Diane Sherlock

  • The Green Bench Film

    I wouldn’t write the flash fiction the same way today. A few years ago, The Green Bench was one of those rare writing events that arrived whole. Adapted into a short film, it’s a different story. The first draft I wrote was a literal adaptation – too one note, too depressing. The blessing and (if…

  • the gravity of values and time

    Last night, I was very fortunate to attend the SAG-AFTRA screening of INTERSTELLAR at the IMAX Chinese Theater. Don’t worry – absolutely no spoilers here. If you like Chris Nolan’s work, you’ll enjoy the movie. One note: there was a Q&A after with Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. McConaughey told us they did…

  • Dead Weight

    Why do we write certain stories? There are probably as many answers as there are writers. Growing up, I wanted to write a novel – I finally realized it was a question of when. I had to start or it was never going to happen. At the time, I was enamored of scuba diving and…

  • What is Home?

    Okay, this isn’t the post I’d planned, but that happens a lot in writing, film, life…. The most powerful and enduring stories are about going home. When we are too long away from home, we describe ourselves as sick with the longing for it. Dorothy to Odysseus, quests and walkabouts; Shakespeare notes it in Henry…

  • faith & art

    “Back of every creation, supporting it like an arch, is faith. Enthusiasm is nothing: it comes and goes. But if one believes, then miracles occur.” ~ Henry Miller What does that quote mean to you? Do you have faith in being an artist, a storyteller? The best people in film, TV, improv and comedy, regardless…

  • home and diving deeper

    Below is a TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert on success, failure and the drive to create. In it, she discusses “home,” something I heard Dorothy Allison also talk about in a memorable lecture a few years ago at Antioch University, Los Angeles (will look for my notes to include in the next post). This dovetails…

  • The needle and the damage done…

    There’s something about the passing of a master in a field you’ve been trained in that pierces the heart – not in the same way as family or friends of course – but out of a bit of knowledge about the journey, the work, the struggles, the process, the lifestyle. There are so many writers…

  • Resolutions, goals, inspirations

    Do you make New Years’ resolutions? Set goals? This year, I am trying something different and using Danielle LaPorte’s The Desire Map. How would you like to feel when you acheive your goals, finish the book, the script, the performance? To avoid the emptiness of spending years only to find there is no there there, try…

  • a Norwegian Blue pining for the fjords…

    What does writing improv look like? Like the Live Write at David Rocklin’s Roar Shack in Los Angeles.  Here is how he describes the Live Write: Live Write! A thrilling feat of writerly improvisation! As you arrive, you get to vote on a prompt. The winning prompt will be revealed to four intrepid authors –…

  • a death in the family…

    My brother died November 19th. Growing up at the beach, I was in the water all the time. One of the scariest things that can happen is getting caught in that washing machine when big wave after big wave comes pounding into shore and you can barely get your breath in between and you wonder…

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