Writing for the Cinema, Part 1

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Award winning author, Michael Hicks Thompson’s, The Rector and The Actress, and I are members of the same writers group. Graciously, he recently gave our group his presentation concerning writing your book with the cinema in mind. He presented four similar workshops recently at Mississippi Writer’s Guild Annual Conference at the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, Miss. Thompson’s presentation at this conference is titled, “7 Secrets to Cinematic Writing.”  His books, The Rector and The Actress are currently being considered for movies because of the way they are written.

Thompson says there are two things an author would rather have more than anything. One is book sales and the other is a movie deal. He shared with us his tips on writing with the movies in mind. Some of his tips include:

Pace in your book should be the actual pace of live action or as Michael says, “Write to movie action. You should write to pace as you see it happening on the big screen,” A good way is to compare how many seconds occurred in the movie action with how many seconds occurred in the reading of your description. Compare and revise to match.

According to Michael setting the pace isn’t complicated but it does mean describing only the most important details of action, characters and the setting. With many authors this goes against the grain because there are many descriptions you could add but shouldn’t. Do not over describe. “Take out the garbage! Take out the unnecessary words and descriptions.” Things that spoil the pace is the use of the following: One of, some, thing, verbs ending in “ing”, adverbs (words ending in “ly”), very and leading words so, most times, in order to, often and often times.  

Dialogue should be real. Michael says, “You should use a lot of dialogue.” I would think so but over the decades this has seemed to change from the dialogue packed movies of the 1940’s and 50’s to todays movies with long periods of silence but expressive scenes through the visual presentation of the actors. Michael warned, “If your dialogue isn’t real, the story isn’t real.” Dialogue is an area many writers have trouble with so Michael recommends, “Study the craft.”

Show, Don’t Tell. The difference is Tell is a description, Show is done with emotion. Michael’s example.

Tell: Sheriff Turnbull then told Martha that Tully Ivey never mentioned that Dawkins said he loved her.

Show: “You wouldn’t understand. Twice now, I’ve heard her reference the note in Andrew’s hand, and not once has she mentioned the part where he says he loves me.” Michael recommends if you have trouble finding a way to “Show” buy yourself a copy of The Emotion Thesaurus. Again, study the craft.

Please know Michael Hicks Thompson is willing to travel to conferences and deliver this and my other Keynote addresses, or workshops. Please contact Michael through his web site, michaelthompsonauthor.com for more information and a quote. His website is interesting and has his current information. My blog post here on Suite T does NOT include all the information told as only Michael can tell in person about his "7 Secrets of Cinematic Writing." Thompson saved his best for last, a number 8, if you will. But I'm not allowed to include it here. You'll need to bring Thompson to your next conference to see his cinematic writing presentation, or his Dramatic Irony presentation, or his "7 Secrets to Mystery Writing." 

Stay tune for Part 2, Writing for the Cinema, Part 2 will conclude here on Suite T Thursday, August 8^th.

Seven Books That Will Change Your Fiction Writing Career

By DiAnn Mills

Reading how-to books demand the professional writer’s attention. These resources need to be read and reread, underlined, noted, and inhaled like a breath of fresh air—or a dose of castor oil. Depends on our ability to accept the contents. I have my favorites, and I want to share them with you and why I value their information.

1.     Writing the Break-Out Novel by Donald Maass. This how-to book challenged me to climb out of mediocre writing and scale the peaks of a bestselling writer. Maass is a genius in the world of fiction writing techniques and providing excellent examples of his points.

2.     Writing the Break-Out Novel Workbook by Donald Maass. The hands-on exercises in this workbook demonstrate the power of Maass’ teachings by applying his principles to our own work.

3.     Story Trumps Structure by Steven James demonstrates the power of story. When our novels are closed and the reader reflects upon the characters’ adventures, what prevails is the journey woven through the pages.

4.     The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is cemented to my desktop. These writers have crafted an informative book that blends emotion and body language to clearly show instead of telling story.

5.     The Power of Body Language by Tonya Reiman is a remarkable tool for the writer seeking to enhance characterization. The resource is also a valuable handbook for the speaker who not only desires to read her audience but also exhibit her own appropriate body language.

6.     Dialogue by Gloria Kempton establishes the importance of what a character says, how it’s said, and word choices. Exercises at the end of each chapter help the writer to practice the concepts.

7.     Dictionary and Thesaurus - This is a given, but we writers need to have one handy at all times.

No matter what your challenge in creating story, whether it is characterization, plot, dialogue, setting, emotion, setting, or self-editing. These books will guide you into professionalism. Are you ready to read, write, reread, and rewrite?

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DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall. Her series includes her latest Double Cross and Deadlock. DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.