Advertise

'Tis that season again. My little cousin had popped over to show off his awesome Halloween costume and I knew that the season was upon us.

Well, actually, he was just the final omen. The omens begin in my neighborhood when the ghosties, jack-o-lanterns, spiders, and witches begin to adorn all my neighbors homes. Then, the Halloween house goes up at the top of my street.

Every year, one of my neighbors goes all out. They build a haunted house on their front lawn complete with spooky sounds and dry ice. Their entire family dresses up as different "scary" characters to greet the public and hand out candy to delighted kiddies. Last year, the Riddler guarded the haunted house with his Tommy-gun while Frankenstein snuck up on unsuspecting visitors. My one-year old Goddaughter (dressed as a froggie), was delighted to shake Frank's giant green hand!

My neighbors have no problem advertising the coming of seasons and holidays. Every holiday turns our street into the Las Vegas strip with blinking lights of appropriate holiday color, giant blow-up figures, and decorations of all types from hand made to custom made. My best friend always asks me, "What's wrong with your neighbors? The holiday's a month and a half away." She thinks they're competing. And, maybe they are. But, knowing my neighbors, I know they are celebrating and advertising the coming season.

You should advertise your work as well. Create a website to showcase your work or resume. When sending out queries, include your website, blog address, and any other internet address that is relevant. On my letters I include my blog address and the address for inktip, noting that my work is posted there.

If you have a work published, you should be out there hawking it as well. What markets would read your book? Contact your publisher or agent and see what they think about you contacting other markets.

If you are on a website related to what you have written, post the name of your book under comments. Someone will see it.

If you have written something new and its available to the public, you should send out a mass email to everyone on your email list, facebook, and twitter. (And whatever else you subscribe to). If you won't advertise for yourself, who will?

Peace! Watch out for Wolverine!
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

The Almighty Second Opinion

Today I focused on query letters. I'm being very specific who I send my work to. I want a smaller literary agency with less clients so that I can really get to know my agent. I don't want to get lost in the shuffle. I spent the day perfecting individual query letters tailored to individual hand-chosen agents based on clients that they have already represented. If I like their client's work, I feel these agents will appreciate my work as well. I do not waste time or postage on blindly sending out queries to agents that may or may not even work with screenplays. Always research who you are sending your work to.

I wrote up two specific query letters to start with. The next step is the second opinion or the proofreader. You should always have someone honest to read your work and give honest feedback to you. If you don't have anyone you can think of, take a writing class in your area of expertise and ask the teacher for feedback. With queries and a lot of my other work, I always go to the same two people (don't laugh, I have a method): Mom and Dad.

The reason why I go to Mom and Dad is two-fold. As individuals, they provide different versions of feedback for me.

Dad worked as a supervisor at ITT/Defense Communications Divison for 40 years and did hiring and firing. He read tons of resumes and cover letters. He also loves action/adventure and war films, is a former member of the Air National Guard, and is a history buff who would be the ulimate lifeline for any Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant. He is my technical advisor many times when I'm writing anything that has to do with the military, history, or warfare. When he reads a cover letter, he gives me a lot of information. He looks to see if he can tell me what the story is based on my brief description (the one paragraph pitch). He looks to see if he'd hire me as a writer based on my writing skills and credetials. Finally, he makes sure I have my facts straight.

Mom, on the other hand, is my literary right hand. She is the second pair of eyes I need when I can no longer stand to read through a page looking for spelling and grammar. My mother never went to college. She was the oldest of three and her two younger brothers were expected to go to college because they were expected to take care of a family. In those days, she was expected to marry and be taken care of and, in turn, take care of her husband and family. (That was the 50's, baby. . .) It didn't stop my mother from becoming a prolific reader and lover of words. She reads, on average, a novel a night. (Is there any doubt as to how her daughter became an English teacher and writer?) I always thought that if Mom had the chance, she would have made an outstanding English Lit. teacher. She had me reading before Kindergarden. But, I digress. Mom is one of my readers because she can find all the missing commas, misspellings, homonyms, grammatical errors, and general stupidity that my fried little brain may have missed during final revisions. She also re-tells me my story to make sure its clear. And, when I'm working on comedy, Mom is the best critic because she has an outstanding sense of humor. She knows what works and what doesn't.

I do have other people who read for me as well. Most of them are close friends and family members. I do this because I know they'll be honest with me. If something isn't working, they'll tell me. They'll also be specific about what they like. I'm blessed to have them.

What's the best part of asking for the second opinion? When they ask you what else you're working on when they're finished. . . and if they can read that too. That's when you know you're on to something.
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

To Revise or Not to Revise: That is the Question. . .

I think there are three points in a writer's creative life: there's the point where they begin an entirely new project, the point when they finish a project, and the point when they revisit old projects, revise them and give them new life. I usually have work in all three stages. As you've probably guessed from my last few blogs, I'm focusing on the third stage lately.

Today I spent the day transfering a screenplay from my old PC to my newer Mac only to find that I had already done it about a year ago. This gives you an idea of the amount of writing files I have saved on my computer (and I have a pretty clear filing system too!) So, I spent some time today going through the first 25 pages making sure that the formatting was correct (a lot of it was not from the conversion) and making notes on things I want to change.

What I decided upon finishing those 25 pages is that I have another revision coming up once I get though checking the format. Now, there are a lot of writers who never stop revising and never send out their work. I'm not one of those. I pick a point where I want my "final" draft done and I begin sending it out from there.

The truth is, you'll never be done writing. You can revise until the end of time and it can drive you insane. What will happen with your work once it's purchased? An editor or director will change everything anyway and make it even better. They'll see things you couldn't because you were too close to it.

Of course, that doesn't mean that you send out garbage. My work goes through at least four to six drafts before being sent out. I make sure my plot is strong, my characters move the story forward, each scene turns, and all my spelling and grammar have been triple checked.

So why am I revising this screenplay now? Well, I wrote it a while ago. It was one of the first screenplays I wrote and I was just learning the format. I now know a lot more about formatting screenplays and about punching lines in a comedy. I know this screenplay can be even better than it is. I'm not getting hung up on minor issues, I'm looking at a major overhaul of format and dialogue. That's what a good revision is about.

Here's a fun exercise for you to try: go back to one of the earliest pieces of writing you have and read it through with a notebook next to you. How would you change it now? Would you rewrite it entirely? If you wouldn't change a thing, I suggest you go out and start learning something new about the craft. Don't fall in love with your words. A great writer once said, "Murder your Darlings." You have to cut out the bad writing (and characters!) to let the good stuff shine through.

So learn the fine line between when to revise and when to move on to the next project. But always keep writing.
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE