I finished three pitches for the Sprouts Festival. I'm hoping that the producers like at least one of the ideas, so that I can write a short play for the new work festival in 2006. Before I settled on the three pitches, I had to discard two initial ideas because I just didn't think they would work. Sometimes, a writer has to give up on his first idea because it just doesn't work. I always feel bad for losing the idea, but I have to do it if the idea just isn't making any sense. That's just part of the job of being a writer.
November 2005 Archives
The lottery for Fringe slots was held yesterday, and my application didn't even make the waiting list. It doesn't look like I'm going to produce a Fringe show this year unless I decide to go the Bring Your Own Venue route, and that's just a little more work than I want to put in for a Fringe show. I have until March 31 to get a BYOV application into the festival. I'll have to mull it over.
Oh boy, it's tough to get back to the swing of things now that the Hazeldean residency is finished (Well, almost finished... I still get to pay one last visit at the end of the week). I'm still waiting for notes from the TV producers, so I can't start anything major yet. I realised that I promised to write a short play for Concrete Theatre's Sprouts Festival, so I may do some researching of Chinese cultural fables. This will probably be a brainstorming day. No work on the computer, but lots of reading and thinking time. I sometimes find this step of the process frustrating because I just want to blurt my ideas out and get them on paper, but it's important to have the story and characters clear in my head before I commit anything. If it's not solid in my mind, then I know that I won't get behind the idea when it starts to fall apart. Better to have a strong base to build on than something quick and flimsy.
Thanks to all the students at Hazeldean for your wonderful comments. I'm so glad to hear from so many of you about my time at Hazeldean. I'll see you all in December. Have a wonderful weekend. And remind your teachers to contact me the next time you play Belly Kick Ball!
My thanks to the staff and students at Hazeldean. I had the most wonderful time at your school. Thank you for all the great ideas and hard work. Don't be surprised if you recognise some of your school in my next book. Hmm, Belly Kick Ball just may end up in book three.
Take care!
Marty
The deadline for Edmonton Fringe applications is this Friday, and I'm thinking of writing a new play for the festival. I haven't settled on the idea yet, but I'm thinking of either a thriller or a satire. I'll submit the application to the lottery and keep my fingers crossed that I'll be one of the lucky ones to get a guaranteed slot in the Fringe. I really want to do this, because I've been involved with fiction for over two years, and all my plays are in development. It'd be nice to actually have something produced for a change. I'll keep you up to date. Keep your fingers crossed.
My residency is almost finished. Where did the time go? The students have been doing a wonderful job and coming up with some very cool stories. We had a chance to share some of them in the first class this morning. I know some of the students are dreading the idea of reading their work aloud, but they have nothing to be worried about. I won't make everyone read the whole stories. I just to be able to showcase the strengths of each student.
The grade fours are supposed to put the finishing touches on their drafts this morning so I can take them with me, and the grade fives should have their drafts done so they can read them aloud in class. As for the grade 3 / 4 split, their first drafts are done and the revisions are next. I'm impressed with everyone's progress.
If you think a writer's job is finished when the publisher prints the book, think again. I've been in contact with my publisher about marketing. We have to come up with a plan to let as many people now about the book as possible. That means I have to contact libraries and schools to tell them about the second book. I also have to contact the media in Edmonton to try to get them to write or talk about the book. And I have to find a way to get out to different cities to promote the book at various bookstores.
It's a lot of work, but it's part of the job. I'm told that not a lot of published authors take the time to do what I do, but I have a background in promoting theatre. My lesson is to always learn something new. You never know when a skill will come in handy down the line, and boy am I glad I learned how to promote my plays, because it's totally helping with my marketing of the book.
The launch is planned for the spring, but I'm also thinking of doing a promotion around Halloween, because The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul has a Halloween theme. It's going to take a lot of work and coordination, but I'm excited about the possibilities.
To the Hazeldean grade six students. Awesome work with similes this morning! I loved the ideas you came up with, and I enjoyed seeing how you worked some of the comparisons into your stories. It's been a wonderful week with all of you, and I can't wait to read your revised drafts.
I can't believe my residency is almost over. On the one hand, I'm so excited that the students are moving so far along with their revised drafts. On the other hand, I'm going to miss everyone when it's all over.
I was really pleased today at how quickly the grade 5 students caught on to similes. They had awesome examples, and I hope they try to use similes in their revised drafts. I'd be thrilled to see one or two examples in their own writing! I know you guys can do it.
What an amazing day today. I felt like I was working with real writers all day long. To the grade six students, I very much enjoyed the examples of dialogue you came up with in class, and I hope that you use the principle of EAR in your revisions. I can't wait to see your revised drafts on Friday.
And to the grade five students, thank you so much. I was totally impressed with how hard you worked in the afternoon. Everyone was thinking hard about how to make their drafts better, and I'm so proud of how you handled the notes. You guys rock!
I'm sorry I didn't get to see the grade three and grade four students today, but I look forward to seeing you guys later this week. Take care.
I was pretty tired at the end of today, because I had meetings all day long, but do you know what perks me up more than anything else?! Reading cool stories. Thanks to the students at Hazeldean. I'm reading your stories right now, and I'm having a blast. I can't wait to talk to you about them!
To the students of Hazeldean, I'm so glad to see some of your first drafts, and I can't wait to read the rest of the stories. I want to remind everyone that the first draft is really the first step in the story writing process. When I wrote, Mystery of the Frozen Brains, I revised it 6 times on my own before I sent it off to the publisher. And even after the publisher said yes, I still had to work with my editor to fix the manuscript. I think I had to go over the manuscript another 3 times with the editor to clear up parts of the book, take out sections that didn't work, and correct spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Yes, even professional writers can make mistakes, and yes, professional writers do have to revise their work, so I'm treating you no differently than I treat professional writers. Have fun revising your drafts!
I finished the revisions to my outline of the pilot episode yesterday and sent it off to the producers for notes. It's amazing how my first ideas never hold up under closer inspection. I had to change about 90 per cent of the ideas I had in the first draft. Unfortunately, because of the tight deadlines of this project I haven't had the time to really brainstorm and concentrate on the drafts. I know that's why I'm making such drastic changes in the scenes. That's the problem when you have deadlines, you have to make decisions on the fly. I'm just happy that I have the chance to revise the mistakes I've made.
I'm slogging through the revisions to the outline of the pilot episode. Whew! This one's a bit tough. I have to track five main characters and their character journeys from start to finish, so that they all come across as people viewers would want to follow. I'm approaching the draft one character at a time. I can't track all the characters at the same time. It may mean I have to revisit the outline a few times, but at least I know what each character is supposed to be doing. Okay, enough chatting. Back to work!
Last night, I read Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars, a reinvention of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. What a wonderfully skewed vision of that kids' classic. I was reminded of Gregory MaGuire's Wicked. This novel deals much more in plot than in character development, but it's a perfect example of how you can take an existing work of fiction and reinvent it. For me, it's a good lesson in approaching the stage adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. I think I'll choose to reinvent the novel's story rather than try to remain faithful.
I just reading the latest book in the Eoin Colfer series. It was a fun read, but Artemis wasn't as cool as he had been in the previous books. Before, he was the one creating master plans, but in this book he's reacting a lot to the master plans for the villain... who I won't give away in case you haven't read the book yet. Anyway, when a main character reacts instead of acts, he seems less interesting. The author makes up for it with tons of gadgets and cool fairy technology, but I wish there was more character and less gadgetry. I wanted to see more of the Artemis Fowl of the previous books, because that character was way more active. But if we had more of the same, I'd be complaining that the writer was just telling the same story over and over again, so while I wasn't as thrilled with the story, I did enjoy seeing the characters in a different light.
I made a cool discovery about the television pilot outline last night. As I was reworking the beginning, I realised that my main characters were already against the villain of the script. That gave me no room to go later in the script, because the story was about how 5 people realise the person who is supposed to be an expert on relationships turns out to know nothing. If the characters already think the "expert" is an idiot, then what's the point of the story? So now I have to go back to the beginning and make adjustments to their attitudes toward the villain. Sometimes a writer needs to see the entire script or story before they can find out what is working and what isn't. I didn't catch the mistake earlier when I was creating scenes because I was more worried about the individual scenes and not the story as a whole. That's why it's so important to review your first draft. A little trick is to walk away from the draft and give yourself some time before you look at it. Another trick is if you've typed the script out on computer, then print it out in a different font, so that when you review the draft it looks different enough that you start looking at it more carefully.
To the Hazeldean students: I've seen some fabulous ideas and starts of stories. You guys are very keen. I just want to remind you that the most important job of a writer is to show us the character in action. When the reader sees what the character is doing they get a better sense of the character and the story.
So if you're stumped, think of describing what your main character is doing and that'll give us a better sense of who she or he is. For example, if I read about a character who slam dunks a basketball without having to jump, I know he's tall. Or if I read about a girl who gently brushes her horse's mane and whispers to it, I know she loves that horse. These descriptions are more active and more fun for the reader than "he's a tall guy" or "she loves her horse." So the lesson reminder is to find an activity that can show us who your character is.
I just finished reading the Vampire Prince, which is one of books in the Cirque du Freak series. It was weird to read this book, because I read it out of order. I skipped ahead two books because this book was still on hold at the library. I had to guess what happened so that I could read the other books, and what I had guessed was mostly wrong. I think that's a good sign of writing when the author can create a story that is unpredictable for the reader. If I had guessed right, then I'd be bored with the story. In the end, writers are just trying to come up with stories that will entertain readers.
I say this because one of my students told me that he found writing boring. I think that writing is hard work, but if you have a good story idea I don't think it can ever be boring. I guess it all comes back to what I said at the beginning of my residency. You have to find a story that means something to you. That's the only really way to make a story interesting. For each writer, that topic is going to be different. I wish I could say write about fill-in-the-blank and it'll be a great story. I can only tell you to write about something you care about, and you'll find a story that is interesting.
I just received initial notes on my television series pilot episode, and the story is working, but I have to dig deeper into the characters. I have to revise the outline so that I can reveal more of the characters' behaviours, which will be a fair amount of work. This is all a part of the process. It's a good reminder to myself and a good example to the Hazeldean students about how your job as a writer doesn't end when you pen the last word in your story. The real job begins in the revision.
If you think your teachers are making you re-do your work for no reason, then remember this entry. I've been writing for over 13 years, and I'm still having to re-do my work. Sometimes I even have to throw away my original idea and start over. It's tough to do sometimes, but it's all a part of the process. You can always make your work better.
To the students of Hazeldean, I'm so impressed with your work. Some of the outlines look great. There are going to be some very cool stories when you're done. I want to remind you all that the fun of any good story is seeing how the main character overcomes the obstacles that face them. The more obstacles you put in front of the main character, the more we want to read.
The other thing that I want you all to really remember is that it doesn't matter what kind of story you tell (a simple story of friendship or a fantasy adventure), the reader will care if they can identify with or cheer for the main character. Make sure your main character's motivation is always something personal.
Have a great weekend.
Phew! Finally, I can spill the beans. I'm one of the winners in the Dramatic Monologue category of CBC's 2005 Centennial edition of Alberta Anthology writing contest. I knew the results in the summer, but the lockout prevented CBC from announcing the winners, and I had promised to keep quiet until the lockout ended. Well, today, the official winners were announced on Wildrose Country, and I can now talk about my monologue, Taggin', which is about a graffiti artist who has a sense of justice and a lot of paint. Check my events page for the exact day and time. Also, Red Deer Press will be publishing this year's winning entries in a collection which will be coming out later in November. Yay!!!!!!
Oh, and one more thing. One of my students from Youthwrite has a winning entry in the poetry section. His piece will air Thursday, November 10 and Saturday, November 12. Check it out!
To the Hazeldean students, remember MOO stands for motivation, objective and obstacle. This is your way to show your character's behaviour in action. How the character overcomes the obstacle shows us something about his or her personality. And your character's behaviour has to be consistent (the same) all the way through your story. If you create a character who is nice, her actions have to be nice all the way through. Or if your character is greedy, he has to be greedy all the way through.
Sometimes, your character can have a change of behaviour, but there has to be a good reason why. For example, in A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge changed from being a greedy man to a generous one, but only after he was scared to die alone (thanks to the visits from the 3 ghosts). All through the story, he wanted to hang on to the money he made because money meant more to him than people (in his eyes, money never betrayed him or let him down). The obstacle in his way was all the people who encouraged him to be generous at Christmas time.
Anyway, I want you all to keep brainstorming the characters who will be in your story and think about what they want and why they want it. Start with your main character (and remember you want the reader to cheer for your main character). When you've finished the main character, then writer character sketches for the other characters who will be in your story. See you tomorrow.
Today, I was reminded how important it is to build really strong and full characters with lots of details about their past and their behaviour. I was teaching characters to the students at Hazeldean, and I was totally amazed when some of them dug deep into their own lives and created characters using people they knew. It was a good refresher for me to sit down and really think through my characters. The most important question always to answer is why a character acts a certain way. That builds the character's past, which may or may not show up in the story, but it will definitely make the character seem more real and three dimensional.
I'm in limbo right now as the producers of the TV series are looking through my pilot outline and beat sheets for episodes two and three. They're going to get back to me this week with feedback. This is the nature of the job. Personally, I love getting notes early in the process because they help me find the story and set things off on the right path. I know other writers can't stand the feedback sessions, but I thrive on feedback.
If you're a person who doesn't like criticism of your work, you might want to develop a thicker hide or reconsider your career choice. I'd rather get notes telling what I've done wrong before the show is produced and I still have time to make things right. I don't know of any writer who has their first draft published or produced. Everyone has to revise their work. That's the job of a writer. If you can't bring yourself to revise your own writing, then you're in for a short career.
