Authoring & Playwriting

Yeah, that title should actually read DREAM ON!

Fantastic share, Ashley Renee Smith! I learned a lot about the publishing world watching this video!

Thanks for sharing, Ashley Renee Smith ! I'm currently working on a screenplay adaptation project for a tween/YA book. It skewers more for tweens and children as the story is very innocent without any romance/crushes etc., and deliberately without any violence. I naturally write more adult, so this is a nice change of pace.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, William Joseph Hill!

That's very cool, Tom Lapke ! I'm sure there was a mountain of groundwork developing his craft to get to this point. Proof that persistence can pay off!

Thanks for sharing, Leonardo! I’m excited for the month ahead and all the great educational opportunities. If you have any questions about our upcoming programs, feel free to email us at edu@stage32.com

Multi-POV is so so so so difficult to pull off Ashley Renee Smith . I never want to stifle anyone's creativity but I'm of the opinion that you need to get good at single POV before embarking on multi. I see a lot of new authors jumping right into multi because of it becoming more popular. So for anyone who wants to give it a try, I say go for it as a creative challenge, but first read some great examples. "Remarkably Bright Creatures" did it well, and so did "The Orphan Master's Son," though in that second case, it's more of a POV shift. "As I Lay Dying" is another multi-POV that's really effective. Personally, I prefer using omniscient narrative voice when I need to show multiple perspectives so that the reader stays anchored, but that's just me!

Currently writing a multiple POV novel for the first time. 3 POVs that switch from chapter to chapter. The POV part isn't what I'm struggling with, so much as the first person present tense. It definitely helps that I made a thorough outline before starting.

First person present tense is quite limiting and difficult to deftly do. First person all tenses gives you and the reader so much more flexibility. Regardless, good luck to you with your novel, Terrence, and may you enjoy the process very much.

Hey Fauna Chesterman cool of you coming to this community to share your work! Always requires so much bravery to be open up to feedback. I don't have experience in the comic book space either so hoping some others jump in, but have you looked to see if there is a local comic book club in your area? No matter if it's book, film, whatever, I always suggest centering the reader experience, so it could be helpful hearing directly from your target audience.

Not that am I aware of, not that I can't look, although I was recommended to come here for peer review. Plus it doesn't necessary need to have comic book experience since I don't have experience in that field either since my experience has been on short stories/novels and a bit of TV script writing. If possible, you can give feedback on the story pitch, how it comes across, etc. Anything that comes to mind that you think might help with the story

Welcome to the community, Fauna Chesterman. I don't have experience in the comic book space, but I posted some notes below from a screenwriter’s POV.

I don’t think you need to bold the logline.

Since you’re pitching the story as a comic book, I suggest mentioning that on the first page of your pitch.

The first sentence in the Thematic Concept section says, “In a city proud of being built on values of self freedom comes to decide how free one is in terms of identity…” I’m not sure what that part means. You might need to reword it.

I suggest removing the In other words section since it’s repeating what you said in the Project Sum-up section.

Add a brief writer’s statement about your connection to the story on the first page.

In the first paragraph of Brief Prologue, it says, “Redwood City Rooftops - Red shift is standing on top of a skyscraper in the near futuristic city of Redwood city, an artificially made island city off the coast of canada.” Capitalize “shift” and “canada.”

I like the parts on pages 2-5. You did a great job painting a picture of the story, but some producers, directors, etc. might not access a five-page pitch. There might be a page limit (like two pages for Stage 32’s Pitch Sessions). If you run into this issue with a producer, director, etc., I suggest replacing the parts on pages 2-5 with short bios for the major characters in the story and a short synopsis (about 5-6 sentences).

In the first paragraph of ACT 1, it says, “The scene shifts to a week ago, maintaining a visual view of where Red shift had been looking at her hands, but now, the scene is over a bridge connecting Redwood city with mainland Canada.” Capitalize “shift” and “city.”

On page 2 (toward the bottom), add a period at the end of “LUKE: Who are you? Don’t try to stop me, it’s…better this way”

On page 3 (toward the top), add a period at the end of “MAKER: Right now, you do”

On page 3 (toward the bottom), add a period at the end of “???: It’s real…I’m…the real me…I finally feel…like a girl”

In the last paragraph on page 3, it says, “she suddenly goes a lot faster then she was used to.” Change “then” to “than.”

In the second paragraph on page 4, it says, “she put her eye mask back on and ran off down the bridge.” Change “put” to “puts” and change “ran” to “runs.” Also, there are other times throughout the pitch when you switch from Present Tense to Past Tense. I suggest doing the entire pitch in Present Tense.

On page 4 (toward the middle), it says, “CROW MASTER: Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, who is this? I don’t recognise you. No matter, I won’t let a would-be heroine get in my way. The collector demands his due and I, Crow Master, shall ensure its delivery” Capitalize “collector” and add a period at the end of Crow Master’s dialogue.

In the last paragraph of ACT 2, it says, “Crow master gets frustrated with his crows.” Capitalize “master.”

Capitalize “master” throughout ACT 3.

In the second paragraph of ACT 3, it says, “only to reveal a empty crater.” Change “a” to “an.”

On page 5 (toward the top), add a period at the end of “RED SHIFT: Call me…Red Shift”

On page 5 (toward the middle), remove the quotation mark at the end of RED SHIFT: This time, you're not hurting anyone else, not when I’m around!

On page 5 (toward the middle), it says, “CROW MASTER: this cannot be! I am one of the collector’s chosen, I won’t be beaten by a wannabe!” Capitalize “this” and “collector’s.”

In the second from last paragraph (on page 5), it says, “He calls forth more crows to attack Red shift” Capitalize “shift.”

I'll do my best to revise as to your suggestions, although I should explain, for context, the layout was something I was given to follow with the logline, the project sum-up and the in other words section. I understand it is not exactly a excuse for sloppy excution, although I hope it can explain some of the strange layout designs and choices. For the Grammer errors and the other stuff, I'll get to that shortly :)

I attached the front part of the guide I was given to follow for context

How do you navigate work, writing, and marketing effectively?

Debbie Elicksen making that list was profound. It became what I researched for my PhD dissertation about happiness and the chapters of my book, Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want. When I first made my list, I pinned it to my bulletin board for about a year. A few years later, I found the list when I was going through some papers. I realized the list was still valid and pinned it again on my bulletin board where it still hangs. The only thing I changed was the word God to faith, feeling that it was more encompassing. My list is Faith, Love, Health, Gratitude, Forgiveness, Peace, Detachment, Abundance in this order — one giving rise to the next. I call them Happiness Essentials. They guide me every day from the moment I wake up. I hope these can guide you and others as well. I encourage everyone to become happiness explorers, someone who better understands what makes them happy, or at least happier. My book and Take a Shot companion app can help guide this inner exploration. Thank you for your comment and making your list or exploring mine will serve you.

@Parker- How do you navigate work, writing, and marketing effectively? A. Good question! Candidly, I find it challenging to do all of these at the same time. My flip answer is that I spin the plate that needs to be spun.

However, here are the strategies I have found helpful when I am on a mission to get a project done:

1) I block-time. I schedule my writing time, marketing time, and any other life items I need to get done, including exercising. Taking care of my health is a non—negotiable.

2) I tend to work in 1.5 hour chunks. Research shows after this amount of time, your energy and focus start to fade. Your mind and body need a break, even if it is just ten minutes. I wrote my book using this method.

3) Prioritize what is most important and do that first. Each day, Steve Jobs would spend three hours on his most important project. Look where that got him.

4) Try not to overwhelm yourself with a long to do list. Break that list into “do now,” “do later,” and “do not do at all.” Sometimes we think we have to do something and we really do not need to. Recognize when you can let something go. Example, while you feel you have to wash your kitchen floor, do you really? Is it more important than finishing your script? If the answer is no, take it off your “to-do” list. Save yourself the anxiety of feeling you need to wash your floor (or whatever the task.)

5) If you have a daunting project, whether it is writing, marketing, cleaning out your closet, whatever, do it in 20 minute chunks. It will make your task seem more doable.

6) Set aside a chunk of time to create your marketing content — this can be daily, weekly of monthly. Figure out what is realistic for you to manage.

7) Cut yourself some slack. Instead of feeling bad or guilty about what you did not get done, prize yourself for what you did. Writing, marketing, work…life! It all takes time. Give yourself the grace of this understanding. If it is truly important to you, it will get done. It just might taken longer than you thought and that is okay as long as you are consistently taking steps forward.

In a nutshell, navigating writing, marketing, and work comes down to prioritizing what is importance, scheduling time for it, and letting go of what is unnecessary.

I hope this helps. You got this ;)

Thank you so much!

You are so welcome Parker J. Cole

Stephen has 24/7 to do whatever he wants. Money up the ying yang, so he does not need regular work. He also lives in Maine where there is nothing to do.

Ultimately, I think it's better to develop your own routine than follow someone else's. I can't do King's because I've got 2 kids and client calls. Believe me, taking a nap in the middle of the day sounds awesome. I also think some people commit self-sabotage with the word count/page count goals. Better to make 10 words of progress than zero and it's too tempting for most people to say, "Well, I can't hit ten pages today, so I'm just not going to do anything." King's real point in the book is not to follow his routine, but to find what works for YOU.

I think the pace of your writing work is really an individual thing. It depends on what else you have going on. As one guy wrote, King has money up the dying yang and where he lives, there is nothing else to do. So of course, he produced 6 pages a day. It's an individual thing. I never let someone else's pacing dictate what I do.

I agree with Johnathan and Solange. Sandra Rhymes tells writers that anybody can find ten minutes each day to write something.

As the police commissioner in Miller's GN The Dark Night said about The Batman, "He's too big." Same for Mr King, who can and does write as he pleases, and evidently never tires of telling other writers to follow his example in everything.