Tag: research

Panic Not, Thou Writer of the Failing Plot Line

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“Don’t panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends’ embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way….” 

― Sarah Waters

How To Write A Great Speech: 5 Secrets for Success

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[found on forbes.com by Nick Morgan]

“David McCloud, the Chief of Staff of the Governor of Virginia, taught me how to write a great speech:

• Great speeches are primarily emotional, not logical
• Small shifts in tone make an enormous difference to the audience, so sweat the details
• A great speech has a clear voice speaking throughout
• A great speech conveys one idea only, though it can have lots of supporting points
• A great speech answers a great need

The lesson nearly killed me. I had a PhD in literature and rhetoric, and I was teaching at the University of Virginia, when the Governor, Chuck Robb, plucked me from academic obscurity to write speeches for him. The previous speechwriter had cracked under the strain, and had taken to shouting Nazi war slogans and charging around the office barefoot using his hatrack as a battering ram. So of course he had to go; he alarmed the Governor’s State Police detail too much.

I don’t know why that didn’t worry me too much at the time. I suppose I was blinded by the opportunity to put my academic ideals into practice. I was installed in the same office, and I spent most of the first day or two looking at the hatrack and wondering how bad it would have to get before I was tempted to pick it up and go horizontal with it too.

David called me into his office on Day Three for my first assignment. Four death-row inmates had escaped from Mecklenburg State Prison and were wandering around loose in the Virginia countryside alarming everyone. The Governor had to give a speech to show that he was in control of the situation.

“The truth is,” said David, “that no one pays any attention to prisons until someone escapes. Then everyone wants to know why we don’t spend more money, hire more guards, do whatever it takes to keep scary people from getting out. Write a speech which says that we care about voters’ security but won’t waste their money either.”

I made a face. “But those two things are logically contradictory.”

“Your first lesson in real speechwriting,” said David. “Logic has nothing to do with it. Figure it out.”

Clutching my logic and my expensive education in rhetoric, I went back to my office to figure it out. For about half a day I stared at the computer screen with no idea how to begin. At some point, David popped into my office to see how I was getting on. He took in my lack of progress at a glance.

“Think John Wayne,” he said. “Make the Governor tough.”

So I thought about what John Wayne would have said if he’d been the governor, and shortly a script began to form on the screen. I wrote, re-wrote, and finally had a draft that I thought was pure gubernatorial magic. I handed it in to David.

A few hours later, an email arrived. “My office. Now.”

David scowled at me when I walked in. “This is the worst first draft I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s too much John Wayne, not enough Governor. Go back and try again.”

So I did. I took John Wayne out and let in the sweet light of reason instead. I handed in what I thought was a much more measured draft to David the next morning.

This time he came to me. “This is the second worst draft I’ve ever seen,” he said. “The governor sounds like a Sesame Street character. Give him his cojones back.”

He left. I bowed my head over the screen. This was not the enlightened political discourse I had been expecting. I looked at the hatrack. Then I wrote another draft.

Before I got that speech right – and David satisfied with it – I wrote twelve drafts. John Wayne and Sesame Street came and went. I added sections on prison spending and took them out. I put in an update on the search for the escapees and revised it over and over again. I researched Thomas Jefferson’s attitude toward prisons and put in a section quoting him. It wasn’t until Draft 11 that David thought it was even worth sending it to the Governor for him to look at.

“OK,” he said. “It’s not great, but it’s OK for a first try.”

David was not my favorite person in the world that week, or for a number of weeks after. But in the end I realized that in being tough on me he had given me an enormous gift: he had taught me how to push myself to do better than I thought I possibly could. And he taught me how to write a speech. In the real world. Great speeches are primarily emotional, not logical. Small shifts in tone and phrasing make an enormous difference to the audience, so you sweat the details. A great speech has a clear voice speaking throughout. A great speech conveys one idea only, though it can have lots of supporting points. And most of all: a great speech answers a great need.

Thanks, David.”

[found on http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2011/01/19/how-to-write-a-great-speech-5-secrets-for-success]

7 Great Online Research Resources for Writers

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[found on dailywritingtips.com by Mark Nichol]

“Doing research to strengthen a current story or article, or to get ideas for a new one? You can google all you want and hope for a productive return, but to engage in a focused search, try one of these mediated experiences instead:

1. Infoplease

From current events to reference-desk resources to features about history, this site puts a remarkable array of information within reach. Guides to the nations of the world, timelines of political, social, and cultural developments, special quantitative and qualitative features like “The World’s Most Corrupt Nations” and “Color Psychology,” and more cover just about anything you could think of.

2. The Internet Public Library

Unlike the other reference centers on this list, the IPL is a portal to other Web sites, brimming with directories of links in topics like Arts & Humanities. (Dictionary of Symbolism? Check. Ask Philosophers? Right. Legendary Lighthouses? We got your legendary lighthouses right here.) If you need background information on either fiction or nonfiction projects, stop by for a visit — I just dare you to leave without a digressive click or ten.

3. The Library of Congress

The online presence of the official repository of knowledge and lore of the United States is an indispensable resource not only for nonfiction writers seeking background information for topics but also for fiction authors seeking historical context for an existing project or inspiration for a new one.

4. Merriam-Webster Online 

The publishing world’s dictionary of record is at your fingertips online as well as in print, with a thesaurus and Spanish-English and medical compendia, to boot. The dictionary also includes refreshing can’t-we-all-just-get-along usage commentary. (That and which, as pronouns that introduce restrictive clauses,are interchangeable.) You’ll also find video tutorials on usage from dictionary staff, a Word of the Day feature, word games, and a variety of language-watch features.

5. Refdesk

Refdesk.com, like Infoplease, is a clearinghouse for online research, with links to headline news and timeless information alike. You can easily get lost in its Daily Diversions directory, which includes links not only to humor, games, and trivia sites but also to more respectable resources like DailyWritingTips.com (whoo!). If you have a question, chances are you can find the answer on this site.

6. Snopes

How do you verify that this self-described “definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation” is what it claims to be? Go to the site and find out. The fine folks at Snopes.com will set you straight about any one of hundreds of posts — each with a prominent judgmental icon, and commentary to back it up — about that one thing you think you remember you heard about that one thing. (For example:Posh comes from an acronym for “port out, starboard home” — the ideal respective locations for accommodations on a luxury liner — right? Cue the buzzer. Bogus.) TruthOrFiction.com is a similar site.

7. Wikipedia

This user-generated online encyclopedia got a lot of flak a few years ago for some inaccurate information posted by someone with a grudge, but that was an isolated incident. Also, many sources warn against using Wikipedia as a primary source for research. That said, don’t hesitate to avail yourself of the wealth of information available on the site — much of which is written by subject-matter experts in the field in question. Then click on one of the online sources linked in the footnotes, or take your search to one of the other sites in this list.”

[found on http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-great-online-research-resources-for-writers]

Breaking into Television Writing

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[-written By Lee Goldberg]

“Reader Lauren Machin from Atlanta, Georgia asks:

How do I become a television writer if I don’t have any contacts?

Writer/Producer Lee Goldberg responds:

I get this question a lot, but it’s disingenuous, since I’m a TV writer/producer and whoever is asking me that is really asking me to either read their script or to invite them in to pitch. So, theoretically, they already know somebody in the business.

They’re luckier than I was when I got started. I didn’t know anybody in the TV industry. But I got in. How did I do it? Everybody’s story is unique. Most of those stories, however, share one common element. You have to put yourself in the right place to get your lucky break. And it’s easier than you think.

The first thing you have to do is learn your craft. Take classes, preferably taught by people who have had some success as TV writers.

There’s another reason to take a TV writing course besides learning the basics of the craft. If you’re the least bit likeable, you’ll make a few friends among the other classmates. This is good, because you’ll have other people you can show your work to. This is also good because somebody in the class may sell his or her first script before you do, and suddenly you’ll have a friend in the business. Many of my writer/producer friends today are writers I knew back when I was in college, when we were all dreaming of breaking into TV some day.

A writer we hired on staff on the first season of Missing was in a Santa Monica screenwriters group and was the first member of her class to get a paying writing gig. Now her friends in the class suddenly had a friend on a network TV show who could share her knowledge, give them practical advice and even recommend them to her new agent and the writer/producers she was working with.

Another route is to try and get a job as a writer/producer’s assistant on an hour-long drama. You will only get a meager salary, but you will see how a show works from the inside. You’ll read lots of scripts and revisions and, simply by observation, get a graduate course in TV writing. More important, you’ll establish relationships with the writers on the show and the freelancers who come through the door. Many of today’s top TV producers were writer/producer assistants once. All of the assistants I’ve had have gone on to become working TV writers themselves, not because I gave them a script assignment or recommended them for one. I didn’t do either.

The first step towards getting in to pitch a TV producer for an episodic writing assignment is to write an episodic teleplay on spec. By that I mean pick a show and write an episode for it.

Although there are some producers who prefer to read screenplays, most showrunners, agents, and network executives want to read an episodic teleplay. Even if your spec feature script has acceptable levels of dialogue, characterization, and structure, people thinking of hiring you will still wonder “yes, but can he handle my characters? Does he understand the four-act structure?” An original piece can demonstrate that you have a strong voice, but it doesn’t show whether or not you blend that voice with ours. Can you write what we need without losing whatever it is that makes you unique? That’s why we need to see your talents applied to a TV episode. To someone else’s characters. To someone else’s voice.

How do you pick a show to spec? Easy. Pick a show you like. Odds are, if you’re thinking about trying to become a TV writer, you already know what show you want to spec – you just don’t know you know. It’s the one you watch every week, and when it’s over, you find yourself thinking, “That was pretty good, but wouldn’t it be cool if -“

Don’t worry about what’s hot and what’s not – choose a show you feel a connection to, one that you “get.” With some exceptions:

a) Try to stay away from syndicated or basic cable science fiction shows like Andromeda or Stargate. Or even a basic cable drama shows like Strong Medicine or even my show, Missing. Not because they aren’t good shows, but because most showrunners and network executives don’t watch them. They wouldn’t know whether a Farscape or Wild Card spec was any good because they’ve never seen the shows.
b) Also try to stay away from first-year shows, unless they are big hits. Otherwise, by the time you finish your spec, the show could be cancelled already and your script will be useless. No one is going to read a spec for a show that was cancelled after 13 episodes.

Many writers feel compelled to write a Sopranos or The Shield simply because they’re “hot” shows. That’s great if you have some kind of feel for the shows, but if you don’t, you’re not going to write a good Sopranos no matter how fine a writer you are.

What shows do you look forward to? Which world would you like to live in? Which characters would be happiest living in your brain for a few weeks? That’sthe show to write.

What you’re going to be writing is a typical episode. It’s not your job to write the show you think it should be; it’s your job to write the best possible version of the show that is. You need to prove that you can mimic the style and feeling of a show while still letting your unique voice and vision shine through

Let me underscore this again. You want to write a typical episode. You don’t want to write a “mythology” episode that delves into the deep backstory at the heart of the series. If it’s a show that derives much of its conflict from the sexual tension between two characters, you don’t write the episode where they sleep together. If it’s a show about people lost in space or on an island, don’t write the episode where they find their way home or get rescued. If it’s a show about a fugitive on the run for a crime he didn’t commit, don’t write the episode where he proves his innocence. (And don’t ever, ever, ever write a spec “cross-over” with characters from another series, movie, book, or animated cartoon).

What you’re trying to prove with your spec is:

-You’re not illiterate. You know how to write.
-You know how to write a script in the proper format.
-You know how to structure a scene.
-You know how to structure an act.
-You know how to tell a story.
-You understand the four-act structure.
-You can craft a story that serves the franchise of the show (i.e. a story that could only be told within the conceptual framework of that particular series).
-You can capture the voices of the characters.
-You can capture the story-telling style of the show.

What you aren’t trying to prove is how clever you are, or how much better you’d be writing the show than the people who are already writing it. Your goal is to write an entertaining, tight, typical episode of the show that illustrates your professional skills, not your amazing style and unique voice. While TV producers are interested in your voice, what they really want to hear is how well you capture their voice. Your job as a TV writer is to channel the showrunner’s vision, not your own.

And as soon as you finish writing that terrific spec, start on another for a different series, preferably one that’s the opposite of what you’ve just written (i.e. a procedural and a melodrama). Because the first thing a TV producer will ask after reading your spec is:

“Does he have another spec I can read?”“

[found on http://www.writersstore.com/breaking-into-television-writing]

Like Your Biographies, Hate Your Fiction…?

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“I believe that people should write biographies only about people they love, or understand, or both. Novels, on the other hand, are often better if they’re about people the writer doesn’t like very much.” 

― Penelope Fitzgerald

Write What You Love

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[found on thecreativepenn.com; by JOANNA PENN on MAY 24, 2011]

“This is a guest post from Kate Lord Brown, author of The Beauty Chorus. I am totally in agreement with Kate on this topic. After years of being blocked by thinking I had to write literary fiction, I looked at my obsessions of religion, psychology, travel and action-adventure thrillers and finally wrote with passion!

Maybe you’ve come across the tired old line ‘write what you know’? It’s standard advice in a lot of How To Write manuals. I’d like to suggest you ignore it, and instead write what you love.

If I was going to ‘write what I know’, I could tell you about juggling work and family life. I could tell you about what I cooked for dinner last night, which film I watched. In fact, that is pretty much what I do write about for blog posts and articles. I’ve published internationally writing about parenting, travel locations, art exhibitions. For short sprint writing, drawing on your own experience is a great start. You can add to this with simple research about products, details about travel connections or opening times to package up a neat few hundred words.

However, for the endurance race of a book length manuscript I think you need more than that. If, like me, you juggle writing with all the other demands of work and running a home, it has to be a burning question that will get you running to your desk instead of putting your feet up when everyone else is asleep. If you urgently want to find the answer to something, that drive and enthusiasm will be felt by your readers.

Sometimes you’re lucky, and you stumble on the key to your new story. I came across a tiny obituary for a woman who had flown Spitfires during WW2, and that sparked months of research for my debut novel. I wanted to know why people had forgotten about these incredible women. I wanted to know everything about their lives, what it was like to be a young woman in a man’s world during the War. I knew nothing about wartime aviation – but I loved their story, and I wanted to know more.

With ‘The Beauty Chorus’ I was lucky. The story came to me. But there is no point waiting for the Muse – as Jack London said: ‘You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.’

If you are searching around for a subject for your next book, or wondering why your current project has hit a wall, why not try the following:

    • Take a big sheet of craft paper and some markers. Draw a circle at the centre and put your name in it. Radiating out from that centre, draw a line for each thing you love, and write it down in a smaller circle. Get really specific – not just ‘flowers’ from that write ‘roses’ or ‘tulips’. Brainstorm everything that excites you, really thrills you.
    • Come back to your drawing a few days later, and see what jumps out at you. There may be two or three things, which is fine. I never need too much excuse for a new notebook, I don’t know about you, and this is time to reach for one. Write on the first page your chosen subject.
    • Over the coming weeks, you’ll find you spot more and more information about this subject you love – it’s amazing how synchronicity kicks in and you will suddenly start seeing roses, or tulips, or WW2 aircraft wherever you look. Write it down. Paste up pictures and photographs in your book. Follow up tantalising leads. Tune into your story.

Within a very short time, you will find you have a resource book that can be the powerhouse of your new book. Just flicking through the pages of your notebook should excite you. From this seed a whole story can blossom – whether it’s about Crusaders bringing home roses, or the nefarious dealings of tulip traders, or the brave and beautiful young women who flew fighter planes.”

[found on http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/05/24/write-what-you-love]