(Excerpted from the upcoming release Little Gems: Better Notes on Story and Screenwriting, By Barbara NIcolosi and Vicki Peterson) The professional writer’s life is marked by its lack of real marks. It is a life without uniform or dress code, without schedule, colleagues or bosses, without regular salary and generally without an office. Of course, when things are going, you can have all of these – except the uniform – but, on the whole, writers make their living in isolated... Read more

Student: Why did you take points off here? Me: Because ‘riffles’ isn’t a word. Student: Not yet. I made it up. Me: There are innate problems in individuals making up their own words. Student: I think everyone has a right to make up their own words. Me: Femka. Student: Huh? Me: That’s my word for your grade. Student: I’m being serious here. Me: Kwerb. Read more

Gravity – Directed by Alfonso Cuaron; Written by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron; Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney; PG-13 for intense situations I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say this before, but I have never had a movie experience anything remotely like what Gravity provides. If only because it is the most purely cinematic non-animated movie ever made, Gravity deserves to go down in history. It is a thrilling piece in which the spectacle never stops, but... Read more

The truth is, the tragic note that should be given about many scripts that are on the floors, desks, chairs and trunks in Hollywood is, “This script should never have been written.” Scripts get written that shouldn’t, in the same way unplanned pregnancies happen. People who may or may not be writers have a one night stand with a cheap idea and then, a few weeks or months later, push out a draft. What should have happened is a hard... Read more

I admit it. I almost can’t wait for this book to come out and keep wondering how I could get my hands on an advance copy. As far as the significance of Flannery O’Connor as a writer – believer – artist, I think Br. Louis, a.k.a. the very accomplished author of The Seven Storey Mountain, said it best: “When I read Flannery O’Connor, I do not think of Hemingway, or Katherine Anne Porter, or Sartre, but rather of someone like... Read more

Thanks so much to journalist, Michelle Martin for doing this piece for the Chicago Archdiocesan paper, Catholic New World. Rarely have I ever been so pleased with the results of an interview. Usually, I ramble on for an hour talking too fast and throwing in lots of corollaries, which makes it all my fault when I get misquoted or taken out of context as I invariably do. But Michelle beautifully transcended my flaws as an interviewee. Consider me a new... Read more

(Notes from a talk I gave earlier this year which folks asked me to share.) I. What We Have Lost and Why it Matters The sad thing is, if you walked on the street and took a spot survey, asking people to name the Patron of the Arts, few people would say, the Christian Church. People would probably say The Sundance Institute or the National Endowment for the Arts or the Bravo Channel. And they would be right! Hollywood does... Read more

Just finalizing plans for tomorrow night for the second meeting of Lens. Someone wanted to know what my comments will be on. I will be speaking for a little bit on the topic, “Friendship and Creativity.” I will mainly be using a 12th Century Catholic classic by St. Aelred of Rivaulx called “On Spiritual Friendship.” I will relate it to the life of a Hollywood professional. 5 PM MASS at St. Dominic’s (their Saturday vigil Mass) 6 PM DINNER that... Read more

Here’s a message about a meeting tomorrow night in NYC that is being hosted by the Catholic Aritists Society. greg Wolfe is always worth fitting in to your schedule. Wish I could be there. ———————————- Dear friends, Looking forward to seeing you at tomorrow night’s opening of The Art of the Beautiful lecture series, co-sponsored by the Thomistic Institute. Gregory Wolfe, author and editor of the literary journal Image, will address the question “Art – For Whose Sake?” Mr. Wolfe,... Read more

Here is something I wrote in the days and weeks after September 11, 2001. I was afraid that I might forget. Read more