How to Proof your Manuscript

I wish I could proof. I come from a long line of people who can barely spell, which you've no doubt noticed from my previous blogs.

I used to get C's on college papers not because of poor content but because of poor spelling. I've almost lost jobs because of my incredible dyslexic abilities. The worst experiences were at law firms.

As it turns out, attorneys are extremely sensitive about spelling, and I gave them reason to be more so. Like when I kept turning this poor man's name Gerald Giesler into Gerlad Geisler.

The attorney I worked for tried to be understanding and said, "Although I'm sure the client appreciates the gratuitous name change, please stick with the original."

I tried to spell it right, but no matter how hard I tried, it kept coming out wrong. It got to the point Gerald would call and say, "Hi, it's Gerlad."

So, you can image that I'm nervous about sending off my new script because I'm sure it's loaded with typos invisible to my naked eye.

I know that a bad speller isn't necessarily a bad writer, but unfortunately no one else knows that. Plus, I don't want the poor reader to wade through typos.

I've done the standard:

• run spell check

• had my friends look it over

• read it out loud

I'm tempted to pay a professional proofer to go through it. The last time it cost over $350. That's kind of pricey, but maybe it's worth the cost to weed out those last 'Gerlads'.

What do you guys do to make sure your stories are proofed well? Please share.

Desperately Proofing in Enumclaw

Movies versus Novels

I just saw a rough cut of my movie, Growing the Big One. I still call it "my movie", but at this point, there's not a lot of "me" left.

I may have come up with the story, written the script, and written rewrites of the script, but the final product is far from mine. Lots of people have been involved — actors, directors, producers, and even other writers.

It's a lot different story than I imagined at the start. I might not like all the changes, but it's also a lot more "produced" than it was on my laptop.

I'd always heard that if you want more control, then write novels. It's true. But you say, "I really like to write movies and see my story on a screen." I can't argue that.

Sometimes it's hard to decide. Here's my short Movie Versus Novel list for what it's worth.

	Movie	Novel
Control of story	Maybe some if you direct & product	Quite a bit from start to finish
Money	Better than a book	Not a lot of rich novelists
Ownership	They own it	You own it
Union	WGA	You’re on your own
Respect	Not much – you’re at the bottom of the Hollywood food chain	Quite a bit
Viewing	3D & in living color – very cool	Read it
Breaking In	DAMN HARD	DAMN HARD

It's hardly an exhaustive list, but it covers some of the highlights. If you think I've missed some important ones, please share. Writing is hard work, and it's just a bit easier if you pick the right medium.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Add Tension to Your Scenes

Another day, another embarrassing moment.

I had an interview yesterday, which I was extremely excited about. I'd prepped like crazy — everything from pulling work samples together for a week to flossing twice on the drive in.

When I got home, I was feeling exhausted but pleasantly positive about the experience — that's until my husband pointed out I had my shirt on inside out.

Multitasking Scenes

Since I can't go back to the interview with my shirt on right side out, I've tried to see what I can salvage from the experience.

If I look at it as a scene versus another embarrassing experience, I did learn something about adding tension.

Ideally scenes should have more than one thing going on at a time, and they should leave the audience wanting more.

In the Diane Interview scene, there was multiple layers:

Layer #1

• Character stresses and preps for the interview

• Character interviews with potential bosses

• Character feels confident as interview concludes

Layer #2

• The audience sees the shirt inside out

• The people conducting the interview see tag on the shirt

We leave the scene not only wondering if the character will get the job (the primary reason for the scene), but by adding tension (the inside out shirt), we:

• learn more about the character and her dress habits

• wonder if she will ever notice if her shirt's inside out

• wonder what the reaction will be if she does notice, and

• wonder if this is going to forfeit her the job

Good Interview

So, I guess it was a good interview in that I learned how to beef up my scenes.

But I also learned that I'm going to have SOME LOOK ME OVER before the next interview.

di

Turn Embarrassing Moments into Comedy

It would be nice if I could avoid embarrassing moments, but that's not happening any time soon. It's like I have a guardian angel with a sick sense of humor following me around.

Over the years, I've learned to just grin and bear the moments, but then jot them down later to use in stories later when I need a little comedy.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I've chalked up quite a few recently:

• Halloween: Each year we throw a Halloween party for friends and family. This year, after everyone gone home and I was changing out of my costume, I realized that the back side of my "dead english maid" costume had ripped out. It appears I'd been mooning everyone all evening. To make matters worse, I'd been wearing my floral print, granny panties.

No one had said a word, which made me wonder, did they think it was all part of the costume? Were they telling their friends the next day, "Diane's costume was pretty weird. She was an Inappropriate Dead English Maid with Hideous Underwear. Yeah, it was as gross as it sounds."

• Restaurant. Two days later, on our way to lunch, the butt of my old jeans ripped out. (Obviously, I need to call Jenny Craig.) What was I wearing underneath? Those same, stupid floral print granny panties.

I spent the next couple hours finding a dozen ways to keep my butt covered, like running from the car to the restaurant holding the back of my pants together. That night, I threw away the granny panties.

• Food. Not long after, I was carrying pizza out the car and tripped. I dropped the pizza and while spinning my arms to keep my balance, managed to also step in the pizza. On the bright side, I did this with my butt entirely covered.

Lesson Learned

It would be nice to avoided these situations, but they happen. Luckily, we're writers. Most people are just embarrassed when things like this happen. We get to use them!

Signed

Red Faced in Enumclaw

You Knew You Were a Writer When . . .

Every writer has had them . . . those moments when you realize, "I can't believe it. I'm a real writer."

I had one yesterday. I showed up in IMDB for Growing the Big One. The first thing I thought was, "That's me! I'm real writer."

Monumental Moments

It got me thinking about the other moments.

• My first book in 4rd grade.

Of course, it was a book only in the sense that it was a story and it was bound. I wrote the 6-page epic entitled The Silver Knives on notebook paper, drew a cover, and bound it with yarn from a disintegrating sweater. I thought it was pretty dang cool though and I still have it.

• My first sports column in the Eatonville Dispatch.

This was a terrible experience. I didn't know the first thing about journalism — my English teacher just said that writers do this kind of thing, so I applied.

I covered girl's tennis and even though I was on the team, I still managed to spell some of my friends' names wrong. What made this a moment? People came up to me and said, "I didn't know you wrote." That was extremely cool.

• My first rejection letter.

This would be followed by MANY other letters, so many I kept a three-ring binder to catalog my journey of rejection. But that first one was fabulous, because only writers get rejection letters.

• Being a finalist at the Austin Film Festival.

I went to the conference knowing I was a finalist, but for some reason I figured there was loads of them. I had no idea there were only three per category. When people saw my Finalist Badge, they started talking to me like I was a REAL writer. It was incredible.

• Receiving a WGA card. When that card arrived, it looked like a nondescript credit card. To me though, it was tangible, 3D, plastic proof was I was a writer.

What are your moments?

There you go. My big "real writer" moments.

So what are yours? We've all got them!

di

Great Scenes by Calvin and Hobbes

My Dad gave me his collection of Calvin & Hobbes comics to reread.

This time around I wasn't just laughing, I was inspired. Every strip — about four or five frames — is a unique scene with a beginning, middle and end. Most are tiny, stand alone mini-stories.

What's more amazing is that writer Bill Watterson came up with new, fresh ideas day after day after day. Holy smokes. I complain because I'm having a problem coming up with one good scene to bridge my second act to my third. Heck, Bill would have written 40 fabulous scenes in the time it's taken me to come up with one.

7 Comic Book Tips

I learned a lot about scenes last night, like:

1. Scenes don't have to be long — in fact they must be as tight as possible

2. You can convey volumes with one expression

3. You must have a beginning middle and end

4. Great scenes are character driven

5. Make them fresh and catch your reader quickly

6. Get in as late as you can, and leave as early as possible

7. Leave them wanting more

You've probably already seen these snowman strips, but I'm printing them out and posting them on my bulletin board — a remind of how great scenes should be written.

di

Are You Compelled to Write?

In the last several months I've heard no less than 4 agents, 3 publishers, 1 manager and 5 producers say that they are looking for for writers who are "compelled to write".

What they mean by this — I think — is that they're looking for writers who are more driven by the act of writing than they are by the desire for a big check. They're looking for the writer who (I quote), "just keeps churning it out."

The manager even said, "I don't want to represent the writer who just writes one script a year."

Compelled or Crazy?

The phrase "compelled to write" bothers me partly because it makes me think of some wild-eyed, crazy person with their desk overflowing with manuscripts . . . and also because I'm not compelled to write.

The writing process is hard. There are about a million things I find more enjoyable than sitting in front of my laptop trying to fix a scene or figure out why my subplot isn't working. It's mental boot camp! Half the time I'm wondering, "Why am I doing this again?"

What I DO like is getting a response from readers.

Storyteller

What drives you to write? I'm curious, and would love to hear.

I'm not compelled to write, but compelled to tell stories. No, let me change that. I'm compelled to have my stories HEARD — to bring something to the reader that matters. Maybe that's what the industry folks are talking about too, but that's not quite the vibe I get.

Stories are a conversation. If no one reads my story, it's like talking on the phone with no one on the other end. Or telling joke without someone there to laugh. It seems pointless.

I don't need the big check, but I do need a minimal audience. Heck, one person will do.

Gentle Reader

Stephen King, one of the most prolific (dare I say compelled) writers out there, talks about the gentle reader and taking them by the hand through the story. That's a great image and one that helps when the writing gets tough.

But I have to wonder if Stephen King would have been such a prolific writer if no audience had shown up. Would he have stopped talking to a non-existent crowd or would all those novels be filling up his closets?

Your thoughts?

Crazy writer?

Sorry for rambling. I guess I just heard "compelled to write" one to many times and snapped.

Keep writing. I know your readers are waiting.

di

Writer vs. Sentence Maker

Just finished teaching a writing class. The students were fabulous and I'm happy to report none of them were savants.

The Dreaded SWS

I dread the Savant Writing Student (SWS). They are usually very nice, but overly optimistic and believe the first thing they write will be picked up by a publisher or producer and consequently make them millions. For the SWS, it's just a matter of getting their manuscript into the right hands.

I know the SWS well — I used to be one. It took me three or four scripts, and piles of rejections, before I realized how little I knew about my craft and that I would spend years (actually a lifetime) developing as a writer.

On the bright side, after three or four scripts, I had inadvertently learned a bit about writing and was several steps closer to being produced.

It Takes Time

I'm not saying you shouldn't try to sell your early manuscripts, but be prepared that learning how to write is like learning anything else. And it takes time and dedication.

In short, just because a person can put a sentence together doesn't make them a "writer". It just makes them a "sentence maker".

I think Turgenev put it best:

"It is a strange thing. A composer studies harmony and theory of musical forms; a painter doesn't paint a picture without knowing something about colors and design; architecture requires basic schooling. Only when somebody makes a decision to start writing, he believes that he doesn't need to learn anything and that anybody who has learned to put words on paper can be a writer."

Learn, learn, learn

If you've just started your journey as a writer, don't beat yourself up because that first story didn't sell . . . or the second, or the third.

Chances are you're not a savant — just like the rest of us. You're in the process of developing your skills like every other professional, from pianist to doctor.

And as a reformed SWS, I'd much rather be putting my hours in writing stories than going to med school.

Give the Monkey a Banana

Last Friday, producer Tracey Becker, spoke to the NWSG (Northwest Screenwriters Guild) members. (She was one of the producers of Finding Neverland, staring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.)

Tracey had a lot of great stories about her experiences as an actor and producer. One piece of brilliant advice stood out for me — "Give the Banana to the Monkey".

Simple but True

The advice is simple, give the audience/producers/industry what they want. Don't try to sell them stories they don't want or can't sell.

If they are looking for character driven, high concept stories, give them those. Don't try to sell them your story about three women in a restaurant talking their divorces — it doesn't matter how dripped in drama those divorces are.

Value Proposition

I'd heard this advice before, but it was in a corporate environment. They called it the Value Proposition.

When I was writing for the Weyerhaeuser Company a few years back, the leaders hit upon this novel idea — instead of inventing products and then trying to convince customers they needed them, why didn't they ask the customers what they needed and create those products.

I wrote countless articles on the topic, trying to convince people this was the way to go. The articles were filled with phrases like "the sum total of the benefits the customers will receive as a result of the relationship".

I should have just written . . . GIVE THE MONKEY THE BANANA!

But MY Story is Great

You might have that amazing story that isn't high concept/genre based/[you fill in the industry need], but one you know they will LOVE if they just read it.

You can try to sell it. It'll be tough though — maybe impossible.

Tracey's advice, see if you came make that amazing story look like a "banana". Could the divorce drama told in a restaurant be retold as a thriller? A romantic comedy?

There are tens of thousands of books and scripts being written each year. The competition is fierce. We would do ourselves well to get the bananas to the monkeys.

Love What You Do

A couple weeks ago, I spoke to a Gig Harbor high school film class about screenwriting — the ups and downs I'd experienced.

The Downs

As I went along, I realized there were a lot of downs.

• As a writer, lots of people will reject your work — quick possibly for YEARS

• You'll be rewriting countless hours, with no assurances of a sale.

• When someone does buy your script, you will loose creative control.

I left thinking, "I hope I didn't tell them too many downs. I hope I didn't turn anyone against writing. I hope they saw there's a lot of good stuff too."

The Good Stuff

Writing's a personalized journey and the good stuff for one writer is completely different for another. My good stuff? Where do I start?

Working to become a screenwriter has lead to:

• a freelance career

• meeting my husband

• traveling around the world

• wonderful friends and experiences

• and eventually a movie and some money

Class Response

I got the thank you card from the class yesterday. I was hesitant to open it, expecting something like, "Thanks for nothing!!!"

Instead I read, "You truly reminded me that you should absolutely love what you do. Thank you so much!"

It made my day. Despite the downs, I realized I really DO love what I do. How cool is that?

Everything comes with ups and downs. I guess the trick it choose the thing you're passionate about — it'll make the roller coaster ride worth while.

National Eavesdropping Day

The title of this blog may be misleading. If you write dialogue, every day is Eavesdropping Day.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to eavesdrop. How else are you going to develop great dialogue for your characters?

I've got my standard spots:

• supermarkets

• anywhere I have to stand in line

• conversations on cell phones (Hey, if you're going to talk on those things in public, you're fair game)

• restaurants and coffee shops

• restrooms (I don't know about guys, but girls do a lot of stall talking)

The more exotic locals:

• sporting events

• anywhere I'm on vacation

• family events — especially weddings with lots of weird guests

• concerts and other social activities

Then there's the happy accidents:

• visitors from out of town

• catching an argument in a street. (My favorite quote is from an angry 5-year-old girl, upset with her sister. She turned to her parents and yelled, "She's MEAN and she's STUPID!")

• any spontaneous incident

Carry a Notebook

I used to carry a notebook and try to capture great bits of dialogue. One year I challenged myself to write down a memorable piece of dialogue each day. I did it, but the problem was that I never went back and read any of those memorable quotes. (Note to self, go back and read those.)

Subtext

My current challenge is to see if I can spot subtext. Each day I want to capture dialogue where someone says something that meant something else. Like when someone tells you that your outfit is "interesting", which really means "Seriously? You wore that in public?"

I'm not sure if I'll meet my goal, but the real goal it to continually improve my ear for dialogue.

If you've got some tips on eavesdropping, I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime, happy National Eavesdropping Day!

When You World Gets Wild . . . Take Notes

In the last 72 hours I have:

• had our house broken into

• attended a funeral

• had two offers on our house

• thrown a Halloween party

• judged a writing contest

Sometimes life throws a lot of stuff your way — stuff that takes a lot of emotional energy. It's hard to sit down and write when things feel like they're moving so fast you can't keep up.

Take Notes

I've listened to countless writers tell me, "I can't write right now because of all the things going on in my life." Not true.

OK, maybe it's hard to stay focused on a story when your overwhelmed, but you can still take notes. In fact, this is the best time, because these moments — loaded with emotion and drama — will make great scenes. (Not to mention, jotting them down will help you vent a little.)

Here are just a few of many I gathered over the last 72 hours:

Note #1 - Sheriff's interviews can be calming in a crisis.

Note #2 - Sheriff's are people too. Ours forgot to write down the items stolen, then had to get the info again back at his truck.

Note #2 - Criminals aren't all smart. In fact, some of disturbingly stupid.

Note #3 - Eulogies impart not only information unknown to the audience about the deceased, but impart a great deal about the person giving the eulogy too.

Note #4 - It's humbling to find out your costume ripped out in the back and you've unknowingly mooned your friends all night.

Note #5 - My husband and I can have a romantic moment picking out battery-activated alarm systems at Home Depot after a stressful day.

These were a few of many moments I wanted to remember. I added a few more details. In fact, a lot of my notes are the simple details within the scenes — the boarded door of our new house, the trays of spaghetti at the funeral, the crestfallen faces of the home buyers when we said we'd already gotten another offer.

Bringing Your Life to Your Writing

I say capture it, use it. You may not be able to write your story now, but you will soon. And this is the stuff stories are made of.