story writer Maureen McHugh, famous memoirist and personal essayist Annabelle Gurwitch, and "Mad Men" screenwriters Victor Levin and Michael Saltzman! We'll take you to the pool, feed you some of the best food you've ever eaten, and most importantly, you'll study with successful writers who can help you launch your writing career. 
For instance, this is your last chance to learn from Victor Levin and Michael Saltzman until next spring. Learn how to punch up the drama or comedy in a scene of your screenplay, webisode, or TV show in Punch It Up and find out how to become a successful screenwriter in From Pitch To Paycheck: A Screenwriter's Journey. You won't get these classes or networking opportunities anywhere else!
Victor Levin, Screenwriter Extraordinaire
On Sun., Aug 19 on the West side, award-winning novelist Zoe Archer will show you how to write gripping action scenes in Fist Fights, Car Chases and Shoot Outs: Writing Action Scenes for Fiction and successful journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner will teach you how to get an essay or article published in a women's magazine in What Women Want: Writing For The Women's Glossy. Taffy has already helped 16 of our students get published! I want you to be next.
To sign up for a class, click on the links below or email marilyn@writingpad.com or call 323-333-2954. I hope to see you soon 


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER CLASSES
*Classes with an asterix will be held at our Westside location in Culver City.

Classes Starting Aug. 12 - Aug. 19
Writing The Market Friendly Masterpiece
Writing Pad Summer Camp



Writing Prompt:
For this week's writing prompt, make a list of 3 things that are special or memorable about your home town or your fictional character's home town (e.g. restaurants, museums, people, food items, traditions). Pick one. Now add a sensory detail to it (smell, taste, sound, touch). Now write for 10 minutes about this special thing in your home town. You could write an ode poem to it or a scene that takes place at that location. Then, post the results in the comments of this blog!

For instance, I'm going to write about the stuffed pizza at Giordano's. The pizza is so gooey and rich--it is one of my favorite things about the Chicago area. We'd always go to Giordano's for cast parties in high school. Psst: you can even order a pizza to be shipped to you even if you don't live in the Chicago area! It's a decadent treat.

Write about what's special about your home town. If you post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, you could win a free class!