Launching Storytellers Social Club with In-Person NYC Meetups Coming Soon

Fuck these guys - Let's Get Together

In developing his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin sailed around on the ol’ HMS Beagle for 5 years studying finches and tortoises and prickly pear cacti. He and his crew suffered through violent storms, dysentery, typhoid and certainly a few energy vampires among the crew. Imagine being stuck at sea with an energy vampire?

STORYTELLERS SOCIAL CLUB

Speaking of evolution, I’m thrilled to announce the new name of this Substack: Storytellers Social Club!

Like Screenwriting is Writing, Storytellers Social Club is a space for storytellers and story lovers of all kinds, but now the name makes it more clear while also signaling my plan to organize and host vibrant IN-PERSON events for all types of storytellers in the NYC metro area.

The original idea behind Screenwriting is Writing still holds true, as both names reflect the same spirit and perspective: screenwriting is writing, but for me—and for Storytellers Social Club—all writing is writing.

Yes, the margins may be different, and sometimes the words rhyme or don’t even reach the end of the page. Some stories feature characters from history while others feature characters who burst into song. Some stories make us laugh or blush or thoughtfully stroke our chins. (Side note: Do women ever stroke their chins? Is this a gendered thing?) Some stories contain many words while others contain far fewer while others contain no words at all.

Point is, all the writers I know are chasing the same thing; the screenwriter, the poet, the journalist, the comic, the novelist—they’re all after the truth. And stories aren’t just written; they’re told, drawn, embodied by actors, investigated by journalists and spun out of thin air by improvisers. I would bet that most brains fire in similar ways while crafting stories no matter the form. (Google it for me, please. I have to pick up the kids.)

Importantly, storytellers are also in the business of making people feel things, and I like to feel things. That’s gotten more rare in recent years, as we try to process an infinite amount of information in our finite time on earth. The Great Numbness.

I’ve come to suspect that people have been anesthetized by our culture. It can feel as if a nihilistic virus has taken hold, leaving many of us numb and helpless in the shadow of big tech and corrupt or ineffective politicians. Fuck that - feeling things is the best part.

On Substack

Storytellers Social Club will remain a space for deep dives into the process and craft of writing and storytelling.

• I’ll continue The Oscar Project, pulling storytelling insights from the 85 films that have won Best Original Screenplay including my most recent post on Narrative Questions and Citizen Kane. Soon I’ll be doing video chats with my creative community about their favorite Best Original Screenplay-winning film.

• I’ll host Virtual Storytelling Workshops for writers of all levels. My curriculum is based on my years teaching screenwriting and serial storytelling at NYU and Pratt Institute as well my experience designing writing workshops with Nantucket Film Festival and Almanack Screenwriters where I served as Associate Director for many years.

In-Person Meet Ups!

Storytellers Social Club will bring storytellers together in person. Every month, I will invite creatives from across the NYC metro area—fiction writers and filmmakers, journalists and poets, musicians and screenwriters, actors and bloggers and comedians — to share time and space so we can connect, share stories, and see what happens. We might even feel things.

The first Storyteller Meet Up looks like it will be near the end of April in Brooklyn. Space will definitely be limited, but let me know if you want to come. Trust me, if Darwin was around he’d be on the list. If Origin of the Species ain’t a good story then nothing is.

The Future of Storytellers Social Club

Stories are often described as empathy machines for their ability to expose us to ideas, experiences, and points of view different from our own. While I’m not ready to announce a more specific mission or vision just yet, my hope and intention is to organically grow Storytellers Social Club into a formalized nonprofit—one that can make the world a more humane and empathetic rock on which we can float through space. Wish me luck.

There’s a lot more to come. Please help spread the word to everyone you know. Strength in numbers.