Time to Write

Guillermo del Toro talks about writing, inspiration and commerce

The Tavis Smiley show on PBS some time ago featured an interview with film-maker Guillermo del Toro. Here are some tidbits:

About the inspiration for Pan's Labyrinth: "...when I was a kid, I was very given to lucid dreaming, which essentially meant that I would – I hope it was lucid dreaming – I would go to sleep and start dreaming I was in the exact bed I was in, in the exact room I was in, and things would come out in that room. Monsters. And in one of the dreams, at midnight I would hear the chimes of the church at midnight, and I was in that bed, in that room, and a faun like the one in the movie would come out from behind my grandmother’s armoire." [Note: his grandmother had him exorcised twice...]

On the little notebooks he carries around: "I make notes all day long. I do drawings…Each project is sort of, each book is an artistic project for me. So what I do is I try to make it different. My writing changes on each of the notebooks. This sounds completely like the, this is my seven writing, (laugh) like the psychopath in "Seven," really tight and neat. Because I have a finite number of these books, and I said, “Well, I gotta start writing smaller (laugh) or I’ll lose it.”

On mixing art and commerce: "I came here first in 1994, essentially to pay off my debt from “Cronos,” which left me broke for the first time. I've been broke three times. And that’s one of the ways to keep from being corrupted. I go do something like “Devil’s Backbone,” and then I go do something like “Blade” or “Hellboy.” And then I make it a point, spiritually and personally, and it’s artistic survival to come and do “Pan's Labyrinth,” which, financially, for me, not for other people, but for me, it’s a catastrophe financially. (Laugh) But it’s spiritually amazing to do. I need it as much as one would need to breathe. So, I recommend going for bankruptcy a couple of times. (Laugh) And it’ll keep your spirituality intact."

For monthly tips and techniques for being more creative and productive, sign up for my free Brainstorm e-bulletin. Just send an email request now to [email protected].

A different approach to writing a memoir

There has been a lot of "misery-lit" around lately--books telling of terrible childhoods, recovery from various addictions, etc. What makes David Carr's memoir, The Night of the Gun, different is that he decided to go back and interview more than sixty people from his past about their versions of what happened. Perhaps not surprisingly, he discovered that they didn't remember things the same way he did. An interesting approach if you're considering writing a memory-based book or article--and maybe a fascinating exercise even if you're not.

PC in the world of writing (or 'when is 3 bigger than 147,997?)

The Bookseller reports: "Random House Children's Books has yet to make a decision when it will reprint Jacqueline Wilson's My Sister Jodie after deciding to remove an offensive word from future reprints of the book. The publisher said it had received three complaints over the use of the word "twat" in the title aimed at children aged 10 and over.[That's what one of the kids calls another.] It is to be replaced by the word "twit". It has sold more than 150,000 copies of the book since publication in March."  

OK, let's do a little arithmetic here. 149,997 people buy the book and have no complaints. Three people buy the book and do. In the insane world of Political Correctness, three is bigger than 149,997 and the "offensive" word must be replaced.

I suggest that four of us complain that we're offended by the word "twit." Let's see what they change it to next. 

A refreshing philosophy (is it yours, too?)

The president of games company Rockstar, Sam Houser, explained to Business 2.0 why he doesn't value focus groups:

“We don’t believe in focus testing ideas (it’s like asking an audience what album they want to hear – they don’t know until they hear it!) or thinking of a target market or anything like that…We are trying to make commercially viable art, not sell washing powder. While people like what we do, we will continue to do it to the best of our abilities. When they don’t, we will have to stop and do something else.”

In the midst of our drive to please editors, producers, publishers, and everybody else, this philosophy comes as a breath of fresh air--do you agree?

Are you doing what makes your eyes light up?

The following quote is from Alex Bogusky, the chief creative officer of ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky and can apply to what kind of writing you're doing--or anything else in your life. He was responding, in an interview, to what he would suggest to young people getting into the ad business, but I think this is equally important to consider periodically about your work:

"At first, you have to just get started and learn more about what it is you really like about the business. Sometimes you talk to young people and they think they want to be an art director, but you realize they are more of a writer. You talk to an art director and you see that the only time their eyes begin to sparkle is when they talk about the toys they make. And you realize: that's a toy maker. And yet, there's probably a lot of pressure at school and at home to do something because you're good at it. Yeah, you're good at that, but your eyes light up when you talk about this. You have to discover that for yourself, and you can discover it at any place. Be open-minded and just slide toward those things that give you joy."

When we're young, the pressure usually comes, as he says, from school and home. When we get older, it comes from habit and complacency--all hard to resist, but resist we must!

More on writing groups and workshops

In the previous post, I quoted novelist Jodi Picoult’s advice for writers to find a workshop where they can learn to give and receive criticism. Coincidentally, not long afterward, I read an article by Glenn Sasscer, whose work I don’t know (he writes “Christian Horror”—is that “Night of the Living Atheists?”) but whose account of how he improved as a writer relates to Picoult’s recommendation.

He writes, “I joined three critique groups at the same time, each requiring writing assignments and critiques and each holding their own strength in writing. One focused on character development, another on the mechanics of writing (“The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White was their foundation), and the last centered on how to tell a really good story.

“All three were brutal to some extent, however one was absolutely bloodthirsty in devouring any mistake in grammar, spelling or weak plots. Some writers jumped ship in their first or second week; but as I already stated, I was too dumb to know any better. I suffered through the critiques bleeding all over my precious creations, cutting up my babies, and splattering blood ink on my stories. I learned to develop thick skin and separate constructive criticism from personal opinion.

“In hindsight, I spent roughly 20 to 30 hours a week working all three critique groups over the course of about three years, and I have the bruises and scars to prove it. Yet each provided its own school of instruction and helped get my writing published in magazines, anthology books and excerpts in newspapers.”

 The rest of the article relates how, after many challenges, he finally got his novel, “Suffering Madness,” placed with a small Christian publisher. (I don’t know if the book is any good, but it has a terrible cover—bad cover images seem to be the hallmark of small publishing houses and self-publishers.)

(For help writing and marketing your book, see “Your Writing Coach,” published by Nicholas Brealey and available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and in many book stores. It will take you all the from idea through to publication.)

Good advice from Jodi Picoult

In a brief interview with novelist Jodi Picoult, the Financial Times asked her what advice she would give a budding author. Her answer:

 “Carve out time each day to write, even if it’s 20 minutes. I’d recommend a workshop to learn how to give and receive criticism.”

 In terms of carving out time, here’s how she does it: “At 5am I go for a walk with a friend. The kids leave for school at 7.30am and I start work. I answer my fan mail for about an hour. Then I edit yesterday’s work before I begin writing. I work until 3.30pm, when I start being a mum again.”

 The more unusual part of her advice was suggesting joining a workshop or writing group in order to learn how to give and receive criticism. Because we tend to work in isolation, it’s difficult to get honest, constructive criticism, so there’s a lot of merit in this idea. The only drawback is that some writing groups are dominated by bitter members who are more interested in complaining, but if you can avoid those, it’s well worth your time to join a group or workshop. 

PS: I’m about to go off on a long trip, but when I return I may be hosting a short-term (4 to 6 week) workshop that would allow time for feedback. If you’re interested, subscribe to this blog or else sign up for my Brainstorm e-bulletin (free, monthly)—that’s where I’ll announce any new workshops first. If you don’t already get the bulletin, just send an email request to BstormUK(at)aol.com.

Paul Schrader on screenwriting

Writer director Paul Schrader revealed some of the stories behind his career and his views on writing to Inda’s Tehelka Magazine recently. Among the tidbits:

 “I came to screenplay writing as self-therapy…When screenwriting, be prepared to drop your pants and show your dirty laundry. If you can’t do that, better find yourself something more polite.”

 “If the story says to you, I don’t want to be written or I’m getting sick of being told or I’m bored, just stop. Sometimes, the idea will go away, and that’s a pretty good day. You’ve just saved six months slaving on a screenplay that doesn’t work.”

 “The weakest writing in America today is in the movies, the best writing is on TV, in series like The Sopranos. That’s because scripts for TV are about human beings and human behaviour, not a journey to the centre of the earth. Movies have become less and less about good writing and more and more about spectacle, so the importance of the screenwriter has declined. The most spirited dialogues in spectacle films are lines like: “Look, it’s coming” or “Run, run, run.” When I started out in the film business about 30 years ago, there was a crisis of content. Now there is a crisis of form, with films on DTH, internet downloads, and so on. But as screen sizes become small — TV, cable, computers, mobile phones — spectacle will become less important, and the importance of the screenwriter will be re-established.”

Something to look forward to, then!

The importance of plan B (good-bye bernie...)

The brilliant Bernie Brillstein passed away recently. In his honour I thought I'd repeat a post that contained some of his excellent advice:

Today, another tidbit from show biz manager Bernie Brillstein, from his 2004 book, “The Little Stuff Matters Most.” This one is from the chapter, Always Have a Back-up Plan. He tells about a presentation he and puppeteer Paul Fusco (creator of the puppet, “Alf”) made to (then) NBC honco Brandon Tartikoff:

“Unfortunately, Patchett [the producer who was the other member of their team] got lost in a long-winded explanation of the puppet and the backstory and right away I knew we were going into the toilet…But Fusco and I had a contingency plan. I kicked him under the table. He took ALF out of his garbage bag, put it on his hand, did the voice, sneezed, wiped his nose, and then smeared it on Tartikoff’s sleeve. ‘I get it!’ said Tartikoff, laughing. ‘Let’s go!’ Boom. Deal. We walked out with a pilot order.”

As you may know, the show was a huge hit and is still seen in reruns all over the world.

Brillstein advises: “The first step to a back-up plan is asking a simple question: ‘What if?”” In other words, consider all the thing that might happen, and have a plan for each one of them.

One version of this I advise is when you're presenting an idea to someone, always have at least one more idea that you can also present, at least briefly. If the first one isn't getting a good reception, you can say, 'Actually, I've been working on something else as well--can I give you a quick summary of that one, to see whether it might more along the lines of what you're looking for?"

 

Harry Shearer on Creativity (and a very short film by me)

Former Saturday Night Live alumnus and man of dozen voices on The Simpsons, Harry Shearer was the subject of a brief interview for the St. Petersburg Times, and made this interesting observation:

 "I always have gone where the most creativity and freedom have been available. It's available at two places: at the top of show business if you make absolutely mindless mediocrities that sell a zillion dollars, or at the dawn of new media, (where) you can do interesting things and then, all of a sudden, the guys come in and say, 'Wait a minute, these are the rules' and then it's time to leave."

 At the moment, we’re pretty lucky that the new media haven’t been taken over yet, so let’s enjoy it. Speaking of creativity and freedom, I had a great time recently at a week of summer school run by the Forkbeard Theatre Company, an innovative group that’s been doing multi-media productions for thirty years. It gave me the chance to experiment with lots of new (to me) methods. Here’s a little video I made in the process of trying out a combination of 2D animation and stop-motion (it does involve doll nudity...):

 

Download stripper_share1.mov

 

 

The Author-preneur

I was intrigued when I saw that a panel discussion from Book Expo America was online as a podcast, The panel included agent Betsy Amster, book events coordinator Kim Rickets, and a couple of authors. Unfortunately, it mostly points up how poor panels often are at transmitting useful information relative to the time invested. The practical tips are in short supply, and I can summarize them for you here:

* Authors can't wait for people to walk into book shops, we have to go out and find them.

* It's useful to get endorsements from people who know you from your website or blog.

* With fiction, being able to position the book (that is, to come up with a hook that will immediately capture attention) is more important than the author's platform (ability to reach an audience).

* With non-fiction, the author should have at least a regional reputation and ideally a national one.

* One new outlet is for authors to give talks to employees at big companies such as Microsoft. It may also be possible to arrange talks for non-profit groups, at resorts, on cruise ships, for Chambers of Commerce, and at conferences.

There are loads of other Expo podcasts on that site, maybe some of them are better. I'll review some more and let you know!

(if you want monthly tips on how to be more productive and creative, subscribe to my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin--just send an email request now to bstorm(at)aol.com. 

* Authors often come up with good marketing plans in their proposals and then never follow through with them--the follow-through is very important.

For script writers (hilarious short film)

This eight-minute film will tickle anybody who has ever written a script or attended a scriptwriting course...

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

What 3 questions give you 'interview gold'?

A had an email from a former student who is about do a series of interviews for a non-fiction book she’s writing. She asked me whether there are any questions I’ve found to be especially revealing. There are three that will usually give you interview gold:

 1.What do you wish you’d known when you were starting out?

 2. What’s the one thing you do that gives you the best results or most success?

 3. What’s the biggest myth or misunderstanding about your field?

I’ve stated these in general terms, of course you would individualise them depending on what you’re asking about. The answers you get often will also suggest follow-up questions so you can get more details.

The other thing I’ve learned is to keep my tape recorder running after the official interview is over because sometimes in the few minutes of chit-chat that follows, the interviewee mentions something more interesting than what was in the actual interview. Then I ask, ‘Can we talk about this for a minute?’ Naturally I make sure they are happy for this additional material to be on the record.

(For more on how to write both fiction and non-fiction books, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and the accompanying website, www.yourwritingcoachc.com)

Give up the research excuse!

At the moment I’m deep into writing my next book, Marketing for Entrepreneurs. A friend asked me the other day how long it had taken me to finish the research and was shocked when I said I was still doing it as I wrote.

 It reminded me of how many people in my workshops have said they couldn’t start their books because they hadn’t done all the research yet. Here’s a fact that may help you finally get started on your book:

 You don’t need to have finished doing your research before you start writing!

 You need to do just enough to get started. Then, when you get to a point where you need more information, go find it. This can actually be an advantage when you interview experts. Sometimes it’s only when you’re immersed that you know the best questions to ask. Also, when you’ve been at your desk for hours, it makes a nice change to get out and do an interview or flip through some books for a change.

 If you’ve been using this as the excuse for not getting started, you’re going to have to find a new one! 

(For more tips and techniques on how to be more creative and productive, sign up for my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin. Just send an email request to [email protected])

A touching story (with fibs...)

In today's Daily Mail, Guardian, BBC news and other media outlets there was a touching story about an elderly novelist and her desire to use her writing riches to help others. Here's how it was reported:

She wrote her book while living in a one-bedroom flat but has now swapped it for a £310,000 [$600,000] five-bedroomed property in Weare Giffard, Devon. The grandmother of two has invited friends who are 'unhappy' in care homes to move in  -  and says she already has a queue of people eager to take up the offer. Mrs Page, a widow, said: 'The book has sold nicely and I was able to buy a much bigger place to live. I only had a small flat before.

The Guardian reported, "suddenly prosperous on the advance and sales of her novel..."

But the Daily Mail also reported the publisher: Authorhouse. 

A self-publishing outfit. 

That does not pay advances. 

And if she's made anywhere near £310,000 (or for that matter, £30,000) from royalties of this self-published book, I'll eat my hat (a small fedora). 

But it's a good public relations wheeze and I wish her well.