From an early August 2015 live teleconference, our Curious About Screenwriting Co-Host, Laurie Lamson, interviews screenwriter, Christopher Dewan. It is, however, more than just an interview. It could be considered a brainstorming session to generate not only more ideas, but ideas that deliver a winning recipe. Dewan states there are two halves to the creative process: generating ideas and then finding shapes to hold them. Screenwriting workshops tend to focus on the second half - structure - because it's easier to teach. But ideas themselves are considered unteachable, arcane and magical - gifts from the muse, so to speak. Whatever that muse, or writer God, may be.

So where do ideas come from? Christopher talks about how you can cultivate them into stories you want to tell and how to maintain a state of mind so you're always generating more. This fabulous interview offers tangible techniques and useful tricks to write in a way that resonates with relevant, personal themes - writing that rises up unplanned from your unconscious and leads you toward stories that only you could write. Thank you for listening to our Curious About Screenwriting podcasts. The ISA holds free teleconferences every month, so stay tuned to our Classes section of the ISA website – networkISA.org – and don’t forget to share and spread the word about our free podcast series. Enjoy.

In a short installment of our Curious About Screenwriting podcasts, I interviewed Derek Christopher. Derek has been the go-to guy for the top consultants in the industry for over a decade. By organizing major events, seminars, and speaking arrangements with names such as late great Syd Field, Robert McKee, and Linda Seger, Derek has firsthand experience of how important working with a consultant really is.

Derek also runs and organizes Story Expo. Story Expo is a once-a-year event where writers and storytellers of all kinds gather in Los Angeles not only to network, but to take classes from the top consultants. Specific classes and seminars that are truly applicable and incredibly educational where you own personal writing craft is concerned. Taking place over the weekend of September 11, if you can make it out to Story Expo this year, it will be a can’t miss event. The ISA will happily be joining Derek and if you would like to meet the staffers of the International Screenwriter Association, as well as yours truly, come on out and say hi. You can learn more at www.StoryExpo.com.