Tease Me, Stan Lee. . .

            http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/11/02/loki-and-heimdall-to-appear-in-the-avengers-age-of-ultron-2400462?lt_source=external,manual

            I’m 13 again.

I was just having a conversation with my 10-year old cousin, Little Chris.  We have a special bond.  We have entire conversations based on Marvel Comics.  He’s a big Captain America fan, I like Loki.  We both think Stan Lee is awesome.  Little Chris tends to forget that Marvel Agents of Shield is on television, so each week I text him to remind him just as the show is about to start.  When I see him next, we talk about all the mysteries in the Marvel movies and television shows. I try to have these conversations with adults, but they just think I’m nuts. (I probably am . . .)           

            Our newest conversation is discussing the possibilities of the upcoming Avengers:  Age Of Ultron film.  I recently read that Loki and Heimdall are making an appearance in Age of Ultron.  Little Chris was as excited about this as I was.  We discussed what this scene would entail.  Does Heimdall discover that Loki has taken Odin’s place on the throne of Asgar?  If so, is Heimdall now in trouble with Loki?  Do they fight again?  Does Loki make Heimdall disappear in the same way his father has vanished?  Hmmm .. . . questions, questions, questions. . .

            And yet, knowing Marvel comics, we probably couldn’t predict what this scene would be about.

            This brings me to today’s topic:  Teasers.  There are all kinds of teasers in writing.  In television, a teaser is the first 30 seconds or so of a television show before they cut to the opening credits and commercial.  The teaser’s job is to hook people in so they don’t change the channel.  You leave them with burning questions so that they will stay tuned in.

            Another version of the teaser is foreshadowing.  Foreshadowing are hints of what’s to come in a novel.  In my opinion, there are two kinds of foreshadowing:  Subtle and In Your Face.  Subtle foreshadowing is in extremely well-written stories where something is mentioned, seemingly in passing, and it isn’t until the big reveal that you realized how important that detail was.  J.K. Rowling is a master at Subtle foreshadowing.  She would mention people or things in Book 1 of the Harry Potter series that didn’t become important until the seventh and final book.  For example, when Harry’s Aunt Petunia states that Lily was always hanging out with “that boy,” you automatically think “that boy” was James, Harry’s father.  It isn’t until the seventh book that you realize “that boy” was Severus Snape, unveiling a crucial piece of information that finally unravels the entire mystery regarding Snape’s relationship with Harry and Harry’s family.

            In Your Face foreshadowing is when you know that something is important, but you may not be sure how it is important.  For example, a dead woman is missing a shoe.  You know that dang shoe will show itself before the end of the story.  Where is it?  Who has it?  And why?  This is a device commonly used in murder and detective stories. 

            Marvel Comics films have end-teasers and short films which are In Your Face.  We know these characters and situations are important to the entire Marvel Universe, but we’re not exactly sure why.  And the Marvel fans can’t get enough of surmising the connections.  Every little detail is a clue that is argued in chat rooms across the Internet.  It’s brilliant marketing.

            The idea that you should take away from all this is to drop hints in your writing.  Foreshadow the story to come, give your readers Subtle and In Your Face clues.  And, absolutely, if you are writing a series of stories, plant teasers for what’s to come.  Think of the book series and film series you loved.  What was it that kept you coming back for more?  Guaranteed part of it was that new questions opened at the end of the novel demanded to be answered in the next.  As they say in show business, “Always leave your audience asking for more…”
Please check out my new novel  Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

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

Co-writing or Editing Another's Work

So, how does one go about Co-writing without killing the other writer? Well, its not easy. Believe me, I taught writing for many moons and 99.9% of people are very possessive of their words. How dare you change that word, thought, idea? You suck. You don't understand me. I hate you. Drop dead. Yep, I heard it all. In trying to help students become better writers, I had students fight with me, cry on me, and roll their eyes too many times to count. And these were the college students!

You have to be very careful when sharing ideas and even more careful when giving and accepting constructive criticism. Egos bruise easily. Here are things that I found, through trial and error, that really help the co-writing or editing process.

First, get to know the person before you read their work. Writing is very personal and people don't want strangers reading their work and telling them what's wrong with it. I finally became a good writing teacher when I got to know my students' individual interests and they got to know some extracurricular stuff about me. It made it easier for us to have a dialogue about their writing without crying or cursing. It was just productive re-visioning. 

Second, read through without a red pen (its a subconscious memory of glaring "F's" in grade school)- I like green pens- and while editing, make comments on all the things you LIKE as you read as well. That way, people can see exactly what phrases, passages, chapters, etc. are working. When I taught, my students would freak out when I passed back their first essays of the school year because they saw writing all over it. "What is this?" they'd ask, all up in arms.

"Did you read the comments?" I'd ask.

Reluctantly, they'd begin to read the comments, but then smiles would slowly creep across their faces when they realized that 3/4 of the writing were compliments. Later on in the year, they couldn't wait to get back their essays to see what I had enjoyed in their papers. Some of them would even stay after class to talk to me excitedly about the things I had pointed out that they had taken a risk on!

Third: it is usually not your job to change the other writer's words. You can offer a suggestion in the margin, but do not try to make them sound like yourself as a writer. Let them have their own voice. You can only change words if words are misused, misspelled, or if they change the tone of the piece. In graduate school I went from one professor to another who wanted each class to write just like him or her. And none of them wrote like the other. It was ridiculous. I thought I was losing my mind and I almost lost my writing voice in the process. After graduation, I decided I did not want my writing to sound "scholarly" and not be understood by 60% or more of the population, so I broke free of everything I learned in college and grad school and learned to write like me again.

Nobel prize authors win awards because they don't sound like everybody else.

Well, that's a good start for any joint writing projects you may wish to endeavor in. I'll add some more tips as I think of them. For now, I want to get back to my work. If you don't work, you don't have any writing, and if there isn't any writing, you have nothing to sell . . .

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

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

The Fun of Research

I began some background research today into Criminal Profiling. I haven't read anything criminology based since I took Criminology many moons ago. Although I didn't find a lot that I could utilize directly in my spec script, I did learn a lot of very interesting information on the fathers of criminal profiling in America and Great Britain.

That's the fun of research. Learning something new and going off in a new direction. I did learn the basics of what profilers look for and what the four subtypes of serial killers are. Those items may be helpful at some point in my writing. Of course, there are also the four profiling phase questions that were interesting as well. . .

So, it wasn't a wasted research period. And, of course, I now have a long list of names and books to turn to of the real big boys of profiling. If you are ever interested in writing about Criminal Profiling, here are the top gentlemen I found to be the most interesting for my personal writing purposes: James A. Brussel who developed what we now know as Criminal profiling, Howard Teten, who helped form the famous BAU in Quantico while building off of Brussel's approach, and Richard Walter and Bob Keppel who interviewed 2,000 murderers, etc. in order to create the subtypes of serial killers. There are many more, but these stood out for me.

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

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

Beginning a Television Spec Script

Television writing. It's a different beast than filmwriting, but one I like to undertake from time to time. It's always good to have a couple of television spec scripts on hand when you're looking for representation. As I wrote in a previous blog, the last spec script I worked on was for the X-Files, so it's time to do something new.

I did get an idea to write a script for Supernatural, but I outlined that and tabled it for now. Instead, I got a better idea for an episode of Criminal Minds.

I decided to do the Criminal Minds episode for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, its a challenge for me and it will stretch my writing skills. I really love the show and I tend to watch it thinking that writing for a show with that level of technical background is out of my comfort zone.

Yet, I have a background in Psychology where I studied Abnormal Psych and Criminology. I just need to do some research and study the written format of the show. A couple of books on Behavioral Analysis and Criminal Profiling should do the trick.

So, comfort zone be gone.

For the past two days I went through Jurgen Wolff & Kerry Cox's book Successful Scriptwriting, focusing on the chapter on hour-long episodes as a refresher. Then I sat down and wrote out the beginning and ending of the episode, as well as major plot points.

My next move will be to outline the 60-page script and just get started.

I'm also going to order a couple Criminal Minds scripts from Script City (1-800-676-2522 or scriptcity.net). I haven't ordered from them in a while due to the pile of screenplays I have from them that I haven't read yet, but I'm assuming they're still around. You can't write a television episode without knowing each show's format. That's why Final Draft has different formats for each of the major television shows built into their software (God, I love Final Draft!)

Get writing!
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

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

Total Immersion

I booked my trip to Italy today. Between now and next summer there are two very important things I need to do in order to prepare for this trip: the first is to put aside money for it and the second is to completely immerse myself in the Italian language once again.

I studied Italian in grade school and high school, but I didn't really learn it until I began to study for a translation exam in grad school. A friend of mine tutored me and he got me completely immersed in Italian. I was reading Italian magazines and novels, watching Italian television, and watching Fellini films. Before I knew it, I was understanding and reading without translating from English to Italian. I had completely grasped the Italian.

Then the University went and canceled the Foreign Language Translation requirement.

Whatever.

So, as the years went by, I lost the use of Italiano. But, now I want to be able to finally use it. So I broke out all my books, flashcards, videos, and other foreign language paraphernalia and began to reconnect those synapses in my brain.

The same goes for writing. When you are working on a piece of writing, you have to completely immerse yourself in the process. You need to take time to write, edit, get feedback, look at similar examples of the writing style you are endeavoring in. You also need to make sure your basics are up to par: how is your grammar and spelling? Do you know the proper structure for this piece? When looking for an agent, publishing house, or producer, do you know the proper way to query? Do you know what each individual market requests with submissions? Have you done your homework in these areas?

Do not go blindly into that dark night. There are better writers than you and I who were turned down numerous time who knew the answers to these questions. You need to be prepared. Immerse yourself in the life and work of being a writer. Once you have done this, you will find it easier to write and more opportunities will come your way.

Ironically, last night I wasn't sure what I wanted to work on for today. I knew I wanted to step aside from my query for a day or two because it isn't quite right yet. However, I didn't know what I wanted to work on in the meantime. So, I went to sleep thinking about what I would spend my time doing today.

Then, a funny thing happened: I dreamed an entire outline for a television spec script. I had forgotten I had wanted to work on one, but my subconscious hadn't. Because I had immersed myself in the lifestyle of a writer, my mind kept working when I was fast asleep. When I woke up this morning I sat down and sketched out a basic outline for a Supernatural episode.

The moral is: you never know what will come to you as long as you keep focused on writing.
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

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

Learning an Art

I recently took up the art of jewelry making. I did it for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because I needed something to pass the time between jobs. When I began a couple of months ago, I fought a little with the jewelry I was working on. The chain mail I attempted was just not looking right and had to be pulled apart several times. The necklace I had strung broke the moment I had put it on.

I began to read up on it more and more and gather ideas. I learned how to make the proper jewelry knots. I found a way to make chain mail that was easiest for me. The result is that I have a pile of completed pieces and family and friends are putting in requests.

I was blessed with the ability to always be able to write. I've never had writer's block. Some days I fought against sitting down and starting to write, but I was never at a loss for ideas or how to start. There's just too much bouncing around in my brain.

But, what I did have to learn is the art of writing. I had to learn what made a story a story and how to craft that story. Luckily, I learned that pretty young. I was an avid reader all my life and knew all about a five-act structure before it was even taught to me in High School.

What I didn't know then was that there are three-act structures. And four-acts. A screenplay is different from a play. An hour long episodic is crafted differently than a half-hour comedy. These all have their own individual forms, styles, and feels. I needed to read up on them, read examples, and then study them from copy to screen.

After graduating with a M.A., I thought I knew everything there was to know about story structure. Then I took Robert McKee's Story Structure class. The first day recapped everything I already knew about writing from college and graduate school. It was a good refresher. The second and third day, which included a frame by frame film study of Casablanca, blew me away. I was amazed at how much I didn't know and I was very glad I had taken the course. Since then, I've taken McKee's Comedy workshop and Thriller workshop as well. They were equally outstanding. There's a reason why he's called the "screenwriter's guru." I highly recommend them all.

Don't rest on your laurels. Keep learning. My favorite college professor and friend, Dr. Douglas Schwegel, used to love to quote the philosopher (I believe it was Aristotle) who said education is like climbing a mountain. You climb and climb and eventually you will reach a plateau, only to find there is much, much more mountain to tackle.

Not a day goes by where I don't try to learn. I'm addicted to it. I think its part of the reason why we're here on Earth. And, in this day and age, with the entire world easily accessible to us, there is so much to learn!

The more you learn about writing, the better a writer you'll be. The more you learn about anything else, the more interesting your writing will be.
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

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