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Amy Suto
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto, a bestselling author and San Francisco content creator. Find your next job on my job board, 🛋️ CozyJobs!
Amy Suto's Blog: Writing, Substack Growth & Travel Guides
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.
A Week in the Life: Showrunning, Writing, and Sleeping (Sometimes?)
Since January, I've been inhaling coffee and painting my calendar red, as this semester has been the most insane yet: by May, I will have written 210 screenplay pages, produced over 120 minutes of the dramatic scripted TV miniseries CON, and will have met several career milestones, such as getting my first feature assignment, being nominated for a college television Emmy, and graduating from USC's Writing for Screen and Television program (also known as the Writing on Zero Hours of Sleep program) and to top it all off still maintain some semblance of a social life.
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.
5 Tips for Using Flashforwards in TV Writing
Flashforwards are the flashbacks of our era of TV writing. From the flashforwards in Lost that showed our merry ensemble cast finally off the island at last (and wanting to go back) to shows like Damages and Bloodline that structure entire seasons on the content of their jumps in time, this tool has become ubiquitous in our modern age of storytelling as a linear narrative faces more challenges in capturing an audience.
Trailers and Time Management
The past 8 months have been filled with the creation of this television miniseries, which is airing September 10th on Trojan Vision 8.1. The series will also be available online at ConTVShow.com. If you want to know more about the series, you can read interviews on that website so I don't sound like a broken record every time I blog about this series. Anyways, I'm incredibly proud of how the trailer came out, and can't wait to share the series! It was a challenge to get the show made and on the air, and every hurdle was worth it.
Writing 100 Pages and Second Seasons, #Scriptchat, & Passing the FBI Fitness Test
It's been a landmark summer filled with unexpected writing opportunities, a rollercoaster post-production process for CON, and lots of having to explain why my walls are covered in newspaper clippings, red string, and far too many color-coded notecards.
![INTJ: One of The Rarest, Loneliest Personality Types [Introverts and Writing]](/imgs/sq/c87fa8f1-bigstock-paper-cut-of-children-play-on-48270044.webp?format=750w)
INTJ: One of The Rarest, Loneliest Personality Types [Introverts and Writing]
I hadn't put much stock in personality types up until now, but when I started reading more about INTJs, I began to realize that the kind of isolation I sometimes felt (and felt unable to express) even when surrounded by people I cared about had roots in my personality type.
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.
Antidote 15 is Going to the Hollyweb Web Festival!
Antidote 15 started in January 2014 as a fun experiment to see whether or not I could do something waaaay outside my comfort zone, which was to independently produce a web series I had written. Up until that point, I had mostly just been studying the craft of screenwriting, with a small number of short films done for classes and for fun.
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.
On the Importance of Adventures for Writers
In the past seven days, I've shot a balloon with an arrow at the Pasadena archery range, practiced cha-cha one night and learned break on two salsa another, put on boxing gloves and sparred with my self-defense partner as we learned headlocks and groundwork, learned the basics of Python and how to hack a computer to redirect to Bing everytime you type in "Google" (nefarious, I know), and am going to a concert on Friday in Hollywood and the Getty on Saturday for live music.
Web Series as Practice for the Real World
Today after the 10am staff meeting for Orientation I hibernated in my apartment and attempted to catch up on sleep, but then quickly realized that wasn't going to happen and I was better off catching up on work.For the past few months I've been in pre-production for season two of my web series, Antidote 15, which has (happily) been my life since December 2013.
![How to Create a Web Series [Part Five: Marketing]](/imgs/sq/2ce54cfe-howtocreateawebseries5-300x200.webp?format=750w)
How to Create a Web Series [Part Five: Marketing]
Here are some major points you need to think about when marketing your web series that I learned from marketing my thriller web series, Antidote 15.
![How to Create a Web Series [Part Four: Post-Production]](/imgs/sq/36141d16-howtocreateawebseries4.webp?format=750w)
How to Create a Web Series [Part Four: Post-Production]
Editing is the final rewrite, and you can change so much about your web series in this part of the process. If you don't know how to edit, find someone who does, because a polished final product requires time and skill. Here are some tips on how to edit your web series!
![How to Create a Web Series: [Part Three: Production]](/imgs/sq/864681e1-howtocreateawebseries3.webp?format=750w)
How to Create a Web Series: [Part Three: Production]
I am not saying I know everything there is about film production. As a screenwriter, my focus is on story and character, but I do have a handle on some of the basics like three point lighting, green screening, and wrangling erstwhile sound equipment.
![How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]](/imgs/sq/41bd5ef8-howtocreateawebseriespart2.webp?format=750w)
How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]
Finding quality actors is so important, especially for a web series with recurring roles. With Antidote 15, we were incredibly lucky to find the cast we did. This article will teach you everything you need to know about casting for your web series!
Adventures in 24 Hour Filmmaking
Every year, USC hosts a 24 hour film contest called the Ed Wood Film Festival. It sets out to prove that students can make a better film in 24 hours than Ed Wood could in his career. Quality aside, 24 hour filmmaking competitions are a great chance to test run ideas, experiment with special effects, and learn how much coffee it takes to pull a productive all-nighter. (Answer: four cups MINIMUM.)
![How to Create A Web Series [Part One: Pre-Production]](/imgs/sq/e8e6c6e2-howtocreateawebseries.webp?format=750w)
How to Create A Web Series [Part One: Pre-Production]
This year is my year of doing big, scary things I've never done before. In December, I remember walking home from class and thinking, "what challenges scare me?" I came up with two: skydiving and helming a web series.Since skydiving is a perfectly rational fear I don't want to tackle anytime soon, I decided to create my own web series. It's a good challenge since I want to be a showrunner one day, and this experience will help me hone important skills, like serving some of the best crafty you've ever had in your life. (People who have had my chocolate chip cookies know what's up.) My web series is called Antidote 15, and you can read more about it here.
6 Tips for Setting Writing Resolutions
Which brings me to the importance of setting writing resolutions. It's far too easy to lose your shining writerly aspirations in the whirlwind inferno of daily life if you don't have "WRITE A HOMELAND SPEC IN 2014!" sticky-noted all over your desk/room/forehead.
6 Steps to Rewriting Your Work
In order to get your draft into shipshape, you need to do a lot of writing and rewriting. Here are my top six steps to rewriting your work!
Good Books: The Fault in Our Stars
I've been trying to find new authors to add to my list of favorite authors on my Facebook page (a prestigious list of high importance and influence, I assure you) when I made the mistake of reading John Green. I say mistake because once I read The Fault in Our Stars, I knew I was going to get nothing done in the next week while I made my way through all his other books.So today's blog post is dedicated to John Green, who stole my productivity but instead gave me something much more valuable: great books that will stay with me forever.
![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!
Tips and Tricks for Novel Writing
Here are the tips and tricks I've learned about novel writing during my stay in Maui!
Good Books: Strong Female Protagonists
Looking for good books with strong female protagonists? I review two excellent books with compelling female main characters.
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.
4 Ways to Find the Emotional Core of Your Story
When it comes to selling your scripts, the most powerful weapon you have is being able to make your audience feel something. Emotion will get you where structuring and formatting and perfect grammar alone cannot. That's why today's post is all about finding ways to connect with the emotional core of your story!
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto. I’m a bestselling author, San Francisco content creator, and co-creator of the job board 🛋️ CozyJobs. Join CozyJobs to browse thousands of jobs and get daily matches to your inbox — writing and creative roles front and center!
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MY NEW BOOK: WRITE FOR MONEY & POWER
The anti-starving-artist's guide to becoming a seven-figure writer.
MY NEW NOVEL: LET ME BE YOUR GHOST
My romantic thriller arrives November 2026 — a ghostwriter with secrets, a billionaire CEO with more. Preorder one book, get two. Claim your bonus here →
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.
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