BLOG | MY BOOKS l WORK WITH ME
Amy Suto
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto, a published author and freelance memoir ghostwriter. Subscribe to my newsletter & writing job board here!
New Scripted Podcast: The Horror at Martin’s Beach
In this interview with creator Kyle Cords, read all about the scripted podcast The Horror at Martin’s Beach which is an adaptation of an HP Lovecraft short story by the same name.
12 Steps to Quitting Your Shitty Agency Assistant Job
Are you an agency assistant? Do you want to be a writer? Quit your job. Now. Seriously. There’s a better way that will also make you 10x more money so you can make your art instead.
Hollywood is Dead: the Rise of the Creator Economy
Hollywood is dead. But that’s a good thing! Welcome to the Creator Economy. In this post I’ll share with you how to make money traveling the world and making your art.
So You Wanna Be a Great Writer, Artist, or Musician: How to "Honor the Work" as a Creative
If you've ever seen a video of the art prodigy ZhaoXiaoli, a Beijing-based painter who turns trash into her canvas and tools, it's pretty clear there's an incredible amount of creativity not only in her work, but in how she presents it.
Nobody is Going to Make Your Thing: The Cavalry Isn't Coming and Other Hollywood Pep Talks
I get a lot of people who ask me how to get started in the industry, i.e. how to sell a script or something or get somebody to produce your idea or get a studio to buy your screenplay or make your podcast or whatever.
Get Help Becoming a Freelance Writer + Writing Your Novel, Screenplay, or Whatever: Consultations + Writing Coaching Sessions Open!
In the past decade or so since I started this blog, I've had the pleasure of chatting with so many of you wonderful people about all things writing/creativity/the best coffeeshops in LA.
My Advice to 2020 and 2021 Film School Graduates: Navigating the Post-COVID Entertainment Industry and Building a New Path
I've written a lot on my blog about traditional entrypoints for the industry, from surviving being an agency assistant to networking authentically to the difference between support staff positions in the writers' room. Now, I'm modifying my advice, in part because I don't think the assistant route is a viable one for writers anymore.
A New Writer's Guide to Moving to Los Angeles & Surviving Hollywood
Hello! Welcome to Los Angeles. I am writing this from Pandemic Times, but one day soon it will not be The End of the World (I so dearly hope) and in that time the migration of new writers coming to this city to make it in Hollywood will resume.
How to Ghostwrite a Memoir (Ghostwriting 101)
Anyways, it's October and I haven't blogged since I got back from Berlin. It's also sPoOkY sEaSoN which means I have to go to Halloween parties thrown by actors who somehow have ENDLESS costume/wig/special effects makeup to the point where 1 actor friend could outfit all the dayplayers on an episode of THE WALKING DEAD and STILL have leftover digs for the cast of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD.
How to Plan a Research Trip for Your Script or Novel
Want to make the most out of your research trip for your script or novel? Look no further! Here are my top tips to have inspired adventures.
Writing Routines: A Holistic Approach to Crafting Your Weekly Writing Schedule
If you think I'm writing these blog posts in part so I can spend my mornings browsing aesthetically pleasing photos of coffee and desks and people writing in dramatic lighting, you'd be 100% right. Also, it's January, so I'm on that Self Development Kick that we all get when advertisers are hammering into our minds how we can be better, and our new years' resolutions haven't faded from our minds for the next 11 months.
Method Writing: Exercises to Experience the Stories You're Writing
I love collecting weird hobbies and experiences, and often joke that I'm a "method writer." It's only partially a joke: I've been known to seek out adventures in the same flavor of what I'm writing. (See: this deep cut from my archives where I shot guns and learned about them six years ago for a novel I was writing. Baby Amy was -- and still is -- a die hard method writer.)
The 3 Rules of Making it As a Writer in Los Angeles
Every artist should have a code, a set of rules, to keep them sane in a city with more traffic than trees and way overpriced lattes. I have three rules that I set for myself ever since I came out to LA, and they've governed every decision I've made out here.
Writing in Hollywood: Should Men Tell Women's Stories?
Back in the day, I wrote a guide for men on how to write female characters.In a nutshell: like human beings. Complex, flawed, whole. Strong -- but also weak. A spectrum, just like male characters have been written about for decades in film and television.
How to Write a Series Bible for Your TV Show
It's the top of the New Year and I hope you're as ready for this year as I am! Every year after Christmas I let my OCD tendencies take over and deep clean my apartment and get my projects in order by making a project calendar. I also get started on new scripts, so I thought I'd write this post about how to write a killer series bible for your TV show. Let's write stacks on stacks of final drafts this year guys, OK?
Stress Relief for Writers: Staying Creative with Busy Schedules
In the past, I've written about how to balance writing while being a showrunners' assistant or writers' assistant, but today I'd like to tackle general strategies for stress relief so that you can maintain your creativity in any period of your life -- during the holidays, in times of financial stress, or while anxiously waiting the return of FX's LEGION.
Writers' Assistant, Showrunner's Assistant, and Writers' PA (What These Jobs Are and How to Get Them)
Learn the difference between writers' assistant, showrunner's assistant, and writers' PA -- as well as how to get these jobs in a television writers' room.
Writing the Half-Hour TV Drama
I hate the phrase "dramedy."Every half-hour TV show that isn't quite a comedy has been given that title. NURSE JACKIE? WEEDS? TRANSPARENT? GIRLS? Dramedies, despite the fact that the spine of these shows are unequivocally dramatic.
Writing Through Fear
It's been a year since I graduated from the USC screenwriting program, and in that year I've learned a number of lessons: there are a number of dinner recipes out there that don't include pasta, perfection is not attainable, decaf coffee is a cruel joke. The most important lesson of all, however, is how to write through fear.
Writer's Life: Finding Creativity & Maslow's Hierarchy
I work Hollywood hours. Up at 5am or 6am to write (depending on the project I'm working on), out the door by 8am, at my agency by 8:30am, and back home by 8pm if I'm lucky (if I have networking drinks, make that 10pm.)
Inside the USC Writing for Screen and Television BFA Program
Because I'm graduating soon, it's about time that the nostalgia hit full force. Tonight is my last USC class, ever, and it's all beginning to sink in.I've been doing a few panels for admitted screenwriters and have been answering a lot of questions about the program, so I thought I'd write about what it's been like going to school here for the Writing for Screen and Television program.
3 Steps to Successful Worldbuilding (How to Prewrite)
It's an absolute crime how pre-writing is so overlooked in the writing world. Have you read Stephen King's On Writing? That was one of my favorite writing books as a kid and I took his advice as gospel. One of the tenets of his book was that too much outlining and prewriting killed the story, which made me instantly afraid of killing my story before I could discover it through the actual process of writing.
Playing Pretend: On Set of CON and the Television Experience
Every week we have a quote of the day on our call sheet. My favorite was written by Irina, our Russian supervising producer: “We wrap by 5pm or else I’m sending you all to Siberia.”
Antidote 15: Web Festivals, TV Interviews, & More
The past seven days have been a whirlwind of press and exciting events to celebrate Antidote 15's season two and all the amazing people who are the lifeblood of the show. On Friday, Antidote 15 screened in the Charlie Chaplin theater at Raleigh Studios, and I was able to talk on a panel about the inspiration for the show, and why ex-boyfriends, deadlines, and drinking things you're not supposed to be are common college struggles.
CON: Writing Con Artists
So ever since the TV miniseries my writing partner Jen Enfield-Kane and I created went into production, I've been living that executive producer life again. Which sounds glamorous, but in reality it's more paperwork, scheduling, emailing, and budgeting than I ever thought I'd do in a lifetime.
Creating Detailed Character Backstory
I'm working on some new characters for a feature I'm writing this fall, and am reminded that character backstory is like trying to get to know a person and they keep ignoring you, so you have to make up things about them until they tell you the truth.
Writing The Vision
I've been writing short films, short stories, and summaries inside and outside of the classroom of this idea since December of 2013, and I'm excited to finally use the power of deadlines and inordinate amounts of coffee to bring it to fruition. So partially in order to procrastinate from the writing I'm doing today and to hold myself accountable, here's an update on The Vision.
![Webseries School: Creator Up! [Review]](/imgs/sq/7dc73318-screen-shot-2013-07-04-at-3-32-56-pm-1024x550.webp?format=750w)
Webseries School: Creator Up! [Review]
Webseries are the great Wild West of the film industry, and for new content creators, it can be a daunting plain to navigate. Creator Up is the online Webseries School created by USC alumni who want to bring the joy of collaboration and creation from film school into this new realm of content creation.
A Writer’s Recipe For Great Characters
I'm a sassy writer who gets no sleep and cooks more often than your grandmother. So here's a recipe for creating great characters in six steps!
4 Creative Brainstorming Exercises for Screenwriters
Welcome to the latest and greatest installment in my Creative Screenwriting article series!As always, this post is about optimizing your creativity through improving your writing process, and you'll find practical tips intermixed with creativity studies when relevant.
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto. I’m a bestselling author, creator of the bestselling Substack Make Writing Your Job, and a 7-figure freelance memoir ghostwriter. Subscribe to my newsletter and writing job board to learn how to make writing your job!
GET ON THE LIST
Subscribe to my newsletter ✍️ MAKE WRITING YOUR JOB to join 42,000+ writers making writing their job. ✨ Paid subscribers get hand-picked, high-paying writing jobs in five emails a week, plus weekly calls for pitches, starting at $19/month. Real writers are landing real work—don’t miss out.
MY NEW BOOK: WRITE FOR MONEY & POWER
The anti-starving-artist's guide to becoming a seven-figure writer.
NEW SERIAL: LET ME BE YOUR GHOST
My serialized billionaire romance — a ghostwriter with secrets, a CEO with more. Read chapter one free →
MY ROMANTASY NOVEL: THE ASH TRIALS
The deadliest game is remembering who you are.
MY DETECTIVE NOVEL: THE NOMAD DETECTIVE
Crime crosses borders, but so does this detective.
MY HOW-TO BOOK: SIX-FIGURE FREELANCE WRITER
Work smarter, not harder — without the burnout.
RECENT POSTS
JOIN THE WRITING JOB BOARD
FOLLOW ME ON IG @SUTOSCIENCE
CONTACT ME
EXPLORE
CATEGORIES
FRESH FROM MY NEWSLETTERS
