Writing 101: Don’t Let The Reader Out of The Room!

July 9, 2009 by

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I really wish I could remember who said that line. I know it was a famous screenwriter of big-budget action movies. In an interview, he was asked for tips about writing a screenplay.

The guy explained that when someone sits down to watch a movie, a million different things are running through his mind–is there enough butter on my popcorn? Is my boss going to ask me to come in on Saturday?

You have to keep the reader/viewer right there with you. It’s not easy.

You can’t let them out of the room.

That means, when you’re writing, you have to keep advancing your story. Keep. It. Moving.

When you re-write, make sure you’re moving things along. Particularly in a short essay.

Shydel James, who recently wrote a guest essay on his father, has graciously allowed us to show the edit process and how I helped him to keep the reader in the room.

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Be My Guest: Felicia Pride

July 8, 2009 by

writer-1

I edit magazine articles on a freelance basis and often find myself scouring the ‘net at the last minute, looking for the perfect writer for a particular article.

Two years ago, my Google searching led me to Felicia Pride. There is no better feeling than connecting with a writer who is professional, punctual, timely and just on it. When an editor crosses paths with a writers who always delivers, it’s a pure joy.

In addition to editing her story, I’ve kept my eye on Felicia’s book hustle for years. This girl works. When it’s time for me to market my novel, I’ll definitely be retracing her steps.

I reached out to her for a guest blog. And I had something specific I wanted her to tell me. When did she really consider herself a writer? So many of us collect clips for years but still choke on that lofty word.

Felicia has an awesome story of the moment she finally stood up straight, looked a legend in the eye, and spoke her truth.

Enjoy.

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My Shrink Is Making Me Write This Post

July 7, 2009 by

When I walk out of my house each morning, I see a tree. It’s directly in front of my door. It is a garden variety tree. Can’t tell you the species. I don’t know if it’s an oak or a redwood or whatever. It’s just a tree. Here’s a picture.

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So I’ve been living here almost a year. Guess I must have walked past this tree a few hundred times since then. I pay it no mind.

Until two weeks ago. When disaster struck.

I’m coming home from the daily grind and I decide to do a pre-dinner brisk walk workout. I pack Tog into the jogging stroller and head around the block. I’m getting a nice little speed going, feeling the burn. Yeah. I go about a mile around.

I round the corner to my street. As I get closer to the house, I’m trying to decide if I’m gonna go past the house and bust out another half mile. Can’t decide. I’m feeling a little winded. But also motivated to keep going.

As I’m coming up to my house, trying to decide whether to go inside or keep going, I see the tree in front of my house.

And something on that tree freezes me in my tracks. And my mouth drops in horror.

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Haftime’s New Music Monday: K-Jon, Melanie, Whitney, Laura Izibor, Ryan Leslie, Curt@ins and more…

July 6, 2009 by

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Heather A. Faison, AKA Haftime, is  the young whippersnapper with her ears to the street. I’m the old fogey who’s trying desperately to keep up with what’s new and hot.

This week, Haftime solved a few mysteries on singers I’ve been hearing but could not identify, put me on to some new hip-hop and forced me to critique my hometown hero. Sigh.

Check it out:

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Be My Guest: Heather Faison

July 1, 2009 by
Heather Faison's favorite VIBE cover: "This cover came out around the time I rededicated my life to God. The irony of him holding a white dove with the sullied cityline in the background was striking artistically. And the headline is a rhetorical 'no'. You can almost hear the editors chuckling at the thought"

Heather Faison's favorite VIBE cover: "This cover came out around the time I rededicated my life to God. The irony of him holding a white dove with the sullied cityline in the background was striking artistically. And the headline is a rhetorical 'no'. You can almost hear the editors chuckling at the thought"

8:30 this  morning. I’m speeding up the Parkway, on my way to the Apple store to get my computer fixed. My Blackberry pings. I check it, knowing I shouldn’t cause I’m driving.

It’s an email from Heather Faison, a writer and dear reader of this blog. I read the first two lines of what she wrote and I was confused. It was a reflection on the end of Vibe. But she was writing like she worked there. As far as I knew, she hadn’t.

One eye on the parkway. One eye on my Blackberry. Two paragraphs in. I understood.

And I put my Blackberry on the seat of my car and cried.

I feel the loss of Vibe in a certain way. But I did it. I ran through the halls. I wrote a few cover stories. I looked up at the mountain in awe and scaled it.

Too many writers like Heather won’t have the chance to make a literary dream come true.

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Posted in Be My Guest | 25 Comments »

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