Where Everything Relates to Writing ~~ A blogging series hosted by Shonell Bacon, The Original ChickLitGurrl™ in which writers talk about writing and its relation to various topics!
December 23rd 2009 was the beginning. I began on a journey that would change my life forever. I was faced with a debilitating illness that no doctor could find the cause for. In the early stages of my illness God lead me to read the book of Job and he told me that I was going through my own Job experience. He then led me to write down all of my experiences which evolved into this book. I didn’t know it then but my illness would catapult me into realizing God’s purpose for my life. It is my hope that my experience can inspire someone else to continue trusting God no matter what obstacles they may face. My illness is just one part of this book. I have experienced so many ups and downs and my relationship with God has increased dramatically since this all began. I have learned to lean and depend on God even more and I know that he is always with me no matter how long it takes to come out of my storm. This Job experience is my test to make sure that I am ready and prepared to carry out the call of God on my life.
About the Author
Margaret H. Wesley currently resides in NC with her three sons; Jamaal Jr-7, and twins Jamison and Javon-3. She is devoted full time to her craft of writing and is also very passionate about singing. Her biggest hope is that she will continue to be used by God and show the love of Christ in her everyday life.
A Peek inside The Job Experience: My Personal Testimony of How to Face Battles and Win
Preface
I’ve always been a church girl. I grew up in a two parent home and going to church and Sunday school was just a part of our lives. It was as normal to me as getting up in the morning and eating breakfast. I learned to love God at an early age and music was something that gave me a connection to him. I was in the children’s choir at church but I was kind of shy. I always sang with the choir but the thought of leading a song terrified me. It was no problem for my family to hear my voice but I was afraid of leading a song in front of so many people. My aunt was visiting one day and she convinced me to finally stand up and let my voice be heard. That was over 20 years ago and I’m still singing for God to this day. I didn’t realize it then but singing is my ministry. It’s the gift that God put inside me to be used for his kingdom. I have perfected my gift over the years and tried to be obedient to the call over my life. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the enemy doesn’t want you to ever discover the gifts that God has for you but more importantly he doesn’t want you to use those talents and gifts to bring someone to Christ. The significance of learning the will of God for your life is that you will be tested and you will be tried. I’ve had many good things happen in my life and many tragedies as well. But the real test of my life so far came during the Christmas holiday of 2009.
When my illness first began I had no idea where it would take me or how long I would be going through it. I’ve always been kind of sickly so I thought it was just another small battle that I would have to face.
Intrigued by The Job Experience? Then click [here] to purchase the book today!
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What is FIRSTS? First is that digital peek we all take in a real-life bookstore when we're thinking about buying a book. We glance at the cover and if that interests us, we flip it over and read the book description on the back cover, maybe even read a short author bio, and if that compels us, we'll flip open the book and read that ever important first page. If all these things make us burn to continue reading, we waltz right up to the counter and make our purchase!
If you're interested in having your book featured as a FIRSTS, [e-mail me] and let's talk about it!
Djuanna Brockington has been writing fiction and creative non-fiction for four years. These days she's either writing, thinking about writing, reading books and blogs about writing, or beating herself up for not writing.
Her short fiction can be found on her website Diva Fiction Bytes. She has also written an e-book entitled "Home Alone: When Your Office Doubles as Your Guest Room," and she is working on a series of novellas for e-publishing in the very near future.
You can learn more about Djuanna by checking her out on Twitter and Facebook.
Inspiration
What inspires you to write? Initially, it was hard for me to pin down what inspires me to write. I turned the concept over in my mind for days and came up with nothing. That was because I was looking for the pat answer-the thing that would sound all lofty and scholarly. And since that is so not me, I hit a mental wall. When I got real with myself, I realized that I’m inspired by the desire to create funny stories with smart characters that lead interesting lives, and yet are highly relatable. Like my unnamed main character in The Date-my very first short story. She’s self-employed, a catch in her own right, exhausted from finishing up a three week project, and yet she goes on a blind date at the insistence of her best friend. Bad date ensues. Just like millions of women around the world.
Where do you find inspiration to create your stories? I most frequently get inspired by the antics of my family and friends. Things that happen to other people always seem way more interesting than the stuff happening in my life. I’m always asking myself the question: “What if things had gone this way or that, instead of the way they’ve actually played out?” I’m sort of never satisfied with what is. I’ve got to make it into something else. Which is good, because by the time I’m done with a story, the original subject can’t recognize him/herself. You keep your friends that way.
When I’m not pilfering from the life happenings of folks I know, I’m wondering about the “back story” of famous folks. You know, the road they traveled to their particular version of success, some of their trials and tribulations, and of course, triumphs. Not in a paparazzi/stalkerish kind of way, but more like an objective observer. Who is probably going to use an obscure incident and create an entire story around it.
Probably the biggest inspiration for me is emotion. When I’m happy, I start thinking about happy storylines that I can write. When I’m in pain, I wondering how I can use that as well. Besides telling a good story, I’ve always believed that part of a writer’s job is to evoke emotion (whether it’s for a character’s circumstance or because of a character’s behavior). The challenge is to write in a way that genuine and not a trivialization of emotion. Sometimes it can be hard to do, but damn awesome when I pull it off. My flash fiction A Little Help From My Friends was all about the emotion.
Most of all, though, I am inspired to write because leaving my stories untold just feels wrong.
A Taste of Fiction
Brockington's A Little Help from My Friends...
Friends often swear that they will always be there for one another, that the bonds of friendship will last through thick and through thin. In Jenna’s case, it was actually sick and sin. She was about to put her friendships to the ultimate test. She was sick, and she needed them to help her commit a sin.
“I want you both to help me commit suicide.” She slowly looked up from her penne pasta and Italian sausage. What she saw was shock on the faces of the two women who meant the most to her in the world.
Alice put her fork down and absorbed the silence while Rita audibly gasped.
“My cancer is back. And it’s spreading like a motherfucka. I can’t do the chemo and the radiation again. It was horrible. Besides, the cancer’s so bad, it would probably be of little use. I’ve decided it’s time for me to call it quits. I want you guys to help me. Correction. I NEED you guys to help me. I’m afraid I’ll back out at the last minute. And this is truly what I want.”
Seconds stretched into minutes. Rita finally found her voice, and though she spoke in a quiet tone, the anger was unmistakable. “You bring us to this posh restaurant to tell us that you want us to help you kill yourself. Did you think we would behave ourselves? No scenes, right? Because Jenna The Control Freak can’t stand scenes. I can’t believe this. You did not just ask me to help you die!”
“Rita, please. I didn’t know how else to tell you. I found out last week at my annual check up. Remission was nice while it lasted, but it’s over for me. The results are pretty clear.”
Alice remained silent, yet tears streamed down her face. She twisted the napkin in her hands, which caused her knuckles to whiten.
Rita’s eyes were dry, but her face was contorted. The pain was evident. “What does your husband have to say about this? Why didn’t you ask him to kill you?” Her voice catches in her throat as reality sunk in on a physical level.
“Alex doesn’t know. And he would never agree to it anyway. He’s not strong enough to let me go on his own. I’m all he has left. We don’t have children. His parents are gone. He has no sisters or brothers to see him through this. There is no way in hell he will agree to help me. You guys are it. And I need you now, more than ever. Besides, we talked about this the first time I got sick, and you both agreed that you would do whatever it takes to see me through this. Well, it’s going to take you helping me commit suicide.”
Jenna’s facade of strength started to slip away. She looked like she was about to collapse in on herself. It was then that her friends can see her frailty. She was sick, and had been for some time.
“I’ll help you.” Alice’s voice was small but determined. She repeated herself. “I’ll help you, Jenna. And so will Rita.” She reached across the table and grabbed a hand from each friend. Time slowed enough for them to absorb one another’s strength and determination, and to start to say “goodbye” in silence.
CHAMSIL (pronounced "shahm-sill") is a Kalamazoo, Michigan-bred/Orlando, Florida-based writer, poet, spoken word artist, spoken word radio show host and author of five books/stories that have been released via the web which include Of This Analverse (An Erotiq Comedy), The Exploitation of Innocence (A Story), The Khaos of Kai, eThugs R Us, and Ten Thirty-Eight. He can be reached directly at chamsilthewriter@yahoo.com.
Chamsil is all over the internet; check him out at...
Kommandhoe and Boogieman claim to be the hardest, toughest, and most hardcore thugs wreaking complete havoc and sheer intimidation in their urban wasteland...which happens to
be the information superhighway.
However, when their threats befall the 'wrong' individual, the anty is upped, the stakes are raised and they become the targets...literally.
Time is not on their side...
They just don't know it yet...
Detroit, Michigan. 21st Century.
Jacorri Isaacs is a young man simply trying to make it. By sixteen, he had seen his parents split up and endured the struggle of coming up in a single-parent household, but he's remained resilient through it all.
When faced with a proposition that could catapult him into manhood, he is forced to decide whether or not to succumb to forces that not only will test him from an emotional perspective, but primarily from a physical one.
This is the simply...The crazy life & times of Jacorri Isaacs.
Both eThugs R Us and Ten Thirty-Eight are downloadable for FREE via Chamsil's MySpace page.
Inspiration
What inspires you to write?
My greatest inspiration to write comes from just having a creative soul. I experience great excitement by being able to come up with a captivating book, story, poem, and/or characters that resonate with readers so profoundly, that they can totally see themselves in the things that I write. I am greatly inspired by the things that I see around me, as well. It is also people who give me inspiration to write. In 2008, I wrote a novel, that was solely intended to be distributed via the internet, titled "Of This Analverse" (An Erotiq Comedy). The book was well-received by the hundred-plus people who downloaded and read it and I was very happy with both the results and responses. One of my friends, that I network with, was so captivated by one of the characters in the book, that she insisted that I should write something with that same character being the focal point in a proposed new book idea. The end result: "The Khaos of Kai" was another hit on the web. I was also, very pleased with the reception and feedback. Also, my keen visual sense, enables triggers in my brain to expand something, initially small, into something so powerful and poignant that sometimes my finished product sends chills up my own spine. It's kind of scary. I just love creating. I'll keep creating for as long as God gives me life and the ability to do so.
Where do you find inspiration to create your stories?
I get inspired by a wide variety of things. I'm always online, so it could be something that I read or see that may motivate me to write. It could be people that I talk to, that are going through the motions of life, that may prompt me to craft something. It could be something that I'm going through, in my own personal life, that could prompt a story to be written. Then also, it could just be my crazy mind that goes into overdrive and begin crafting with that trigger. A perfect example of that is a literary piece that I wrote titled, "Cleodis" (The Bedroom Gangsta). This character is no way, shape or form, a reflection of who I am, but I went crazy when I wrote this character and how he handles himself in an "intimate" encounter with the fairer sex. I really enjoyed writing that. The bad thing about it is, my mind seems to always be thinking of new things to write, even when I really would prefer to relax. I think this is a clear indication that I need to be writing full-time. I strongly believe that writing is my calling. I have so many ideas and concepts that are sitting on my mental shelf, that NEED to be taken off and read. They need to be displayed for the whole world to see. I'm on my way. It is just going to take a little time, that's all. But, I am patient.
Excerpts
From eThugs R Us
DATE: 03/26/2009 LOCATION: THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI – CLIFTON AVENUE TIME: 03:37 AM EST
(Kerry Hicks)
I wake up Drenching from fucked up dream Definition of a nightmare Oh such a stream Open my refrigerator Almost empty Because I ain't got paid yet Rubbing my stomach Like I'm a starvation patient It is what it is Got saltines up top A Two-Liter Sprite within I got a full day tomorrow So it won't be wise To spike with Gin I stride within The confines of my pad Sluggish But there's no way I'll return to slumber My computer is calling me She definitely has learned my number I answer Sit down and get comfortable Totally glued to the news That she has just begun to show An innocent woman left dead Over-The-Rhine Off top Somebody really blew her mind Punch keys Electrodes magnetize I have great balance on my board Ride the wave Like I'm the raddest guy I inadvertently notice the banner For a networking site Called Crew Flame Never seen this before So to me This is a new name I enter it Look around Observe the members Plenty fine women About nine gremlins Profiles I'm all in them But definitely not the men Shit Self-inquire What's this? A Chat button Entry denied Signed up As Chad Butler Walked in the room And there was mad cussing Everything fathomable I observed The perfect avenue To strike a nerve Spark beef Like hamburger On a charcoal grill I can already picture How many fuckers That I'm gonna kill I've suffered enough Now I'm in charge Get at my buddy Alvin See what he thinks We'll chop it up tomorrow At Hooters Order about three drinks Or more...
From Ten Thirty-Eight
Hello there. My name is Jacorri Isaacs. I am a sixteen year old, who hails from the Motor City of Detroit, Michigan. East Side, baby! Or more specifically, the land of East Side Hoes And Money, as the legendary rapper, Esham, so eloquently put it many, many years ago, after the release of his debut album, Boomin’ Words from Hell. Ever heard it before? Probably not. That album was very, very underground and came out in the year nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, which was four years before I even came into existence on this fucking planet.
I’m a young dude, but my older cousins, Marcus and Nitto, got me hip to all the old-school music, which makes me feel as if I grew up in the exact same period in which the music actually was pumping out of the various whips that navigated down Jefferson, Woodward, Gratiot or any other popular Detroit throughway. I got much love for my city, regardless of what any newspaper, news station, local or national, has to say about it. What do I say in response to the hate? Simply...“FUCK THEM!” But, it’s not about them. It’s all about me and what I want to share with you, at this moment.
I am an only child, who lives with my father, Walter Lee, a construction worker who has struggled most of my life to keep a roof over both of our damn heads. But, my father has done everything within his power to keep us maintained. Even if that meant that he wasn’t able to spend as much time with me. But, I totally understood. No matter what the situation was or how strenuous things became, I’ve always known that my father loved me. I, in return, loved and still love him with all of my heart.
We’re all we got...
Both eThugs R Us and Ten Thirty-Eight are downloadable for FREE via Chamsil's MySpace page.
John Green is the Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. He is also one half of the vlogbrothers on YouTube, where he makes videos with his brother Hank. When he was little, he wanted to be an earthworm scientist. (There is a word for such a person: oligochaetologist.) But he killed off his entire earthworm farm due to his general inability to care for pets. Later, he made a list of things he was good at. The list included "telling lies" and "sitting." So he became a writer.Green currently lives in Indianapolis, IN, where he is working on the screenplay of his third book, Paper Towns, which is the recipient of the 2009 Edgar Award by the Association for Mystery Writers of America.
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.
After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.
Click the cover above to pre-order your copy of Paper Towns today!
On Young Adult Fiction
Why write teen fiction? Well, I like teenagers both as characters and as an audience. I like them because they're in the process of forming their values, and because they're willing to grapple unironically with the big questions of our species: Why is the suffering in our world distributed so arbitrarily and unfairly? What are our responsibilities to ourselves, to those we love, to those we don't love? What does it even mean to be human? That's the kind of stuff I like to think about, and so it's the kind of stuff I like to write about, and I find that teenagers are just a great audience.
Like, this does not directly relate to my books, but once a week or so, I do a live show online. People (mostly teens) watch online while I answer their questions and read from old poems and stuff. It's amazingly fulfilling to read Whitman and Dickinson and Keats with these kids; I feel like my writing is just another path to that same experience, the chance to have a conversation with people who are really engaged and curious and conscious of the connection between their values and their lives.
How much research do you do to get into the mindset, the culture of teenagers? Very little. The research I do is stuff I'd be doing anyway: reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, talking to people online. I mean, I didn't know anything about teen culture when I *was* a teenager, and I don't know much about it now. I am always blown away with the ways that teenagers are constantly inventing the language (giving us, just in the last few years, such words as "pwn" and "nerdfighter"), but there's no way I'm going to sound hip by trying to ape them. Personally, I think the key is to invent a world that is consistent and believable in and of itself; that world will never perfectly match the teen culture of the moment, but it also won't sound dated so quickly.
What are some of the themes you tackle most often in your works? I'm interested in firsts: first love, first loss, first intellectual engagements. And I'm really interested in the way teenagers (and the rest of us) misapprehend other people and the world around them. There's this word I just learned when I was in Germany: weltschmerz. It means the sadness one feels when considering the difference between the world as it should be with the world as it is. If I had known about this word from the beginning, I wonder if I would have ever needed to write books. It turns out that everything inside all of my books is right there in a single word. Weltschmerz! Weltschmerz! Weltschmerz!
So, yeah. Weltschmerz. And I try to be funny, because the whole sad affair is kind of hilarious.
I notice there are a lot of YA book series in the market; do you think this is a trend with longevity? What do you think it takes to have a strong YA book series? I don't really know. There have been series for a long time (I read all of the Babysitters' Club books), and even though I've never attempted a series, I really admire good series and enjoy reading them. I have no idea what it takes to write a good YA series, but from observing my friends who've written good series (Cassandra Clare, Lauren Myracle, Libba Bray, and the like), it requires a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth over how to resolve everything satisfactorily.
What are three sources VITAL to writers interested in writing YA fiction? Well, the only sources I'm going to list are YA novels because I think the best apprenticeship we have is reading. There are all kinds of helpful resources for publishing YA, like SCBWI and the book Literary Marketplace. But as far as writing goes, I would read:
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, because it shows all of us what can be done.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, because it shows that a book can be ceaselessly gripping while still being deeply interesting. (I recommend the sequel, too, but I'm positive you'll read it once you've read the first one).
3. Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr, because it is such a perfectly structured character study that can teach us all a lot about how to make characters readers will love and remember.
To read the first pages of Paper Towns, head HERE!
inCHARACTER is the creation of author Samara King in a quest to quench her hunger of creating characters. (Clause: Her preference for heroes has nothing to do with it!)
Starting in September 21, 2009, characters will have their day at http://www.incharacter101.com! inCHARACTER seeks to provide a creative outlet for like-minded authors who also enjoy the depths of character development, character/scene features of all genres, as well as thought-provoking articles on the subjects of creativity, writing, and character creation.
** inCHARACTER will also be in search of bi-monthly contributors for literary articles and candid prospectives into the literary life.
As inCHARACTER continues to grow, affordable advertising spaces will be available for purchase as well as book spotlights.
If you are interested in an inCHARACTER Character Feature, you may submit the following material:
1. Book Cover 2. Short Author Bio and Author Link 3. 250 – 750 word scene featuring selected character of author’s choice.
The Catch: Once Samara King has read your selected character scene, five questions will be sent to the author, geared toward your character….Interested? Good! Please submit your character feature for consideration to incharacter@incharacter101.com!
E. M. Crane is the author of Skin Deep, published by Random House in 2008. Skin Deep won the Delacorte Press Prize for First Young Adult fiction, and it has been nominated for the 2009 Charlotte Award by the NY State Reading Association. Crane lives in rural northern New York near the Canadian border, where she is a full-time writer. She is represented by the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
If all the world’s a stage, Andrea Anderson is sitting in the audience. High school has its predictable heroes, heroines, villains, and plotlines, and Andrea has no problem guessing how each drama will turn out. She is, after all, a professional spectator. In the social hierarchy she is a Nothing, and at home her mother runs the show. All Andrea has to do is show up every day and life basically plays out as scripted. Then one day Andrea accepts a job. Honora Menapace—a reclusive neighbor—is sick. As in every other aspect of her life, Andrea’s role is clear: Honora’s garden must be taken care of and her pottery finished, and someone needs to feed her dog, Zena. But what starts out as a simple job yanks Andrea’s back-row seat out from under her. Life is no longer predictable, and nothing is what it seems. Light is dark, villains are heroes, and what she once saw as ugly is too beautiful for words. Andrea must face the fact that life at first glance doesn’t even crack the surface.
Click the cover above to order your copy of Skin Deep today!
On Young Adult Fiction
Why write teen fiction? Because many teens love raw truth in stories. So do I. But the truth is, I don't write for teens. I write for everyone. I do love coming-of-age stories and using teen characters, so I guess that's how I've ended up in the genre, but I definitely don't sit down and say, "This piece is going to be teen fiction." I just write it.
How much research do you do to get into the mindset, the culture of teenagers? None at all. I believe that while some of the props of being a teen change from generation to generation, one thing remains the same -- emotion. You can be 15 or 39, anger is still anger. Shame is still shame. And no matter our age, we all love to laugh. I guess I don't worry about what's hot or whether the mall is still the place to hang out - I'm aiming for the timeless characteristics of humanity that unite all ages, not the detail activities that separate us. And to me, humanity is unified by emotion. Plus, is there truly one mindset, one culture of teenagers? If there is, what a boring lot! lol. All joking aside, a story needs to be true to one character at a time, not an entire population all the time. As long as my character is truthful to his or her experience, it's all good.
What are some of the themes you tackle most often in your works? Loneliness. Beauty. Isolation. Gender inequality. Hope. Tolerance.
I notice there are a lot of YA book series in the market; do you think this is a trend with longevity? I'm not a series writer, but I see that trend, too. I think it does have longevity; historically speaking, good series often build a strong following. Readers become invested in characters and want to travel with them over the space of more than one book. And that's what I think it takes to have a strong YA series -- a fabulous cast of characters.
What are three sources VITAL to writers interested in writing YA fiction? To me the VITAL sources are all internal: unbridled imagination, the fearlessness to tell the story, and lots of practice.
Any closing comments you'd like to make regarding teens and writing? Teens get such a bad rap in society, it's almost cliche from one generation to the next. But for me, writing for people who are right in the middle of shaping who they are -- it's an honor. I have tremendous respect for both this audience and for other YA writers. Stories bond us; age is nothing. If a reader can take a piece of a story and find it meaningful in a personal way, it's a beautiful thing for both the reader and the writer. That's the kind of writing to which I aspire, and the kind of reading I love most.
Matt de la Peña’s debut novel, Ball Don’t Lie, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick and is soon to be released as a motion picture starring Ludacris, Nick Cannon, Emelie de Ravin, Grayson Boucher, and Rosanna Arquette (based on the screenplay he co-wrote with director Brin Hill). de la Peña’s second novel, Mexican WhiteBoy, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adult (Top Ten Pick), a 2009 Notable Book for a Global Society, a Junior Library Guild Selection and made the 2008 Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Literature Blue Ribbon List. His third novel, We Were Here, will be published by Delacorte in October, 2009. His short fiction has appeared in various literary journals, including: Pacific Review, The Vincent Brothers Review, Chiricú, Two Girl’s Review, George Mason Review, and Allegheny Literary Review. de la Peña received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he teaches creative writing.
The story of one boy and his journey to find himself.
When it happened, Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge gave him a year in a group home—said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thinks. The judge had no idea that he actually did Miguel a favor. Ever since it happened, his mom can’t even look at him in the face. Any home besides his would be a better place to live.
But Miguel didn’t bet on meeting Rondell or Mong or on any of what happened after they broke out. He only thought about Mexico and getting to the border to where he could start over. Forget his mom. Forget his brother. Forget himself.
Life usually doesn’t work out how you think it will, though. And most of the time, running away is the quickest path right back to what you’re running from.
Click the cover above to order your copy of We Were Here today!
On Young Adult Fiction
Why write teen fiction? My first novel, Ball Don’t Lie, was pitched to both adult and YA editors, and when my agent came back to me and said, “Hey, Matt, congratulations, your novel sold to a YA publisher at Random House,” I pumped my fist and sprinted around my neighborhood – really. It wasn’t until a week later that I asked him what YA stood for. I had no idea. When he told me YA stood for “young adult” I said, “Dude, you’re gonna have to be a little specific.” He said the book would be marketed to teens and that I might have to take out some of the swearing (there was a lot) and maybe tame the most graphic of the sex scenes (it was pretty graphic). But that’s how ignorant I was about the genre I had entered.
Now I understand YA a little better. I suppose I’m really drawn to the “coming of age” story. Everything is new, exciting, alive, dramatic. It’s such a big part of our lives. Personally, I think we experience about a dozen “coming of age” stages over the course of our lives. But around high school age we go through that first one, and the first of anything usually leaves a pretty big impression. I love following teen characters, watching them make sense of their lives.
How much research do you do to get into the mindset, the culture of teenagers? It’s strange, in some ways I have the absolute worst memory imaginable. Recently an ex-girlfriend found me on Facebook and we got to talking and she wrote, “Hey, remember that time you got in a fight with Rene Muñoz in front of the library because he said my new haircut made me look dyke-y?” I wrote, “Oh, yeah. Man, that was crazy.” But really I had no idea what she was talking about. Sometimes I totally forget big things that have happened to me. But I’m much better at remembering the tone of my teenage years. I remember what made me sad and what got me hyped. I remember what it felt like when I discovered the power of a pretty girl. I remember being alone – even when I was with other kids. I pull a lot from that. I also played basketball all through high school and college, and that experience informs everything I do. Hoop brought us together, from all over the country, and I learned everything from that context.
Ninety percent of my research is about plot stuff. I still play ball at the local YMCA in Brooklyn. I’m always listening to the kids who pas through those games. I’m always looking to steal.
What are some of the themes you tackle most often in your works? Race is important in all three of my books. In Ball Don’t Lie, main character Sticky is a scrubby white kid existing in a gym populated only by African-Americans. Mexican WhiteBoy is about a kid trying to make sense of both his Mexican side and his white boy side. In my newest novel, We Were Here, coming out October 13th, main character Miguel is also bi-racial – half Mexican, half white again (like me!). When he’s sentenced to a year in a group home (for a horrific crime he didn’t mean to commit) the guys quickly give him the nickname “Mexico” because of his brown skin. The irony is he doesn’t speak Spanish and has never even been to Mexico. In all three books teen characters are trying to make sense of racial identity issues. But what ends up being just as important as race, in my estimation, is class.
A lot of teen fiction takes place in an upper-middle-class context. The characters are cool financially so they stress on other stuff like popularity and social clicks and who’s taking who to the prom. Some of that stuff is great, by the way. But I’ve always wanted to write about the other side of the tracks, the have-nots – maybe because that’s who I was. I’ll never forget this epiphany I had when I lived in LA. I saw this kid sitting alone on a bus stop bench, hood up, headphones on, holding a basketball. People pulling up to the stoplight were oblivious to his existence. Folks in nice cars like BMWs and Mercedes and Jags. They didn’t see him. I tried to figure out what that meant to me. And then I said to myself, “Man, I’m wanna write about kids like him. I wanna show how his life is just as beautiful as the lives of the rich folks sitting in those nice cars. I’m wanna make people ‘see’ him for three hundred pages.” And I guess that’s what I’m still shooting for.
Oh, and I also like when one of these kids falls for a super pretty girl, and it shakes them of their cool for a sec.
I notice there are a lot of YA book series in the market; do you think this is a trend with longevity? There are so many great books out there, so many amazing authors. It’s hard to sift through everything. I think teens respond to series because if they discover something they really respond to, they wanna keep going down that seam. I’m the same way with authors. If I find one I love, I read everything that person has ever published. Maybe teens focus more on characters. If they come across a character that pops they wanna read everything in which that character appears. I think series will continue to be popular.
Man, I wish I could think up a cool series. As a writer that must be kind of fun, too. I bet the books go quick. You don’t have to spend all that time figuring out who the heck your character is. You just tell the story.
What are three sources VITAL to writers interested in writing YA fiction? - SCBWI is an invaluable resource for prospective teen authors. I just went to their annual conference in LA, and it was great. Check out: http://www.scbwi.org/
- Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market. A great resource!
- Gotham Writers Online. Any class or writing group really. It’s pivotal to get feedback from peers and colleagues. [link]
Any closing comments you'd like to make regarding teens and writing? I think the single greatest mistake you can make as a teen author is to “write down” to your audience. There didn’t used to be such a big delineation between teen and adult. Many great adult books of the past (Catcher in the Rye) would be categorized as teen novels today. Now that more people set out to write teen novels I think there’s a belief that the writing has to be more simple and more explicit. Not true. You can be just as ambitious and artistic. When I read a book where an author is writing down to teens I immediately smell a rat – and I think teens do, too.
I’m lucky. I’m fully aware that I’m not smart enough to write down to anybody.
Excerpt
From forthcoming novel, We Were Here
May 13
Here’s the thing: I was probably gonna write a book when I got older anyways. About what it’s like growing up on the levee in Stockton, where every other person you meet has missing teeth or is leaning against a liquor store wall begging for change to buy beer. Or maybe it’d be about my dad dying in the stupid war and how at the funeral they gave my mom some cheap medal and a folded flag and shot a bunch of rifles at the clouds. Or maybe the book would just be something about me and my brother, Diego. How we hang mostly by ourselves, pulling corroded-looking fish out of the murky levee water and throwing them back. How sometimes when Moms falls asleep in front of the TV we’ll sneak out of the apartment and walk around the neighborhood, looking into other people’s windows, watching them sleep.
That’s the weirdest thing, by the way. That every person you come across lays down in a bed, under the covers, and closes their eyes at night. Cops, teachers, parents, hot girls, pro ballers, everybody. For some reason it makes people seem so much less real when I look at them.
Anyways, at first I was worried standing there next to the hunchback old man they gave me for a lawyer, both of us waiting for the judge to make his verdict. I thought maybe they’d put me away for a grip of years because of what I did. But then I thought real hard about it. I squinted my eyes and concentrated with my whole mind. That’s something you don’t know about me. I can sometimes make stuff happen just by thinking about it. I try not to do it too much because my head mostly gets stuck on bad stuff, but this time something good actually happened: the judge only gave me a year in a group home. Said I had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how I think. Dude didn’t know I was probably gonna write a book anyways. Or that it’s hard as hell bein’ at home these days, after what happened. So when he gave out my sentence it was almost like he didn’t give me a sentence at all.
I told my moms the same thing when we were walking out of the courtroom together. I said, “Yo, Ma, this isn’t so bad, right? I thought those people would lock me up and throw away the key.”
She didn’t say anything back, though. Didn’t look at me either. Matter of fact, she didn’t look at me all the way up till the day she had to drive me to Juvenile Hall, drop me off at the gate, where two big beefy white guards were waiting to escort me into the building. And even then she just barely glanced at me for a split second. And we didn’t hug or anything. Her face seemed plain, like it would on any other day. I tried to look at her real good as we stood there. I knew I wasn’t gonna see her for a while. Her skin was so much whiter than mine and her eyes were big and blue. And she was wearing the fake diamond earrings she always wears that sparkle when the sun hits ’em at a certain angle. Her blond hair all pulled back in a ponytail.
For some reason it hit me hard right then—as one of the guards took me by the arm and started leading me away—how mad pretty my mom is. For real, man, it’s like someone’s picture you’d see in one of them magazines laying around the dentist’s office. Or on a TV show. And she’s actually my moms.
I looked over my shoulder as they walked me through the gate, but she still wasn’t looking at me. It’s okay, though. I understood why.
Tressie Lockwood has always loved books, and she enjoys writing about heroines who are overcoming the trials of life. She writes straight from her heart, reaching out to those who find it hard to be completely themselves no matter what anyone else thinks. She hopes her readers will enjoy her short stories. You can learn more about Tressie at her website.
The Book
Nita is jealous of her friend Zandrea when she finds a man that is everything she could ever hope for, and nothing would make Nita happier than if she were to find someone of her own. When not one but two men begin to pursue her, she doesn't know what to do. The less intimidating of the two, the younger, mysterious man, Deandre, might be the better choice. But Lucas will not take no for an answer when he spots the woman he wants in his bed. And despite being warned by her friends that Lucas is not what he seems and is too much for a gentle woman like Nita, she can't seem to stay away from him. Still, Deandre has plans for the sweet Nita, and he will do whatever is necessary to make her give him what he wants.
Click the cover above to order your copy of CITY WOLF 2 today!
Interracial Romance
What moved you to write interracial romances? I have had a few relationships with Caucasian men. I love the diversity of the races, the different backgrounds and even the skin color difference. I also am a romantic at heart, so I thought why not combine the two in my writing, especially when there was a time in my life when I was not so confident about dating outside my race. And for real, what woman hasn’t fantasized about a hot British man. My character, Asia, in “A Friend and a Lover” gets to enjoy Colin, a British Caucasian man, and readers absolutely loved the story. That story was all about experiencing something I might never get to have, like I believe many people read interracial romance for.
Is the difference of race between the main characters always a conflict within your books? No, it’s never the main focus at all, but it does come up because in my real life even when we are so used to seeing interracial couples, race differences come up, and there might be that one family member or friend who doesn’t like it. That’s still true, so while it’s not the main conflict, it does exist in my writing to a small degree. Also, some people might not have stepped out of their comfort zone and gone after what they really want. My character Diamond in her story titled “Diamond” made many poor choices, and one of them was sticking to men who just weren’t right for her. When a good man came along, she wasn’t sure if she should go for it because he was of a different race. We shouldn’t be so narrow-minded or we could miss a good thing. But the main conflict in
Diamond was not about whether to date a white man. It was more about Diamond growing as a woman, learning that she was worth more than just as a man’s play thing.
Have you ever received negative comments about your work, and if so, what? Yes, I have, but it had nothing to do with a work being an interracial romance. I think people sometimes assume that if they haven’t had an experience or anyone they know haven’t, then it could never happen. We live in a great big world, with a vast array of people. The things I write about are more often than not draw from real life, whether it is mine or the guy that goes to my church. *wink*
What has been the overall positive reception to your work? The overall positive reception is that my characters are like real people experiencing some of the same issues, the drama that we all deal with or know someone who is dealing with it. I think we’d all like to be rich, a self-made millionaire, but in reality most of us are struggling to make ends meet or living paycheck to paycheck. I love developing my heroines as being just that, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
Here we are in 2009 - how open do you think people are to seeing...and reading about interracial love? Do you think there's still a stigma to these relationships? I think a whole lot more people are open to it now. But I also think that there is still the stigma. I think we’d be surprised at home many people fantasize about the experience and might never come to a place where they date someone outside their race, so they get to enjoy it in books. So I believe that interracial love in books will only grow more popular.
Any closing comments you'd like to make regarding writing interracial romances? The interracial romance market might be small, but it’s growing and it is in demand. Readers can’t get enough, and as long as I can come up with new ideas, I’m going to create stories. My heroines will always be real people just like me, sometimes struggling, but always open to that special someone who happens to be a different race than mine. And I encourage readers and authors alike to expand your horizons. Enjoy interracial romance in other genres such as science fiction and paranormal and fantasy.
The Excerpt
From CITY WOLF 2
Lucas leaned back in his chair and took on an expression of boredom. He let his gaze sweep the room, categorizing every woman as he went, who would be good to fuck, who he already had—and of course, who to avoid at all costs.
Deliberately ignoring Gloria meant nothing to her. She slunk to his side and rested long manicured nails on his thigh with a pout planted on her red lips.
Even before her hand slid higher to stroke his shaft, he had begun to harden. No matter how she had betrayed him, he still loved her. She was the only woman he ever would love, maybe even the only person he’d ever care about outside of his half brother Brant.
“What the fuck do you want, Gloria? Run out of lovers for the night?” he spat. He’d displayed too much vehemence when he should have been indifferent.
Her smirk told him she had noticed. “Aw, still pining for me, baby?” She stroked him harder, and damn if he wasn’t ready to come. He shoved her hand away and stood. Gloria wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead on the back of his shoulder. At one time he thought it sexy as hell her being that small.
“Get lost, Gloria,” he muttered with more control this time. “I’m meeting someone here. My newest bed partner, so don’t get in my way.”
“What?” She lifted her head and searched much like he did. “Which one is it? No, matter. You can tell her you’re taken for the night. Remember how we used to fuck all night long?”
“Not really.” He freed himself and walked out onto the dance floor, looking for a likely target, anyone he could use to put some distance between himself and Gloria. If she hung on him much longer, he’d give into her and wake up with a shattered heart the next morning. He may have liked to walk around like he was made of ice as the others had described him, but the truth was a whole other story.
A young woman with her back to him, swaying to the rhythm of the music, caught his attention. From his vantage point, she had an ass he’d like to ride and smooth brown skin that looked sweet like sugar. He scanned the area near her and found no man lingering close enough to claim her—not that it would have mattered—and he sidled up behind her.
Matching her movements, he swayed with her and leaned down to kiss her neck. She gasped and would have moved away, but he caught her around the waist. “No, don’t move. Just turn your head and let me get a taste of that mouth.”
“What?” She elbowed him and spun around with her hands on her hips and eyebrows lowered in a scowl. “How dare you presume I want to kiss you?”
Lucas blinked and took a step back. The studious one. What was her name? This was one of Zandrea’s friends. The name slipped into his mind. Nita. He stood there staring at her while she railed at him, probably going through the expansive vocabulary she had picked up in all the years she’d been in university. He wondered what fears kept her from actually living rather than hiding out as a student for so long.
Whatever the reason, he needed her right now, whether she knew it or not. He had seduced many women in his time, and this sexy little thing wouldn’t be any different.
While she continued to complain, Lucas reached across the space between them and scooped her up close to his chest. He was aware that he was exuding the pheromones that would make her melt in his arms, and that was just fine with him. Without hesitation, he lowered his head and covered her protesting mouth with his own. The second he slid his tongue between her luscious lips, she melted.
Deepening the kiss, he tightened his hold and ran a hand up her back to cup her head. His shaft, which had begun to calm walking away from Gloria, hardened all over again with his body pressed to Nita’s. She was not his type, if he truly had one. He liked petite blondes, aggressive little wolf shifter females that could give as much as they got. But the sweet thing in his arms was leggy and tall. Her handful sized breasts, pressed into his chest was nothing like what he usually went after, yet still, he was about ready to burst kissing her.
“Come to one of the back rooms with me,” he demanded when he pulled back.
Her large brown eyes were unfocused, and her lips were swollen from his kiss. She nodded unsteadily. “Yes.”
“Hell no!” someone snapped.
Lucas looked up over Nita’s head to the angry woman behind her. This was the other friend, the toughest of the three who would probably attempt to kick his ass should he try to take Nita for his own pleasure.
“This has nothing to do with you,” he told her. “Nita is a grown woman who can decide who she takes as a lover.”
“Whatever.” Stacy snatched his prize from his arms. “She’s not going anywhere with you. I saw you before.” She nodded to a point somewhere behind him. “Over there letting that woman rub all up on you. So when you got bored with her, you came over here to get Nita. I’m not having it.”
Lucas felt his eyes darken in anger and was glad of the low lights to hide the change. He breathed in and out a few times to calm himself, but it wasn’t working. Instead, dislike of this woman ran through him. He glanced down at Nita. With his anger up, his seduction had eased. Nita blinked as if her mind was clearing from a fog. Damn. He still wanted her, and this woman wasn’t going to keep her from him.
A graduate of the University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing Program and member of Women in Film and Television, Ms. Johnson draws on her multitude of experience in writing and storytelling. She is an award-winning poet (Blue Mountain Arts) and short story writer whose fiction has appeared in anthologies including the Southern California Anthology and Aleatory’s Junction, a respected journalist, and a produced playwright with theatre award nominations (Desert Theatre League, Palm Springs, California). Three of her books have been published—CHRISTMAS COOKIES ARE FOR GIVING was “enthusiastically recommended” by the MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW. Her essay "Lincoln, YouTube and history Reconsidered" was excerpted for HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. LINCOLN, A National League of American Pen Women anthology celebrating the Lincoln Bicentennial and officially sanctioned by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration.
An experienced scriptwriter, she wrote two direct-to-DVD movies at the request of a friend. “Pirates of Ghost Island,” the second movie, was distributed by Lions Gate Films. Her short screenplay “Daniel’s Letter From Heaven” has been a finalist in the 2003 British Short Screenplay Competition, ‘The Best & Most Prestigious Short Screenplay Competition in the World,’ and a quarterfinalist in the 2007 Screenwriting Expo Screenplay Competition in the Short Screenplay category.
Teenage waitress Honey Dee battles the greedy, slick, corrupt businessman Dubious Diction, who owns her hometown of Greedville. She creates Dotcomers Café, the main setting for the series, and inspires the cast of quirky eccentric characters to resist Dubious.
"Dotcomers" is a creative blend of today's edgy, satirical cartoons and yesterday's zany, classic toons; that means its appeal is...we can almost hear Yogi Bear saying this...broader than the average cartoon!
Dotcomers explores the culture of social-networking entrepreneurs who don't wait around for a bailout to solve their problems. They fight the old corrupt system, represented by greedy Dubious Diction, which is open to excess. Although they are quirky and they clash on more than one occasion, Dotcomers represent the best of the Internet culture, and Honey Dee, founder of the Dotcomers Cafe, is a female role model who uses her mind and common sense to make a difference in the world.
The Dotcomers characters were originally designed by "Casper" creator and "Felix the Cat" producer Joseph Oriolo and have been redesigned by James A. Rumpf II as well as Kristin Johnson, Joshua Johnson (no relation) and Richard A. Crankshaw as well as a stunningly talented team of voice actors.
Watch the trailer below!
Writing for the Screen
For those of you who write for different arenas - big screen, boob tube, stage, page, web - what are elements that differ for you as the writer in regards to how you SEE the story unfolding in each arena? That's an excellent question. As writers, we work with words, but those words have to perform different jobs depending on the medium.
Writing for the Web is a tricky animal that does have similarities to screenwriting. However, with writing for the Web, you have to consider where your reader is coming from. All the words in the world, and your most brilliant column or article, won't mean much if a reader can't find what they want. But this kind of user-driven writing delivers its own rewards, as with the storytelling medium of interactive fiction.
With a book, words are the window to imagination. You can get unabashedly poetic with words. You can create similes and metaphors. You can devote whole chapters, assuming your audience has the patience, to describing historical scenes, characters' thoughts and feelings, or a royal coronation on an alien planet - assuming that this is as fascinating for the reader as it is for you. You can let the action unfold as it will and take side trips in a novel. You can have subplots that may seem irrelevant but that pay off later - for example, Hermione Granger's passion to help house-elves in the Harry Potter series.
Onstage, words are still your medium. You can use different tools to accomplish the same ends, for example, the soliloquies written by Shakespeare and Lorraine Hansberry or Harold Pinter's quick exchanges that contain a wealth of subtext." Seeing Hamlet's father's ghost or Romeo and Juliet's suicide is highly powerful. Shakespeare purposefully designed those moments that way, not just with dialogue but direction.
Then we come to screenplays as well as television writing and the unlikely-seeming connection to writing for the Web. A novice (or even advanced) scriptwriter, like a beginning poet or an amateur blogger, will just dump every thought onto the page. You might - might - get away with this in fiction, as in superb stream-of-consciousness. You can't get away with it in poetry. We've all suffered through those poems or read those blogs in which an emo teenager, for example, details every detail of a bad day: out of coffee, girlfriend/boyfriend broke up with you, family is dysfunctional, teacher/boss hates you, and so on. There are slice-of-life screenplays in which all the incidents add up to nothing. There's no conflict, no meat, no substance. Words become empty.
People these days have the opportunity to change the channel, return the DVD, or in the case of Web content (and those viral Web videos we've all watched), push the "Back" button.
In a TV show, people are coming to you not necessarily from the beginning. I watched the entire last season of "24" without having watched the previous ones.
Yes, the concepts were a bit bewildering, but Jack Bauer's mission - save the U.S., save the world - was abundantly clear. (On the other hand, you might be, well, lost if you haven't seen any of the previous seasons of "Lost".) You have to make it crisp and intelligible and relevant, which more and more drama and some comedy shows have done. Famed scriptwriting teacher Robert McKee has said that the best scriptwriting today is done for television. Even though everyone goes into angst on "Grey's Anatomy," they don't spend an hour of inertia in which everyone talks but nothing happens.
There are some talky screenplays, TV shows and Web sites that are excellent, with great content, but the verbiage, whether at a dinner scene ("My Dinner with Andre" being an exception) or on a page devoted to movies, gets in the way. People have enough respect for books and fiction to keep reading even when the plot is slow but the words and emotions are appealing. Movies are something entirely different. When people go to a movie, they expect to be taken on a journey that will make them forget the world for two hours. There is already too much meaningless conversation in the ether. Our lives are filled with it.
"Seinfeld" got away with making that entertaining, but that was the exception. Words have to count in writing for the big or small screen. They have to do the job of grabbing your heart and mind and holding them in an iron grip until the end credits roll.
This is one of our tasks on "Dotcomers," the animated series producer James Rumpf II and I are trying to launch, We have great characters and we want to tell compelling stories about how the Internet has changed the world. We can't just talk about it through dialogue - we have to demonstrate these characters in action. The dialogue has to be sharp. The action in the screenplay has to be precise; otherwise, you're watching characters just sit around in an Internet cafe.
What similarities, things no matter the medium, are important for a good story to be told? The commandment of "Thou Shalt Not Bore Thy Audience" is still valid no matter what the medium. I don't mean that you have to have nonstop violence or sex, since many people, myself included, find *those* boring.
You have to care about the characters. "WALL-E" connected with audiences because, even though many people (including my movie buff friends) found the notion of a fat, childlike future population and a destroyed Earth depressing, you still cared about that cute robot. "Slumdog Millionaire" had depressing elements such as cutting out street kids' eyes to make them more sympathetic and earn more begging money for the gang lords, but in an economy that gives us nothing but bad news, we love the idea that people can improve their circumstances. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" suspends disbelief and gives us a great love story.
Similarly, Richard LaGravenese made people care as much about the romance in the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" as people did in the book. The images were visual poetry."Gone With The Wind" was so powerful as a book that people forgot the changes of their world and experienced the changes of the Old South, and they immediately cast Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. The movie did justice to the book because it captured the essence of Scarlett and Rhett and Tara without getting bogged down in details. How many people find it impossible to forget the image of Scarlett in shadow as she swears she'll never go hungry again?
And two words: Harry Potter. Take an orphaned kid who turns out to be a wizard, and finds just as much trouble in his new life as in the old, but with more joy and a sense of purpose, give him a monumental challenge and a fascinating world to play in, and the result is gold.
You have to touch your audience. Make them laugh, make them think, shift them from their reality.
Do you think the way we write for movies, plays, TV, and the web has changed the way the novel writer comes to his or her page? If so, how? Another great question. While the novelist still might approach plot and character and language differently as, say, writing for a Web site, we all know that first chapters and excerpts get posted on the Web and, as such, have to be top-notch in order to motivate readers to buy. MJ Rose published LIP SERVICE on the Web and successfully compelled a publisher. If you want your chapters or excerpts to get Dugg or Tweeted or shared on Del.icio.us, you have to make sure that those words are "viral," that people will e-mail their friends with your book excerpt the same way they now endlessly forward YouTube videos.
Plays, TV and movies force you to think about what characters want and how they go about achieving their goals. Lajos Egri talks about the dramatic premise, in which there's a three-part premise line that sums up each of the three acts that have dominated dramatic structure since Aristotle. Egri uses the example of "Romeo and Juliet": Great love defies even death. "Great love" is the beginning or inciting incident (Romeo and Juliet meet), "defies" is the action (Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together), and "death" is the end result (Romeo and Juliet die but their love story affects everyone around them).
This premise can somewhat sum up the blockbuster vampire series "Twilight," in which Edward and Bella's love does indeed defy death since Edward is an undead vampire! Bella sees Edward in Chapter 1 after she has already moved to a town she dislikes, and the stage is set.
Often the novelist doesn't begin the novel with a compelling character or situation, but spends three or four chapters going through so much backstory or minutiae. In screenplays, the first five to ten minutes/pages (a page equals a minute of screen time) had better establish who the protagonist is and what the dramatic dilemma or call to action is. In "Chinatown," J.J. Gittes and Evelyn Mulwray are introduced within those first pages, and J.J. Gittes accepts the assignment to tail Evelyn's husband. We also see Evelyn's husband introduce another central plot element: water rights in Los Angeles.
Literary agents and publishers may read the sample chapters of your novel that you send them, but quite often those first ten pages, even the first page, will decide the fate of your manuscript. Granted, screenplays are not the same as a novel - they're far less reader-friendly - but anyone in the business can tell within five to ten pages if they like your script. And don't neglect endings. The studio or even the editor may ask you to change your ending, but it's important to have a powerful one that makes sense.
A good middle is as important as a great beginning or an unforgettable conclusion. Far too many novelists and scriptwriters meander along in the middle of the novel or in Act Two of the screenplay, relying on old cliches, contrived plot conveniences, new characters or implausible scenes, or anything else just to fill pages. Meanwhile, your main character or characters (in an ensemble script or novel) languish without their potential fully realized, and we just stop caring.
Movies are such a powerful visual language that they can inspire a writer to think visually -- how would the scene look? What are the characters doing physically? How are their actions putting them in conflict (stated or subtle)? Can you pull off a powerful visual scene that can show the hero's greatest moment of decision and sacrifice without spelling it out with the usual cliches or long explanations? Even the dialogue has to be original in its language.
Think of "Casablanca" in which Rick "I stick my neck out for nobody" Blaine explains his newfound spirit of sacrifice to Ilsa Lund : "Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."
How has the internet and the marketing/promotional opportunities that exist there helped to create a buzz with the projects you do? Another great question! On InkTip.com, I was able to market my work and land my first direct-to-DVD B-movie scriptwriting assignments, which I did more for the experience than anything else.
"Dotcomers" is all about the change the Internet and social networking/promotion has brought to the way people do business. True to the title and the essence of our project, we've used Twitter, blogs, our Web site, Dotcomers.tv, and the online Hollywood Creative Directory to market and promote our work. We found our animator and our voice talent online through VOPlanet.com. And I got the invitation to guest blog on this amazing site through my "Writing the Short Screenplay" online workshop at the third annual MuseItUpClub online conference.
What three things should writers have in their arsenal if they want to heighten their chances of success? A thick skin combined with sensitivity (in the sense of being compassionate and attuned), passionverance (my own portmanteau), and a network of friends and contacts that you keep active.
What are three sites that writers of your field should bookmark for great information? Simply Scripts - This is a treasure trove of great screenplays, often updated to include the latest releases. Besides the classics such as "Chinatown" and "Casablanca," the site had the script to the brilliant "Idiocracy," a movie from the creators of "South Park" and brilliantly based on Cyril M. Kornbluth's classic science-fiction story "The Marching Morons". The movie, with its satire on the dumbing down of our culture, was largely ignored when it was in theaters. There are also foreign film screenplays on the site as well as television scripts.
IMDB - Do you need the plot details of a movie you admire? Do you want to do research on producers? IMDB is the source.
