The Art of Storytelling.

In a review of director Angelina Jolie's new movie, In the Land of Blood & Honey, Entertainment Weekly columnist Owen Gleiberman praises her diligence in recounting the facts, but writes that "there's still a big difference between telling it like it is and telling it compellingly."

The film earned only a C+ from him.

Even when it is reality-based, the best storytelling is anything but average.

The Power of Intention.

New Year's Resolutions are so last year.

Wha't current are your intentions.

So, instead of saying "I want to lose 10 pounds," try "I will eat better and exercise more, so I believe I will lose the weight." 

It's a small shift in thinking that can make a big difference in results.

Happy 2012. 

Once Upon a Sentence.

"It was a humid afternoon in late September, the kind of weather that makes an apple feel slightly greasy  to the touch."

So begins writer John Seabrook's food piece called "Crunch" in the November 21 issue of The New Yorker.

It's a grabber, as we say in the industry.

Don't you want to read on?  

The Power of Metaphor.

Politics aside, in the December issue of GQ writer Drew Magary pens a powerful metaphor about President Obama in a feature called "The Least Influencial People Alive,"  penning "he wields all the power of a substitute teacher at night school."

You know it's apt because you get an ouch reading it.

Vanishing Points & Creativity.

In the December 9 issue of Entertainment Weekly, director Steven Spielberg talks about growing up in Arizona and how it influenced his filmmaking:

"We subscribed to a magazine called Arizona Highways.  It was always shots of roads going to infinity, going off into the vanishing points.  I tried to appropriate a little bit of this lonely road to nowhere for Close Encounters.  So the idea of a straight-line highway going to a vanishing point is compelling."

As a new resident of Arizona, I find myself staring and dreaming along these saguaro-studded straight roads myself.  I trust it will boost my creativity.

Task Vs. Time Orientation.

Freelancers, like farmers, artisans and mothers are task-oriented not time-oriented, says freelance writer Dennis Coello.

Having moved my household 2,000 miles in the past month, I agree.

The tasks when moving are many; the tasks when writing are myriad.  Time falls away.

Two Adjectives for a Hell of a Film.

The ferocious John Hawkes and the luminous Elizabeth Olsen give Oscar-worthy performances in this American horror story with a pitch-perfect script.

 http://www.foxsearchlight.com/marthamarcymaymarlene/