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.

Confidence

By Michael Hicks Thompson

What is the one thing— the most important thing—a professional golfer must have to win on tour?

Confidence! If you’re a pro golfer, or tennis player, even a heart surgeon, you need confidence. Not arrogance. Just confidence. A belief in your God-given abilities coupled with the teaching and practice you’ve slogged through. And the determination to be the best you can be.

For novelists, their need for confidence is no different than the professional athlete or the heart surgeon. It’s a long haul with short term goals.

Without confidence, you’re sunk. It’s the underlying cause of the dreaded yips for golfers and surgeons. Or writer’s block for authors.  

I’d just come out of a major inferiority complex dealing with another novel. Actually, it’s a novel I‘d written five years ago. A sci-fi thriller about a world without decent drinking water. It was published as a serial in a year-long magazine.

After that, I wrote the Solo murder mysteries series--The Rector, then The Actress. Lately, I’ve felt a strong urge to re-write the sci-fi thriller, originally titled, JALA, which means water in Hindi. I wasn’t happy with my writing of that story, so I picked it up again. Even changed the title to WATER, 2035.

My confidence had taken leave, along with my senses. Big time. I struggled for months with the story. Couldn’t make up my mind about anything--the protagonist, the antagonist, the POV, their relationship, nothing. I was happy with the sub-plot, but nothing else.

Then, I was the first to sign up for a weekend retreat with Brandilyn Collins in Coure d’Alene, Idaho. That day and a half got me back on track. This was her first time to invite 15 writers to her home. She’s a master teacher.

One fellow didn’t show, leaving me as the only male among 14 ladies and one instructor. If you ever have the chance to attend one of her retreats, I recommend it.

It wasn’t like she sprinkled magic dust over my writing.

After returning home, I still struggled to get behind my computer and work out the scenes, the action, the dialogue. Mrs. Collins edited the first two pages that six of us had sent in a month earlier. She handed them out on the last day, and read them. Our version. Then hers. I sunk down in my chair when my turn came.

I got over my ego fast after reading and re-reading her edits. Then, I realized how right she was. Every day, I’d start from page one and read until I needed to add or correct something. (I didn’t change much from those first two pages.) But, I finally realized I had a good story to tell. And any writer knows the first two pages are life or death for a reader. I used what Brandilyn taught and eventually got in a groove, finally able to determine my protagonist’s deepest desires. If a writer doesn’t know the protagonist’s desires then the reader certainly won’t. And your writing will fall flat on the page.

I’d fiddle with and re-write every word along the way, each morning, progressing slowly through the scenes that needed re-writing for either plot/character changes, or just pure bad writing.

By the third month, my confidence had grown, little by little. The story seemed to take shape. And I was loving it. Still am. Sixty-seven thousand words later, and I’m still in a groove.

My advice to writers stuck in a new genre? Seek the help of from an excellent instructor in a small group setting. You’ll come away a better writer. 

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Born in his mother’s bed and raised on a small Mississippi farm, Michael Hicks Thompson knows a thing or two about strong Christian women, alcoholic men, and Jesus. His fictional writings intersperse his observations of human nature with theology. He’s a member of Kairos (prison ministry), been to Cuba twice on door-to-door evangelism mission trips, been a Sunday School teacher, and a member of Independent Presbyterian Church for 35 years. He and his wife of 45 years live in Memphis, TN, have three sons and four grandchildren. The little ones call him “Big Mike.”After earning his undergrad degree from Ole Miss and then a master’s in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, Michael started a one-man ad agency in Memphis. It grew to 87 employees in two cities, winning numerous national and international creative awards. Michael sold his firm in 2011 and turned his attention to full-time Christian fiction writing. His latest novel, The Actress (his sixth novel), is available in book stores and on Amazon in print, and for Kindle. Having already won four major awards, The Rector was first in the series. Both novels are murder mysteries that take place in the Mississippi Delta.

Authors, Are You Into Webinars?

 By Michael Hicks Thompson

I've had it with the non-stop email solicitations wanting to help me sell books. Of course I need to know how to better market my books! So I try to keep up. But, frankly, it’s not easy, figuring out which “Help Offer” is going to help me.

I've been on at least two dozen "How to Successfully Market Your Book" webinars. Some even charge $!  (I've found a few that don't charge, yet offer good insight. Like Joan Stewart's The Publicity Hound.) 

I sign up for what looks good. Then comes the pitch. Most give good ‘free’ info then go through the same routine to up-sell you on their programs. "It's worth $2,000. But if you buy today… only $297."

I know I need to learn. So I wade through them all. Some are outrageous.

Like the "$1 NOW" come-ons... only to discover there's a $1 charge for 7 days, then jumps to $59/month -- automatically, unless I remember to cancel. Have you ever?  

Maybe you've also plowed through the plethora of "Let Me Help You" sites? I get six emails a week, and yes, I'll admit, I check 'em out. Why not? I'm trying to figure out how to sell a few books when 727,125 ISBNs were assigned to self-published authors in 2015 .That's right. 727,125 in one year alone, and that’s just to self-published authors. Look it up on Bowker.

  

Authors, the competition is daunting. But good work will win out in the end.

If you’re contemplating your first novel, please, stop and ask yourself. “Am I doing this so I can tell my family and friends that I’ve written a novel?” If that’s your subconscious speaking to you, please, re-think this. So many “first novels” come on the marketplace that haven’t even been edited. Result? Family and friends who read them become so disillusioned by all the errors, grammatical mistakes, plot snafus, and unexplainable dialogue that they may never pick up a new author again. They go back to the same celebrity authors, leaving new, serious authors in the wake of anonymity. 

My college roommate went to New York to become an actor in the 70s. He later told me, "Michael, for every audition I went to, there were 3,000 actors as qualified for that role as me. Not all 3,000 showed up, but the hardest-working ones did. There was just too much competition." 

Writing a 75,000-word book is hard work. If you’re not willing to hire a professional editor, why write it? And if it’s going to be the only book you ever write, why bother?

Meantime, I'll keep wading through the webinars and try to make sense of this industry. Maybe somebody should start a “Ranking Profile” of these webinars.

PS -- I'm really not a sour-puss. Today, I'm just frustrated by all the noise in the "Let Me Help You" world of new authors. 

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Michael Hicks Thompson was a successful ad agency owner, winning numerous national and international awards. After selling his firm in 2011, Michael turned his attention to full-time writing. His latest novel is The Actress and he also authored The Rector, available on Amazon in print, on Audio Book, and Kindle. Two graphic novels on the life of David from the Old Testament–DAVID–The Illustrated Novel came first. (Volume 2-won first place BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL and BEST INTERIOR DESIGN, 2012, from USA Book’s INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Volume 1 won the Silver IPPY for Graphic Novels in 2011 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.) Next was a sci-fi thriller (CLOUDS ABOVE) that was serialized in a monthly magazine for a year. (Out in book in 2016.) Michael writes Christian novels that entertain, intrigue, and shine a light on his Jesus. He’s a member of the ACFW, Mystery Writers of America, The International Crime Writers Association, and the Southern Writers Association. Visit his website, www.michaelthompsonauthor.com to learn more. 

michael@shepking.com Can book trailers be as riveting as movie trailers? Let's see:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehb0cDbeozE

Write on a Round Desk

By Michael H. Thompson

A: “Why would any writer believe me, you ask? Maybe it’s because they have highly creative minds.”

Q: “What’s a round desk have to do with creative writers?”

A: “It’s simple, really. Round corners … they’re round, no sharp edges. Do you know what that does to the human mind?”

Q: “Afraid you’ll have to explain.”

A: “Well, I’ve experienced this phenomenon for some time. In fact, I’ve had plenty of experience with the “four-corner creative killers,” I now call them.”

Q: “What’s four corners got to do with anything?”

A: “Two problems with four corners. One, the edges interfere with your creative liberty.”

Q: “Really? That’s a new one for me.”

A: “Well, those square corners are out there in the periphery of your eyes. Your eyes are connected to your brain, right?”

Q: “So?”

A: (I pointed to my temple.) “Those square corners become interference to the mind, like a bad song stuck in your subconscious.”

Q: “I’m not buying it. That makes no sense to me.”

A: “Sorry, bad analogy. Let’s try this. We all have a subconscious, right? God made us that way. Now the subconscious, what does it do?”

Q: “I don’t know, you tell me. I thought I was asking the questions here.”

A: “You are. I just wanted you to consider the subconscious. You do know it detects things in our minds we’re not even aware of, right? Now put that thought into this thought … square corners on a writing desk suck up the energy in our writing.”

Q: “How so?”

A: “Simple. Our subconscious recognizes them, but our conscious self doesn’t. A round desk shaves off those intrusive little gremlins, leaving us free to write without subconscious distraction.”

Q: “You’re kidding me, right?”

A: “No, try it sometime.”

Q: “I think you’re insane.”

A: “Why?”

Q: “Well, for one, your computer screen is square. It’s not round. How do you explain that for your subconscious?”

A: “I can’t. I can only tell you that it’s not the machine we’re using to create our work; it’s our surrounding that subconsciously interacts with our work.”

Q: “Hemingway! He wrote at a square desk. What about him?”

A: “Please, keep your voice down. The library guard. She’s already watching us. But you’re right. And my point exactly. Hemingway was a stiff writer. He never loosened up. Too stilted … the square corners got him.”

Q: “You’re crazy, you know that?”

A: “I’m sorry I disappointed you. I think I asked more questions than you did, though. Oh, and there’s one more thing I forgot. With that circular periphery, most of your desk mess is out of sight, which could be another distraction disaster. You cool with that?”

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Michael Thompson was a successful ad agency owner, winning numerous national and international awards. After selling his firm in 2011, Michael turned his attention to full-time writing. His latest novel is The Rector, available on Amazon in print, on Audio Book, and Kindle. Two graphic novels on the life of David from the Old Testament–DAVID–The Illustrated Novel came first. (Volume 2-won first place BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL and BEST INTERIOR DESIGN, 2012, from USA Book’s INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Volume 1 won the Silver IPPY for Graphic Novels in 2011 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.) Next was a sci-fi thriller (CLOUDS ABOVE) that was serialized in a monthly magazine for a year. (Out in book in 2016.) Michael writes Christian novels that entertain, intrigue, and shine a light on his Jesus. He’s a member of the ACFW, Mystery Writers of America, The International Crime Writers Association, and the Southern Writers Association. Visit his website, www.michaelthompsonauthor.com to learn more.

Book Signings, Selling and Future Ideas

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine    

Author Michael Hicks Thompson recently had a book signing for his latest work, The Rector, A Christian Murder Mystery. There is a lot of excitement around Thompson’s latest work. The Rector was chosen by the Beverly Hills Book Awards as a Finalist. The signing was at The Booksellers of Laurelwood in Memphis TN. Booksellers is one of those meccas for authors and readers alike. It is a great venue for authors to introduce their work.

Book signings can do many things for an author. Many of which I saw at Thompson’s book signing. Let’s look at a few very important points of a book signing.

·      

Personal contact with your readers. Readers love to meet the author. Book signings give readers an opportunity to meet their heroes, the ones that gave life to their favorite characters. Everyone wants to know the author and this gives the readers personal time with them. When given a chance readers will express their fondness of the author and his talent. It builds a bond between the author and reader that could last for years.

·       Book sales. I must say I have bought a book simply because the author was there in front of me to sign it. My thoughts were that if someone mentioned they liked this author I could always make it a gift to them. The point is signed books sell. This reinforces the closeness and proves the personal contact a reader had with the author.  Author Steve Bradshaw, The Bell Trilogy, told me that book signings were his bread and butter. From there many more opportunities came which led to more sales.

·       New ideas. Having attended signings that included readings and personal contact with the author, there seemed to be discussions with the readers concerning the characters and the story line. The author hears such things as will the main character ever do this. Have you ever thought of the character taking off on a tangent to do this? Will there be a sequel? By the way the sequel to Michael Hicks Thompson’s The Rector, entitled The Typewriter, will be released this year. Feedback from the readers can make an author aware of how his work is seen and could bring great ideas to the forefront. It may lead an author in a direction not considered. Many times a reader will offer a new story or book idea for your consideration.

So when considering a book signing go into it with the awareness that this is more than you meeting and greeting and selling your book. Prepare to form new relationships that could be lasting ones. Be aware of additional opportunities that may spin off this event. Be open to the path should it unfold before you. Keep a note book or personal devise nearby to jot down any ideas, story lines or contacts that may arise.

Selling your book is definitely an important part of your book signing event but there other ways that may come along that can be just as productive and profitable to your writing career. Being prepared for and aware of these opportunities as they come could make each and every book signing productive.        

How to Show Not Tell

By Michael H. Thompson

Most fiction writers struggle a bit with “showing” instead of “telling” their reader what’s happening with their characters. While this subject has been written to death, I want to talk about a useful took I found to help me figure out how to “show” not “tell.”

Its title is The Emotion Thesaurus—A Writer’s Guide to Character Expressions. (No, I have no financial interest in this book whatsoever.)

Here’s a snippet from the book’s introduction: “All successful novels, no matter what genre, have one thing in common: emotion. It lies at the core of every character’s decision, action, and word, all of which drive the story. Without emotion, a character’s personal journey is pointless. Stakes cease to exist. The plot line becomes a dry riverbed of meaningless events that no reader will take time to read … As writers, we must take our innate skills of observation and transfer them to the page. Readers have high expectations. They don’t want to be told how a character feels; they want to experience the emotion for themselves.”

The Emotion Thesaurus provides seventy-five emotions to give us plenty of ways to “show-not-tell” through three different means—physical signals, mental responses, and internal sensations. The book explains in detail these three emotional reactions.

From adoration to agitation, and unease to worry, the seventy-five emotions offer suggestions in the three means mentioned above.

Here’s just one example: Anxiety. PHYSICAL SIGNALS: Rubbing the back of the neck, crossing the arms, standing with one arm holding the other at the elbow, fingering a necklace, adjusting clothes as if they chafe, and twenty more examples. INTERNAL SENSATIONS: restless legs, increased thirst, accelerated breathing … and a half-dozen others. MENTAL RESPONSES: self blame, seeking reassurance from others, replaying the events that caused the anxiety, time feeling like it’s slowing down, and plenty of other suggested ways to “show-not-tell” about the character’s anxious mental state.

The Emotion Thesaurus, by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, is also full of other helpful writer tips.

I use this book often, and recommend it to writers. It’ll improve your writing.

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Michael Thompson was a successful ad agency owner, winning numerous national and international awards. After selling his firm in 2011, Michael turned his attention to full-time writing. His latest novel is The Rector, available on Amazon in print, on Audio Book, and Kindle. Combine a suspenseful murder mystery with theology and that’s The Rector. “High stars for a Christian mystery that reads like a thriller.”~~ H.S. Dale, author. Two graphic novels on the life of David from the Old Testament–DAVID–The Illustrated Novel came first. (Volume 2-won first place BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL and BEST INTERIOR DESIGN, 2012, from USA Book’s INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Volume 1 won the Silver IPPY for Graphic Novels in 2011 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.) Next was a sci-fi thriller (CLOUDS ABOVE) that was serialized in a monthly magazine for a year. (Out in book in 2016.) Michael writes Christian novels that entertain, intrigue, and shine a light on his Jesus. He’s a member of the ACFW, Mystery Writers of America, The International Crime Writers Association, and the Southern Writers Association. Visit his website, www.michaelthompsonauthor.com to learn more.