Notoriously Noir and Writing Today

Film noir, French for “black film”, is the classification for the popular films of the 40’s and 50’s that combined crime, cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.

I’m a fan of Alfred Hitchcock. Add Cary Grant and you get my favorite Film Noir Notorious. It’s the story of two lovers whose lives and relationship are torn apart by espionage and undercover work for the government. Below are two of my favorite scenes from this movie.

The first is a wide look at a grand mansion. The camera shows the house packed with happy party guests, but finally zooms in on Ingrid Bergman’s hand concealing a key. No words are necessary to convey the powerful meaning of her actions.

The second scene has been termed one of the most “intimate and erotic kisses”. Production Code’s at the time banned kisses longer than three seconds in duration. Hitchcock had his actors disengage every three seconds, murmur and nuzzle each other, then kiss again. They even walk from room to room without every breaking contact for approximately three minutes.

Many screenwriters today copy or pay homage to those films, creating a kind of “Modern Day Noir”. If you are interested in writing your own Noir there are a few rules.

1. Read/watch classic Noir (see examples below).

2. Decide on the circumstances of the crime. All noir mystery stories explore the meaning of good and evil, so be sure to address this theme. There's more emphasis on characters in noir mysteries than others, the deed must be evil enough to create a dark, cynical atmosphere.

3. Decide on an angle for telling the story. You MUST capture the dark atmosphere of the genre. Remember, you can't count on the police or a private investigator to tell your story. The narrator must be someone with first-hand knowledge of the crime, if not the actual criminal.

4. Clarify exactly how the crime was committed down to the last detail. A map of the setting and a blow-by-blow description will help you organize this information. Make a list of clues and build scenes around their gradual discovery.

5. Write character sketches of everyone involved, especially the suspects. You need to figure out how to portray the steamy relationship between your femme fatale and the man she lures into the crime.

For a fun example of tips or an outline visit: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteAFilmNoir

This website is dedicated to Modern Noir Fiction: http://www.backalleywebzine.com/

Read free Film Noir scripts and screenplays: http://www.simplyscripts.com/genre/film-noir-scripts.html

Happy Writing!

Marketing Plan for Authors

Regardless of whether you decide to go the traditional publishing or self-publishing route, you will need to create a marketing plan. You'll actually need to create one for each book. Gone are the days when publishing houses would sink money into advertising every author they publish. Unless you are an already known entity (James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, Stephen King, Nora Roberts etc.) you have to do the work yourself.

Some publishers even ask you to submit a marketing plan with your query, synopsis and manuscript. They want to see proof you will work for them (promotion), not the other way around.

I’ll be honest. I’ve never created a marketing plan. I’ve been researching them online so I can create my own. I have been generally dissatisfied with the information I found. However, I do want to share three promising posts on the subject.

1.http://www.writerswrite.com/selfpublishing/hollowell.htm

2. http://www.yudkin.com/sampleplan.htm

3. http://www.thecreativepenn.com/marketing/

If you’ve found some great references or don’t mind sharing your own marketing plan, please leave a link in the comments.

Happy writing and good luck marketing!

Loglines for Your Screenplay or Book

A logline is a one-sentence summary of your script or book explaining what your story is about. Think of the descriptions in TV guides that tell you about a movie. It's the grabber that excites your interest and helps you decide if you're interested in watching the show.

You must learn to express the story concept in one powerful sentence if you want an agent or producer to read your story. This is why many professionals will tell you to write down this one key sentence before you even begin writing. You can keep it in front of you while you write to remain focused. Then, when you are ready to query, you have the logline ready to capture attention.

The logline (the stories skeleton) generally consists of the following pieces of information:

1. The character – Identifies the hero/heroine. Try to use a well chosen adjective to describe your character such as “isolated farm girl”.

2. Their goal – they may have many, but only mention the most important. If she’s been isolated she’ll need to learn to interact in a social setting. Thus, you are showing conflict which leads to answering the next question.

3. The antagonistic force - You are showing she is in an unfamiliar setting. Woman vs. Environment. Does she also have a rival for her success in that setting? What are the consequences if she fails to live successfully in this new world?

Use action words when writing your logline and add descriptive words to create an image that will stay in the reader’s mind.

Pretend you are scrolling through your TV guide. Which of these would you watch?

Logline #1 – “A comedic portrayal of a young, broke Shakespeare who falls in love with a woman, inspiring him to write "Romeo and Juliet."

Logline #2 – “A journey of self-discovery by a brilliant mathematician diagnosed with schizophrenia who learns to triumph over tragedy and eventually receives the Nobel Prize.”

Logline #3 – “A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England's daughter and reclaim his ship.”

Logline #4 – “An Epic tale of a 1940s New York Mafia family and their struggle to protect their empire, as the leadership switches from the father to his youngest son.”

Did you recognize any of them?

1. Shakespeare in Love

2. A Beautiful Mind

3. Pirates of the Carribean

4. The Godfather

Did you know a lot of newer books contain a logline on the copyright page? See if you recognize this one.

“When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.”

This is from the copyright page of Twilight.

Creating powerful loglines is an invaluable tool. For a little fun experimenting, visit http://www.lifeformz.com/cgi-bin/idea/idea.fcgi to see some randomly generated loglines.

Please feel free to share/critique your loglines in the comments.

K, the Funniest Letter of the Alphabet?

Leigh Anne Jasheway wrote an article on humor for the February 2011 Writer’s Digest Magazine. In “Laughing Matters” she asserts words with the K sound are perceived as the funniest.

“The K Rule is a good convention for naming things and making word choices that will subconsciously or subtly amuse your readers.”  said Jasheway.

She speculates this is because much of American humor has roots in Yiddish humor, a language which includes many guttural (includig K) sounds.

Below is a list of words with the “K” sound. I challenge you to write a passage using only these or similar words with the K sound to make you humor piece stand out. Can you think of any others to add to this list?

Bifurcate, Buccaneer, Canoodle, Cantankerous, Caterwaul, Cattywampus, Cheeky, Conniption, Coot, Doohickey, Eschew, Gunky, Kahuna, Katydid, Kerplunk, Kinkajou, Knickers, Lackadaisical, Manscape, Monkey, Persnickety, Scuttlebutt, Snarky, Spelunker, Sprocket, Squeegee, and Wonky.

Side note: A special thank-you to  Lisa of Writing in the Buff for the “Sisters of the Quill” Award.

Jung, Carl G.

Swiss Psychologist Carl G. Jung wrote about archetypes or constantly repeating energies (characters) which occur in the dreams of all people and the myths of all cultures. He suggested these archetypes (ancient patterns of personality) reflect different aspects of the human mind; that our personalities divide themselves into these characters to play out the drama of our lives. He noticed a strong correspondence between his patients’ dream figures and the common archetypes of mythology and even suggested both were coming from a deeper source, in the collective unconscious of the human race.

Fairy tales and myths are like the dreams of an entire culture. The same character types seem to occur and remain amazingly constant throughout all times and cultures. An understanding of these forces is one of the most powerful tools a modern storyteller can learn.

The archetypes Jung identified as occurring most frequently were the Hero, the Mentor (wise old man or woman), Threshold Guardian, Herald, Shapeshifter, Shadow and Trickster. To learn more specifics about Jung and his archetypes, please visit http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/jung.html

Scholar Joseph Campbell took Jung’s principles and adapted them to teach screenwriting. In essence he simplified a pattern or outline for writer’s to follow, making it easier for many authors to become successful in his publication of The Hero’s Journey. To read more about Campbell: http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php

I used Christopher Vogler’s (a student of Campbell) book The Writer’s Journey when I was teaching. I used his material instead of Campbell’s because I actually had the pleasure of meeting and learning from him and because I felt he did an excellent job of updating Jung’s original principles. You can find an abridged version: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm

Both Campbell and Vogler have only updated and helped to define Jung’s original ideas of archetypes and the journey of a story. Reading about all three can give you a better understanding of human nature and what we all want from a good book or movie. Good luck with your own writing journey!

Interview Exercise

Many writers/Journalists have trouble coming up with a list of questions for their interview. They struggle to find basic questions pertinent to their topic. Some keep an arsenal of standard questions they can use to help break the ice, but what if you can’t decide what to ask? What if you are writing a scene with a journalist and have no idea about interviews? What if inspiration for the interview has evaded you completely?

Below is a writing exercise to get you in the right frame of mind for that interview or scene.

You've accidentally dialed the wrong phone number, but the person who answers sounds familiar. Immediately he/she recognizes you, but because you made the call you're too embarrassed to ask who it is. Using only dialogue, ask questions (interview) to figure out who you are talking too.

Remember to have fun with it, but keep in mind open-ended questions (has many possible responses) will get you more information than closed-ended (can be answered with a simple yes or no).

Good luck and Happy Writing!

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 - August 4, 1875) - a Danish author and poet whose works have delighted children worldwide and been translated into more than 150 languages. His stories have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets and animated films.

Most everyone knows several of the adaptations, but they do not recognize the tale as his original work. He is best remembered for children’s stories such as “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Emperor’s New Suit”, "The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Little Mermaid", “Thumbelina”, "The Little Match Girl” and "The Ugly Duckling”.

To see how many of his tales you can recognize, or learn more about him, check http://hca.gilead.org.il/#list.

The following is a scene from a biographical movie in which Danny Kaye portrays Anderson.