Description
🏆 2021 BIBA® Non-Fiction: Writing Winner!
From screenwriter and author J. Michael Straczynski, Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer offers expert insider advice to help fellow writers establish lasting careers as storytellers.
In the words of novelist Harlan Ellison, “The trick is not becoming a writer. The trick is staying a writer.
New York Times bestselling author and British Academy Award nominee J. Michael Straczynski knew he wanted to be a writer ever since he was a child. What he didn’t know was how to actually become, or stay, a writer.
Now, he’s giving fellow writers the comprehensive guide he wishes he had all along, personalized tips and techniques that can’t be found in any other book on writing.
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer culls from Straczynski’s more than thirty years of experience writing for film, television, books, and comics. Designed for writers in any stage of their career, this quirky, insightful and often humorous book provides an inside look at these industries with advice and wisdom covering such topics such as:
• What fledgling writers need to know to improve and sell their work—and avoid wasting valuable time
• Tips for experienced writers who want to get to the next level
• Staying disciplined when writing is your day job
• Why writers should never wait for inspiration
• Story-planning strategies that don’t kill your spontaneity
• Expert techniques for effective, memorable world-building
• How to get an agent and survive the writer’s journey in more personal relationships
• Revising and editing with precision
• When and how to reinvent yourself as an artist
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer includes Straczynski’s unique, tried-and-true methodologies that will help storytellers sharpen their work so that it’s polished and ready for publication. Part toolbox and part survival guide, this book will be an indispensable guide throughout your entire writing career, offering fresh and practical insights every step of the way.
Joseph Michael Straczynski (/strəˈzɪnski/) is an American television and film screenwriter, producer and director, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is also the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel’s Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013).
From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics’ The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is also the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe’s Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was also named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet, and allow their viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show.
Learn more about J Michael Straczynski at:
