Author: Donald L. Vasicek

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute under the acclaimed Dov Simens and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He studied screenwriting at The Complete Screenplay, Inc., with Sally Merlin, daughter of the famed Hollywood Merlin family of screenwriters and writers, as his mentor. Don has taught, mentored, and is a script consultant for over 300 writers, directors, producers, actors and production companies. He has also acted in NBC’s “Mystery of Flight 1501”, ABC’s Father Dowling starring Thomas Bosley, and Red-Handed Productions’ “Summer Reunion.” These activities have resulted in his involvement in over 100 movies during the past 23 years, from major studios to independent films including MGM’s $56 million “Warriors of Virtue”, Paramount Classic’s “Racing Lucifer”, American Picture’s “The Lost Heart” and “Born To Kill” starring the Charles Bronson of Korea, Bobby Kim, and his internationally-known brother, Richard, who directed, Incline Productions, Inc.’s “Born To Win”, 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard II” starring Bruce Willis with Rennie Harlan as director, and Joel Silver as producer, Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Haunted World” with Emmy-nominated PBS Producer Alison Hill, and Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Faces”, “Oh, The Places You Can Go” and the award-winning “The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary film. Don also has written and published over 500 books, short stories and articles. His books include “How To Write, Sell, And Get Your Screenplays Produced” and “The Write Focus.” He has been a guest screenwriting and filmmaking columnist for Hollywood Lit. Sales, Moondance International Film Festival’s e-zine, Screenwriter’s Forum, Screenplace, Screenplayers.Net, Screenwriters.Net, Screenwriters Utopia, Spraka & Kinsla (Swedish), Inkwell Watch, and Ink On the Brain. Writing recognition includes Houston’s WorldFest International Film Festival, Chesterfield’s Writer’s Film Project, Writer’s Digest, The Sundance Institute, The Writer’s Network, and the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Guild, Inc. Don completed producing “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film project that includes the completed and award-winning documentary short, a book, a classroom video, Interactive Media, a study guide, and a lesson plans. The film is being distributed by Films Media Group. Don is on the board of directors of the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston. He is the founder and owner of Olympus Films+, LLC, a global writing and filmmaking company and a screenwriting volunteer on AllExperts.com. Don’s screenwriting agent is Robin Kaver of the Robert Freedman Dramatic Agency, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 2301 New York, NY 10036, 212-840-5751.
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Death for Adultery?

Yemeni Women

Did you know that some women in Yemen who commit adultrey are executed for committing adultrey? Did you know that when they commit adultery, they can also be ex-communicated from their families for life? Do you know why? Yemen is a male bastion. It is totally run and totally controlled by males. There is no balance here. That means that Yemen women need our help.

Help me give Yemeni women a voice. I’m making a documentary film with a Yemen journalist. Any resources of which you know, please share them with me so that we can make this film.

Respectfully,

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+,LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net

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Writers’ and Editors’ Resources

7 Reference Resources for Writers and EditorsWhat guides and handbooks does a careful writer (or editor) rely on? I’ve consulted many resources, but the ones on this list have pride of place and show the most wear and tear.

From Daily Writing Tips:

1. The Associated Press Stylebook
Associated Press style and Chicago style (see below) differ in some respects, but many of the listings in this alphabetically organized resource will set you straight about how to treat many common and proper nouns.

2. The Chicago Manual of Style 
This is the primary resource, after a house style guide, for many American publishing companies and other companies that produce publications, providing guidance about grammar and usage as well as topics like abbreviation, capitalization and other emphasis (such as italics or boldface), numbers, and punctuation. It’s only one of many, but it’s preeminent.

3. The Copyeditor’s Handbook
This paperback guide, originally conceived as a companion to Chicago, is similar in organization but formatted more like a textbook (I’ve used it as such with great success), with exercises at the back of each chapter. It’s more accessible but not as comprehensive than the preceding book.

4. Garner’s Modern American Usage 
Language maven Bryan Garner’s authoritative, encyclopedic tome about proper use of words is the definitive specimen of this type.

5. Merriam-Webster’s Biographical Dictionary
This is a handy resource for double-checking names of famous people or their life spans (and years in office or on a throne). The publisher’s general dictionary includes in its appendixes both biographical and geographical dictionaries, but the listings in the stand-alone publications are much more extensive.

6. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Actually, I generally use Merriam-Webster Online, but the print version is handy for finding all the words that start with a certain prefix, or coming up with an alliterative adjective.

7. Merriam-Webster’s Geographical Dictionary
Find out the current spellings of foreign cities and the official names of countries and their land area and population. The latter figure will be out of date, and you can find this information (and that available in the biographical dictionary) online, but you may prefer flipping pages to clicking through sites.

This list is not a purchasing guide — don’t blindly buy any of these books. Visit your local library and take a look at them, then decide which are good investments for your needs.