WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:16.679 Get ready for twenty sixth day of August twenty twenty four, 2 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.359 allegedly according to that thing we call a calendar. This 3 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.760 the o'celly effect. And you hearing us, believe it or not, 4 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.199 I'm broadcasting live on a Monday. Most of you don't 5 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:28.600 care because you catch the podcast. So whatever day it is, 6 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:33.280 welcome to it. And here we go. I wanted to 7 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:36.280 bring on Albert Lanier. Now. Albert has been on the 8 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.159 show many times betteran journalists. We've had him do commentary 9 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.479 on a wide variety of topics, sometimes things that are 10 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.960 in the news, sometimes that are things of historical interest, 11 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:53.320 media analysis. Even it's been interesting, I mean, unsolved mysteries, 12 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:00.119 dead singers. Okay, we've gone into the wide world or 13 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.880 the wild world of independent writing and how that works. 14 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.840 Even a little discussion about Telsea Gabbard now and then, 15 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.680 which she's come up in the news recently. And boy, 16 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:15.280 we could talk to him today about the interesting changes 17 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.280 and currents out there in the potus race. Right. We 18 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.319 could ask him what he thinks of RFK, and we 19 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.159 could ask him what he thinks about a guy putting 20 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.280 a dead bear in Central Park? Is it Central Park? 21 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:30.000 One of the Parks anyway a dead bear and ten 22 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.280 years later telling Roseanne that story. What does he think 23 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.760 about the media and the way that those things get treated. 24 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.120 We could go over all that, but we're not going 25 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:44.159 to tonight. Instead, we're gonna talk to mister Lanier about 26 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.200 his craft about writing. We've certainly discussed that a bit 27 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.680 over time, because look, the tools of the trade have changed. 28 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.519 There's a million substacks in the naked Internet, and he's 29 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.280 got a couple of them. He has a YouTube channel 30 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:03.359 as well. Okay, and just in case I forget to 31 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:07.000 mention it later, if you go to writer Albert Lanier, 32 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.280 that's the name of the channel, or if you take 33 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.719 a look, it's at Albert Lanier. Okay, at writer Albert Lanier, 34 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.639 excuse me, thirty four thirty four. I'll give you the 35 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:18.599 links in the show notes to all this stuff, and 36 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.240 also put him in the chat room so you can 37 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:24.840 follow mister Lanier's work, or at least this part of 38 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.960 his work, because again, independent writer. He's written for magazines, 39 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:35.520 newspapers mostly you know, stuff in Hawaii where he's from, which, 40 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.360 you know, I kind of wish I'd been able to 41 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.120 talk to him about some of the Hawaiian stories that 42 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.719 maybe have been going on stuff that was happening closer 43 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:46.360 to home for him recently. But I haven't been able 44 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.080 to get him lately, and then I am able to 45 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:52.599 get him on this topic. So let's talk about writing 46 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.759 and maybe how it's changed, how it's still the same. 47 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:58.960 Is it still an art form? Are there any real 48 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.319 writers left out there? Is my question, just like are 49 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:06.599 there any real journalists anymore? It's getting strange, folks, it 50 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:11.039 really is. Not only is the information strange in the 51 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:15.280 information age, but the people that are delivering the information 52 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.360 are getting strange in my opinion. But then again, that's 53 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:24.400 just me and Elon Musk, who owns a whole platform 54 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.960 for social media and information distribution. He had technical difficulties 55 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.319 getting himself together to talk to Donald Trump, but RFK 56 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.280 Junior had no problem getting together with Donald Trump to 57 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:40.680 talk about things. Why am I bringing all this up? 58 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:44.599 I don't even know. Let's talk about real things, okay, 59 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.800 and some real brass tacks when it comes to what 60 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:54.120 is it like to sort of a transposition, right to 61 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:59.639 transition from the digital world into the new digital world 62 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.879 and the age of all of this writing being shared 63 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:06.960 everywhere and again, if you go to his YouTube channel, 64 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:11.439 he gives you some instructional ideas about writing, describe some 65 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:16.120 things that he's done in the past, etc. And other things. 66 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.879 Plus oh podcast on substack right which you can find. 67 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.480 And he's got a couple of substacks out there, but 68 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.519 the one that I want you to follow is at 69 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:31.560 Albert Lanier One believe it or not, and that it'll 70 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:35.000 pop up the week. The week, oh excuse me, this 71 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:40.040 is the week that is is another one, but at 72 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:45.040 Albert Lanier One substack has the podcast. From what I understand. 73 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:47.399 But then again, if you find Albert Lanier on a 74 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.439 bunch of things, even the stuff that I've referenced in 75 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:51.879 the past, I would advise you to read it. It's 76 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:54.240 worth a read. And I also notice a couple of 77 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.160 people that have subscribed to my stuff subscribe to his 78 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:01.160 stuff over here, over there, et cetera as well they 79 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.800 should Anyways, mister Lanier, I know that introduction sounded strange, 80 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.360 but you are a veteran journalist who is now in 81 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:13.959 a completely new environment with new tools, etc. So you 82 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.199 know what is what is new, what is the same, 83 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.240 what is old? But first, how are you doing tonight? 84 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.480 I'm okay. And the way that you kind of just 85 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:30.839 stated that as the kind of at the intro right 86 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.959 there is basically once occurred to me. I'm celebrating now 87 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.240 my thirty of anniversary, and I have to admit, originally 88 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.120 I didn't plan to do a show or be interviewed 89 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:46.040 on the podcast or radio show or anything. I was 90 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:51.839 just commemorating my anniversary thirty years as a writer as 91 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.639 a professional writer. I was a freelance writer and journalist 92 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.160 for twenty two years. I retired from that twenty seventeen. 93 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.439 I'll get into that, hopefully in about a minute or 94 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:09.759 two kind of the differences, but I think you've kind 95 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:15.480 of articulated part of what's occurred. If I have to 96 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:20.360 bring up a motif or a or anything about being 97 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.680 a writer, for me, it has been not simply change, 98 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:35.800 but also transformation. So it's a different experience. If I 99 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:40.079 had to describe my career as a writer overall, the 100 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:43.959 first twenty two years writing for publications, and I call 101 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:47.639 it publications, writing writing for newspapers, writing for magazine for 102 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.560 twenty two years as a freelance writer and as a journalist, 103 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.759 and then the past seven or eight years has been 104 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.680 online only, so it's been writing digitally, so I'm writing 105 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.480 for my own outlets. I wrote a blog on medium 106 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:07.399 dot com for about over four years, and then I 107 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:11.639 recently been on substack. I set up my original substack, 108 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:14.240 that is the Week that is in twenty twenty one, 109 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.120 and I kind of wrote an article, and then I 110 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:22.160 kind of had other things crop up and I was 111 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:24.360 taken away from that. And then I came back to 112 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:28.120 it unexpectedly last year and I wrote a few articles there, 113 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:31.319 and then this year I started a brand new substack 114 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.959 called Final Cut, which is all about the movies. And 115 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.839 I've been here talking about my return to writing about movies. 116 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:45.360 So it's to describe the thirty years that I've had 117 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:48.759 as a writer. The first twenty two years I've been 118 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.079 writing for publications and the second I've been writing for 119 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:57.120 the online world digitally. And what I realized recently is 120 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:01.120 that these are two very different experiences. These are two 121 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:10.120 very different aspects, and I think the difference. One of 122 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:14.680 the differences is in twenty twenty four, I cannot do 123 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:16.959 what I did in nineteen ninety four. When I started 124 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:24.199 in the nineties, there was such a thing. The Internet 125 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:29.399 didn't exist. As the portal, as the as sort of 126 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.399 the business center for writing for writers of many types 127 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:37.240 and for writing it for other things. There really was 128 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:39.919 no Internet, certainly not an internet as we know it 129 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.120 in nineteen ninety four, right, And so in nineteen ninety four, 130 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:49.080 when I was writing for newspapers and magazines, local newspapers, 131 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:55.519 local magazines in honolug Way, I had to go and 132 00:08:55.639 --> 00:08:59.080 get on my at a word processor at the time, 133 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:03.039 and my word processor in take twenty minutes for that 134 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:07.080 to print my piece out and then stick it in 135 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.679 a Manila envelope and meal it out. I can't do 136 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.679 that in twenty twenty four. The way that I write 137 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:17.960 things in twenty twenty four is I take out my 138 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.279 phone that I'm talking into right now, I go to 139 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:25.840 my email. Well, actually yeah, I'll go to my email 140 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:30.159 I and then I go to substack because I write 141 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:36.039 on substack primarily. And I write my piece and go 142 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.519 over my piece and then upload that, and then I 143 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.360 have to start the process of sending that to Facebook 144 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.759 and all the other platforms, and then I have to 145 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:53.159 do videos on YouTube. Writer Albert Lanier being one of 146 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:58.600 them on YouTube. Well, actually it is the one that's 147 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.200 it and so doing the promo video for that. In fact, 148 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:10.000 I just did yesterday. I just did a promo video 149 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:15.519 on YouTube and a promo video on TikTok for my 150 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:22.519 thirtieth anniversary article on Final Cut on Substack, which is 151 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:28.120 called the discreete and Subtle Charm of Film Going. So 152 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.200 it's really about watching movies. It's a smuggled, circuitous way 153 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.480 of writing about film because my Final Cut is about movies. 154 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:39.360 And I couldn't write a piece about being a writer 155 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.840 for thirty years when I'm doing a you know, a 156 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:50.720 substack about movies. So I really kind of did it 157 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:57.720 circuitously and you know, smuggled it into writing about movies. 158 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:03.399 But that's what's different is I now go to a 159 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.679 side I write everything myself. Now here's something that people 160 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.480 probably don't understand. We're living in an era now, I 161 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:15.360 would say when you talk about changes, and I think 162 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:19.320 it was a nice way to introduce it. The changes 163 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:24.240 are now because of the growth of things like AI. 164 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:28.639 I don't know about chat, GPP, per se, but AI 165 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:35.039 artificial intelligence. Now people like me and writers we have competitions, 166 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:42.279 and the competition is no longer humans, it's artificial. It's 167 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:44.720 robotic possibly. 168 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.559 So here's a couple of things. 169 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:50.279 It's computerized, it's digital. 170 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:53.039 But so here's a couple of things to consider, right, 171 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.639 is that, first of all, there are still what they 172 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.559 call online publications which kind of function like the old 173 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:04.240 heart copy magazines used to function, but they are dwindling quickly. 174 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:08.720 You know, the online presence of some of the old 175 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:12.120 dinosaur media is out there, sure. And then there's some 176 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.960 stuff that never existed in hard copy form that you know, 177 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.080 you may indeed still have that process, except your emailing 178 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.639 instead of putting it in the Manila envelope. And there's 179 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:25.879 still an editor, et cetera. But now there is this 180 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.919 lack of a sort of clearing house. Not only do 181 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:33.000 you lack the editor because now you're your own editor, 182 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.639 but you also lack the clearing house, which was helpful 183 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.399 although it did control some of what you could write. 184 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:43.000 You know, your editor didn't want to print certain portions 185 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:45.759 of what you wanted to put out whatever, you wouldn't 186 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:47.639 get it out there. You had to argue with them, 187 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.919 et cetera. But you know, so you gained that freedom, 188 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:55.519 but you also gained the freedom of not having this 189 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:00.480 singular place where people were already going all the time. 190 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:04.360 You have to build that following yourself. So now it's 191 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:08.159 as if there's a million magazines instead of you know, 192 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:11.759 the leading ones at the newsstand, it's now there's you know, 193 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.000 instead of just a couple of leading newspapers in your area, 194 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:19.240 there's a million of them online, and there's apps that 195 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.399 feed these things to people, et cetera, et cetera. So 196 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.080 now you do your own promotion, and even the guy 197 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:29.879 who does the best promotion might not gain the audience 198 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.639 that he could have gained with with somebody that has 199 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.919 a pre existing following. Right, so you're in a position 200 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.399 where you're way more independent. You can do whatever you want. 201 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:44.600 I mean, some publications might have not given you the 202 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:50.039 job of reviewing movies, but you could give yourself that job. Now, 203 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:52.639 can you get people to come and read it? And oh, 204 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.240 by the way, can you figure out a way to 205 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:58.200 monetize this? There's one hundred ways to do that. You know. 206 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.440 You could do the buy me a coffee method, right, 207 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:02.679 which is, you know what if you kick in a 208 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:06.159 little bit or you support me on Patreon, And different 209 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:11.279 writers have had different levels of success or lack thereof 210 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:15.320 by doing that. Some of them have even decided, Look, 211 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.000 I'm not going to publish a book anymore. I'll publish 212 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:22.360 my book online as a blog or as a multi 213 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.879 part series coming through Patreon, and the people that want 214 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.840 this can buy it as it's being written even and 215 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.879 they can purchase it by being a supporter, and you 216 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.720 can continue to be monetized that way. Now I know 217 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:39.600 nothing about your monetization. If you made even a penny, 218 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:43.519 you know, since going out and writing post retirement, I 219 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:48.440 don't know, but I would say that, well, go ahead. 220 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:53.240 Well what I would say is this, I worked as 221 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:58.480 a freelance writer. It's funny you talk about money. I 222 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:02.200 was recently on a writing group today and I wrote 223 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.759 a post from this group and I was telling people there. 224 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:14.879 In the years that I've been online, Facebook, ex, Twitter, 225 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.279 what have you, and I've dealt with writers at times, 226 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.279 or people who want to be writers or anything. The 227 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:25.320 number one question that I've been asked is not how 228 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.039 do I get published, or how do I perfect a 229 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:33.039 good pro style for a novel, or how do I 230 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.399 get a style that will get me get my ideas 231 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:45.799 for freelance articles accepted by magazine editors. It's how do 232 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:47.039 you get paid. 233 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:47.799 As a writer. 234 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.559 That is the number one question that I have been 235 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:56.600 asked over the years of are done. I never asked 236 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.200 about other things. If people have asked me questions, this 237 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.720 has come interestingly enough from authors. People who are self 238 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:09.039 published authors usually or say they are. That was the 239 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:12.639 interesting surprise to me because I've never written a book. 240 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.559 I've been a freelance writer. And to quote someone like 241 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.919 Harlan Ellison, I don't take a piss without getting paid, 242 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:24.559 you know, you know, to quote Harlan again from the 243 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:30.679 documentary let me see, God, I can't remember the documentary 244 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:36.000 something about dreams. I apologize for that quotes, but it 245 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.159 was a documentary about Harlan Nelson. I know it is 246 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.440 on YouTube and you can watch the video there called 247 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.559 pay the Writer. Just as a suggestion to people, I 248 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:47.559 don't want to just promote my stuff. 249 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:52.480 And Harlan Ellison is a great case study here because 250 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.759 Harlan Ellison existed in a completely different universe for writers. 251 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:01.840 He was a creative writer, but he also participated in 252 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.559 you know, some people might not be familiar with his name, 253 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:08.160 but because I'm a I'm a Star Trek fan, I'm 254 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:15.640 aware of his contributions to that exactly right, and he 255 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:17.640 was he was actually really you want to talk about 256 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.960 being pissed. He was angry about what they did to 257 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:24.319 his script. Uh, you know, to get it produced on television. 258 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:29.440 But it's interesting because he existed in a time where yeah, 259 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:30.839 you could demand to get paid. 260 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:31.079 Now. 261 00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:35.319 Uh, even some of the best script writers right who 262 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.799 have that skill, Uh, some of them are not able 263 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:40.279 to get paid. But you know, what they have the 264 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.359 freedom to do that they didn't back then is to 265 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.960 actually produce things on a less than a shoe string. 266 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.240 They can have things self produced. A couple of guys 267 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:53.359 with a couple of skills and the right software can 268 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:58.519 turn around and make somebody script into something workable that 269 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:02.160 can be shopped, that can be sold even directly or 270 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.759 even put out as a piece of marketable content. And again, 271 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.359 just like you as a writer, you can sell it 272 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:14.319 yourself in a way limits what is available as far 273 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:16.599 as you know, the big money and being paid easily, 274 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:20.279 but it also expands your ability to get seen and 275 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:24.359 heard by others. And Ellison, again, this is a creative writer, 276 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.920 not a guy who's doing information or journalism or anything 277 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.319 like that. And he's one of the best known names 278 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.640 but there are a million guys out there. As a 279 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:36.480 matter of fact, there are people creating Star Trek stuff 280 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.960 that is like they're like fan videos at this point 281 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:45.319 where they've created further Adventures of Star Trek authorized. 282 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:48.000 Yeah, what I will know about screenwriting. Sure, the money 283 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:52.119 in screenwriting isn't from writing your own original scainplay or 284 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.519 your script and it gets produced, that's fine. It's when 285 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.599 you were a writer for hire that's where the real 286 00:18:58.680 --> 00:18:59.119 money is. 287 00:18:59.319 --> 00:18:59.440 Right. 288 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:02.279 So I would say to those people were, although I'm 289 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.920 not a screenwriter, if you want to write in la 290 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.960 or via being a screenwriter for the majors, which are 291 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.039 called the Hollywood cerials, you want to try to become 292 00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:17.279 a script doctor. You want to try to become a 293 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:20.519 writer for hire. That's where the money is because you 294 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:23.119 come in, you do a pass or you come in 295 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.519 and do a polish on a script, and that's where 296 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:28.440 the money is. And I could, I could appreciate this 297 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:30.680 as a ghostwriter. So it was also a ghostwriter. 298 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.400 See, And that's h And that's why I brought this up. 299 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:39.759 To write about I've been paid to write uh materials 300 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.960 which I can't talk about for other people. 301 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:45.559 Right, And I want to I want to I want 302 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:47.680 to pass this off exactly, and I want to pass 303 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:49.519 this off to you after I get through with something, 304 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.200 because you brought up the you know, the chat, GPT 305 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:57.599 and the AI, and it is touching every aspect. Every 306 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.759 kind of writer out there, one way or another, is 307 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:04.799 now confronted with this problem. Right. We had the recent 308 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.680 strike where they talked about this where you know, scripts 309 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.559 could literally be turned out, you know, by these AIS, right, 310 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:18.000 and then we also have you know, these news organizations. 311 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:22.400 There's been discussions about maybe they're turning out articles. There 312 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:26.839 are entire say, academic papers being turned out which are 313 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:31.359 effectively book lengthd pieces on history, totally turned out by 314 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.599 AI because they're being fed a bit of information and 315 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.079 now the writer almost being taken out of the equation. 316 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.160 It seems like no matter what kind of writer you are, 317 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:45.480 you're not only faced with this sort of atomized industry 318 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:47.880 where indeed you have the ability to go out and 319 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.400 do a lot of things for yourself, but you no 320 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:56.680 longer have the establishment areas that supported the writers very well. 321 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:00.559 But on top of that, you have competition from the 322 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:05.119 non human competitor which can now take over. Like I 323 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:08.200 guarantee you you can go to chat GPT no offense 324 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.240 to you and have them write in one of these 325 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.640 movie reviews, right, and you can just give it the 326 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.000 movie and tell it write me a movie review that 327 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:19.240 is whatever you want. You want it to be positive, negative, 328 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.160 in depth. You tell it what to do and it'll 329 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:26.519 spit out something based on what it can you know, 330 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:30.680 source right, and it'll turn around and probably spit out 331 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.480 a review for you in ten seconds. And you know, 332 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:36.519 I'm not saying that it's going to be better or 333 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:38.279 anything else like that, but. 334 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.759 I've also it'll probably be a bad, lame review, but 335 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:44.119 probably hey it's shad GPT. 336 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:46.599 But there you go on a review. 337 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:50.599 You have to read my stuff in the retro review. 338 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:55.599 I have a retro review section where I review reluctantly, 339 00:21:55.759 --> 00:22:02.920 but I review older films, films that are either barely 340 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:08.759 barely known, a little known, or completely unknown, and I 341 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:13.359 try to tell the ones that films that are less 342 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.079 lesser known or completely unknown. You can take a look 343 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.799 at my retro review session, which is written by a 344 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:27.039 human being, namely yours truly. I write the reviews not ai. 345 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:35.400 Al right and what's great, and not ail exactly, not an. 346 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:38.400 Exactly that's at Alaner dot substeck dot com exactly. 347 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:43.119 So what's great about this though, is that now again 348 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:47.599 there's another upside. Whereas if you turned around and you 349 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.519 really narrowed your niche, okay, if if Albert Lanier decided 350 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:57.440 to write retro film reviews and chose a particular genre. Uh, 351 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.079 there are guys that are making a really good living 352 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:04.960 actually doing retro reviews of television shows. I mean TV 353 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:07.519 shows that have not actually aired in first run now 354 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.559 for you know, fifty years. There are guys out there 355 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:15.119 doing Twilight Zone reviews and original series Star Trek reviews 356 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.079 and stuff like that. And in the movie section, there 357 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.720 are people out there doing more obscure like obscure horror 358 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.799 movie reviews, believe it or not, and that niche from 359 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:29.079 the human which you're never gonna get, you know, the 360 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:33.759 the really textured stuff from these sort of niche projects. 361 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:36.640 Some of them have some of the most devoted followers. 362 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:40.519 Like I said, there are guys, probably twenty guys on 363 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:46.319 YouTube alone that just do retro reviews of like Star Trek. 364 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:49.640 You know, they're just now getting to Deep Space nine, 365 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.680 which was done in the nineties, right, and they're doing 366 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:53.720 retro reviews. 367 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.880 Yeah, and I've seen, I've been I've been on a 368 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:03.960 channel or two where they went through Star Trek episode, right. 369 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.680 And some of these guys have so many views to. 370 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.160 Get into that, but I don't want to because I 371 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.799 don't want to get into the old new Treking. 372 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:13.319 No, No, not not at all. 373 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:15.599 But yeah, I'm not sure. 374 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:17.559 Yeah, I'm not trying to drag you into it. All 375 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:20.039 I'm trying to say is that, but you could drop 376 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:22.440 the Trek thing. We could go for horror movies if 377 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.119 you wanted to. You could get into a section of YouTube. 378 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:29.000 And I'm I'm on I'm on as, I'm on Twitter 379 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:33.400 and I'm on horror Twitter, and I see I've seen 380 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:37.319 people who clearly have podcasts or accounts and they bring 381 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:43.000 up all these obscure either completely unknown to little known 382 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:49.119 movie right. And so I appreciate that because as much 383 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.240 as I know about movies, there are a lot of 384 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:56.359 movies I haven't seen and don't know and so forth. 385 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:58.240 And I'm rather upfront about that. 386 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:00.559 Right, Like, for instance, I picked up on. 387 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:02.279 It though I was a film critic at one time. 388 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.599 Right, Like, for instance, I picked up on a string 389 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:10.160 of reviews recently that that mainly focused on the Trauma films. Trauma. 390 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:12.119 I don't know if you remember them, they're they're kind 391 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:15.920 of well known, but they will. Yeah, the Toxic. 392 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.599 I like that. I like that. That's what they should 393 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:19.079 be called. 394 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.640 Yeah, exactly, that's. 395 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.079 A good name to a perfect name for a horror 396 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:25.480 movie company. 397 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:29.039 Right, the Toxic, the Toxic Avenger and such, right. 398 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.519 Yeah, Yeah, Lloyd Kaufman read his book. He did a 399 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.279 book about how to make a movie when I was 400 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:36.440 living in LA. Yeah, read his book. It's actually a 401 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.799