Tag Archive for Willamette Writers

Nailing the Turkey Down

You don’t have to observe Thanksgiving, Hanukah or Christmas to feel the press of the holidays already upon us. November has been a busy month for #FiLMLaB contest, between updating the website, planning a workshop, lining up judges and exploring greater partnership with Portland Film Festival, recently named one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals…

FiLMLaB 2015: While You’re Waiting

Willamette Writers Script to Scree FilmLab Open for submissions

Although the January launch of the 2015 FiLMLaB contest is rapidly approaching; there is still plenty of time to sharpen the tools in your writers toolkit so they are appropriately honed for short scripts. Not only will it improve your odds of winning the contest (and having your script produced and filmed), it will benefit…

Happy Halloween From FiLMLaB!

Are your jack o’lanterns carved? Is your costume complete and ready to wear? Have you reassembled your lawn displays of tombstones, witches, skeletons and monsters that last week’s windstorm battered about? Then you are ready for National Novel Writing Month! Halloween is the last night to pretend you’re not a writer before the official start…

How To Avoid the Self-Published Look, Part 2

by Dick Lutz 7. Capitalize the title and subtitle. The first word, last word, and every noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb should be capitalized. Articles, prepositions shorter than five letters, and conjunctions use lowercase letters. Be aware that not all “small” words are to be lowercased. Some small words are verbs (for example, “Is,…

How To Avoid the Self-Published Look, Part 1

by Dick Lutz Appearance Is Everything There’s a lot less stigma of self-publishing than there used to be, but it still exists. Regardless of the stigma, there’s no reason why your book can’t look just as good as one published by, say, Random House. The steps to avoid the self-published look are simple but they…

Welcome – Willamette Writers FiLMLaB 2015

Willamette Writers FiLMLaB 2015 will be beginning its fourth annual Script-to-Screen Competition soon. In preparation, we had a brainstorming session yesterday that included myself, Ruth Witteried (last year’s FiLMLaB chair), Stefan Feuerherdt (last year’s conference chair), Martin Vavra and Alyssa Roehrenbeck (Director and Assistant Director of this year’s film, Unwelcome Guests), and the always amusing and insightful…

The Grand Experiment: Experience from the FiLMLaB

  There are very few jobs in the world where, when you walk into a room, anyone can say they do without some sort of validation. If you walk into a party, and someone asks if you are a doctor or a police officer or a car mechanic, these titles will instigate follow up questions…

FiLMLaB Celebrates Portland Film Festival

Welcome writers, screenwriters and film lovers of all stripes to the final week before the Portland Film Festival kickoff. There is still plenty of time to review the seven day schedule of films, classes and music, and tailor an experience that uniquely fits where you are as a writer/filmmaker right now. Start every day with…

Conference + Books For Kids

Donating to Books for Kids was highlighted in this year’s conference. This year, in addition to the generous donation of 20% of all profits given to Books For Kids and Young Willamette Writers, Barnes and Noble sold children’s books that could be donated to the Books For Kids program. And the program received 40 brand…