Change of Address

Future posts will be found at:

www.silverlightentertainment.wordpress.com

Writing Rituals

"The inner heckler laughs even at sages" - Jeff Davis (from The Journey From the Center to the Page)

Everyone loves a success story.  It invigorates us to see others do well.  We all love to see someone fight against the odds and come out victorious.  It's a universal theme.  We identify with the struggle.

Think for a moment of what goes into the success of a writer.  We think a person becomes an "overnight success" in Hollywood only to discover that said person had years of training under his/her belt or worked behind the scenes for decades before venturing out on his/her own with an original project.

Things take time to mature.  Wines, cheeses, and writers all benefit from the effects of time.  I do believe we get better as we get older because, hopefully, we've kept learning, kept digging deeper at the essence of things.  We get better simply because we keep doing it.

Invent and structure your day around to enrich and empower your good writing habits.  My writing rituals necessarily must include walking two dogs three times a day and lots of coffee.  But every morning I'm at the keyboard around 10am.  I put in as much time as I can before the other demands of the day press on me.  I make time for at least one hour of exercise a day.  It's that simple,  Just show up.  But, that doesn't guarantee that you'll have a finished novel, play or short story.  It just means you're engaged in the process.  You've committed to the life of a writer which involves a lot of uncertainty.

Recently, I've been looking over some short stories I wrote years ago and am mining for gold, looking for something perhaps forgotten that can be further developed.  These old paper copies also need to be re-typed up nicely on my word processor so it gives me a chance to polish stories I haven't looked at since I wrote them in 2003.  For me, this is a way to keep my writing flow going while the new ideas perculate in the background.  It also keeps me organized.

This blog sprung from a few journal entries that focused on writing and prompted me to collect my thoughts on the subject and my approach to it, along with helpful exercises in one place and share my discoveries with others.  I've been thrilled to see so many people use it.

Make every part of your day part of your writing practice.  While I may not do 100% of my writing at the keyboard.  Sometimes an idea comes to me at odd times throughout the day.  Part of being a writer is always having a pen and notepad handy to capture ideas as they come to you.  This becomes second nature and it's very necessary.  A notepad becomes part of your personality.  Capture a friend's witty comment during a brunch date.  Incorporate writing into every part of your day.  Practice describing the room you're in.  Practice describing people's posture, speech patterns, modes of dress.  It's all connected to your writing.

This week's suggested website: Constant Content - (http://www.constant-content.com/) List your work for sale and name your own price on this website.  

This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time. Think about your favorite fairy tale (Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling, The Three Little Pigs, etc.) try rewriting the story with a new ending.  Introduce a new character or switch the point of view.  Imagine what Little Red Riding Hood's story would sound like if you were hearing it from the wolf.  Would the three bears have a completely different take on that little bitch Goldilocks?  Have fun, do your best work and have a great writing week.

Writers Write!

"It is not love that is blind, but jealousy." - Lawrence Durell

I'll never be Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I'll never come close to approaching the richness and sincerity of a John Steinbeck.  And, while I can torture myself by striving for perfection and trying to be the best, the one thing (and perhaps the only thing) I can do is be the best "me" possible.  Time after time I find myself criticizing my works in progress even though I should know better.  I beat myself up for not having a first draft that's as good as a master's finished piece.  Silly, huh?  But we writers do it to ourselves over and over.

A doctor doesn't go through all the rigorous academic training of med school, followed by an intense residency, have a practice of his or her own only to say, "I'm not a real doctor."  Yet, we writers do that all the time.  We study, we read, we hit the blank page over and over yet we negate the fact that we are writers when we don't get published or when our published works don't meet the commercial success of a Stephen King or Anne Rice.  It seems that writers at all levels of their career suffer from similar feelings of self doubt.

The best advice I ever heard was, "Writers, write."  It's that simple.

The days that you sit down to write, you're a writer.  The days you let slip away are gone forever.  You won't be able to get those words and thoughts back.  But, when you're actively engaged in a story problem, when you're focused and involved in creating an intriguing plot or an in-depth character biography then you're a writer.  Set aside some time every day no matter how brief to get your ideas on paper.  All of life's other obligations will stand in the way but your job as a writer is to make time to write.  Every word gets you closer to your finished manuscript.

Whenever I take on a new story, one of the first things I like to do is acquaint myself with the territory.  I like to get a view of the landscape.  What's it like to walk in my character's shoes?  What do they see, feel, hear, smell on their way to work, school, the dentist?  I'll usually do a fair amount of research on a place, especially if I've never been there and want the story to ring true.  Better yet, a trip could be just the thing to really add spice to your prose.  Creating an authentic setting helps to establish a sense of trust with the reader.  I find reading books on nature give me a valuable insight into the topography and wildlife characteristic of a region.  These vital details infuse the imaginary world you create with vividness.

This week's suggested website: Writer's FM - (http://www.writersfm.com/writersfm/) The only radio station created for writers by writers. Writer's FM broadcasts 24 hours a day and features music, live interviews, podcasts and more.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Capture all the detail you can about the present moment.  Fill a page with the sights, sounds and experiences that are going on around you right now.  There's more available than you may at first realize.  Give your very best and have a great writing week.

Back to Work

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." - Francis Bacon

In many ways Labor Day is like the start of a new year.  I’m surprised we don’t celebrate the new year in the fall.  Think about it.  Labor Day marks the beginning of a new school semester.  It's the unofficial end of summer.  It’s also a time when people typically return from their vacations and settle back into their work routines.

I like to use this time to organize and prepare for the work ahead.  Like a gardener that expects a plentiful harvest, writers need to create an environment where their creative efforts can germinate and mature.  This is a perfect time to get rid of the clutter in your writing area.  Make room for the wonderful new ideas that are coming.  I keep a handy list next to my desk of my big projects for the year.  These would be the big picture things.  I want to get back into school, I want a new job, a new car, to finish my novel, a bigger house, etc.  But also, I keep a smaller list that simply reminds me of my day-to-day objectives (1,000 words a day, an hour of exercise, read 1 book a month, etc.)  A lot of the time the things that we do daily don't seem like much.  I recently thought if I learned ten new words a week by the end of a year I'd increase my vocabulary by more than 5,000 words.   A small step that would lead to a huge payoff, guaranteed.  Like in a garden, paying attention to the small daily things we could do to improve (our writing, our lives, our relationships, our finances, etc.) is the key to the fruitful life we crave.  Nothing happens overnight.  Sow the seeds of positivity in your garden and expect a healthy bounty of good works to follow.  

Some people have books they love and return to time and time again for inspiration and clarity.  I'm one of those people that believe technology is actually a good thing for the publishing industry.  Instant access to so many books, magazines and other forms of writing I've got to believe have had a positive effect on our national literacy rate.  I could be wrong.  Maybe it was just Oprah that got us back to reading.  In any event, I've always loved the classics.  I feel there are certain works that every aspiring writer should read as a common basis for understanding the craft.   Some of my favorites include F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Anais Nin, Khalil Gibran, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, Paulo Coehlo, Isabelle Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to name just a few.  Every writer I know is an avid reader and I can't stress enough how important it is to read both within and outside the genre in which you want to write.  A good adventure story, full of action in faraway places was always my guilty pleasure.

Decide what you'd like to accomplish in your writing for the next coming year.  Take daily steps to create that reality for yourself.  No one was ever born a Nobel Laureate or Pulitzer Prize winner.

This week's suggested website: Funds for Writers - (www.fundsforwriters.com) This online resource for writers offers information on grants, writing contests, awards, markets, available jobs and much more.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Create a to-do list for any character you're currently working on.  Give him/her a life outside your story.  What are the things (however trivial) that your character must attend to on a day-to-day basis?  Laundry, shopping for groceries?  Fill a page with about a dozen projects or tasks that your character feels pressed to accomplish.  Notice how they want their life prioritized.  It may be different from what you initially envisioned for them.  Give it your best shot and have a great writing week.  

What's Your Story About?

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.” -- William Jennings Bryan

What is your story about?  When asked this daunting question, I usually respond one of two ways.  One way is to give a brief description of character and plot.  For example, my story is about Elsie, a girl who’s going blind from a degenerative eye disease, who dreams of being a ballerina but discovers her true talents lie elsewhere.  This short little stab is basically a description of character, the character’s dramatic need and a glimpse of what the obstacles of Act Two and the ending might be.  In other words it’s a synopsis of what happens during the course of your story.

Another way to answer the question is to discuss the narrative in terms of theme.  Unlike a breakdown of what the plot is, this way of talking about the story focuses on the author’s intent.  For example, I could say the story of the blind girl wanting to be a ballerina is a modern tale of delusion and self-realization.

In other words, a story’s theme tells us what moved the author to write the story in the first place. The Three Little Pigs can be said to be about preparedness and perseverance in the face of great danger.    The themes in fairy tales and other children’s stories, as well as in morality plays, tend to be prominent. 

When pitching a story to a potential collaborator, producer or network executive, it's important to talk about both aspects of your project.  Be clear about your plot and characters but also understand the deeper impact your story has.  Explore the thematic aspects of your story and how they contribute to making the “action” more profound.

A well thought out theme will help put your story in societal perspective.  Consider how Harriet Beecher Stowe’s "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" contributed to the societal debate over slavery when it was first published.  A well-constructed theme helps the reader/viewer understand how your character’s behavior may be indicative of the society at large.  The Scarlet Letter is as much a character driven story as it is a portrait of a puritanical society struggling with the issue of adultery.  Theme allows the reader/viewer to compare their morality against that of your imagined characters. 

A well-executed story has its theme invisibly woven into the plot.  Be careful of being heavy handed.

This week’s website: Freelance Writing Gigs – (www.freelancewritinggigs.com) The site bills itself as the Internet's #1 Freelance Writing Community. Special features include job listings for bloggers and writers, a cover letter clinic, interviews and articles about freelance writing.

This week’s writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.   In a previous exercise we created a resume for one of your characters.  Now, I’d like you to expand on that idea.  Write a letter of recommendation for one of your characters.  Your character may be looking for a new job, renting a new condo or entering an advance academic program.  In either case, you can write from the point of you as the author (yourself) or from the point of view of another character in your story.  Have a great writing week.  

Laying Track

"The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way." -- Henry Miller  

How many times have you someone say "keep putting one foot in front of the other." It sounds like a well worn yet good piece of wisdom.  And, what a marvelous game plan it really is for getting someplace.  Guess what?  Everything in life is that simple.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other.  The outcome is assured.  You'll get there eventually.  Getting somewhere eventually is better than never getting there at all.

While preparation, vision and planning count for a great deal of success quotient, planning doesn't get you there.  Moving gets you there.  Yes, there's a time and a place to plan and envision a successful outcome but actively moving forward toward a goal amounts to more than planning.  100 words a day is better than 0 words a day.  Don't keep yourself from your writing desk because you don't have a solid block of time to commit to writing.  Write for as long as you can.  

While every individual step may seem inconsequential, their cumulative effect is profound and certain.  Keep showing up at the blank page until it's as natural as brushing your teeth.  Some days will seem like a chore just to arrive at the page and attempt to focus.  You'll feel empty and uninspired.  The process may seem lackluster and even a wasteful use of your time.  If all you have is 20% then make the commitment to show up at the page and bring 20% to it.  You may find that once you get started you actually had 25%  The point is - do something.  Anything.  Keep covering ground.

The best selling author and writing guru, Julia Cameron calls this process, "laying track."  It's simply showing up and putting something down on the page.  There will be many days where there isn't anything magical going on.  It might even seem downright boring.  (Remember boredom is just masked resistance).  Just as a seed needs to establish roots before it can shoot out of the ground sometimes our writing needs to incubate, unseen in order to bloom at a later time.

Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000.  A gifted writer with a unique voice whose passion for story and character is fresh and exciting.  She brings out the universal humanity in her characters and engages the reader with rich detail and witty circumstances.

This week's suggested website:  - MediaBistro.com (www.mediabistro.com) This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online. Other features include forums, courses and industry news.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.   Revisit a character biography you've been working on.  Imagine that this character is looking for a job and meets the difficulties of today's economy head on.  Prepare your character's resume and give it some realistic level of polish.  For extra fun submit it to one of the online job boards and see what happens.  

Cheap hotels and Hibernation

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -- Jimi Hendrix

I've had the amazing good fortune to take advantage of some much needed time to myself.  At the end of June, I began a road trip from my home in Houston to a summer cabin I own in Catskill Park (upstate New York) near the historic town of Bethel where Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin made history in August of 1969.  It also happened on my fifth birthday.  I should have been one of those naked children featured in the documentary swimming naked in the lake.

To be able to see the country this way, much like Steinbeck did in the early 1960s was a wonderful experience filled with many unexpected surprises.  The landscape left me awestruck.  America is truly an amazing country.  I hibernated in the cabin for all of July and through mid-August working on a script and keeping up with this blog and my journal.  My only companions were my dogs.  And, to tell the truth, I could have used a break from them too.

Something truly amazing happens when you hibernate this way.  First of all, I gained weight.  Duh... food became a source of delight and indulgence, but I gained something else much more valuable as well.  I gained some much needed insight.  The silence gave my characters a chance to speak to me.   No television, no internet, no cell phone.  I got a chance to both focus on and strengthen my imagination.  Much like a muscle, the imagination needs to develop and the best way to do that is to use it every day.

I also got the chance to see how nature follows a specific flow and every living being responds to this flow.  The birds know just when and what to sing, the bees know just when and where to collect pollen, the fruits and vegetables know just where to turn their leaves to get full advantage of the sun.  Maybe writers have a rhythm as well.  Mornings and late evenings seem to be my most productive times.

I also seem to have a fondness for airports, hotels and waiting rooms.  I've come to understand that when ideas jump into my head (often times in these situations) its an opportunity to capture them the old fashioned way - on paper, yes a note pad.

I usually wait until I've read a book before I have anything to say about it but in this case, I think I need to make an exception.  Author, Jonathan Lehem was a classmate of mine at the Fiorella LaGuardia High School of Music and Art (Class of 1982).  I can't say that I remember him although we do  have friends in common.  It recently came to my attention that Jonathan's book, "Motherless Brooklyn," won the National Book Critics Circle Award.  He's gone on to write more critically acclaimed novels as well (Chronic City and Gun with Occasional Music .  I'm looking forward to reading Motherless Brooklyn.  It's jumped to the top of my reading list.


This week's suggested website: MIT OpenCourseWare - (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm#WritingandHumanisticStudies) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a number of free writing courses through its OpenCourseWare program. Course topics include fiction writing, short story writing, expository writing, essay writing, technical writing and poetry.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.   Imagine that one of your characters has just won the presidential election.  It's inauguration day.  Write a compelling, motivational speech to the American people outlining the administration's vision of the four years ahead.

Constructing Plot (Act 3 - Endings)

“I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.” – Henry David Thoreau

Know your ending!  I know some writers who insist that they know their ending first, refine it and then work backward creating characters and plot devices that intensify the ending.  No doubt, a strong conclusion leaves the audience satisfied for having gone the journey with your characters. 

Don’t disappoint.  Many endings disappoint because they fail to pay off on what's been set up in Act 1 and the audience is left wondering what happened to secondary characters or unresolved dramatic issues.

I like to think that Act 3 is all about the ‘Why?”  Show us the character growth.  If your protagonist starts off as an ignorant country bumpkin could he win a senatorial seat by the end of your film?   If a miserly grandmother hits the lottery does she become an active philanthropist or does she invest heavily in a corporate conglomerate set to destroy the environment?  

If Act 1 setups up the “who, where and what” of the story (a cowardly knight in King Arthur’s court, an apprentice bullfighter in Spain) and Act 2 shows us the “how” -- how does one train to fight a bull?  How does one overcome terrorists and save the hostages?  How does a skinny computer geek become a superhero?  All the the monumental obstacles you've thrown at your hero in Act 2 have endeared us to the character.  Then, Act 3, hopefully wraps it all up and answers the big question:  Why?  Not to be mistaken with the dramatic need (to escape, to get the girl, to win the race, to become a better parent, etc.) the deeper question is, why?

Ultimately, if you’ve done your homework the answer you derive will reveal even more layers of your main character.  Your story's resolution must reveal something about the human condition. 

Continuing on my mission to read and comment on one book a month this year, I'd like to recommend Kiran Desai's "The Inheritance of Loss."  The 2006 Booker Prize winning novel is an intimate portrait of Indian village life.  Rich with detail and political strife its a fast paced, character driven narrative.  I found the women in this novel particularly well drawn.  

This week's suggested website: First Writer - (www.firstwriter.com) First Writer is a helpful resource for writers everywhere. The site has a searchable database of book and magazine publishers, literary agencies and writing competitions.

This week's writing prompt:   Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.   Review the ending of your current script or novel.  Does it deliver on the story promise set up in Act 1?  Revise your ending to emphasize your protagonist's emotional growth.  Punch up the emotional impact.  Have a great writing week.  

  

Constructing Plot (Act 2 - The Middle)

"The cure for boredom is curiosity.  There is no cure for curiosity."  - Dorothy Parker

In Act 1 we've learned much about your story and its people.  Now it's time to reign havoc on their world.  That's the main thrust of act two -- confrontation!

So far your characters have walked on stage and introduced themselves.  We’ve gotten the lay of the land and we’ve been thrust into the middle of a “situation.”  As Act 1 comes to a close we’ve had a chance to see your characters in their “ordinary” everyday world.  We’ve become aware of their everday habits and also the grander, burning desire to acquire or accomplish something  - then something happens to intiate Act 2 that takes your protagonist outside his or her comfort zone.  


It’s the call to adventure that Joseph Campbell identifies and describes so well in his master work: The Hero With A Thousand Faces.  

Whether it's a  car accident, an armed bank robbery, a sudden financial windfall -  something dramatic forces your character to commit to the adventure ahead.  There can be no other choice.  The burning desire you’ve set up in Act 1 is at stake.  The hero’s refusal of the call to action can be a short as a simple "no, I can't" or it can be a long sequence with your character unable to avoid what's ahead despite his or her best efforts.  


Ultimately, whether voluntarily or not, the burning desire drives the hero into Act 2.   This story beat has been called “the inciting incident,” “plot point one,” and a number of other things by many different teachers.  The mechanics of this beat are the same.  Something changes your hero’s everyday life course.  Your story is essentially about how the person you introduced in Act 1 gets tangled up in the chaos of Act 2. 

Without question, Act 2 is always the hardest or most enriching part of the process for me as a writer.  It's also the longest.  This is where you throw every imaginable obstacle at your character.  Let chaos reign supreme.  Watch a few of your favorite films and you'll notice Act 2 is where a film's highlights are pulled for the trailer.  


The second act is all about “how” things work.  “How” the pieces all fit together.  And, the cleverness and originality of Act 2 defines much of the audience's opinion of the piece as a whole.  It’s the measure by which we judge a satisfactory ending.  Was the riddle solved?  How did Miss Marple figure it out?  Was  the murderer caught?  How did Sherlock Holmes snag him?  Was the heist successful?  What did the crew need to do to get past security?  Was the long lost couple reunited?  What did our hero have to do to get the girl back?   Don't make it too easy on the hero or we'll feel cheated.  Act 2 is the battleground on which your protagonist  wages war with the world and himself/herself and either proves to be worthy of the goal or falls short.  

Another great book with sections on character and structure is Robert J. Ray's "The Weekend Writer Writes A Mystery."  It's loaded with creative exercises and great information on character and structure.  A fast read that I highly recommend.  

This week' suggested website: NaNoWriMo - (http://www.nanowrimo.org) National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo, challenges writers to pen 50,000 word novels between November 1 and November 31 every year. The site provides articles, forums and all kinds of motivators to help them get the work done.


This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Create a list of at least six things that are going wrong in your character's quest to achieve his or her dramatic need.  The larger and more difficult the obstacles the more we'll cheer as your hero succeeds!  Have a great writing week. 

Constructing Plot (Act 1 - Beginnings)

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift.”  - Steve Prefontaine

The basics of constructing an intriguing and entertaining plot is at the core of good storytelling.  Any discussion of plot must at some point refer back to the master, Aristotle.  For over 2,300 years the format he laid down still serves us.  Every story has a beginning, middle and end.  Duh...  and every section has a specific function.  Setup the situation in act one, escalate the confrontation with the antagonist in act two and provide the reader/viewer with a satisfying resolution in act three.  Okay, but how does one go about constructing a plot?

In this entry I'll discuss stage one: the beginning or setup.

Let's take a look at plot construction's first component (the beginning).  The basic premise of any story is simply: something happens to someone.  In the first thirty pages of your screenplay (give or take) your story must accomplish several things.  Okay, define who your hero is.  This should be easy.  It's usually the character that under goes the most change.  The audience will experience your story through this person's perspective.

Empathy toward your main character will keep your audience engaged.  It's crucial.  No one will sit through a movie for an hour and a half if they don't feel a connection to your main character.  I've found three helpful techniques that help with this process.

• Make your main character either very good at what he or she does (a decorated army officer who leads new recruits through the difficulties of becoming an officer, a compassionate teacher that sacrifices advancements in her own career to help her students, etc.) or
• Make your main character hilariously funny (a hateful, biggot like Archie Bunker in All in the Family or a bumbling, drunken playboy like Arthur the multi-millionaire lush in the film of the same name played by Dudley Moore) we can forgive all types of bad behavior in a main character when he or she is funny.  In fact, we'll cheer them on!   or lastly,
• Make your character the victim of some unfortunate event beyond their control (a victim of a car accident, a person left devastated by a hurricane, an abused child, etc.).  Our hearts go out to people like this.  It's natural.  Exploit it!  

These are three easy ways to build audience empathy with your main character.  Empathy is what will keep them rooting for your hero and caring about your story's final resolution.

The challenge of Act one is that it needs to accomplish a few important things as it thrusts us into the action.  Many beginning writers linger on lengthy explanations and setups that slow a story down.  In contrast, look at the mega successful James Bond franchise.  Those films are famous for beginning with an elaborate action sequence.  It throws the audience into the adventure at the very first moment.

Be sure to start your story at the height of something important that's happening in the lives of the characters you've created - not their Thursday afternoon trip to the market (unless of course that's where something happens - like a robbery, an alien attack, an act of terrorism, etc.)  A good rule of thumb I've heard is to start every scene at the last possible moment.  For instance, you want to write a scene about a husband and wife getting into an argument.  Well -- start in the heat of an argument!  Insults are slung about over a badly cooked dinner, tears are shed - slaps across the face are exchanged - you get the idea.  Don't start at the moment when a tired husband is just arriving home from work.  You've got to get a lot of things done in the first thirty pages.  You just don't have time for this.

Once you've accomplished setting up the environment, tone and main character give your hero a burning desire.  This will be the gasoline that keeps the story moving forward.

Consider these personal character motives:  A woman intent on getting her less than average child into an exclusive school, a boxer trying to make a comeback when he's well past his prime, a detective with twenty hours to find a kidnapped heiress -- these are all examples of a burning desire - a overwhelming need that you can then exploit for dramatic or comedic purpose in stage two - the middle.  One clever writing book I read recently said that beginning is all about rushing to get to the middle!

Setup the "who what and where" of your story in Act one and you're well on your way to having a great first act.  Give your audience the chance to discover who the people of your story are - make them care - and then be sure to get across what the stakes are in your story.

Like many writers, I have a fondness for stories of far off, exotic locales and wondrous new cultures.  Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul is penetrating and moving account of one journalist's extended stay in Afghanistan.  It's  rich with detail and emotionally engaging.  I highly recommend it.

This week's suggested website: The Library of Congress - (http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html) This U.S. government site offers access to an online library of books, letters, manuscripts, photos and other printed materials.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Review your main's character biography.  Make sure you've included a burning desire in his/her makeup that will drive him/her through the rest of your story.  Have a great writing week.  

My Own Private Eden

"If you're going to have two faces at least make one of them pretty" - Marilyn Monroe

Driving 1,700 miles from Houston to a small upstate New York hamlet (I’d rather not disclose where for fear I may get visitors) with my two dogs gave me an opportunity to see some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes as I passed through states like Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  Each had its own character, its own shape, its own voice.  The blue mountains of Tennessee are appropriately named but nothing can prepare you for how breathtaking they are.  I'm astounded at how much beauty there is in the world.

I arrived in my dilapidated hunter’s cabin to find the place in pretty decent shape.  The grass had only grown chest high and required a mere three days of weed whacking to tame.  The washer/dryer combo that promised to use next to no energy very little water and certified hunky dory for the environment, stubbornly refused to drain.  It held my clothes hostage in lukewarm water for three days.  As it happened not having the modern convenience of a washer/dryer was a wonderful introduction to the world of "laundry meditation."  A tub, some water, and good old elbow grease and I’m really feeling like Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Lastly, a sturdy line that will hold it all in place until the sun bleaches my clothes with warmth.

A noisy 4^th of July holiday weekend came and went and the mountainside settled down to its own rhythms.  Wild turkey, raccoons, bear, deer, hawks, chipmunks, robins, beavers, and woodpeckers were just a few of the animals I could a identify – there were many more I’d never seen before including a few snakes that angrily slithered around exposed to the sun and predators thanks to the weed whacker.  Now what does this all have to do with writing?  Everything!

Hudson Valley - Copyright David Oliveras 2011

 This was the vista that awaited me when I arrived.  My own private eden.  It's a piece of property that I own in the Hudson Valley.  It's where I'll have my ashes spread.  I'm fortunate that I can spend some time of the year here, writing.  It's where it all comes from.

Traveling exposes you wonderful new environments rich in detail and color.  It hones your powers of observation.  It forces you into the unknown (where adventure breeds).  

What better entertainment than a classic from one of my favorite authors.  John Steinbeck’s, Travels with Charly: In Search of America” was one of those books I always meant to read but never got around to.  I had an old audiobook on cassette (unabridged, of course) and I spent many hours on the road reading about Steinbeck’s perspective on what he saw.  He made his trip in the early 1960s.  Times were certainly different.  What a wonderful piece of social commentary. It was especially wonderful to read Steinbeck's comments on civil rights as an African American sits in the Oval Office.   Highly recommended!

 This week's suggested website: The Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) (OWL) has over 200 high quality grammar and writing resources.

 

This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Draw an imaginary map.  It can be a vast landscape of mountains or a ultra modern urban layout. Populate this place with landmarks and vivid detail.  When you're ready allow a character you've been working on to wander through this place.  What happens?

Roadmaps and Sign Posts

"If you follow all the rules, you'll miss out on all the fun."  -- Katherine Hepburn

Life throws you curves!  It's great when you can enjoy them, like a child riding a roller coaster.  The faster, and more unexpected they are the better.  Dips and curves are the whole idea of the ride.  So it is with your characters, who by now you know very well.  Your job now as a storyteller is to throw them into the "curves" of life.

I'm reminded, as I prepare to travel cross country, that planning a long piece of writing is a lot like planning a road trip.  When you prepare for a road trip you obviously know your starting point (beginning) and you know your destination (ending).  A lot of writers, myself included, get lost in the middle - and that's where the meat of the story is.

A friend of mine recently asked me what she should do with her characters (who, by now she knows inside and out).  Well, it's really basic and difficult at the same time.  Give your characters a strong desire (like getting across country) and then put as many obstacles in their way as possible (i.e., your hero must take his two large dogs - that don't always get along - with him in a sportscar.)

Your characters must start in one place (whether its a phyical place or emotional state) and end up in another.  The audience needs to see a progression (or degression).  How they get there is what makes your story interesting.

A treatment or outline will serve to indicate the major points along the way.  However, the trip won't be without its fair share of surprises.  You'll stumble along and find treasures that you didn't expect much like you would on a road trip. (i.e., your hero's GPS has lost all sense of direction).

There's no better way to learn writing than to read the writers that resonate with your sensibilities and excite you the most.  I was thrilled once again with Paulo Coehlo's writing.  I've read the majority of his work and recently finished "The Witch of Portobello" was no disappointment.  It's only the second novel I've read this year.  I'm quite a bit behind my goal of one a month.  See.... shit happens!


This week's suggested website: Absolute Write - (www.absolutewrite.com) Absolute Write covers a wide range of topics and is a good resource for any writer. This site's thousands of pages feature articles, classifieds, interviews, message boards and writing contests.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Write a postcard to yourself from your dream vacation destination.  Describe the wonderful (or horrific) time you're having.http://absolutewrite.com/

Is It Worth It?

"By helping you win, I win too.  We all do.  And that is the only way to become not only a better writer, but to make the world a better place." - Blake Snyder

Rome wasn't built in a day.  As frustrating as it may be, things take time to come to fruition.  When you embark on a project as daunting as a novel or screenplay, be prepared to be in it for the long haul.  You'll need to put off your desire for instant results or even noticeable progress.  It may happen that way, but more often than not it's a slow methodical approach to a clearly realized goal that gets you to the finish line.

Along the way, if you're fortunate, you'll encounter other writers on the path, struggling with the same issues.  Remember that not every day will be a great writing day.  Sometimes you'll struggle and wind up with a measly paragraph that only brushes up against mediocrity.  There will be days when you read what you've written so far and wonder why you didn't listen to your mother and become an accountant.

The important thing to remember here is that this is all part of the process.  You have to be willing to enjoy the process of writing not just the act of being finished.  The process of agonizing over a sentence, pouring over a thesaurus for the right word, getting turned on by spell check is all part and parcel of being a writer.  These are the mundane things that will fill your days and build into a great work.  The richness of writing lies in the struggle to write not in the accolades that come from critics or readers.  Some days your blog will suck ass and you'll feel like you have nothing to say, or that you've said it all before.  This is where most wannabees quit.  A writer, will write anyway.  A writer will write through the depression and self doubt.  Don't be surprised if you arrive at more depression and self-doubt for your trouble.  That's part of the process too.  Take the time to understand your process.  Learn when to shut up, turn off your mind and keep writing.  All great writers have one thing in common.  They finished.  They got across the finish line and completed their vision.  It's that simple.  Arrive at the page.  Give it what you can.

Is it worth it?  Is writing ever going to pay off?  Will I ever be published/produced?  You may never know the answer to these questions.  The truth is, it doesn't matter one way or the other.  Riches?  Fame?  So what?  Write.




This week's suggested website: Guide to Literary Agents (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com)  If you're looking for representation, this comprehensive guide may be your best method of identifying which agents are best suited to represent your type of work.


This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Compile a list of five of your favorite writers.  Spend a little time researching their personal lives.  Notice what their struggles and triumphs were.  What were their greatest literary achievements?  What was going on in their personal lives when their writing was at its best?  Are there any similarities between the authors on your list?  What are they?

Set the Stage on the Page

There exists within our screenplays, fiction, poetry, etc. an invisible character that subliminally reaches our intended audience with surprising force.  And, that invisible character is: setting.  


It's important not to underestimate the relevance of setting in our writing.  Dismissing setting as mere description can undermine your story's emotional impact.  Setting the stage is an essential part of creating a sense of suspended disbelief.

If for example your story is a hard hitting crime drama, your ability to create the appropriate setting, complete with interesting details that reveal human nuances, will make your story sparkle with life and authenticity. A properly imagined setting will not only create the mood for your piece but will also establish your credibility an an authoritative voice.

If the reader/audience is satisfied that you're knowledgeable of your surroundings they'll be more easily lulled into your imaginary story.

There are wonderful examples of stories where the environment is certainly a "voice" or presence in the story.  127 Hours is a perfect example of how the environment plays a major role in the lives of the characters, the decisions they make and the course of action they follow.  Imagine for a moment some other examples of setting playing an important role in a story.   Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, Wall Street, Sex and the City and countless others all paint a different picture of New York City.  Can you imagine how different the stories would be if they took place somewhere else.  The spirit of New York breathes through these stories.

Perhaps no other genre demands a well realized setting as much as science fiction.  Consider how much time and effort went into the planning of the world of Star Wars.  Entire planets, races of sentient beings, all manner of vegetation, modes of transportation, weaponry, etc. all help to create the setting for this magnificent adventure.  Similarly, consider how the pastural settings of "The Natural" helped to elevate this story from just a baseball movie to a mystical allegory of forgiveness, regret and redemption.

Treat setting like an invisible character and add impact to every scene in your story.


This week's suggested website:  The Literary Law Guide (http://www.literarylawguide.com) provides the legal resources and copyright information that every writer ought to be familiar with.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Write a love letter to yourself.   Sounds easy, maybe even silly but you'd be surprised how many people resist this exercise.  A little self-love can be very powerful.  Pour it on!  Have a great writing week.

Guest Blogger: Herb Goss

Guest Blogger:  TV Writer/Producer, Herb Goss

Writing is about starting.  Every day you must start to get anything done.  Many people tell you to pick a time to start and always begin at that exact time.  Now that's discipline, but you're a writer not an Olympic athlete so that might not be realistic.  Other writers have a page count that they like to hit.  I believe in both.  I try to write at least six pages a day and I like to start at 10am.  However, if I can't start at 10 am than I start at another time and if I can't write six pages than I write as many as I can.  You see the object is to have discipline which is the only way to write anything of substance and value.  The other rule is to be flexible because if you are not flexible then you'll find that you are constantly beating yourself up which is not conducive to having a good writer's life. But how to start?
It all begins with a blank page.  More vast than the infinite universe we live in this can be the most challenging part of writing.  If you don't have an idea to slam down then the first thing to do is brainstorm. Just start writing down the first thing that comes to your mind.  "A rabbit eating popcorn and getting thrown out of a theater on it's ears."  "Why are there two different spellings of theatre, theater?" Don't filter, don't censor. Be prepared to throw that all out because it's not important that the ideas be good but that you write the ideas down.  This gets you flowing and keeps you in the habit of writing.  Once the habit forms you wont' be able to stop yourself, unless you hear an ice cream truck because all motion stops when anyone or anything hears the song of an ice cream truck.

If you have an idea.  Start writing it down.  Get as many pages as you can.  You've started.  Sweet.  Now you have something to rewrite.  From that day forward, you'll never have to start from scratch.  You can start by rewriting what you already wrote, making it better.  After that, continue to write from where you left off or perhaps you can write an entirely different piece of your puzzle. Start, write, rewrite, six pages a day.  That's a six hundred page novel in 100 days.  Three months.  It's a 30 page spec script in 5 days.  Okay it's not that easy and fast but it's close.  Six a day.  Start, write, rewrite and then one day... finish.

This week's suggested website:  Zoetrope.com (www.zoetrope.com) In March of 1998 Francis Coppola launched a website where writers could submit their short stories to his magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. A community of writers quickly formed around the website. It became so popular so quickly that a few months later he created sites for novellas and screenplays.  The Virtual Studio is a submission destination and collaboration tool for filmmakers—a community where artists can submit and workshop original work. It's also the best e-resource for information about the Coppola family and American Zoetrope.


This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Write a one page short story in the first person point of view.  Doesn't need to be fancy or award winning literature.  Now here's the real challenge.  Switch genders.  If you're a male write in the voice of a female (many great writers still complain this is difficult and yet crucial).  Try to be convincing and not cliched.  Be sure to depict the character's inner life.  You won't have much time in five minutes and one page but try to give the reader a glimpse of your character's inner landscape.  It doesn't need to be perfect.  Practice switching into the "voices" of your characters from the inside out.  Have a great writing week. 

The Value of Keeping a Journal

"The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates

Some things are never written down but instead are forgotten and buried.  It's a tragedy.  Everything, no matter how foul or obnoxious, deserves to be written down if the thinker/writer wishes to do so.  For those awful, cancerous secrets that are eating us alive there is a remedy -- the journal.

My father beat me.  My mother was a crack addict.  My uncle molested me.  I'm an anorexic teenage prostitute.  Nothing should escape the penetrating scrutiny of your journal.  These horrific experiences were the basis of famous and highly profound works of memoir by brave, self-examining writers.  And, these works have transformed the lives of others.  Consider Anne Frank's diary and the impact it has had on the subsequent generations following her death.

The journal is the literary equivalent of the paparazzi.   The images depicted in your diary will not always be flattering, in most cases you'll sound like a selfish, whining child.  However shallow, ignorant or resentful a mood you may find yourself in, the journal can safely contain it, so you don't have to.  Let the bitterness and anger flow onto the page.  It all needs to go somewhere or else it'll bubble up to the surface and boil over into the other areas of your life like a backed up septic tank of emotional baggage.

Be aggressive in your effort to examine and expose yourself.  This personal document will track an emotional trajectory that you can trace over the course of your life.  You will find there are themes that reoccur in your life with different characters in place and under different circumstances.  If you're like me you'll find the same mini dramas being played out over and over again, perhaps on a larger scale with more at stake.  In other words, the same bully who pushed us off the monkey bars when we were eight confronts us at middle age when we argue with a boss or spouse.  Hopefully we have matured a bit and act differently today than we did when we were eight.  But imagine how an eight year old might capture this experience in a journal entry.

"Tommy knocked me off the monkey bars today.  I hate him.  I'm going to kill him tomorrow after school.  I don't know how yet.  Maybe poison.  But I want to punch him in the jaw in front of everybody first."


Perhaps best remembered for her erotic fiction, Anaïs Nin was  also a passionate diarist whose grand oeuvre, in my opinion, was her journal.  The testament spanned decades and fueled much of her other work.  In it were revelations about her sexual adventures, including a well known affair with the author, Henry Miller, that were shocking for the time.  Loaded with fecund language and uninhibited erotic force, her diary left a lasting impression on my writing life.  I highly recommend this great and often overlooked writer.


Next week -- We're kicking off our new monthly guest blogger feature.  The first of our special guest bloggers,  Herb Goss, a veteran TV writer/producer with over 600 aired episodes to his credit, shares his insights on the writing process.


This week's suggested website:  Creative Writing Prompts - (www.creativewritingprompts.com).  Over three hundred writing prompts to spark the imagination of the fiction writer as well as the journal writer.  Check it out and see which ones work for you.

This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  On a single sheet of paper list your strong points as a writer, e.g., dialog, description, plotting, etc.  Spend a few moments defining what you do well.  Next, picture where you would like to be in your career five years from now, then ten years from now.  Now you have a clear goal in front of you and the strong points you listed earlier are the road map that will get you there.  Fold this sheet of paper and stuff it in your journal.  Have a great writing week.

Can Art and Commerce Coexist?

"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle." - Walt Whitman

Audiences worldwide long for a good read.  They want to be entertained, inspired, thrilled, shocked, educated, etc.  In short, audiences want to be moved and it's our job as writers to deliver an engrossing adventure.  As writers we dream of creating "the great American novel, or penning the perfect soliloquy.  What we must strive to achieve then is creating a satisfying journey for the reader/viewer.

I've noticed that quite often a novel by a new author or a small, independent movie by an unknown director, far removed from Hollywood, pops up and speaks to us in a different language, or with a different perspective and somehow that freshness strikes an universal chord.  Agents, producers and famous actors long to read that original script that grabs them from page one.  But it's important to recognize that sometimes it's the person who not only breaks the rules but who has no conception of them that captivates our attention and speaks to us in that authentic, fresh voice.

Consider this:  commercial success is not always the primary motivation for creating works of art and literature.  People write for as many reasons as there are styles of writing.  A book that examines this and a personal favorite of mine is Patrice Vecchione's "Writing and the Spiritual Life."  It reminds me that among many other things writing has the power to transform old wounds and lead us to a richer, fuller life regardless of our financial solvency.

Recently a friend of mine,  an award winning composer, was struggling after completing a new composition.  While the piece conveyed the juxtaposition of humor and loss he intended, the music didn't follow a conventional structure that would have made it commercially viable.  There was no concrete transition between an "A" part and a "B" part.  The disconnect between the two musical phrases was part of my friend's artistic intention.  Luckily, he didn't heed the avalanche of criticism to change it .  He didn't inject an artistically artificial transition between the two sections of music just to deliver what was expected.  He stuck with the integrity of his initial artistic vision and left the piece alone.  The result, at least for me as a listener, is that the absence of the transition emphasizes the narrative.  Parts "A" and "B" are distinct.  They are in conflict.   For me, the abruptness between the phrases works.


What my friend's example illustrates for me is the distinction between art and commerce.  First and foremost the music had to satisfy him then he could decide how he would shape and present it to the world.  It works much the same way for a writer.  Countless stories have come into being solely because someone took a risk and presented an honest experience over a well tested cliche.  An artist tries to think outside the box.  A craftsman yearns to build a better box.  Which are you?


Another excellent book by a wonderful writer and teacher is "Old Friend from Far Away" by Natalie Goldberg.   In it, she shares her thoughts about writing memoir.  Nothing spells adventure quite like memoir.  The lives of courageous men and women who faced great opposition is always wonderful fodder for uplifting and inspiring stories.   Some critics and many writers insist that to some extent all writing contains elements of the writer's own life story.  And, that's the seed of our fresh, authentic voice.


This week's suggested website:  Scribd.com - Scribd is the world’s largest social reading and publishing company. They've made it easy to share and discover entertaining, informative and original written content across the web and mobile devices. Their vision is to liberate the written word, to connect people with the information and ideas that matter most to them.


This week's writing prompt:  Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.  Make a list of five movies you haven't seen.  Not current box office fare but classic, time honored, universally acknowledged masterpieces you've been meaning to watch for years but somehow haven't got around to it.  Try to list the ones you're ashamed to admit not having watched.  Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Titanic, Raging Bull, Gone with the Wind, etc.  When you have five write an imaginary logline for each film based on what you think it's about.   In the next few weeks and months, watch the films on your list and see how close your preconceptions were to the actual product.  Enjoy.  Have a great writing week.  


P.S. - If WATERCOLORS is on anyone's list, please let me know.  :)