372 - No Writing Left Behind

John and Craig discuss the dangers of leave-behinds. The “writing before the writing” is an important part of the craft, but giving it away for free is bad for everyone.

We also answer a listener question about character wants versus needs, and why that distinction has become such a guru staple.

Links:

Hope to see you this weekend at the Austin Film Festival! You can also catch John at the Texas Book Festival and the Boulder Book Store Event No Writing Left Behind The Confidence Gap by Claire Shipman, Katty Kay and JillEllyn Riley for The New York Times Youtube TV T-shirts are available here! We’ve got new designs, including Colored Revisions, Karateka, and Highland2. The USB drives! John August on Twitter Craig Mazin on Twitter John on Instagram Find past episodes Scriptnotes Digital Seasons are also now available! Outro by Luke Brown (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.