Pacific Northwest Writers Association

I'm on my way out the door to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) annual conference in Seattle.

I have a booth. So, if you're attending please feel free to stop by and say "hi". You can't miss me, I'll be the one with big green and yellow posters talking about "how and editor can give you an edge" and "when you might need a writing coach."

I want to send out my best wishes to Charlcee Davis. She's a fabulous writer, part of my writer's group and a finalist in the PNWC Screenwriting contest. Awards are announced tomorrow night. Good luck Charlcee! Your script is great.

Well, I've got to run. I plan to blog from the conference, so stay tuned.

Write like crazy,

di

Query Letters, Think Like a Producer

This must be query letter season. I read several letters last week written by screenwriters trying to get the attention of agents or producers.

Query letters are tough — introducing your story in such an exciting way that an agent or producer can’t help but contact you to read the whole thing.

My advice is to think like a producer, not like a writer. They want to know if this is a great concept, not whether the theme is fully realized.

If a query letter gets read, and that’s a big IF, you’ve only got a few seconds to get an agent or producer interested. Here are just a few do's and don'ts.

Don’t . . .

• . . . open by talking about yourself at length. In fact, unless what you’ve done has a bearing on the manuscript (you’ve won a couple Oscars or you’re Judd Apatow), I don’t think they care.

• . . . describe in your story in 4 or 5 lengthy paragraphs.

• . . . tell them it’s the best script they’ll ever read. They’ll be the judge of that. (This includes telling them that your friends read it and really liked it.)

• . . . discuss the theme, the character motivations, sub plots, etc. etc.

• . . . tell them your dream cast list or the ideal place to film.

Do . . .

• . . . introduce yourself.

• . . . write a killer log line — a quick one or two lines revealing the heart of the story. (Think of what you would want to see on a movie poster to get you in the theater door.)

• . . . write a one (maybe two) paragraph synopsis of your story — the shorter the better.

• . . . succinctly state anything that sets you apart from the pack — any awards you’ve received, options, etc.

• . . . provide your contact information

There is loads of information out there on writing query letters. But this, I hope, is enough to get you started.

Good luck

What If . . . With a Twist

I just spent a day with my 10-year-old niece. She introduced me to a new game of "what if" that I've got to share.

We were driving along and she asked, "Would you rather die by drowning or falling off a cliff?"

I picked "death by cliff" because if you're going to die, the quicker the better. But then I thought, should I have asked if falling off a cliff meant tumbling down it. In that case, I wanted "death by drowning."

Too late. It was my turned.

I asked, "Would you rather have your house and possessions burned, or would you rather have your house flooded and all your possession wash away." She chose flooding.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I could just go down pick up all my stuff and bring it back."

Good answer — very optimistic. I had mentally chosen burned because I assumed my stuff was gone forever and it would be easier to build a new house than deal with an mud-soaked one.

Next question. "Would you rather have a pet snake or pet spider?" she asked. Both are bad, I chose spider because I figured it had a shorter life expectancy.

Next question: Would you rather lose a hand or a foot. "Hand," she said without hesitation.

"How can you pick hand?" I asked.

"Because I don't want to be in a wheelchair."

"But you could get a prosthetic," I said.

"You never told me that. Foot then."

And on the game went, taking weird turns as we discovered all kinds of things about ourselves.

It was a great game (in a creepy sort of way), but one I plan on not only playing again with my niece but with my characters. I don't just want to know the decisions they would make, but the unique and interesting reasoning behind them.

OK, I'm off to find out if my niece has other cools games to play.

A Little Help from my Facebook Friends

Trying to develop three-dimensional characters? Log onto Facebook.

Each morning I scan through the latest comments.

I love my friends, but most would make boring fictional characters. From what I can tell about 75% are "getting ready to do some laundry", "exhausted after work" or "looking forward to the weekend".

Some, however, are so interesting that I'm logging into find out "what's next".

What am I tuning into?

• One friend has a baby bat in her freezer. So far, I can't tell why it's in there. I'm not sure I want to know, but the suspense is killing me.

• One friend is cooking different recipes from the old meat she's found deep in the bowls of her freezer. It ranges from 3-year-old prime rib to 5-year-old ground turkey. Then she posts pictures of the mouth-watering meals. I'm thinking maybe there's a book in this, like Olivia's Old Meat.

• Another friend is spending three weeks in Cuba where she's enjoying lots of mojitos and salsa dancing . . . I assume with swarthy Cuban hotties.

Am I going to use some of these details for future characters? OF COURSE!! You don't create characters in a vacuum. They're an amalgam of your experiences and your friends' experiences and Facebook is like a mini database.

OK, I'm off to Facebook to beef up my characters.

di

Growing the Big One

Hi,

Short post today. Heard back from my agent today that the movie I wrote will start filming the end of August and then through September and October — knock on wood.

It's a romantic comedy about couple growing giant pumpkins called Growing the Big One.

This picture isn't a shot from the movie — it's actually a giant pumpkin in a smashed a car. I think after these guys grow these 2,000 pound mutants, they're sometimes hard pressed to come up with something to do with them. :-)

Anyway, getting the script this far has been a long process and I'm off to the NWSG meeting tonight, then it's time to celebrate.

di

Just Do It!

Do you need some motivation to put that pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard? All you need to do is watch a few Nike ads with Lance Armstrong.

After watching this guy, writing isn't a hardship — it's an adventure! It matters!

We all know Mr. Armstrong has had cancer and is an inspiration to many. But what's so cool about this guy is that it's impossible not to tap into that incredible drive. He’s all about the journey — that the sweat and blood are just part of it.

I dare you to watch a Lance Armstrong commercial and then say out loud, "But writing's hard."

Instead, I think you'll be saying, “Man up! Get out there and write!!”

Death is Good Motivation

Hi,

So I'm in the middle of last act of my script, trying to figure out how to add more excitement and raise the stakes. Suddenly, something catches my eye out the window — it's this Dragonfly going after what looks like a Bumble Bee. It was like watching Top Gun, when that MIG is on Maverick's tail.

This Bumble Bee is flying for his life. It dodges and Dragonfly stays with him. The Dragonfly speeds up and hits him, and the Bumble Bee drops a foot. The Dragonfly swoops down and it back on his tail. It's a life and death chase, and within seconds, I'm on the seat of my chair, rooting for the Bumble Bee.

The Dragonfly was coming in quick. It looked like the Bumble Bee was a goner. Then the Bumble Bee dropped again, but this time into the grass, eluding the Dragonfly (at least that's what I want to imagine, versus poor Bumble Bee had a heart attack in mid air and died on impact). In the end, the Dragonfly was thwarted and flew off — probably spewing Dragonfly expletives.

Where am I going with this? The answer was right there. Putting your character in mortal danger ups the stakes and adds to the excitement. I was going to easy on my characters in the last act. I needed to sick some dragonflies on them.

Death is Good Motivation

Think of some of the top grossing movies . . .

• Titanic

• Jurassic Park

• Men in Black

• ET

When your life is on the line, it gets exciting.

Not every story needs to have a life on the line, but in Blake Snyder's words (author of Save the Cat) you still need the "whiff of death".

OK, I"m off to take my own advice and finish my script.

di

Capturing Inspiration

All my great ideas seem to come at inconvenient times . . . or at least times I don't have a pen and paper handy.

I carry a note pad in my purse, but can't remember the last time I had my purse when brilliance struck (or at least walked by).

When there's no paper

What do you do when there isn't paper around? Or pen? I will admit to a few desperate measures.

• While mowing the lawn I wrote notes in the dirt in a flower bed.

• Wrote on my hand in the car.

• Wrote on a side of cereal box in the store.

• Wrote on toilet paper in the bathroom.

• Tried to come up with memorable lymrics while on a walk. (By memorable, I mean horrific. Like . . . roses are red, violets are yellow, Jan's watching a Godzilla movie on her iPhone when she runs into a fellow — a gangster guy named Mike, who's also a scifi geek.)

• Wrote notes on a birthday card intended for someone else (very small print on the back, I doubt they noticed).

• Wrote with mud on a rock while on a walk in the woods, then had to find the rock the next day before it rained.

• Wrote in Play-Doh while babysitting.

• And the list goes on . . .

Tell me I'm not the only one who does this. Please!

But I'm not complaining. You got to snag those ideas when they come along, even if it's while you're using a Play-Doh Fuzzy Pumper.

Happy writing!

di

Great Books on Writing

I was just asked if I could recommend some great writing books. I'm looking at my bookshelves stuffed with books wondering where should I begin.

I'm not sure what makes a "great" book, so I've decided to just pick a few I find myself going back to. They were either inspirational or informative, or both.

 1. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Every time I read this book I find something new to take away.  On that note . . . someone has taken my last copy. OK, I probably loaned it to someone. Luckily, I see you can get a used one on Amazon for about $3.00.

 

2. On Writing by Stephen King.  It's kind of like two books in one — a quick autobiography and then the instructional piece, which is excellent. There are some sections that writing instructors might balk at — like he's not big into outlining. But hell, the guy's Stephen King, like he cares. 

 3. Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. I was told by a developmental editor that everything you need to know is in this book. She was right.

 4.  Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. I didn't think you could write a humorous instructional book on punctuation but it can be done. I know, you're thinking, "We've read your blog. Have you really read that book? Your punctuation is borderline terrible." Well, you should have seen it before I read the book.

 5. Adventures of the Screen Trade by William Goldman. If you're a screenwriter, it's a must. This guy not only packs in loads of information but also includes gossip and the entire script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was published back in the dark ages — back when Paul Newman and Robert Redford were young and total hotties — but it's worth the read.

OK, that's what comes to mind.   Any you want to add?