In the ever-changing world of story telling and formats, the way of adding interest to your plots is changing. Consider non-linear, mobile phones, audio bytes, virals and online formats which have revolutionized the way we can propel our plots. Many techniques can also be used in conventional storytelling media. Here are some of them:

ADDING CHARACTER TRAITS: Many years ago when non-linear storytelling was in it’s infancy, I was working on an interactive war game. I proposed adding more of “alpha” traits to a character, such as aggression and anger or “beta” traits such as calmness and reason. It was a hell of a lot of writing because I have to include a continuum of behaviours. In the end the project fell through due to it’s complexity.

BREAKING THE FOURTH FALL: No this isn’t anger management class gone horribly wrong. It simply refers to a character talking directly into the camera to the audience. Woody Allen and Mel Brooks have used this technique many times.

DREAM SEQUENCES: These can include daydreams, such as the ripple dissolves in “The Simpsons”, flashbacks, flashforwards as in “Flashforward”, premonitions as in “Medium” or fantasy sequences. The help break the monotony of linear stories.

MAKING OF: These can include reality tv,  projects such as “Paranormal Activity” or “behind the scenes” shows, when the characters are aware that they are being filmed. The can also include documentary formats such as Michael Jackson’s “This Is It”. They add a sense of immediacy and intimacy as the audience feels it’s directly experiencing the events in the story.

MONTAGE: These are sequences of images used to speed up the storytelling process. A music montage can also be used, for instance to depict an era or the trajectory of a band’s career.

AUTEUR: These are obvious nods to distinct directorial styles. I think Hitchcock is one of the most directors in terms of style.

SUPERNATURAL: These can include ghosts, a character’s conscience or guardian angels. “Lovely Bones” is a modern example of a girl observing her family after she’s been killed.

NARRATION: This can via text boards, voiceover or graphic narration. Use these sparingly because they’re often overused to cover internalized thoughts, which generally make bad cinema. Show don’t tell.

PARALLEL STORY LINES: Consider “The Hangover”, a basic bachelor party comedy with concurrent storylines, as the characters try to piece together what happened last night to find the groom. Split screen is also a good example of this.

FRACTURED STORYLINES: These come under the realm of non-linear storytelling. They can be as loose as “Reservoir Dogs” where dead characters reappear later in the film, or more stylized, such as “Memento” which was meticulously told in reverse snippets.

NEWS FLASH: These can include newspaper headlines, live news reports, photographs, headlines,  letters or leif motifs to move story forward.

ROSHOMON: A delightful technique often used in procedural tv as detectives piece together how a crime may have happened. It is basically  the same scene executed from another point of view. A good example is Tom Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run”.

RUNNING GAG: Something that pops up from time to time throughout a story

IDENTITY SWAP: This could be as simple as falling into someone else’s body such as “Freaky Friday”, reading minds such as “What Women Want”, gender swaps, going to another part of a character’s life such as childhood or old age, or you could even pull a “David Lynch” when one character simply transforms into another character to add to the confusion. Hey, if David Lynch made sense, he wouldn’t have such a dedicated fan base.

TIME TRAVEL: This is self explanatory. “Back To The Future” is a prime example. Characters are transported to a distant time and place.

I’m sure I’ve missed out a few, but you get the idea. Audiences will always be hungry for stories and they will always be delighted by innovative ways of telling them.

Wowee – It’s been a bit of a hiatus AGAIN admittedly. I’ve been highly preoccupied with pretty much everything in these past few weeks.

A lot has happened for both good and bad, best and worse and you know something? I’m pretty damn fucking good.

I believe I’ve a new found thirst for life and want to do something about said phenomenon. After a long period of numbness and bleak depravation of a healthy lifestyle – I’ve found myself bloom. No more am I relying on the ever wonderful sushi bar for food, no longer am I drumming away at my notepad with nothing to say and no longer am I loosing sleep over… well, nothing.

No. These past weeks, I’ve begun to take care of myself. I’ve begun to live a little again. I’m writing. Fuck yes, I am writing and you know something? Without wanting to blow my own trumpet – it’s not shite.

No, not at all. It’s actually pretty fucking good. Right this moment, I’m writing a scene for the advanced Practical Aesthetics class in Glasgow. Working with screen/playwrights Ann Marie Di Mambro and Chris Dolan; I’m developing a scene based on a short improvisation witnessed in a workshop just a couple of weeks ago.

Both screen/playwrights have deep roots in both television and theatre – but the ever lovely Di Mambro is the course director on the Masters course that I am eagerly waiting on beginning, assuming I get the very competitive scholarship. So far, it’s been an odd, but very nice experience working so closely with someone who will in fact determine not only the next year of my life – but quite possibly the outline of my future career. I’m smart enough to know that the writing industry and television/film industry in general is best infiltrated by mass networking and practice. Practice in the practical sense of practicing your talent and demonstrating such as that. So, my career has begun. I have networked and am still very much in the process of doing so.

I tend to get very overwhelmed when I’m placed in such social situations. Those being, situations involving persons whom I hold in very high regard both professionally and domestically. Thus, it’s hardly a surprise that I possibly ridiculed myself due to jitters and nerves when I formally met Ann Marie and Chris whilst they were having a cigarette outside the studio. After introducing myself, I got very nervous and very silly. In the alleyway, outside the studio – I proceeded from ‘Hello there, How are you?’ to ‘Would you like a cup of tea? We have earl grey, lapsang souchong, ceylon or green – fancy a cup?’.

These aren’t the words of a sane man. Not in a dank, murky alleyway; miles from the nearest kettle at least. Rather, more so the words of a lumbering fool. ie. Me.

So, after a very puzzled glance from Chris and a more understanding, tolerant smile from Ann Marie – we went upstairs and had some tea. And beyond that initial bought of ridiculous blurts on my behalf – it was very nice. I felt like I was a proper writer. I am a proper writer. It’s fun being a writer. We write things. Like this: ‘Hello’.

Moving on – I was very pleased to have been invited to a Christmas shindig at Ann Marie’s Westend Home, where upon arrival, I found myself plonked down onto a very lovely, comfortable sofa with two BBC executives to my right and Ann Marie to my left. Oh, and not to mention her Westie, Scully laying up on my knee (Good judge of character).

A very spontaneous and bizarre evening – but it was one that I’ll very much (without getting too sentimental) hold dear in my mind for years to come.

Something clicked that night. Something told me that all of the stress, anxiety, pain, boredom and sheer fucking monotony of the past four months had FINALLY amounted to something. Right before my eyes, I could see progress.

And I’m open. Ready for spontaneity. Ready for a challenge. Ready to write my little heart out.

The year two thousand and ten is quickly approaching. In these last few days of nine, I think I’ll put to rest a lot of old skeletons and emerge a fresh, spirited and ready individual in the new year.

I’m in Ireland at the moment. Home. Spending Christmas with the family, whom I have to admit – I’ve missed quite some. I very almost didn’t make it home due to silly weather and temperatures and things.

It was quite a harrowing experience indeed, taking off adjacent to a Boeing 747 which has ditched on the airport’s grassy verge due to an icy runway. Way to inspire confidence, eh?

But alas, I am here. I’ve drank my fair share of champers, sloe gin and beaujolais. I’m enjoying good food, good company, a good book, as always good television and a spot of catching up with some old friends, family and such.

So far, it’s been lovely. I only hope that you’ve had as enjoyable a holiday as I have thus far.

Be sure to remember that which is important in life – family, friends and fun. Smile, skip and have a very full, enriched Christmas break.

TTFN,

(Until 2010?)

x

Characters are arguably the most important component of your story since they drive action, which in turn, drives the theme. Characters in your screenplay are a composite of human traits, rather than a replica. It is therefore essential that your characters are given three dimensions to make them believable and more attractive to your audience. You can give your character opposing traits to give them a sense of balance. However, their characteristics must be skewed predominantly towards one cluster of traits. After all, human behaviors lie along a spectrum and they rarely sit at the poles. Nobody is entirely good or bad. Not even Hannibal Lecter.

I previously mentioned setting up character profiles for each of your main characters via a questionnaire. Decide basic characteristics such as gender, age, place of birth, education level, marital status, job and such like. I often ask additional questions such how would they react if…? These are useful in scene construction as they will guide you to drive your character in the right direction as your plot progresses. Questions include; how would your character react if their parents died in a car crash, had unexpected guests at dinner time, found a million dollars. found out they were about to be fired/ dumped, went to a nudist colony? I ask what does their bedroom look like? What do they wear to bed? What do they have for breakfast? It’s not vital to answer all these questions in your profile, but it helps you get to know your characters better. Think of it as speed dating. It also helps avoid character cliches such as the gangster who loves art, or is afraid of his mother, the prostitute with a heart of gold, or the icy librarian jilted at the altar.

Who else knew more about human nature than the supremo of psychologists; Sigmund Freud himself. He talked about human development in terms of inner drives and desires, or ego states.

• The Child State (Id). From birth, humans have to make their immediate selfish desires such thirst, hunger and discomfort known. It  is driven by the avoidance of pain and the seeking of pleasure. This is known as the pleasure principle.  If these basic needs are not met, they are manifested by heightened emotional states, such as tantrums, tears, shouting for instance.

• The Parent State (Ego). During the next three years, we understand that visceral responses such as tantrums and yelling are increasingly inappropriate. We learn what is right and wrong within our social constructs and that our actions have consequences. This is called the reality principle.

• The Adult State (Superego). By the age of five, we develop a conscience based on prevailing morals and social values. We learn to reason, debate and argue form multiple viewpoints.

We can see that these paradigms are also mirrored in Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs ranging from basic physiological to self actualization. These have been discussed in an earlier post. Freud also believed that we are all products of our pasts. As we progress through each ego state, we are imprinted with experiences that remain with us throughout life. This is called creating a backstory for your character as it helps us determine what motivates them. An example might be the ruthless CEO who was bullied at school. How would the same CEO behave if he/ she was loved and felt a sense of belonging at grade school? They must want something so badly, they’ll stop at nothing to achieve it by actively making decisions and taking actions. Characters must take both large (plot) and small (nuances) actions.

Feud also believed that the majority of our life experiences are not readily available to us on an emotional level. He used the ‘iceberg’ metaphor, with the tip above water level representing our conscious state, while the bulk of the iceberg being underwater and representing our subconscious and unconscious states. Our conscious state represents our highest level of awareness (superego) and relates to our immediate surroundings. Consider it the RAM of your brain to use a computer analogy. The subconscious or preconsious state of awareness (mainly ego, although it covers the entire spectrum of consciousness) lies just below sea level, and can be prompted for access. This relates to past experiences which influence our current behavior. Think of it was your hard drive. The unsconscious state (id) occupies the largest area of your consciousness because these experiences haven’t formally influenced your behavior/ personality yet. Think of it as an unformatted/ blank hard drive.

A little basic psychology can add substance and truth to your characters and give them authenticity. Here are some definitions you may find useful:

CHARACTER: a representation of a person or class of person (type).

PERSONALITY: a group of behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental attributes that define and individual

TRAITS: broad dimensions of personality; usually defined in terms of the “Big Five”.

• Openness – appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience.
• Conscientiousness – a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
• Extroversion – energy, positive emotions, urgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others.
• Agreeableness – a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.
• Neuroticism – a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability.

TEMPERAMENT: a mood or disposition of an individual

I hope you’re all  doing some writing after your Christmas lunch.

Been a while since I’ve updated this.

Word on the street is there’s smoke, but no fire yet.  Metaphorically speaking.  Last week a friend of mine and myself had a few brain storming sessions on what to create and how to go about that road on mini movie/ skit/ scene ideas.  These could last anywhere from 30 seconds to ten plus minutes.  As for the subject matter, it will probably cause some controversy or whatever if you find the material to be objectionable.  Life’s easier if you know how to laugh at everything instead of letting it bug you and whatnot.

If you wouldn’t be entertained by Morgan Freeman reading the Harry Potter series or a show in the vein of “Survivor” titled, let’s say…Survivor: WNBA, where a super jacked up sports fan is locked in an arena and forced to watch an entire season of the WNBA, from the draft through the finals, well then, I’d say these clips aren’t for you and you can go back to watching some boring show featuring Ray Romano.  dick

This coming Monday, I’ll be meeting with Steve, yeah that Steve, to discuss new ideas for the much anticipated Grizzly Skag Bear.  I haven’t touched the script since the end of October, but have briefly gone over new ideas for what will stay and what needs to be changed.  I might post whatever direction we decide to go in.

ps. writing this felt like writing one giant run-on sentence.

Merry Christmas to all.

If you don’t celebrate it, happy whateveryoucelebrate!

If you don’t celebrate anything, congratulations, you temporarily beat capitalism.

Photo courtesy of gfpeck under creative commons license.

With a blog title like “Independent Film Project” I couldn’t write about manuscript synopses and not have an article on script treatments. You might think that the script synopsis would be the document to focus on here, but a script synopsis is a plot summary. The script treatment more closely resembles the manuscript synopsis in length, style and content.

The Purpose of the Script Treatment

The script treatment, or scriptment, is a summarization of your screenplay that defines all of the key scenes and takes the reader through the entire script using one tenth the words. One thing that makes this a little easier is that you write the treatment as prose. Instead of an open specially formatted screenplay, you write a short story.

Writing the script treatment can help you with visualizing your film. You might think your screenplay is fantastic when that’s the only way you see it. Writing a treatment puts it in a new light. You may discover some weaknesses in your movie you didn’t know were there. The treatment forces you to think about the path of your film instead of just the visual impact.

While manuscript writers often write their synopsis after they’ve finished their book, that’s not common for treatments. You should write a draft treatment before you write the script. After you complete your screenplay, you write the presentation treatment.

The draft version tells you whether you have enough material for a film. Because of the tendency to put in too much description, it can be falsely predictive when you first start writing them. The way to get around that problem is to overwrite the treatment. It’s easier to cut a script that comes out too long than to add a sub-plot to a short one.

The draft is only for you. The presentation treatment is for others. It is a tool you use to sell your script. If you have an opportunity to present your film idea, you leave the treatment behind to keep your listeners’ interest going.

Writing the Script Treatment

Your presentation treatment must cut the story down to size. Cutting description is one of the easiest ways to do it. If it still comes out too long, remove the adverbs and adjectives.

A treatment needs to cover the main character and any important secondary characters. It should reveal the structure of the story through the major events and changeovers. Describe all major conflicts, reversals and obstacles. Show personalities, the important relationships and the development of the characters. How do they change as a result of the story? The ending, climax and resolution must also be revealed. The final version of your treatment needs to be very well written and interesting. It must be a page turner that the reader can’t put down.

There should be no dialogue in your treatment unless it’s an essential line that brings a character to life and shows their philosophy. These may be used sparingly to break up the narrative.

Formatting

Ask your agent or producer for formatting details. If they won’t tell you or they don’t have a preference, go with the following;

Type the treatment in 12 point Times New Roman, Courier or Courier New.

Set all margins to one inch.

For your title page, center your title in the middle of the page. Center your logline immediately below it. Centered below the log line, write “Story by” and your name.

Put your contact info in the bottom left corner of the title page. This should be Your Name, Address, Phone, Fax, and Email.

Put your treatment details such as date and length in the bottom right corner of the title page.

Page numbers should be in the top right of each page, a half inch from the top and with a period after each number.

Use a heading for each group of related scenes. Make it all caps, left aligned, with a blank line before and after. If you must switch scenes in the middle of a long set of scenes, give the new scene a heading and then for the return write “BACK TO” and the original scene name.

The text of your treatment should be left aligned prose with no indentation and don’t use full justification. Put a blank line between each paragraph.

Your treatment length should be no more than one page for each 10 pages of script.

Just like a manuscript synopsis, the treatment is written in present tense.

As with any kind of writing, practice makes perfect. Writing treatments can be a great way to explore many film ideas in a fraction of the time it takes to write full scripts.

Article text copyright 2009 David Arthur Smith. All Rights Reserved.

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Most Viewed (This Week) – Comedians – United Kingdom.

Now that’s funny.

One site which seemed to generate a fair few views is Fanpop . Check it out here.

During late 2008/early 2009, I started developing an idea for a comedy drama starring two down-on-their-luck male escorts (think Midnight Cowboy rather than American Gigolo). I decided from the start that the story wasn’t about how and or why they became escorts–this was decidedly NOT an exposé about male prostitution. Their jobs were supposed to be incidental, though I did, of course, choose that particular profession for good reason. By March/April 2009, I had finished the 1st draft.

I had a lot of fun working on this screenplay. I got very positive feedback from readers (the 2nd draft made the top 10% in the Austin Film Festival’s screenplay competition). It seemed possible that with a little more refinement, this might actually get made since it’s doable with a low budget. I got so excited I started thinking about the soundtrack. The Black Keys‘ version of Have Love Will Travel for the road trip scene. Dan Auerbach’s (guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys) The Prowl for the party scene and his version of I Want Some More for one of the bedroom scenes. This was going to be so good.

But then, about month or two ago, I saw promo for Hung. An expletive immediately flew out of my mouth. I couldn’t believe it. After years of nothing, here was a high-profile TV show about a down-on-his-luck basketball coach who becomes a male escort.

No frickin’ way.

Way.

Hung struck its blow and it connected. My project’s proverbial goose is cooked. Its coffin lid is sealed. All chance of it seeing the light of day is gone.*

But wait a minute, you melodramatic primate. Back the truck up. You haven’t seen the show but judging from various promos, the meat of the show, so to speak, looks very different from the meat in yours. Sure they’re both comedy dramas in the prostitute genre but that’s where the similarities end. No need to panic, Indie Chimp. No-one will accuse you of riding Hung’s coattails–they’re not remotely alike. You’re down, maybe, but you’re not out.

Rejuvenated, I start working on ideas for the next draft again. Everything’s going well. My ideas are flowing. It’s going to be alright.

Then I found out what Hung’s theme song is.

“I’ll be Your Man” by The Black Keys.

Shoot me. Shoot me now.

TIC

*This isn’t the first time this has happened. My (as yet) unpublished novel, which I began writing back in the 20th century, was likened to the new (at the time) hit show Heroes by an agent because it features characters with paranormal abilities.

I have worked at a part-time job for the past year and a half.   It’s been great because the job allowed me lots of time for writing but, I needed another job…

First, I needed full-time work because I have a college-bound son.  Second, I was very underemployed and I needed more of a challenge.

So, today is the last day of my part-time job because I  begin a full-time job on January 4th.    There will be adjustment period as it pertains to writing because, unless I can force myself out of bed at four in the morning,  I’m going to lose valuable writing time. 

I know, I can always write at night… 

… but I know myself well enough to know that my best writing is done in the morning. 

I’ve got about a week and a half to figure this out.   Any ideas?   I suspect I’m going to be getting up before the rooster!  And going to bed earlier than I already do…

(continued from the PREVIOUS POST)

I am not ashamed to admit that the original Brigitta of the White Forest screenplay was written for the purpose of making money. I had made the decision that writing was not a hobby and that if I didn’t start making a living from it sooner rather than later, I was going to get seriously depressed. Since my dark indie dramadies weren’t pulling in the dough, I figured if I wrote something totally commercial, simply to sell and get back to my passion (i.e. dramas with dark comedic elements), I could support myself doing what I love to do. Plenty of artists did commercial work to support their other projects, right?

The problem came when I fell in love with my creation. I spent one too many moonbeats (a measure of time in my imaginary world) hanging out with Brigitta and her sister Himalette and creating an entire faerie history. I grew very attached to it and had strong feelings about the way I wanted it to be produced.

I was positive it had to be a live-action film ala Chronicles of Narina… which I knew was a hideously expensive proposition for an unknown property (as opposed to a KNOWN property like Chronicles of Narnia).  I had also worked so hard to create this world and wanted to explore it some more! When a company became interested in the script, my agent told me they would probably want the entire rights to it. The whole thing. Which meant good-bye to any plans I had for it. When that same interested company started talking about it being an animated film, I decided it was time to rethink how I wanted to release Brigitta into the world.

As I mention in my About section, a screenwriter friend of mine had adapted one of her original screenplays into a novel. The novel was published, which ironically got the screenplay optioned. I asked if she would consider adapting my screenplay into a novel. She told me to take a year off and write it myself.

But I’m not a novelist, I said.

Neither was I, she responded.

I took a year off of screenwriting and birthed the novel version of Brigitta of the White Forest. I took another year and wrote a few more drafts. The story got deeper and darker and my imaginary world got richer. I realized I really liked writing novels and that this imaginary world had many more stories that needed telling.

I started sending out my agent queries and that’s when things got wonky. I was taken on by a fabulous agency in the UK, Brubaker and Ford. Two gregarious and generous men run that boutique agency, and I was in writer heaven with the amount of affection they poured forth. They left voicemail messages sending love and praising my work. I saw success right around the corner! This was it!

Only the book wouldn’t sell. We were told the fantasy market was oversaturated. We were told the economy was uncertain. We were told new technologies were changing the book industry. We were told nobody was taking financial risks with new authors. Nobody said they didn’t like the story. Most of them praised the writing. I was so confounded that I was literally pulling my hair out (see trichotillomania) – luckily, I have a lot of hair.

After a year of approaching all the big houses and it not selling, we parted ways, as much as it broke our hearts. I decided to do one more rewrite to get rid of a bit of the exposition, and then run it through a focus group of teenagers to see if I was crazy thinking this thing was any good! B & F had suggested I find another agent and submit the new version back to the same big houses under another title. I started querying again, but my heart wasn’t in it. I got one offer for representation and I turned it down b/c it just didn’t feel like the right fit.

I decided the hell with agents and big publishing houses. Did I really want to wait three more years for this book to come out? I had already drafted the sequel! I was ready to take the show on the road! I approached a few boutique publishers and Tod McCoy of en theos press (who has published my books of poetry in the past) decided it was just the new direction he wanted to take his small press. Not only is this a person I trust, I was going to be involved in the whole process, something that doesn’t happen with a larger publisher. This made the control freak side of myself very happy indeed.

Another rewrite later and I was in much better spirits. I was actually THANKING the universe that the previous version of my novel wasn’t published because this version was so much better! After some very positive feedback from my pre-teen focus group (some begging to see the 2nd novel as soon as possible), and a significantly smaller rewrite and editing, it was finally done. Done done. Off to the copy editor done.

It only took 7 years from the day I received the idea to the day I let it go.

My screenplay is almost done! Then comes the hard part trying to sell it. But now I have another dilemma. Finding a good place to write. I have a really tiny house that I share with my father (hopefully temporarily!) and there is no place for me to set up a desk to park my laptop and write whenever I want to. So I often go to the library which is great except when all the cubby hole desks are taken. I’m pretty sure I have ADD or something close to it as the tiniest thing will distract me. That’s why I need to sit in a cubby hole with high walls, so all I’m looking at is a wooden laminate desk.

But there are a few conundrums with going to the library. First off, every time I go, I have to lug this bag that weighs like 50 lbs with my screenwriting reference books; the hard copy of my script; my laptop; the charger; mouse; thesaurus (cannot do without that!); water bottle; little pouch with tums, tylenol, etc…; and a snack if I remember to bring one. Then it takes me like 5 minutes to unpack everything. And if I need to take a break from the writing, I can’t leave the library because if I do there’s a chance that nothing will be there when I come back and my 50 lb bag will be reduced to just a few ounces.

So I’ve been looking for a teeny, tiny desk to fit in my teeny, tiny room. It just can’t be too teeny, tiny or I won’t be able to sit at it at all. Then I think if I get the desk, will I use it for a little while, then just stop using it? Like when you get a treadmill and promise yourself you’re going to get on it everyday. Then after a while the only thing you use it for is a makeshift closet to hang your clothes on.

So does anyone have any other ideas? Believe me I’d be eternally grateful like if you lived near me I would wash your car or something.

Hello, chaps and chappettes. Time for a year ending thingamapost to placehold my wordpress account before they kick me off for lolligagging. Truth be told––and those of you who know me already know this––I’ve been attacked by many projects at once. Those of you who really know me also know that I tend to check out from the world when embroiled in a number of creative adventures, and I’ve come to find that includes online worlds, as well. Sure, I supply my share of comments in this forum or that blog but when it comes to concentrating on reportage of the more personal variety, I tend to leave it go. The idea overwhelms me a bit, and I’m sure you’ll see why very soon.

Novels –– I’ve completed what really feels like a polished edit for sWitch. I’ve queried it around, gotten some positive feedback and some garden-variety rejections. Next up: get it to print so I can send it around in its complete form (I think of it as an art piece of sorts, so it has to be framed) and create a website for it. I’m thinking of using social networks to create a naughty buzz. I feel I’ve written something the likes of which you’re not likely to find at your local bookstore, and I’ve decided to make that an asset rather than an obstacle. You don’t get the chance to review your own work in a query, and to be honest it’s not really my style. Still, I’d like to take this opportunity to say that sWitch is challenging, smart, fun, scary and not afraid to push all of your dirty buttons. Who knows, if it becomes cultishly popular in the next year, maybe I’ll work up an illustrated coffee table version that will offend and delight your guests in equal measure. Or perhaps I’ll edit a trailer for the outrageous film it’s begging to be. My ultimate dream is for people to throw “sWitch Parties” where everyone dresses like a suburban square save a few sexy, paganistic touches and dances to lounge music while eating pentagram cookies. Can you dig it, man? Anyway, also coming soon is Square One –– a science fiction novel about the rediscovery of humankind by our own cybernetic creations centering on the most unlikely love story of all time against an all-too-familiar sounding rebellion. Notes are being taken with the first chapter not far off in the horizon.

Screenplays –– I’m still querying Shelf Life and am considering a few fledgling filmmakers to send it to. I’ve given some thought to making this one, as well. Since becoming pretty handy with my relatively new Canon XH A1s digital video camera, the idea to shoot something for a festival has greatly appealed. I write like a filmmaker, so why not take the next step? Ditto for Welcome to Cydonia, which needs making in a bad way. Cape May is still waiting, and you don’t keep an old girl like that waiting for long.

Other writing projects –– my animated vignette The Ballade of Haunted Hill will hopefully be completed sometime early in the new year thanks to the extraordinary efforts of my wonderfully talented collaborateur and sometime tea lady Teodora Parvanova (Soon to be Teodora Jones, which is probably the coolest name since Cleopatra Jones). She and I are also working on an animated TV series that we’ll be entering into a European animation contest. The story is based on an old Bulgarian Fable of sorts about an incorrigible young boy who finds his heart after losing his head in hell and it’s pretty rad in an Alice in Wonderland kind of way. And if you’re wondering, yes, finally getting my big break with an animated TV series after collaborating with a Bulgarian animator I met over the Internet by answering her “ad” for a writer is exactly how I envisioned my career path to go. All kidding aside, Teddy’s a delightful gem with a bright future and it’s been educational and fun to work with her. Whatever comes of our projects, I’m already proud as punch to have created what we have and hope to continue our partnership long into the future.

Music –– because there’s still a little time left between working, eating and sleeping, in addition to gigging and embarking on various projects with my band Surrounded By Idiots I’ve been putting my solo acoustic act together and am available for hire come the new year. It’s been an embarrassing amount of fun to get serious about––not only writing new songs and finding my identity as an acoustic artist––but honing my guitar skills. Most of my weekend is taken up playing and rehearsing and if you’re interested in learning more, head to my website and check out my artist list (which is constantly growing).

TV/Web Productions –– for the past few months I’ve been developing a cooking/reality show called “Table 42 with Chef Darryl Harmon” that takes place at The Water Works Restaurant in Philadelphia. Chef creates special dishes for a lucky couple who have been selected to dine at the famous “Table 42″ where over 300 wedding proposals have taken place as well as all sorts of other special moments. For more info on that, check out the website and look us up on Facebook. Shooting is scheduled to begin next month and we’re hoping to host a premier party at The Water Works for Valentine’s Day. Forks and fingers crossed we’re able to pull it off. So watch all spaces and keep an eye on your HDTV sets, as the table is set for us to be there, too.

And that, folks, is all the time I can afford to give you. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, it just means you’re a few pegs down the list. Hey, at least you’re on the list, you ungrateful, time-stealing, bas–just keeding. Allow me to leave you with one of the most beautiful folk guitar performances I have ever seen and a song I hope to include in my repertoire. Ladies and gentlemen, Jesse Winchester singing Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding on Elvis Costello’s excellent Sundance Channel series “Spectacle“.

I agree, Neko. Have the best damn holiday ever, everyone. Peace to you all.

Not relevant. Not essential. That’s my word processor’s dictionary definition for extraneous.

When I finished the final draft of my novel, the word count was 93,259. I knew that the process of polishing, reading aloud, would lead to word trimming. Today, I’m coming up on the midpoint of the novel, that crucial scene that in script writing structure brings a reversal of fortune or revelation that changes the direction of the story. Syd Field [Screenplay] advises that writing a story towards the midpoint keeps the second act from sagging. [I'm not a screenwriter, but I had a fiction writing teacher who encouraged her students to learn about screenwriting to help with structuring a novel.]

That crucial midpoint scene in my novel is the one that earns the characterization — Suburban Noir. One of my POV characters, a Silicon Valley mother, commits an appalling act.

As I approach that scene, my word count is 90,186. I knew I would be trimming, I knew I had extraneous words. There were adjectives to be deleted, despite previous attention to those pesky symbols that sometimes indicate lazy writing. I had hoped to bring the novel down to a marketable 90,000 words, but wasn’t sure I could because I knew I’d be adding phrases, sentences, clarity, here and there.

So it looks like I’m headed toward a sub-ninety thousand word count. I’m very pleased, and I attribute some of this to flash fiction and the discipline of telling a story in less than a thousand words.

“There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It isn’t because the book is not there and worth being written — it is only because the right form of the story does not present itself. There is only one right form for a story and if you fail to find that form the story will not tell itself.” – Mark Twain, courtesy of The Story Merchant (http://www.storymerchant.com/) by way of Jerry Peterson

Writing Friends

Stephen King is a lucky Ghost of Christmas-Yet-to-Come for soldiers wishing to return to Maine for the holidays. Not to say King’s superstitious, but he must believe that luck has its limits. This news comes Yahoo! Via the Bangor Daily News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091213/ap_on_re_us/us_people_stephen_king_troops).

“BANGOR, Maine — Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays.

“King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January.

“Julie Eugley, one of King’s personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000. But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000.”

Give the gift of inspiring, motivating, or nagging others to write: We need articles, news and information about writing, writers, words, publishing… and winter stories for the December 23 issue of TWS News. Send directly to me, or post in our Yahoo! Groups file “Stuff for the Editor.”  – Clayton

Last Meeting

On Tuesday, December 15, 7:00-8:45 p.m., seven TWS First-and-Third members met at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library in Madison: Amber, Clayton, Jerry, John, Millie, Pat, and Shel. 

Clayton Gill was first up for review, having brought with him hard copies of the first half of Chapter 6 of Fishing Derby. By way of apology for the late and incomplete submission, he also brought secret recipe “ranger” oatmeal cookies, which got a positive review. The chapter opens after school with the main character, middle school student Miker in detention hall. Jerry recommended eliminating scene description that was unnecessary to the story, such as the detail about the TV van parking in a special needs school bus parking space which Miker could see from the school window. John pointed out the chapter has some logistics challenges, especially in having Miker’s grandmother arrive at the school as Miker watches, then having her present in a meeting Miker attends very soon afterward. TWS members also asked, what would Miker’s reaction be to being pulled out of detention by a teacher with whom he’s had problems? How can Miker’s feelings be described in limited third-person narrative? Jerry noted that the football coach who supervises detention hall would not soften his orders to students with “please.” Some members suggested moving the subsequent meeting scene from the principal’s office to the school library: More neutral atmosphere and more space for necessary characters. Otherwise, there is the problem that Miker and the other kids think they’re in trouble, when really they’re part of the solution for the impending ecological disaster of the escaped, genetically-engineered catfish. Also, Pat and others debated the advantage of having Miker meet the two other Biology Club members prior to the meeting so they can induct Miker into the Club on the spur of the moment. Members questioned the necessity of administrative assistant Ms. Bunster in the pre-meeting scene. Also, does the reader need to know the door to the meeting is wooden? In the meeting, Gram appears with titanium chopsticks as hair pins, which raised eyebrows among TWS members. Clayton said, “Well, Miker’s grandmother is a bit eccentric.”

Amber Boudreau offered Chapter 4 of her as-yet-unnamed YA fantasy, in which main character Moira regains consciousness following her fall into a hole in the ground. TWS members looked for clues to help Moira identify whether she was in a cave, as she believes, or other underground chambers, such as a sinkhole, mine shaft, well, etc. Shel focused on light in the scene: There would be very little light away from the opening immediately above. If she fell in the morning, then by late afternoon, it would be quite dark. Jerry suggested that “creature” may be a better term to come to Moira’s mind, rather than “beast.” The animal she encounters is only a little larger than an average dog. Pat liked the way the creature is non-threatening, even helpful, akin to the creatures in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. She also suggested ways the suspense of the scene could mount: Moira may be fearful of the dark or of being alone in a place where an evil-doer could lurk. Another question arose regarding the use of pain as a “barometer” of feeling in a character. Members suggested physical changes to show fear or trepidation, such as sweaty palms, hair rising on the neck, etc. Clayton and Jerry read the chapter in relation to previous chapters as showing the first inkling of a parallel world, which Moira may be able to enter when she suffers her “time lapses.” Clayton suggested that the cave of the creature suspected to be a dragon could even be below Moira’s home, say, with a secret entrance in the basement. When she first encounters the creature, Moira decides not to throw a rock at it because that behavior might be “rude.” Shel considered this thought process unlikely because a girl, fallen into a dark hole in the ground and armed only with a rock, would first think of self-defense, not courtesy toward a non-human animal. However, Pat said she was okay with Moira’s behavior because any encounter with a dragon would be an extraordinary meeting.

Millie Mader presented Chapter 15 of Life on Hold in which family members learn of Mum’s breast cancer and persevere through the mastectomy and in its aftermath attempt to resume a more normal family life. Pat wondered about the history of breast cancer treatment, especially medical technology and diagnostic procedures in use during the early 1970s. Would anyone have known a person’s great grandmother had died of breast cancer? Would Erin really discuss it with her friends?  It seems to be almost shockingly open. Perhaps Erin values her Mum’s openness and independent mind, a TWS member suggested. Several members praised Millie’s descriptive images, such as: “A drizzle had started, and water dribbled like baby tears down the windowpane.” And, “Her skin was as pale as a handful of powdered pearls….” Members remarked, “Millie should right more poetry!” Members recommended more description of individual reactions of Erin and Dad to Mum’s news. Quicker reaction would be more powerful. Amber asked, “And what is Dad’s reaction, exactly?” Jerry pointed out that individuals won’t have the same reaction, because they’re individuals. Others agreed. Clayton characterized such reactions as “parallel reactions” and others noted the increased drama possible with different, even opposing reactions among individuals who hear the same news. For the hospital scene, Jerry and Pat discussed the historic dress of Catholic nuns, particularly, “When did nuns break the habit?” Jerry remembers it was sometime around 1964, for the Franciscans anyway. Do orders of nuns have websites, which would include photos and other details of their history?

Jerry Peterson managed to read through half of his short story “Lights and Sirens for Santa” before repressed laughter choked him up and Shel took over. The story’s characters — former military policeman and local small-town Wisconsin private investigator John Wadkowski and others — appear in other stories by Jerry. They gather for a holiday season party at the home of lawyer and murder suspect Diane Quinn, whom Wads has helped keep out of jail. Other friends of Quinn and Wadkowski trickle in, each decked out in bizarre or hilarious costumes and each equipped with a musical instrument. Bartender Barb Larson comes with an accordion and warms up “Roll Out the Barrel,” which she calls the “Wisconsin national anthem.” One climax of the story occurs when Wads arrives with an antique tractor with a costumed astronaut on the fender, pulling a manure spreader in which a Catholic priest steadies a lighted Christmas tree. The manure spreader shows off a banner that reads “Spreading Christmas Joy.” It turns out these volunteers and other public employees were delivering donated food and gifts to needy families across the town. The discord among the public employees about a recent round of layoffs kept the story grounded in the grim reality of Christmas during recession. TWS members liked the introduction of each new arrival to the party, which step-by-step increased the merriment and added to the growing jazz ensemble. Clayton noted the procedure of mentioning characters, first by full name, then with references to them by first or nickname versus last name. Wrapping up the story, Larson breathes in Wads’ ear: “How’s your instrument?” In response, Wads takes a “mouth organ” from his shirt pocket. On first reading, Amber missed the equivalence of mouth organ and harmonica. But nobody missed the not-so-innocent flirtation between Barb and Wads. It worked on TWS members like Jerry was standing under the mistletoe himself. Good stuff.

Who’s Up Next

December 22 (Second-and-Fourth): Jack Freiburger (poems), Holly Bonnickson-Jones (Chapter 12, Coming Up for Air), Patrice Kohl (book description of Beastly Banquet and “Welke Farms” chapter), and Carol Hornung (tentative). Meeting at Jack’s place, 7:00 p.m., as a “winter solstice party.”

January 5 (First-and-Third): John Schneller (Chapter 9 rewrite, Broken), Amber Boudreau (Chapter 4, YA novel), Judith McNeil (???), Alicia Connolly-Lohn (new chapter for Lincoln’s Slave Trials), Danny Dhokarh (poem, “If my love for you shall cease”), Millie Mader (Chapter 15, Life on Hold), Clayton Gill (Chapter 6 “and a half,” Fishing Derby). Meeting at Barnes & Noble West, 7:00 p.m.

January 9 (First-and-Third and Second-and-Fourth): New Year’s Resolution Party hosted by Jerry Peterson at his home in Janesville. RSVP notice and driving directions to come in the next TWS News.

January 12 (Second-and-Fourth): Please let December’s TWS News editor know soonest.

Words and Language

Is the double-whammy of recession and winter getting you down? Besides “seasonal affective disorder,” you could be suffering from “frugal fatigue.” If the diagnosis is confirmed, you could be in even deeper economic downturn do-do.

Jerry Peterson spotted the new term on Paul McFedries’ Word Spy website (http://www.wordspy.com): frugal fatigue, n. Mental exhaustion caused by constant frugality during hard economic times. Also: frugality fatigue.

Example citations:   It seems that after a year of watching our wallets, bank accounts, and 401(k) plans with the tenacity of a wheelchair-bound Jimmy Stewart in an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, some are throwing up their hands, taking out their credit cards, and wading back into pre-recession spending habits. The official term for this behavior is frugal fatigue. It started creeping into the lexicon last spring, and now frugal fatigue — the idea that we’re getting worn down and stressed out by constantly watching our budgets — may as well be an officially diagnosed psychiatric disorder.  – Christopher Muther, “Fighting frugal fatigue,” The Boston Globe, November 19, 2009

Cohen argued that a strong Black Friday would induce consumers to relax the spending restraint they have exercised since the financial crisis erupted last fall. “Once the consumer starts to engage in spending, a momentum starts to build,” he said. “It’s what I call frugal fatigue. Consumers have been frugal for over a year. They’re tired of not buying anything.” – Tom Abate, “Anticipation builds for shopping season,” The San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 2009

Earliest citation: The latest Gallup poll on the topic (fielded the week before last) finds 44 percent of adults believe the economy is getting better, down from 53 percent in mid-February and from 66 percent in January. In what Gallup refers to as an “intriguing twist,” though, there has not been a corresponding decline in people’s “spending intentions.” In fact, the number of respondents saying they plan to increase their overall spending during the next six months has risen, from 26 percent in February to 31 percent in this month’s poll. “This reverses a downward trend in spending intentions seen since November, and is the highest level of intended spending Gallup has recorded on this question since its inception in October 2001.” Having at least tried to restrain their spending since the recession hit three years ago, some consumers likely have developed a case of Frugality Fatigue. – Mark Dolliver, “Saving Us From Food, The Big Picture, Etc.,” Adweek, March 22, 2004

Some of McFedries’ related words: CGI fatigue, diversity fatigue, e-mail fatigue, feature fatigue, inconspicuous consumption, information fatigue syndrome, password fatigue, social networking fatigue, threat fatigue.

UW-Madison Writer’s Institute

Alicia Connoly-Lohn draws attention to the 21st Annual Writers’ Institute, April 23-25 in Madison.

Each annual Writers’ Institute presents a “featured speaker.” In 2010, it’s Janet Burroway, author of eight novels, plays, poetry, essays, texts for dance, and children’s books. The web blurb says, “Her Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft is the most widely used creative writing text in America.” UW-Madison faculty and news media and publishing professionals are among the Institute’s experts.

Participants in the Institute: “Meet with agents, editors, and publicity specialists; attend workshops designed to meet your writing needs; and attend a small-group critique session to polish your writing. The conference covers nonfiction and fiction, and improving, publishing and promoting your work.”

The Institute includes two contests:  The Poem or a Page Contest and our new The Next Elmore Leonard Contest. March 29 is the deadline for both. The fees break out according to level of involvement.

For more, visit www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing/awi or contact Rita Mae Reese at 608-890-3330 or rreese@dcs.wisc.edu.

Idea for Tuesdays with Story: What about getting one of the UW-Madison faculty who lead the Writers’ Institute — or more than one! — to a combined First-and-Third and Second-and-Fourth meeting? This editor would prefer not to invite one of the event organizers, rather, one of the “professors.” What do you think? If you like, discuss at your next Tuesdays meeting and let this editor know bye-and-bye: Clayton via clytngll@yahoo.com.

Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent

In his December 18 blog, Nathan Bransford recaps his reporting and perspective of the past year in publishing, which includes an account of the blow-by-blow battle of e-books to gain share in the total book market:

“The impact of e-books on the book industry remains more theory than fact at this point as they comprise only 5-10% of sales, but they’re booming, and the massive earthquake that they represent is beginning to rumble. Publishers are attempting naked rights grabs (well, the rights grabs are naked, hopefully the publishers aren’t), they’re worried about the elephant in the Amazon, and after a century where they enjoyed near complete control over what books the world reads, publishers are suddenly confronting a future where they may or may not be necessary.”

Also, Bransford sets the stage for writing contests of his own which he intends to launch in January. For more, visit http://blog.nathanbransford.com/.

PS on e-books from Alicia: Here’s a new blog devoted to “digital publishing”: eBooknewser (http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/).

Talk About Technique

The screenwriting “principles” listed below came from a link to “author, writing coach & script consultant” Marilyn Horowitz found at The Story Merchant (www.storymerchant.com), although this editor can no longer trace the particular page.

Five Principles of Screenwriting:

1. When you begin, create for yourself first. Be your own first fan.

2. Don’t get it right — get it written! Just get it down on paper, warts, missing parts and all.

3. All good writing is rewriting. So get that first draft written.

4. Tell the story from beginning to end. Never get caught up in what you don’t know yet! Just keep going.

5. Make appointments to do the work. And stick to them.

The Last Word

Alicia reports that the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and thesaurus announced “admonish” as the most-looked-up word of 2009. It’s not such a difficult word, so let it be a warning to us!

Nothing sells like success is an expression that I was introduced to in my freshman year of Temple’s Undergraduate Film program. I was in a ‘Media and Society’ class. Basically, it refers to what is marketable and what is not – and clearly things that are already ‘on the market’ are much more marketable than things that have no history of sale. This is a strict principle of media programmers/filmmakers/screenwriters/directors/ etc. Imagine that I run a deli. Now, in my deli, I sell one type of hoagie: italian. I sell italian hoagies because I know people who already enjoy eating italian hoagies for lunch and will buy them. Furthermore, if I know people enjoy eating italian hoagies, I know that they enjoy eating salami, and provolone cheese, american cheese, prosciutto, etc, so as I could take those ingrediants and put them in other sandwhiches or dishes, and people would enjoy them as well. Now, One night I eat a whole bunch of shampoo and am compelled to create a new kind of sandwhich that involves a lot of hair care products. Its going to be a lot harder to sell this kind of sandwhich because it is inherently a different kind of eating experience and perhaps challenges our notions of ’sandwhich’ all together. This is why when I pay for a fucking movie, I end up buying a whole bunch shit that I’m tired of eating.

You may remember that I was in the top 100 loglines at a contest over at ScriptShadow.

I am now in the top 25!

Now to finish this rewrite by January 11th!

In this video I talk a little bit about how I create characters, some problems I’ve run into developing them, and a few tips for other writers about not backing themselves into a corner.

Until next time, keep writing!
-Steve