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WritingBURIED DEEP INSIDE this presentation by John Cleese on creativity are the answers to all of your questions. Are you creative? Do you have talent? When should you write? Where should you write? Should you be writing at all? How should you handle writer's block? Unfortunately, the only question Cleese doesn't answer is the one most undiscovered authors are asking: Will your book ever sell?
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WritingBEST SELLING AUTHOR and screenwriter Andrew Klavan and film producer Bill Whittle discussed this question on a recent program on PJTV. (I'd love to embed a video of it here but it's only available to PJTV subscribers. So, click here to view it and invest five dollars (US). That will get you your first month's viewing. It's a good investment.  Klavan and Whittle concluded that heroes aren't as interesting because, most often, story-tellers lie about them. Klavan observed that heroes are even boring because they're always “square-jawed. Courageous. They don't feel fear. They don't feel lust. Of course they're boring. Nobody's like that.” I had reached this same conclusion while very young. My birthday coincides with George Washington's and my birthday cakes were invariably decorated with cherries to commemorate his virtue, he could not tell a lie. Yeah, Sure. It didn't take long to dispel that notion as I began to study the real Father of our Nation. Funny, I discovered that he was far more interesting than the demigod to whom I had been introduced in school. It was a short hop from George Washington to the truth about all the other Founding Fathers (excuse me, “Founders”). I came away with a new appreciation for them and a challenge. As demigods, their accomplishments were beyond the reach of mere mortals such as I. However, as flesh and blood men, their courage and dedication became accessible to me. Why couldn't I serve a good cause as well as they? When it came time to write my first novel, I never considered for a moment that my protagonist should be a hero, not in the classical sense. Interestingly, “heroes” in ancient Greek legends were all demigods. No, I gave Nick Andrews a very human assortment of character flaws when I wrote Rebels on the Mountain. Now, as I'm writing a prequel to his story, I'm providing a basis for those flaws. Although I only hint that he was an abused child in Rebels on the Mountain, the prequel will literally describe that abuse. It will also describe the source of the guilt he carries in Rebels from his early experiences killing and maiming enemies on the battlefields of Korea. Nick also knows fear. After all, courage is not the lack of fear, but rather the willingness and ability to do what is necessary despite fear. Think back over the heroes you have read in books or seen in popular films. How calm they seem even when awash in bloodshed. I can't help but laugh when I remember that the only character in Star Wars who exhibited fear was a robot, C3PO. The lack of fear in the human characters is even more unbelievable to me than the fanciful tale of science fiction. Digressing to Klavan and Whittle, they were challenged by a PJTV subscriber to discuss, “As story-tellers, how do you break the banality of decency in a culture that celebrates the antihero?” In examining this question, Klavan observed that the real problem is not so much “the banality of decency”, but rather that we tend to lie about decency. Real human beings have urges and what makes them decent is the restraint they exhibit in not succumbing to them, whereas villains do. (As I said, this program is well worth the price, especially for writers.) Klavan went on to discuss one of America's favorite story lines, wherein the villain evolves into a hero. (Well, a sort of low-grade, nickel-plated hero.) I could not help but agree with Bill Whittle who cited the example of Al Swearengen from the TV series Deadwood. Here is a saloon owner, a murderer, a pimp of the vilest sort, who begins to display signs of humanity as the series progresses. One scene stands out in my memory, wherein Swearengen assists the suicide of a preacher who is suffering greatly. He cradles the man, almost as a father comforting his child, as he smothers him and whispers, “Go now, brother”. These are the moments in stories that make them great.
Swearengen's foil, the protagonist, Marshall Seth Bullock also frequently succumbs to his baser urges. Although Bullock is more often motivated by righteous indignation, he is little more decent than Swearengen. No boring characters in Deadwood, that's for certain. Likewise, I have attempted to preclude any boring characters from Rebels on the Mountain. WritingPEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING about the actors I mentioned in an interview that has been appearing around the blogosphere. Why did I choose them to portray the characters from my novel, Rebels on the Mountain? It's a good question.  Click to purchase on Amazon Although there isn't any movie deal for Rebels on the Mountain in the works (someday hopefully), I liked the question because I think it helps potential readers get a feel for the characters they will meet when they read the story. I don't waste words in the novel describing the characters. Indeed, as a reader, I have been annoyed when authors try to describe theirs overmuch. I have a story to tell and would prefer that readers collaborate by supplying their own images. It is such a partnership between storytellers and their audiences that led Orson Welles to remark that, of all the productions he had participated in – stage, film, and radio drama – radio drama was his favorite. However, with so many book choices facing readers, maybe using the images of known actors will help them anticipate reading Rebels on the Mountain. Thus, I decided to go even further in this blog posting and explain my choices. Fictional CharactersNick Andrews: A U.S. Army Ranger and Korean War Veteran who has made a career of reconnaissance patrols behind the Iron Curtain – possibly portrayed by Stephen Amell  Stephen Amell as Nick Andrews? (Click to enlarge) I became familiar with Stephen Amell in his role as Oliver Queen on the CW TV production of Arrow. Like Oliver Queen, Nick Andrews is an exceptionally skilled warrior who must mask his capacity for mayhem while navigating the camps of his enemies. Amell has mastered this role magnificently in just the first few episodes of the series. Also, like Queen, Andrews is bedeviled by his past. My hero is the child of an abusive father and he is forever courting approval from the men in his life, his surrogate fathers, seeking their approval even if he must voluntarily submit to extraordinary risks if he thinks they expect it of him. Lucia Comas: An American-educated, island-born mulata, daughter of the second wife of don Carlos Comas, a Cuban sugar plantation owner, and love interest of Nick Andrews – possibly portrayed by Christina Milian  Christina Milian as Lucia Comas? (Click to enlarge) No doubt about it. I was primarily driven by the obvious in selecting Christina Milian for the role of Lucia Comas. She is Cuban and she certainly looks the part. Any good singer has to be able to act to perform a song. She proved this in several films in which she has appeared. Although none of them is a serious action/adventure/romance like Rebels on the Mountain, I think she has the talent to play Lucia Comas if she is properly directed. Also, inasmuch as she appeared in one with Michael Douglas and Matthew McConaughy, she has proven that she can keep up with experienced actors. Emma Regan: An American socialite whose husband, a retired pediatrician operates a free clinic on the sugar plantation she inherited from her grandfather. Sigourney Weaver is a logical choice.  Sigourney Weaver as Emma Regan? (Click to enlarge) Emma Regan, who acts as the surrogate mother of Nick Andrews, is a strong woman. She manipulates the men in her life with guile and intelligence. The highest ranking politicians and corporate executives accept her calls, and she can demand any favor. Her only visible flaw is that she is a high functioning alcoholic, which makes her fit company for Ernest Hemingway whose acquaintance she made by virtue of the fact that his first wife was her classmate at Bryn Mawr. There is no doubt that Sigourney Weaver can portray a strong, well-educated woman. I believe that she would actually enjoy playing the scene wherein she dresses down the American Ambassador to Cuba. Real CharactersFidel Castro: The charismatic leader of the revolution that overthrew the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista – possibly portrayed by Jsu Garcia  Jsu Garcia as Fidel Castro? (Click to enlarge) Fidel Castro the young, fiery revolutionary, is vastly different than the belligerent dictator. Unfortunately, his contemporary persona and image are so well known, that it may get in the way of readers accepting the character as I portray him in Rebels on the Mountain. Indeed, the man I observed on television and in the newspapers in the 1950s transformed almost Jekyll and Hyde-like when he chased Fulgencio Batista from Cuba's Presidential Palace. Most people are not aware that Castro installed another as President and only came to the office through public acclamation after Batista's successor failed to address their grievances. The story of Rebels on the Mountains ends before the transformation takes place. I'll probably return one day to tell that story, too. If Jsu Garcia were to play Castro in my story, he wouldn't have to deliver tirades lasting many hours as Castro does. Film audiences wouldn't tolerate it. No, although I extracted most of Castro's dialog from actual quotes, I selected short ones that advanced the story. Che Guevara: The Argentinian doctor who became one of Castro's most notorious lieutenants and his executioner following Fidel's rise to power – possibly portrayed by Guillermo Diaz  Guillermo Diaz as Che Guevara? (Click to enlarge) Readers of Rebels on the Mountain who know Che only through his carefully crafted public image are in for a shock. He was a murderous henchman who had no tolerance for people who thought or acted differently. This makes the famous Apple billboard – Think Different – wonderfully ironic. Furthermore, those who idolize Che are in for a rude awakening. Che hated most the very kinds of people who sing his praises the loudest: the rich and famous and homosexuals. Young people probably will be surprised the most. He distrusted the youth, and frequently complained that they were lazy and lacking direction. Guillermo Diaz will need courage to portray him as I envision Che in Rebels on the Mountain. A lot of people are going to be upset. Guillermo's portrayal of murderer, Bobby Sabo, on an episode of Law & Order particularly caught my attention. Anyone who attempts to play Che must be able to portray an almost superhuman amount of intensity. I think Guillermo can pull this off. Ernest Hemingway: Nobel Prize winning author and Havana resident who mingled freely in the halls of power in Havana and purportedly supported Castro's revolution – possibly portrayed by Kevin Spacey.  Kevin Spacey as Ernest Hemingway? (Click to enlarge) I had mentioned William Hurt for this role in my interview. However, after watching Kevin Spacey perform in the Netflix series, House of Cards, there is no question that he is the man for the job. Hemingway had a peculiar lust for life that belied an underlying tragedy in the making, one that culminated in his suicide. Such a complex personality is difficult to adopt. Although Hurt is up for the job, Kevin Spacey already has it mastered.
Play casting director and let me know if you have any better ideas. 1/27/2013 6 Comments Could a literary karaoke bar help us find new authors we like without investing a lot of time and money?WritingI HAD A FRIEND who had a helluva good singing voice. He simply sang whenever and wherever the spirit moved him. We didn't have karaoke bars in those days, so we only got to hear him if we stood outside his bathroom window or plied him with a drink or two at a party. I have often wondered if he might have become a professional singer if we had karaoke bars in those days where more people could have heard him  It's hard to be heard when there are so many clamoring for attention Websites that publish flash fiction and serialized stories are the modern author's equivalent of karaoke bars for storytellers. No agents or publishers are required. Just upload a document file and see what happens.
I've had some success on a couple of these. Thousands have “Liked” my short stories at Venture Galleries and the now defunct The Writers Collection, as well as my own website/weblog. I recently received an invitation to publish my short stories on a new one, ReadWave. These websites are there to help you discover new writers, ones who tell stories you like to read. It's a lot easier wading through a lot of badly written prose looking for the gems when the stories are short. Many famous authors began their writing careers penning short stories and serialized novels. Ray Bradbury. Louis L'Amour. Jack London. Mark Twain. Charles Dickens. In times past, they were published in newspapers and the pulps, cheaply produced magazines, as well as glossies, magazines printed on polished paper. These media have largely disappeared, replaced by websites. They provide an opportunity for readers to get to know writers and their style before they commit time and money to read their full length novels. Please look me up on these sites and tell your friends. You'll be doing them and me a favor. WritingThe first installment of Star Wars to be released, Episode IV, was hugely popular. Arguably, it is one of the best science fiction films ever made, and better than the other five episodes. Fortunately for George Lucas, word of mouth drove audiences to theaters. I don't think that the trailer they released in advance of the film helped very much. Audiences laughed at it. I think that the problem with it was that it didn't tell a story. Obviously, a film trailer can't tell the same story as the film it promotes, but it has to at least tell a story about the story. Book trailers should do the same. Have you ever seen a book trailer? Probably not, unless you're one of the many authors and publishers who are trying to figure out how to sell books in this market. We spend a lot of time looking at each other's work. Theater goers are used to seeing trailers on the screen before the feature they've paid to see. Film trailers also get plenty of air time on television and the Internet. There are websites devoted to them, such as Trailer Addict. Unfortunately, there is no practical way of attaching book trailers to books and publishers don't have advertising budgets to pay for them on television. You would think that someone at Amazon might think of attaching links to them on their website. Maybe they have. I haven't seen them. Surely someone could create a website for book trailers as Trailer Addict did for movie trailers. Then again, why doesn't Trailer Addict include a category for them. (I'm just thinking out loud here.) I started to make a trailer for Rebels on the Mountain, but got distracted. I decided instead to recreate the experience that readers enjoy when authors visit bookstores and read from their own novels. Don't get excited if you're an author. My idea didn't sell my book any better than your trailer sold yours. I'm not sure if a book trailer would have worked better than a book reading. The reason is that I didn't do any better than other authors and publishers at cracking the real problem. Distribution. Sure, I embedded it in my website and it's available on YouTube, but those media don't attract nearly enough viewers to have an impact.
You can search for “book trailers” on YouTube. Their website will return more than a half-million results! Not very helpful, is it? They're divided into categories which may help readers, but it doesn't help authors and publishers sell a specific product. That leaves us with the ultimate question. Assuming that book trailers or videos of book readings will help sell novels, how can authors and publishers put theirs in front of the right audiences? Writing
ARE SUCCESS STORIES an anomaly among self-publishers? Probably. Then again, commercial success in traditional publishing was an anomaly. Think about it. How many unpublished authors do you suppose there were in the decades and centuries predating electronic publishing? Of course, the segment devoted to the new age of publishing, recently aired on CBS Sunday Morning and available here, didn't touch on the undiscovered. We aren't news. The producers of this show focused their attention on a successful author who began through self-publishing.
Some go undiscovered because of dame fortune, others because they are unworthy of commercial success. Many continue to strive because of stories such as the one presented on CBS Sunday Morning. Maybe, just maybe, we can “move on up” when we're discovered.
How many manuscripts do you suppose are tucked away in trunks in attics, moldering away? How many are stored in electronic files waiting to be deleted? How many were simply discarded by frustrated authors? We'll never know. Today, of course, every manuscript can be published without cost or risk. Hundreds of thousands of them are published and offered for sale, but no one buys them, not even for a dollar or two. Self-published authors are generally regarded with scorn by traditionally published authors. Their contempt is aggravated when they imagine that the profusion of self-published books are getting in the way of their own sales. Things were pretty much the same in days of yore when a published author might meet someone who had been published on a vanity press. The professional regarded such people as dilettantes, unworthy of consideration. The publisher who appeared in the CBS Sunday Morning presentation assured viewers that they carefully edit manuscripts. Interesting. Everyone I've read or listened to claims that editors now focus on selecting manuscripts for publication. The truth is that my respect for traditionally published books has been seriously compromised of late. I find in them the same lack of quality that I find in many self-published ebooks. Typos. Malaprops. Errant homonyms. Sentence fragments. Dangling participles. All abound. One thing is certain. Patience remains writers' greatest asset. Whether they were writing in the last century or the current one, they must practice their craft in solitude with little prospect of commercial success. The only thing that is certain is that those who quit will never succeed. Note: I'm sorry that this posting in off my normal schedule but it is time sensitive to a certain portion of my audience. I'll be back on track tomorrow. 11/29/2012 7 Comments What's in a pen name?WritingI CONSIDERED USING a pen name when I first began writing fiction, but dismissed the idea as pretentious. Who did I think I was, Mark Twain? Did I think that my storytelling was his equal? Of course, not.  Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain (Click to enlarge) Did you ever stop to wonder why Mark Twain used one? Most of us of a literary persuasion have heard the story of why he chose Mark Twain. It's a riverman's term for safe waters; that is, where there is sufficient depth in the river to provide safe passage. But, why did he use it? There are several tales connected to this question. I prefer the one mentioned at About.com, wherein Twain felt that he needed a “nom de guerre” to create the illusion that the author was knowledgeable and that his words could be trusted to be true. Basically, this version is the one most consistent with Twain's character. He was, at heart, a newspaper man, an ad man, an author who loaded a case of his own books onto a mule and peddled them door to door. It is entirely reasonable to presume that he would do anything, including the use of a pen name, for a marketing advantage.
There are many good other reasons for publishing under a pseudonym or nom de plume. An excellent article produced by the legal firm of Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton proposes several good reasons for an author to select, use, and protect a pseudonym. Ultimately, I considered using a pen name to avoid celebrity should my writings become popular. I don't think that it's pretentious to hope for success. I simply wanted, like any good Boy Scout, to be prepared for the unwanted side effects of success. There are some who seek celebrity. They thrive on it. Yes, they may complain about the paparazzi but they would complain even louder if they stayed away. Personally, I don't understand it. Girls swooning at the feet of crooners. Consumers rushing to purchase whatever product a sports hero is hawking. Citizens idolizing politicians, even corrupt ones. I suppose that I am flawed. I have never felt the urge. I sure as hell don't want anyone ever treating me in this way. More importantly, I would never want to subject my family to such treatment. One need only look to the travails of the children of the famous: drug addiction, aimlessness, etc. Ultimately, I decided that a pen name wasn't necessary. I started authoring fiction late in life. I'll be lucky to survive long enough to become any good at it let alone develop any commercial success. My family will be the beneficiaries of any commercial success that may attach to my writings. If such comes to pass, they hopefully will enjoy the income without the notoriety. Well, at least that's the plan. Writing“THESE DAYS, it seems, the minute people are alone, at a stop sign, at the checkout line at the supermarket, they panic, they reach for a phone,” MIT Psychologist, Sherry Turkle expounds on CBS Sunday Morning, October 1st, 2012. It's true. You've seen it happen. Families gathered around a table in a restaurant, all texting. People walking, bicycling, driving, sitting, jogging, all plugged in. People text at home, work, school, theaters, and even funerals. Ninety percent of Americans have cell phones. I'm not even sure that ninety percent of all homes have flush toilets. They didn't when I was growing up. Do you think that Americans have the endurance to remain unplugged and have the attention span to read a book?  Click to watch the program Louis L'Amour wrote often the reading habits of pioneer Americans. He reported that most frontier homes had at least two books: The Bible and at least one well-read classic such as Plutarch's Selected Lives. They had time to read. They even re-read their books, frequently. There was little else to distract them when the work was done, the cows were milked, and the firewood chopped. They read and they discussed what they read. At least, that's the way L'Amour tells the story and I tend to believe him.
L'Amour lived in a time when the American frontier was almost tamed, but there were still vestiges of it at the edges of civilization. He sat on claims (occupied them for their owners to maintain the legal title to them). There was little else for him to do but read and he read a lot. His autobiography, The Education of a Wandering Man, includes his suggested reading list full of titles that he read. He sat with a book so long as there was light in the sky and nothing else to do, reading. Can you imagine the average American doing that today? Dr. Turkles book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology And Less From Each Other, should also include “And Less From Ourselves”. How many people today are comfortable being alone with their own thoughts. I know that I am. However, I also know that I am an odd duck. I've always been happy being alone. There's a storyteller in my head. I don't write the novels and short stories. I simply transcribe them as they're told to me. Potentially even more frightening to those of us who wish to sell our stories to people who have the capacity to read them, the CBS report included the results of a study from the University of Maryland in which we learn that people are frightened of losing their electronic crutches. Seventy percent of test subjects who volunteered to go without their iPads, iPhones, and BlackBerries failed to last even 24 hours. Imagine that. Could you? The CBS report continues with comments by Nicholas Carr, author of What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains. He believes that our obsession with remaining connected to the Internet and each other grows out of a primitive instinct to gather as much information as possible. He contends that it is a natural survival skill, possible taken to an extreme. You may be depressed by all this if you're a writer. But wait, it gets worse. The CBS report concludes with an interview with UCLA neuro-scientist, Gary Small. He provides proof that surfing the Internet is better for our brains than reading a book. Granted, this episode of CBS Sunday Morning was not devoted to the contest between books and iPhones but, rather, between iPhones and person-to-person conversation. However, I believe the information transfers well. Ultimately, it gives credence to my publisher's advice that I focus more on writing short stories or serialized fiction. The truth is that I can see myself in that role. I have been writing Flash Fiction this year as part of The Writers Collection, a group of authors contributing weekly in response to prompts consisting of words and short phrases. I've enjoyed the experience and will soon release a collection of my own. However, I probably will write a novel or two more. Call me a masochist. WritingRebels on the Mountain, is featured on today's issue of Cents-ible eReads. Please check it out.  WritingIMAGINE A BOOKSTORE with the inventory of Amazon. Assuming that Amazon has 2.5 million unique titles (that's a guess – probably low, very low), and that our hypothetical bookstore stocks only one copy of each book, and that the average book spine is just one inch (I know, it's probably more), we would need more than four hundred miles of shelving to display them all. Okay, you could stack the shelves four high and have ten aisles of them. Thus, the store would only have to be about ten miles deep. (Do the math for yourself.)  Now, imagine yourself going there to buy a book. Of course, it'll have the most popular books on display at the entrance and on endcaps of each aisle. That should help the popular authors a little. I don't think it's going to do the rest of us much good.
Do you get the picture? That's the problem facing all booksellers. Yes, you, too. Even if you are only an author, you're still still interested in selling your books, aren't you? The people who just add their books to the heap without attempting to market them are only adding to the clutter. Readers must become aware of your book before you can begin to coax them to purchase and read it. If they don't arrive at that store with a desire to find and purchase your book, the odds of them stumbling across it while browsing is highly unlikely, isn't it? And, if you're a reader, just imagine, browsing four hundred miles of bookshelves. Why, that's a lot like browsing all the books on Amazon, isn't it? I don't know how to help them find my book, yet. I'm working on it. I don't have any answers because I don't yet know all the questions. That's what I'm working on now. I'm trying to frame the questions. I have an idea of a few of them: What is the market for my book? Who wants to read that type? Where do they live? Where do they shop? How can I make my book stand out in the crowd? It seems that most authors and publishers are “working” the social media to build sales. How's that working out for them? For you? For me? Not so much. I've spent the past six months building a following on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, and all the rest, and all I see when I look around me are other authors trying to sell me their books. True, I've bought a few. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us are going to go very far buying and reading each others' books. Does anyone remember CB (Citizen's Band) Radio? That was a true social media. People were chatting with one another all day and all night. I don't think that Twitter is anything like that. Not too many people are chatting on Twitter, are they? They're like Cbers who have tapped their “Push-to-Talk” switches in the “On” position and just keep yakking thinking that everyone else has nothing better to do than to listen to them. Of course, I'm no expert. I can only speak to the lack of Direct Messages and Replies that I've observed among my Tweeple. In fact, I've seen people complain that they don't want to receive Direct Messages claiming that they're only spam. In other words, they're not using Twitter to socialize. They're using it to broadcast advertising. Are things going any differently in your “following?” There has to be a better way. I don't know what it is. I don't even know if I would recognize it if I saw it, not until I know what I'm looking for. Until I know who my audience is and how to communicate with them, I can't even begin to worry about the content of my message. The only thing that I know for certain is that it is impossible to answer a question that hasn't been framed. I'm guessing that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I think that we all do, at least those of us who are trying to sell books in this economy. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below. |
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