Our Performance Equals Our Potential...Or Does It?

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

“Success and failure come with great interference.”  Winston Churchill

I received this drawing from one of my Facebook friends this week. I do not know it’s origin but was taken by its truth. So many times we expect a “B-line” to success without any detours or bumps in the road. But “what it really looks like” is much more accurate.

Interference has its way of creeping in. I have always felt there were two types of interference. One is the uninvited and unwelcome that can show up at any time in the form of a neighbor, family member, or personal problem that needs your attention. Then there are the sought after and sometimes even fabricated interferences used as an excuse to escape the task at hand. Either must be overcome in order for us to move forward to success.   

Marketing is no different. We will be distracted along the way but will need to correct and get back on track. I once heard the example of the guided missile used. We are all similar to a guided missile. We are constantly going off track and must be guided back on track. Unlike the guided missile we do not have the convenience of technology constantly monitoring us and guiding us back. This we must do ourselves.

David L. Cook, PhD is a renowned performance and sports psychologist. I found one of Dr. Cook’s points in Mindset of a Champion: Performing Your Best When it Means the Most to be particular to writers and their performance. We assume our Performance equals our Potential. But Dr. Cook says Performance equals Potential minus Interference. Dr. Cook told of Magic Johnson speaking to the Washington Wizards. They had their best year in over ten years and were headed to the playoffs.  Magic told them as the playoff begins interference mounts. Managing interference at this stage of the game is vital. Dr. Cook said he was there to prepare them for the interference that was about to come in their life. All the hype had to be overcome in order to win the playoffs. I recommend writers seek his help with interference by getting a copy of Mindset of a Champion: Performing Your Best When it Means the Most.

Watch for an interview with Dr. David L. Cook author of Golf’s Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links of Utopia and its movie adaptation Seven Days in Utopia, in the November issue of Southern Writers Magazine.

Judging Books by Their Covers

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


The parade of new movie posters hanging outside the local Malco theatre on any given weekend affect me in the same way ancient sailors found themselves drawn to the song of the Sirens. Approaching them from afar fills me with unparalleled anticipation of the mystery, beauty and adventure Hollywood hopes will lure us into its buttery-smelling catacombs.

And yet, once the posters are within view, it takes less than two seconds to assess each banner and develop a definite sense of whether or not that matinee will get the nod. About a second for the title and a second to glance at the picture, and I’m on to the next.

Relatively speaking, a great many factors are deduced in such a short amount of time. All at once, consideration is given to familiarity with actors, the appeal of the graphics, the cleverness of any tagline and, of course, the showtime (in the event I’ve already missed the beginning). But, for my money, the most immediate deciding factor is the title.

Case in point: a movie came out this week called Columbiana. It may be a terrific film; it may be a total bore. I’ll never know personally because the title was one of those instant turnoffs. It just sounds like yet another South American drug smuggling artillery-fest. (I’ve since learned that it’s about a girl who grows up to be an assassin or something.) I contend that the movie would have a wider appeal if they had taken a little more care to pick an enticing title. If the girl had an interesting name, Natasha would be a better title. Or since she’s a killer, how about Femme Fatality?

Not to pick on Columbiana; that just happens to be a current example. For the sake of contrast, let’s look at other titles now showing that do evoke some sense of what the movie’s about:

     Rise of the Planet of the Apes

     Our Idiot Brother

     Bad Teacher

     Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

     Cowboys & Aliens

Regardless of whether those titles draw you in, they don’t beat around the bush; they tell you something. Another example, Midnight in Paris, suggests a mood that is very much like the movie itself. And vague though they may be, even The Debt and Crazy, Stupid, Love at least suggest a theme. Now, I haven’t seen any of the above and am not endorsing any (although another intriguing title is Seven Days in Utopia; I have seen that and recommend it enthusiastically).

The same personal scale by which we rate movie posters is in play when we’re browsing the bookshelves. That all-important title, coupled with appropriate cover art, is going to determine whether we pick it up to see more. A look at this week’s New York Times fiction bestsellers reveals these evocative titles:

     Kill Me If You Can

     A Dance with Dragons

     A Trick of the Light

     The Language of Flowers

     Flash and Bones (I think this author would appreciate Femme Fatality)

All of those titles pop, and even the most indistinct of them bear some connection to what lies between the covers. In all cases, if the title doesn’t say it all, the supportive artwork fills in the gap.

Whether it’s your book, movie, blog or YouTube video, it never hurts to declare your intentions with a solid title. You can still get creative as long as you decide on a name that evokes some idea of what you’re going to deliver. Whichever the case, you’ll want to avoid ambiguity, which could cause you to be written off, having evoked no reaction at all.

Next time you’re at the movies, I invite you to take note of how much the titles alone have influenced your choice. And if you see Columbiana, you’ll have to tell me if it’s any good.