Book Review: New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

By Jonathan Ball #95books

New Boy is a novel by Tracy Chevalier that follows the playground love story of two sixth-graders: a black Ghanaian boy, Osei, and a white American girl, Dee. Although set in a 1970s Washington suburb, the story is based on William Shakespeare’s play, Othello (as part of the Hogarth Shakespeare project, which sees bestselling novelists retell Shakespeare’s […]

Best Screenwriting Books

By Jonathan Ball #95books, Podcast, Screenwriting

Since I read #95books every year, and write screenplays, people often ask me what screenwriting books I recommend. This page archives my top recommendations. I will update this page regularly to reflect my reading around the topic. Sign up below and I will email you free format samples so you can see the basic differences […]

Why Fear Experimental Art?

By Jonathan Ball Podcast

No good name for experimental art exists. Many object to the scientistic experimental, claiming either that science has a capitalistic classism or art should not be reduced to a form of knowledge-production. Less grandly but more eloquently, filmmaker Guy Maddin once (in conversation) objected that it annoyed him when people called his work experimental, because he wasn’t experimenting, […]

Taking Notes — Revisions, Feedback, and Editing

By Jonathan Ball Editing, Podcast

Recently, I was asked to watch and give feedback on a cut of a short film called LOVE SONG by its co-creators Michael Sanders (director, photographer, kingpin of Electric Monk Media) and GMB Chomichuk (writer/illustrator, graphic novelist). We were joined by composer Jesse Hamel, who created the soundtrack for the film. Michael also owed me […]

Your Manuscript Format Reveals Your Mindset

By Jonathan Ball Podcast

As a writer, what matters more than talent, even more than hard work, is your mindset. (You need all three; in order of importance it goes mindset, hard work, talent.) Professionals can smell amateurs coming at them from a hundred miles away. Let’s look closely, very closely, at the simplest example of how this plays […]

Be Generous to Be a Better Writer

By Jonathan Ball Podcast

Christmas Day has come, and my gift to you, as it is every Tuesday, is a new episode of my podcast, Writing the Wrong Way. Last week, I tackled the topic of productivity, and this week (in keeping with the holiday), I want to talk about generosity.  I believe writers should be generous. At its […]

Angie Abdou on Research for Fiction Writers — 017

By Jonathan Ball Podcast

Angie Abdou discusses the research process for fiction writing. Writing the Wrong Way with Jonathan Ball, PhD is the perfect podcast for serious writers who want to stand out in a crowded industry by becoming more productive while taking more artistic risks. Jonathan Ball, an author with a PhD in literature, interviews writers, screenwriters, musicians, […]