General
Books on Writing
Blogs, Videos, & Podcasts
Harvardwood Videos
Links to Other Resources
Features
Books on Screenwriting
Programs and Competitions
Television
Books on TV Writing
Loglines
Industry Standards
TV Spec Writing
Pitching
TV Series Bibles
Competitions & Festivals
Diversity Fellowships & Writers' Programs
Browse all book recommendations in our Amazon store below!
General
Books on Writing
- The Artist's Way* by Julia Camon
- The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
- The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
- The Now Habit* by Neil A. Fiore
- Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
- On Writing by Stephen King
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Writing from the Inside Out* by Dennis Palumbo
- The War of Art* by Steven Pressfield
- Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story by Jerry Weissman
Plus a Harvardwood special—book recommendations for writers/directors offered by Paris Barclay !
*Particularly helpful for writer's block and/or procrastination
Purchasing these books on Amazon? Shop AmazonSmile to support Harvardwood!
Blogs, Videos, & Podcasts
- BBC Writers Room Interviews
- Creative Screenwriting (magazine) - Editor Jeff Goldsmith conducts carefully researched and thoughtful interviews with some of today's top Feature and TV writers in front of a live audience.
- Go Into the Story by Scott Myers, official screenwriting blog of The Black List
- On Story - by the Austin Film Festival
- Podcasts by Jen Grisanti Consultancy, Inc. - An outstanding series of interviews with today's working writers. Jen uses her experience as a TV exec and her in-depth knowledge of the industry to ask insightful questions that really bring out the best in her guests.
- Scriptnotes - John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters, everything from the craft to the business to the best ways to actually get yourself writing.
- WordPlay - Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio's blog, a great series of articles on writing and the industry.
Harvardwood Videos*
*Only dues-current Full Members may view these videos
Links to Other Resources
- BBC Writer's Lab
- The Black List (founded by Franklin Leonard AB '00)
- Writers Guild of America Resources
- UCB's LA Diversity Program
Features
Books on Screenwriting
- How to Make It in Hollywood by Linda Buzzell
- Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood & Screenwriting by William Goldman
- Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach by Paul Gulino (see Paul's Harvardwood lecture)
- Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business by David Mamet
- Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself (and Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience by Stephanie Palmer
Purchasing these books on Amazon? Shop AmazonSmile to support Harvardwood!
Programs and Competitions
- Academy Nicholl Fellowship
- Austin Film Festival
- Film Independent Screenwriting Lab
- Final Draft Big Break Contest
- Harvardwood Writers Competition
- Slamdance Screenplay Competition
- Sundance Screenwriters Lab
- Universal Pictures' Emerging Writers Fellowship
- The Guide to Screenwriting Contests
Screenplays
Television
Books on TV Writing
- Desperate Networks by Bill Carter
- Writing the Television Drama Series by Pam Douglas
- Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer's Guide to the TV Business by Chad Gervich
- The Hidden Tools of Comedy by Steve Kaplan
- Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger
- Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV by Joe Toplyn AB '75, MBA '79
- Writing for Episodic Television: From Freelance to Showrunner edited by John Wirth and Jeff Melvoin AB '75
Purchasing these books on Amazon? Shop AmazonSmile to support Harvardwood!
Loglines
- How to Write a Logline by Christopher Lockhart - "I WROTE A 120 PAGE SCRIPT BUT CAN’T WRITE A LOGLINE: THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LOGLINE"
- Writing the TV Spec & Pilot Scripts by Jen Grisanti - How can you write a memorable spec script that helps get you staffed? Why is it so hard to write a TV pilot script that not only gets you noticed, but could sell?
Industry Standards
- WGA Writer & Producer levels / titles
- In order of seniority:
- Executive producer / Showrunner
- Co-executive producer
- Supervising producer
- Coordinating producer (for reality / documentary)
- Producer
- Co-producer
- Consulting producer
- Associate producer (for reality / documentary)
- Segment producer (for reality / documentary)
- Executive Story Editor
- Story Editor
- Staff Writer
- Freelance
TV Spec Writing
- What's Hot & What's Not: Drama 2014 & Comedy 2014
Pitching
- "How to Survive Pilot Season" - The Hollywood Reporter
- Tips from the HWP—TV Modules Program
TV Series Bibles (PDF Downloads)
Competitions & Festivals
Diversity Fellowships & Writers' Programs
- CBS Diversity Institute & Writers Mentoring Program
- Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment New Writers Fellowship
- Disney | ABC Writing Program
- NALIP Diverse Women in Media Initiative
- National Hispanic Media Coalition TV Writers Program
- NBC Writers on the Verge
- Nickelodeon Writing Program
- Slamdance Screenplay Competition
- Sundance Episode Storytelling Lab
- Sundance Institute | YouTube New Voices Lab
- WB Writers' Workshop
- WhoHaHa TV
View The Black List's Writers Calendar for competition & festival deadlines.