Archive for March, 2012


What’s In A Name? The Terror of Titles

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March 27, 2012

Hey everyone, Flobo here with a quickie bonus post for the week. Today, I want to talk to you about me! Yaaaaaayy!

OK, that’s not completely true. Rather, I want to chat about the TITLES of your work but I’m going to use my books as an example.

It was the spring of 2008. Me, an overstressed sleep deprived film student, wrote a handful of screenplays that I thought my peers would be interested in making into short films. Boy, did I thought wrong. Not only were my scripts IGNORED, but many questioned why would I even write screenplays if my major wasn’t in screenwriting (it was in video editing, you see). Undeterred, I took the first batch of screenplays and crafted them into short stories. BAM! An unlikely author was born. On Christmas Eve 2008, my first book was unleashed to the masses:

Ahh yes, “By The Ounce And Other Tales”. The book was a collection of short stories and poetry. Even though two other short stories (“Tortuga Key: A Florida Getaway”, and “Legacy”) were considered the flagship entries, I named the anthology after a quirky sci-fi/fantasy/romance piece entitled “By The Ounce”.

The Gist: Guy who was unlucky at love comes across a “salesman” who sells synthetic emotions “by the ounce”. Hoping to win the heart of the girl he loves, the poor sap buys a supply of Love and Confidence

Anyway, I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not some famous author who is blogging from his palatial estate in Monaco, but “By The Ounce” worked favorably for me. People were interested in the title, as they weren’t sure if it was a weight-loss book, a true crime story about cocaine, or something else. The compass on the cover added to the confusion. The thing is, it was GOOD CONFUSION. It’s the kind of stuff you see on billboards that say “COMING SOON: BLAH BLAH BLAH”. The title had built-in marketing, and it was pretty simple to search for on Google.

So my fans (aka Mom) asked about my literary plans soon after. Was I going to keep writing, or was this supposed to be a one-time deal? I actually treated “By The Ounce” as such, because of my go-for-broke strategy of publishing through one of those big box POD publishers. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that suck every dollar from the poor sap who just wants to write?

I digress.

After taking a break, I came back in 2009 with a vengeance. This new book I was working on was supposed to be my coming out party. I was going to show the world that I, Flobo Boyce, was a true author. “Hear me roar” and all that jazz. I took the craft seriously,  making sure my characters were real people and that my stories were fully visualized. The average word count of a story in By The Ounce was 1,500 words. In my second book? 3,500. Still tiny, but a step in the “write” direction.

See what I did there? Write Direction? Man, I’m soooooooo clever. Or not.

Anyway, in April 2010:

Mass Transit

Mass Transit!  This time, the book was named after a poem that appeared in the volume. Up until that point, it was my Magnum Opus, love letter to New York City (my hometown), and the best short story collection ever! I know as an author, I can’t really choose my favorite book much like how a parent can’t choose their favorite child, however I used “Mass Transit” as my calling card. There wasn’t a sophomore slump in my mind. Nope!

But initial sales were soft.

I was baffled. There are probably dozens of reasons why that was the case. The economy, the demand for short story collections, the length of some the stories, etc. However, the thing I was realized that was hurting me (and something I didn’t think of beforehand) was the title.

Mass Transit doesn’t explicitly say what could you expect from the book (unlike how “And Other Tales” implies multiple stories) Was it a crime fiction book? A romantic comedy a la “Sliding Doors”? A non-fiction history of trains in major cities?

And yeah, you could almost rule the Google search out. How were people going to find my book? I wasn’t on the level to market it as “From the dude that brought you “By The Ounce And Other Tales” so that wasn’t my A option.

I did myself a disservice and the lesson was learned: Crafting your title and giving some hint to your audience what to expect makes your book that much more attractive to the buying public. Of course there are exceptions. “Snakes on A Plane” and “Ninja Assassin” are almost comical in how they describe the movies they are attached to. It’s akin to an off-brand product just describing it’s contents.

"Ahh man, my favorite! Beer-Beer!" - Doug Walker, thatguywiththeglasses.com

There is a balance. The 2012 film “Man On a Ledge” is pretty straightforward. However, because we associate ledges with falling, there is  allusion to “danger”. Even though I haven’t seen the film, I would guess it was a thriller or suspense. It would be a terrible name for a horror film though.  “Dan, just come inside you fool!”

I like to think as my writing as the gift and the title as the wrapping. Sure, you can just throw it in a gift bag, staple the top and pass it to your audience (what I actually do for Xmas), or you can probably give your gift the high-end wrapping it deserves before handing it over (what I wish I actually did for Xmas)

Hope this helps. Keep writing everyone!

–Flobo

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Writer’s Retreat

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March 25, 2012

Hey everyone, Flobo here with your weekly (or semi-weekly) dose of well…ME!

Wait, please don’t leave!

OK, today I want to talk to you about one of the more important parts of writing (or doing anything artistic or creative). You know what I’m talking about: THE GETAWAY

I returned it with a full tank of gas, bro!

I used to scoff when people told me that they couldn’t reach their daily writing goals at home due  to the fact their surroundings weren’t “inspiring”. The ultimate “First World Problem“, I found that as silly as someone saying they couldn’t eat meat off of the bone because it was just “creepy”. But alas, after moving into an apartment without roommates, the problem got to me too. Because I had a roommate at my old abode, most of the day was shared with the other person living in my apartment. At night, I was compelled to maximize my “alone time” and work on my first book, two hours at a time. I was like Neo in that movie that had two terrible sequels. When I moved into my own apartment (for “peace of mind”, ironically) I just couldn’t focus. Facebook and Twitter were my Weapons of Mass Distraction. My word counts dropped and what I did write now needed more drafts in order for it not to suck. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I needed to get out of my apartment, for nothing else but to encounter new experiences to write about.

My film production writing partner and I (you can follow him here) decided on the concept of writing retreats. Every month or so, we would pack up and travel somewhere off the grid to get some writing out of the way. Now, it’s not like we went into the wilderness or anything, but something just enough outside of the ordinary so that falling into your old habits wasn’t possible. For example, staying in a hotel with Internet access (but the stuff you had to pay for daily) was enough of a deterrent to not spend all day surfing the web.

Or at least, looking for unprotected hotspots.

You don’t have to go to a hotel to get writing done, though. There’s a bunch of places you can show up with your Great American Novel.  There’s one place that I DO NOT go to write however. These places are coffee shops. In fact, I treat coffee shops as if they are that neighborhood on the other side of the tracks. Get in, get your joe, and get out. Every hack comedian has some bit about how coffee shops are pretentious atolls in the great sea of normalcy. Now, I can go at length as to why my large coffee should never be called a “Venti Pike”, but the reason why I never go to a coffee shop is the clientele. I live in Los Angeles so I  can be a little ignorant in saying this, but you can never get a seat in a coffee shop. Every  restaurant is littered and crawling with other “writers” (of print and screen) that would rather be seen clacking away on a keyboard than actually getting work done. The freshman biology major surfs the web for hours while she nurses one small cup of black gold. Crowds of people create fire hazards by pulling all kinds of chairs to make some sort of  9-person “Supertable”. The local Coffee Bean looks like some sort of hipster triage.

But I digress.

If you have ever seen the movie “Collateral”, you could probably see my remedy coming. In the flick, Jamie Foxx’s character kept a picture of a beach in his cab and looked at it when he wanted to go on short 5-minute vacations. This technique is very helpful. You’ve heard of a picture being worth a thousand words, right? Well this picture:

My other house is a Yacht.

Has a different vibe than this picture.

There's actually a town called "Niceville, FL". Have you been? I have.

Pictures can do a lot to help you “visualize” being somewhere else. But what about if you need to be physically somewhere else? Well, for me that depends on your writing utensil.

If I am using my cellphone or a small notebook to write, I usually go to Parks or Diners (where the coffee is plentiful and people leave you alone if you avoid the lunchtime rush).

If I’m using a journal to write, the sky’s the limit. I’ve been to beaches, the pier, the top of a hill after a hike, public transportation (bus rides are the best for people watching)

If I’m on a laptop, motels and business centers work the best for me. Because I’m paying upfront for a space, I make sure I don’t leave until my goals are met. There’s something to be said about the financial incentive. It’s almost foolproof. I say almost because how many times have we paid for a gym membership and not showed up to pump iron?

What? That was just me?

This week, I’m taking a writer’s retreat to Las Vegas. You could argue that town has its own litany of distractions, and you would be absolutely right. It’s a tax write-off, so everything else is just dividends!

Until next time,

–Flobo

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Your Character Will Return In…

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March 20, 2012

Hey everyone, Flobo here.

Last night I was checking out the film “Fast Five” on DVD when I had some downtime. I say “some” downtime, but actually it was me avoiding my daily writing goals again. ANYWAY, so there I was watching the fifth film in a “Street Racing Franchise”, and I was taken aback about how “good” it was. Now, I don’t mean about plot, or story (honestly, it’s the cinematic equivalent to a double bacon cheeseburger) but rather it was the evolution of the main characters that was  noteworthy.

"You surf? Well, we aren't impressed."

The films themselves have evolved from the underground illegal street racing circuits that populate major cities, into an international car-action heist franchise. In the long run, this was actually a masterstroke, as the fifth (!) movie in the franchise was the best financially speaking. However, the characters themselves has grown along with the litany of flicks. For example, Paul Walker’s character of “Brian O’ Conner” was a newbie who didn’t know much about the street racing subculture in the first installment. Could you imagine if the writers decided to stick with that characterization five movies (or four if you count the one he didn’t appear in) later?

With the exception of “The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift” the film series has developed a serialized format, which each movie building on the one that came before it.

By Release Date: The Fast And The Furious, 2Fast 2Furious, The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious, and Fast Five
Chronologically: The Fast And The Furious, 2Fast 2Furious, Fast and Furious, and Fast Five, The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift
 

Don’t get me started on the first one (The Fast and The Furious) and the fourth one (Fast and Furious) having similar names… That’s a blog for another time.

As a writer, sometimes you are going to be lucky (or unlucky) enough to bring back your characters for another installment or two. If you are building a franchise of your own, you’ll know that this is tricky. Not only do your characters have to grow within each installment, they are going to have to grow overall throughout the series. This can be very daunting for a creator, and a lot of times authors run out of ideas. It’s a well known fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle grew so tired of Sherlock Holmes, that he had the character thrown off a cliff to his doom in the short story “The Final Problem”. Doyle eventually caved into fan pressure and brought Sherlock back (now with the Baritsu powers!).

On the other hand:

I actually auditioned for this role. It went to a guy considerably less handsome.

The adventures of James Bond (with a few exceptions) are mostly episodic. James Bond shows up, flashes his gadgets, saves the day, and gets the girl. Roll Credits. At the end of these credits you would almost always read that “James Bond Will Return In…”. Bing. Bang. Boom. That’ll be 13.50!

There isn’t so much of a need to make your character grow between episodes, and it’s easier to maintain a status quo. (In Bond’s case, he goes about his next mission, instead of having a film’s run time wasted with Bond being haunted by the kills of the last mission). This is a tactic not only used by spy films, but by also television situation comedies. There would be an episode where a character has a harebrained scheme that backfires, only to have the character learn his/her lesson before they do something even more stupid the following week. This allows your audience to view episodes out of  order, which is perfect if your destination for your work is broadcast television.

Or a 200 dollar James Bond DVD Box Set

But I can assume that if you are reading this, you are not a television writer. If you are, could you please give me a job? I’m housebroken.

A sequel could be an excellent opportunity to explore your character’s backstory and all that jazz, but it’s also an opportunity to look to your character’s future. What can you throw at your character this time around? How will your character use what he learned in previous installments against this new conflict? Will new characters be brought in to change up dynamics or will familiar faces take on new challenges? The choice as always, is yours.

In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for 007:Skyfall and Faster Six, Furious Seven, EightFast, and NineFurious.

–Flobo

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Will It Play In Peoria?

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March 17, 2012

Hey everyone, Flobo here!

I’m probably dating myself when I say this, but I’m a BIG fan of vaudeville. Seriously, if there was a way for me to resurrect the lost art form, I would. The predecessor to the common variety show, vaudeville was a slice of Americana. The closest thing to vaudeville we had in the last ten years or so, was when Cedric The Entertainer had his own show on FOX.

 

But it just wasn’t the same.

So why am I bringing it up? Well, there was a saying from the vaudeville days that ended up seeping into all aspects of entertainment, writing included. That saying was, “Will it play in Peoria”?

The phrase came from performers that were sure that they had a great act on their hands, but wasn’t sure if it would be universally received. Since Peoria (Illinois)  was a large train station town with a very “middle American” audience, it was understood that if the act went well there, it would do well anywhere. (Take that Sinatra). Before long the phrase morphed into a catch-all phrase that asked whether or not something would appeal to the “common man”.

Ironically in today’s research oriented world, towns like Charleston, SC and Albany, NY are in fact considered better “research towns” in determining national trends, but I digress.

 

Let’s take one of my favorite writers in Aaron Sorkin for example. “The West Wing” was a television show and a cultural icon. People tuned in droves during it’s heyday to watch (and learn) about the fictionalized inner-workings of the executive branch of the government. When it came time for his follow up, Sorkin wanted to put that same in-depth lens on the entertainment industry via a SNL-like sketch show:

 

Matt Perry = Ratings

 

I would argue (and usually lose) that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was the better show, because it didn’t concern itself with being restrained by the geopolitical landscape at the time. It was a fun program that had engaging characters, and interesting plot lines, (despite the Army storyline running one or two episodes too many). Anyway, the show bombed, got canceled, and only survives on the DVD shelves of people like yours truly. The reason given for its cancellation?  Every Joe Schmoe American was interested in how the president runs the country, but a show about a show only appealed in cities where there was a pronounced entertainment industry. The show did well in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. As for the Midwest States, it got the cold shoulder.

It didn’t play in Peoria.

 

I guess what I’m trying to say is KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Writing for yourself is a great writer’s block breaker but eventually your work is going to be read by someone taking a chance on your work. Who’s it for? More importantly, who IS NOT part of your intended audience? If you say your next book is for “everyone”, then you should stop writing it now.

 

Take this guy for example:

NOT Steve Jobs

 

Love Dane Cook’s humor or not, there’s no denying that he has more money than you. Why? Well, when he was climbing through the ranks of standup, Mr. Cook catered his act towards college-aged males and his shows reflected that. Despite the fact that males under the age of 34 is the most sought after demographic for advertisers, Cook became a champion to them due the fact he was having shows on college campuses (campi?). He was was seen as “underground” even though that term wasn’t quite accurate. He played to his audience, and that’s a skill entertainers from all crafts can learn from.

 

From here to Peoria.

 

–Flobo

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The First Draft Is The Worst Draft

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March 12, 2012

Hello everyone, Flobo here! (As always)

Today I want to talk to you about something that I’m sure you’ve heard (or read or seen) people talk about when discussing writing/music/drawing/any creative endeavor. That is, revision!

Most amateur writers don’t do it enough and most amateur writing bloggers talk about it ad nauseum. You know, somebody blogs about how it’s important to the writing process? Well, if you didn’t know that (or worse, you thought your stuff was soooo good the first time) then maybe there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

It's a hundred bucks. But for you? A hundred bucks.

If you’re like me, you know that after you finish a manuscript draft, you are going to have to go back into it at some point. At the same time, I am as motivated to do that as much I am motivated to clean my room when I know no one is coming over. Let me tell you, as a bachelor, that’s not a lot. When I was film school, nose deep in the nearest Avid Media Composer (film editing) terminal, my Editing Teacher would say “Remember, the first cut is the worst cut.” I’ve appropriated that to my creative works wholesale. There are some tricks I come up with to help motivate me into the editing phase of writing, and I want to share some of them with you:

1. What’s the rush? I’m assuming most of you are independent writers so you don’t have the big bad corporate imprint inflicting you with due dates, so take your time.  The last thing you want (at the most basic level) is to finish a manuscript only to be utterly mortified when you notice spelling errors later on. Oh, and from my experience never rely on just one person to read your work either. It’s okay to make mistakes in the drafting stages, so milk that for as long as possible. It’s a luxury that some careers do not have.

Did somebody order a massage?

2. Go Old School. When I’m writing more long form stuff (like my novels), I almost always HAND-WRITE the first draft. People think I’m nuts and I sometimes agree, however the best part of doing that is that it FORCES you to write a second draft when you transcribe your work to a computer. We tend to type a sentence at a time, so for me it’s a cool way to see what phrasing works and what doesn’t.

3. Reeemixxx! This past year I was trying to write a novel in the YA mold about a superhero (long story short [quite literately], it’s going to be  short story, now). Anyway, I loved the character, but hated his backstory. I can make a blog about how sometimes backstories write themselves but that’s for another time. So I was kind of stuck of where I wanted to take the character. My solution? I put that story down, and I pretended I was commissioned to write “the sequel”.  This way, I could start a brand new adventure, and only refer to the character’s backstory as necessary. This is really effective across a lot of things I’ve written. Leaving the original story you’ve written in favor for a virtual “prequel/sequel/spinoff/alternate POV” can be heartbreaking, but it’s the first step to streamlining your storytelling skills. I found this tactic also works with serial killer characters. Going through a book about how a serial killer became one could be fascinating, or it could be needlessly dull. A book that has the serial killer in the forefront with sprinklings of backstory could help free up your manuscript for other things.

4. Hire Yourself. This one requires a lot of self-discipline and I wouldn’t recommend you doing it all the time, but sometimes a quick swift kick to the pants is what you need. Take away things that matter most to you and only return them until you write a certain amount a day.  For me, I either unplug the Internet from my computer, or refuse to go out to eat until the work at hand is done. This method is also gimmicky, as it seems that this tip would appear on any ‘ol “beat writer’s block blog” but it is in my bag of tricks.

Or quiver of trick arrows.

As always, keep writing. Remember,  “The first draft is the worst draft.”

As for the superhero story goes, if there’s interest, I can go into more detail of the trials and tribulations with that. Let’s just say the whole thing has reminded me of the Transporter series in that an awesome character is being saddled with a story that needs tweaking.

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To Memoir or Not To Memoir

Filed under: Blog, Hall Of Fame — 2 Comments
March 6, 2012

Hey everyone, Flobo here!

Sometimes I wonder why I have a blog. It’s not like there’s a dire need for them on the Internet. It’s also not like I’m one of the chosen few who actually get thousands of views per post (it’s actually quite sad how many views I get a day). So why do it? Well, for one I can discuss my new passion with writing (in writing), and share it with a virtual audience. The modest side of me says it’s good therapy to let it all out, while the side rollin’ with hubris thinks that if I keep blogging, I’ll become an Internet celebrity. Both sides are wrong, and the truth is actually somewhere in the middle. OK, why am i bringing this up now?

MEMOIRS

Ever so often I meet someone and we get to chattin’. After the normal small talk, most people hit what I like to call “Level 2″. This is where the first barrage of personal questions come your way. (Level 2 actually is a two-way street, but you get the picture). You know the stuff I’m talking about: Where are you from originally? How many brothers and sisters do you have? Where are your parents from? The last question usually gets me, as I’m usually puzzled as to why anyone would care where my PARENTS are from (as if that would change things)

“Oh, I thought you were from Queens, but seeing  that your parents are from Brooklyn well, I just can’t talk to you.”

Anyway, during the course of Level 2, I would let slip that I’m a writer and that I was born in Brooklyn, but lived in North Florida and Central America before settling in Los Angeles. Then most people would suggest I should write my story down as a memoir (as it’s the perfect marriage of writing, travelogue, and life experience). I usually balk at this. Do people really want to read about this guy?

Not Pictured: That awesome strike I just bowled

I bring this up as I’m sure you know somebody that has either written a memoir (or autobiography and YES, they are different) or is thinking about writing one. As for me, there’s definite pros and cons:

PROS:

1. With a memoir, you can tell people YOUR STORY in your own words. You can make yourself as cool or as lame as you want, “but with great power comes great responsibility”.

2. Once written, your memories and life experiences are there in print. They can’t be taken away from you. You can pass it down to your kids, or give it to your friends around the holidays like a fruitcake.

3. If your life stories are funny/heart-wrenching/entertaining enough, you can get commissioned to write more. Like Tucker Max, or Karrine Steffans.

4. You tell people you’re a writer and they ask you to write a story about them. Here’s  a quick way to do it!  Mission accomplished!

CONS

1. Who’s going to read it? Most people aren’t celebrities. In fact, if they were celebrities, they would have to invent a word for people we consider celebrities now. I can’t get my friends to read a fully realized novel for $2, let alone a tome about a guy who’s life doesn’t fit in a three act structure.

2. Change the names or not, you’re going to piss somebody off. Whether it’s that crazy relative that made you hate your life or that ex that ruined romantic relationships for you, if you are going to be unflinchingly honest be prepared for the backlash. People have been sued for stuff that’s been written in some memoirs.

3. This is a big one for me. I’m not just fishing for compliments when I say I’m a bum. I honestly don’t think I’m all that special, even though people have told me otherwise. Yes, I know I’m venturing into Humblebrag territory, but I’m just being honest. What’s to say if I release a memoir today, that my life improves ten fold afterward? Do I have to write an addendum? What about the opposite? I’m flying high and then after releasing the book BAM!!, I’m back at the bottom like a bad turn in Snakes&Ladders. Then what? Do I cling to my book as “the good ‘ol days?”

So I tended to side with the “Hell NO” camp when I was asked about it. So why am I on the fence all of a sudden? That question has got me a bit confused as well. You see:

A friend of mine gave me a chapter of his girlfriend’s relative’s memoir that he wanted me to adapt into a screenplay. Obviously I can’t go into too much detail but it’s a coming of criminal age story in the vein of “Casino”, “Goodfellas” and “Scarface” Anywho, I’m trying to pull the most interesting plot threads to weave into the short story and I realized that I was really getting into this “character’s” relationship with his friend. As soon as I stepped back and read it like it was a work of fiction (knowing full well it wasn’t) I started to enjoy it immensely.  Then the egotistical side of me (the side I try to suppress but ever so often I fail at it) rears his head. He’s all like:

“Ssssss Flobo. You can do one of theesssee if you triiiiied…”

My egotistical side is persuasive….

So my Id and SuperEgo are at an impasse. More on this developing tale……

–Flobo

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