For you thinking about writing a movie - where to begin

If you are looking at making a movie script, don't just start writing.

Sure, you need to get familiar with so many things that it boggles your mind. Starting to write just seems simpler, no?

Wrong.

The best book on screenwriting: Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. Get it. Really well explained process to creating a script.

You will still need a great concept, though.

And, if you happen to have one ready, Mike Cheda has a great service to help you along with making it better.

Historical novels - people & places pages, some advice

When you have created a historical novel with a sack full of characters, names of so many places no longer on the map, religious cultures assassinated long ago by our dominant religions, foreign languages, and items that have no modern name, you will need to help the poor reader out a bit.

What I did not expect is the list to be twenty pages long and take four days to create and trim down to five pages. Thanks to Word (never thought I would thank it) you can erase your grammar check and re check. All the weird names will pop up. 

But, do not neglect this: like doing a study, make sure you know where you got your references from. Mark the book, mark the spot. With Kindle (I used iPad Kindle) you can highlight them in the app itself, but you are bound to have those books that are rare and not in a digital form. Save days and mark them properly when writing.

Or go nuts.

Is it grammaticaly correct to place a comma after "and"?

http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-58104,00.html

SUCH a confusing subject.

Lamentations and "wise" thoughts

When you go over your unedited material, full of self loathing and decide to compare it with your favourite books, do not shoot yourself. You should sound different from those guys and gals. It will be ok after its edited.

It's always satisfactory to finish something, no matter how small.

When someone tells you that it is a miracle that your literary creation has not been published yet, tell them that in this business, miracles are more commonplace than in the bible.

If your wife, or special someone tells you, with a concentrated face, that you do have some grammar issues in your text, along with comma problems, you are allowed to scream, jump up and down, and go into deep depression. Just as long as you get up in the morning.

If you feel paranoid about your family trying to stop you from writing during the weekends, you are right to do so. They hate it, no matter if they deny it. Do that at your own peril.

Useful links for a writer

I am no expert, and have not yet published anything, but I have three books written (though not edited), and have finally started to sell them. I have an agent. So, looking at that, I wish to share some of the sites and tools I have found useful in this journey.

Grammarly - I recommend Grammarly program at www.grammarly.com . Not an answer to everything, but will help you fix some of the grammar issues. It's not free, but worth it. Much better than Office grammar checkup, which is nearly useless. Let's face it; nothing beats human eyeballs on your writing, but Grammarly does give you confidence and even help.

Agents - Check out http://www.agentquery.com/default.aspx. Here you can filter your literary agents and find which ones might take your stuff seriously. Do not send anything that you have not thought about for a long time. Read their submission guidelines, check out each agent. You might have best luck with the ones who are new and "hungry." Remember, you can get a dozen rejections. Don't get shot down by that, unless you were not serious to begin with. Be ready to bleed, and cry, and to spend many sleepless nights ready to throw yourself over the cliff.

Synopsis, the query letter. GODS I hate doing them. I loved this link, though. http://www.marissameyer.com/blogtype/6-steps-for-writing-a-book-synopsis/

Not directly a guide for books, but for creating a product. Writing from heart is great, but you can also think about the customer. What would they like to see, and how would you brand... yourself? http://www.slideshare.net/cultbranding.com/7-steps-to-a-cult-brand?from_search=5

Self publishing - the fact is, that self published books are gaining ground. One reason why an agent does not take your stuff is that they really, really have to concentrate on those, they think might be super hits. Your stuff still deserves to be seen.

          For promoting your book, use anything that is at hand. Look how this guy got a job. Why not make a slide set of your work, blog, whatever, and put it on Slideshare? http://www.slideshare.net/sjoman/superman-viral-resume

          Publicist, campaigns. If you can afford them. Really good read to introduce you to the world of internet awareness. http://www.slideshare.net/paulakrapf/how-to-market-your-book-still-have-time-to-write

           Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520 Many opportunities here, perhaps too many, but your book is different, right?

          Amazon is not an answer by itself, you will need help to sell your book. These tips are helpful. http://www.writersstore.com/15-do-it-yourself-tools-to-promote-your-book/ Obviously, not everyone can go and speak in conferences, but do all you can. Your book is great, right?

          Some thoughts about self promotion. http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/06/19/book-promotion-for-self-publishers-a-waste-of-time/ You still need the great product.

          How someone did it in Amazon. http://www.copyblogger.com/amazon-content-marketing/

          Goodreads, how to make your book known to the millions of people out there. http://www.slideshare.net/paulakrapf/promoting-your-book-on-goodreads?from_search=6


       

Plan and redo. No way around that.

Not sure what type of a writer you are, but for me, the stories just pour out in to the paper. Plans? Pfft. I rather just get this...

Stop right there. Ok, maybe write that first chapter, perhaps another, but stop there. You will redo it soon.

These days, I spend months in preparation, reading books, gathering info, tasting the subject. Then I put it on the board, all the acts, all the scenes. Then, I write.

But it does not really stop there.  The hard part is to admit that you are not ready after your skull is empty and all the chapters are there on the screen. Usually, you end up writing the same book more than once. In my case, in more than one language. Which is great, since I see it getting better. Meaning, I will have to redo much of the first version.

Take the time. Take it, and redo. There are many stories that have been screwed up by the need to finish. The good news is, that it really will be epic in the end. No need to worry about that.

Getting closer.

Finally, finally editing a version of my first book that might not be too long. Getting there, little by little. The story has gotten smarter, and people like it. In fact, I like it.

In the meantime, halfway through another book. It's all about the French revolution, Napoleonic era and a woman with a grudge.

Oh, and have some movie scripts that need writing.

Gods, give me hours!

Relaxing in NY customs

One cannot love NY customs. There is nothing fun about standing in line for two hours, looking at the same faces snaking forward. I swear that I can see beard growing in some of those faces. They start the line clean shaved, end it with a stubble.

After a long flight, not a pleasant experience. And the monitors welcoming you to US, the smiling happy faces, the beaches and skyscrapers displayed for your viewing pleasure while slowly shuffling in the line, they are just in so much conflict with the frustration you will feel.

And, for sure, you can expect that when you are finally close to the officer taking your stack of papers, there is some person with faulty documentation just before you. Then he or she can, literally, stand there for half an hour while the officials try to figure out what the persons wants. Sometimes, the person causing such discomfort does not speak english.

I wonder, every time, that there are no old, mouldering skeletons, long forgotten in that line. I would love to shoot a hidden camera on how people would react, if after such a wait, the line closed and they were asked to start again. Monkey rage, I bet.

Also, do not try it with two kids after a nine hour flight. I dare you.

Ready?

You rarely are, especially if you think you are.

Time to Relax

7th June, 2013 - Holiday time

It's been around one year since I started to write. Well, no. I used to write for the companies I worked for, and had a large audience on weekly basis, but that was impersonal, devoid of opinions and full of company rhetoric. It was comms, what I studied in the University. Meant to influence, but not my own words.

This is different. You put a lot of yourself into what you write. In fact, you put in more than you started with, because while you do this, your fears, confidence and the very surroundings sneak into your fingertips, and you keep finding aspects of yourself, new ones, forgotten ones and by gods, you get to sweat and grow while you spin your story through those day you think it's going great, and those days you feel you will fail. Hard to say which days you have more of. It is a profession for those who know how to bounce back, often from very small successes. "You liked that sentence? Damn. This will work after all!"

It was a lifelong dream for me. It still is.  I have consumed books, movies, games and comics since I could walk. Theatre, opera, yes, when one has time. And I started early. 

I still remember, vaguely, the black and white TV at my grandmother's place, and seem to recall the very crude, simple TV shows there. Daniel Boone, Tarzan's, Errol Flynn in his piracy days, Robin Hood's. Now that you think about it, they were all the same. Heroes with flaws, villains with agendas. Yet they made us kids carve swords out of sticks and charge through thickets to slay the foe. I remember enjoying playing the villain in those games. Still would.

I remember flipping through books by Henryk Sienkiewicz, the very best of adventure stories by the great writer. Kmicic! What soldier would be better than this young Lithuanian, swede killing knight and oh, when he finally gets the girl at the end. You will weep, or you are made of stone. 

There too, was a library of World History books, and going through those bygone stories by the great men and women, I started to see stories. You know these men and women by their failures and successes, but you don't really... know them.

I have spun these stories in my head for thirty years. Thats the time it takes. Not only do you have to have the spark and interest to jump into the story, you have to live the story in your own life. If you know no loss, you cannot feel the loss of your character. If you have few joys, you probably fail at expressing the joy and success of whoever it is that you write about.

At forty, I felt I had the ingredients in place. I have lived, smiled and cried, won and lost, hurt people and got hurt others. I have children and a wife, I have exes a plenty and tombstones I visit. Yeah, I know about life.

So, when the time came, one year past, I jumped out of the corporate grind, at least for awhile and wrote my first book.

The first two books, in fact. The Pawn and The Wyrd. First two of the planned six. That is a lot of paper. Also note the diaper on the background. I have no doubt that many of us have done this with our workspace littered with diapers, pacifiers and jars of babyhood, not to mention slobber on the Mac screen. I do love them, though, despite the diapers. Which are.... everywhere.

Anyways, the book, it contains, you guessed it, a story.

It is a story, old as time, beginning around 12 AD. It is a story of a young man called Hraban who lives east of Rhenus, amongst the Marcomanni tribe. He is a happy youth, who soon faces hardships after his exiled father returns from Roman service, replacing his grandfather and mother who die by betrayal. It is not a happy reunion, for Hraban is a Germani with a dark hair, making his father think him illegitimate, and Hraban faces his fate as a pawn to the great mans ambitions, involved in prophecy old as time in a world tottering at the brink of war with Rome.

So begins Hraban's story of growth, a story about man balancing vengeance and peace while he shuffles between Rome and Germania. It is a historical story of an empire in the making, Rome and the struggles of Augustus and of the unity and the disparity of the nations of the deep woods, and the intrigues of Armin, Arminius, the foe to Rome.

I loved to write them. The characters, with their flaws, the villains, not always entirely evil, the world and the adventure. It was all worth it.

Now the hard part. Selling it. At first, when the stories were ready, I felt empty. Selling it? I can do that later. It's not really ready, is it? Perhaps I can write few more books, and make sure I can do this. Yeah. 

My wife stepped in. So I have started, as of last week, to search for an agent. Gods help me! Creating a story is nothing in comparison to this hell and uncertainty. I feel like a one armed boxer facing an old and grizzled champ and all I can do is smile and spit teeth. At least I prepare for that, for the rule is: you will get rejected. A lot.

So, as a veteran product manager, I will do what I have always done. Fight. I will fight and keep doing it. What else is there if you truly wanted this, and you really, really love them stories?  Nothing. Just a dark void back there. 

Oh, I wrote two movie scripts too. 120 pages each, and gods bless Blake Snyder and his fabulous book Save the Cat. 

I'm here to stay. Even if I have to crawl, eventually I will walk, and run.  

But now, a short holiday, during which I will sell. My wife will love that.