Time to Write

The Cutting Edge of Sitcoms

The New York Times recently featured an article on a new sitcom being made in Canada: "Little Mosque on the Prairie." (I'm not making this up.) They report that it's the brainchild of Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian Muslim of Pakistani origin whose own assimilation provides much of the material. It's about the challenges of a Muslim family living in North America, post-9/11.

The examples of situations and dialogues quoted in the article are very funny, but of course the show's creators and CBC are nervous about how it will be received in the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. (And if you're thinking, "Muslims? In Canada?", it turns out there are about 800,000, and about six million in the United States.)

I'm sure that even those of us outside of Canada will be able to see the show, or at least clips from it, on the Internet. It may be good, it may not, but for now the good news is that obviously there are still people out there who are willing to push the boundaries--and that's exactly what sitcoms need right now if we want to bring them out of their current moribund state. And who knows, it might even promote a bit more understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

When Failure is Success

On a useful site I have just discovered, worldscreen.com, there is an interview with Jim Samples, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Cartoon Network. Here is part of what he says:

"...before managing Cartoon Network, I managed the New Media area. That was around 1999, 2000. At that time, Cartoon Network started investing heavily in online assets. We tried very short-form programming in Flash. We created what we called Web Premiere Toons. We tried online trading cards. We tried a whole bunch of stuff. And the thing that we learned very early on, by around 2001, was that what kids liked most online was playing games with all the characters they love from the shows. Much of our strategy has been around that and we have been happy with that. Games drive the majority of the traffic on cartoonnetwork.com."

What I find interesting about this is not so much the conclusion that they reached but the fact that in order to find out what really appeals to kids, they tried all kinds of things. Most of those were, by conventional standards, failures. But they were also successes because they led to the one thing that works best. With the internet at our disposal it's easier than ever to try things out at relatively low cost in order to find out what works.

One example: if you create something that can go on YouTube or Google Video, and you make, say, 100 people aware of it, the extent to which they tell others (and therefore the extent to which it is something that people really like) will be reflected in the number of hits it receives.

Creating Characters (tips from Jack Gantos)

A couple of posts ago, I quoted author Jack Gantos on getting ready to write. I thought you might also find his tips on characting characters interesting:

"Generally I just start writing without any goal in mind and allow the character to generate from the accumulated words that gather on the page.

Or I draw loosely and conjure up a character from the drawing.

Or, I pay close attention to people I find interesting as I walk down the city streets, or in libraries, or at the mall, or in grocery stores. I find restaurants are a very good place to find characters because people are very honestly themselves when they are hungry."

Characters & Plot: Stephen King's Way

In Writing Magazine (a publication of Weekly Reader), I found an interview with Stephen King in which he discusses how plot and character interact. The question was whether he works out the plot of his books beforehand. Here's what he said:

"No, I never plot beforehand...I have a general story idea--a situation. That's where I like to start. Then I let it play out. And that always works when you're honest about what characters would do in a given situation. If you start to lie then things wander off-course. That is, if you start to make characters do things because it would be more convenient for you."

He gave this example:

"I'm working on a story right now where I really didn't want this lady to call the cops. Because it would be inconvenient for me. I would have to write about police procedure and bring people into the story that I didn't want there. But the situation she was in, any sane person would call the police. So I let her call the police. And it was fine."

Writing: Getting Started Rituals

Also in Writing Magazine (see previous post), there was a brief interview with Jack Gantos, author of the young adult memoir, "Hole in My Life." One question was what he does to get ready to write a new book. He said,

"When I get ready to write a book I try to find about ten books to read that I think will be helpful--perhaps they are full of characters that I find inspiring, or a setting I find engaging, or themes or problems that I find fascinating and will help me think through my story. Then I make sure to get a new notebook. I usually find a new ink color I like for my favorite fountain pen. I set writing goals--so I can feel some progress on the project. I make sure to do a lot of physical exercises so I feel prepared to sit all day long. And then I allow nothing to stop me--especially my own excuses to do something other than write."

Scriptwriting: An Experimental Method

In Creative Screenwriting, I read this quote from documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick: “An interesting thing about documentary is that you don’t know what you’re going to get when you shoot. And even after you’ve shot it, you don’t really know exactly what you have until you edit it.” He says he shoots “every possible scene and situation…the idea is to gather as much material as possible.”

This suggests an experiment you might want to try when writing fiction. Write three or four versions of several scenes and then mix and match them to see what works best. Sometimes the most interesting effects come up when you write several sequences of scenes, and then piece together one from each to break up the predictability of the sequence.

For example, version one might be: (1) George gets called into his boss’s office and gets fired; (2) George goes to a neighborhood bar and gets drunk; (3) When George gets home, he tells his wife he quit and they get into an argument.

Version two might be: (1) George overhears that he’s about to be fired; (2) George goes into his boss’s office and punches him; (3) George goes home and pretends to his wife that nothing is wrong and he still has his job.

Finally, version 3 might be: (1) Something happens at work that is the last straw for George and he quits; (2) George goes back to his old college, which represents a more innocent time of his life, and watches the young people walking around; (3) George goes home and lies to his wife that he’s been fired, so she won't get bad at him for quitting.

If we do a mix, we might end up with: (1) Something happens at work that is the last straw for George and he quits; (2) George overhears that he was about to be fired anyway; (3) George goes home and pretends he still has his job.

I’m not suggesting this is a masterpiece, but at least it has the little twist in the middle, that he gets deflated when, feeling proud of himself for leaving the job, he finds out they were about to chuck him out anyway.

The next time you have a sequence that feels too predictable, you might want to give this a try.

Introvert Writers: One Tip for Networking

A few posts ago I mentioned that many writers are introverts and therefore considered (by extroverts) strange, withdrawn, or even arrogant. I’m going to write a white paper about ways that we introverts can make connections without the usual glad-handing, but until that’s ready, here's a tip from Terry Levine (whose site is www.coachinginstruction.com): you can network from the comfort of your own home office, using the internet. She suggests that you do a web search for associations or groups that have similar interests to your own.

If you are about to look up writing groups: STOP!!!

The point of networking is to find people whose activities complement your own, people who might benefit from working with you, and vice-versa. Generally, these are not writers! They are agents, publishers, editors, producers, directors, actors, and story editors. All these people have websites, forums, blogs, etc. Find them, participate in a constructive manner, and gradually you will make contacts. Perhaps even more importantly, you will begin to see writing from their perspective. You’ll be more aware of what they value in a writer, and why. And you may find out about specific opportunities. (Of course I’m not suggesting that writing sites are not useful, too—just that you don’t restrict yourself to them.)

Terri suggests three internet sources to check out: Google Groups, Topica, and ezboard.com. Good hunting!

Things Writers Hear a Lot Countdown (#8)

Writing: Just Say No

I saw a listing the other day by a company that hopes to make a feature film based on an event they organize (the great gumball rally). Here's the great deal they were offering: they want 100 writers to come up with storylines...for nothing. From those hundred they will choose 3 to write scripts (for something, but no sums mentioned; i suspect "pittance" might be the rough amount). And from those 3 they will choose one to be rewritten and eventually shot. Presumably that one writer will get a decent script fee. And I wonder whether he or she might be given a few "suggestions" for scenes or characters left over from the 99 rejects?

Now, I know how desperate some new writers might be to have even a one in a hundred shot at writing a film that is made, but this smacks of exploitation. Could we tell 100 lawyers to come up with a total strategy for trying our case, then narrow it down to 3 who could spend a month or two practicing their arguments, and then choose the best one? Or why don't we ask 100 restaurants to serve us a free meal, then 3 who'll serve us for half price, and we'll promise to be regular customers at the one we like best?

The botton line, however, is that this kind of thing works only if we writers fall for it. For once, I agree with Nancy Reagan's old line: Just Say No.

Writing Solutions (not Resolutions)

I’m not a fan of limiting the determination to change to early in January. But since this is the time when a lot of people do think about how they might like their New Year to be different from the one just past, it’s a good time to say a word about this. It’s actually a phrase you’ve heard from me a lot: “do something different.” Here are the steps to follow if there’s an aspect of your writing (or life) which you’d like to change:

1-Identify what the situation is like now. Be as specific as possible.

2- What did you do (or not do) this past year that is responsible for how this situation is now?

3- What will you do differently in order to get the outcome you want?

4- What do you need to do in order to be sure that you can actually do what you’ve specified in the previous step? What resources (time, money, help from others) do you need? How will you get them? Is there anything you need to give up or stop doing in order to free these resources?

5- Do the different things for a month.

6- At the end of each month, return to step one and cycle through the steps again.

Rather than trying to change lots of things at once, you might try selecting one thing and following the six steps. Once that thing has changed to your satisfaction, choose another change you’d like to make. If you do this for a year, you’ll be gratified by the end of the year at how much you have achieved.

(Note: this is one item on my Dec 06/Jan 07 Brainstorm e-bulletin--there's no charge for this usually-monthly creativity and productivity e-bulletin, and you can sign up at www.timetowrite.com)