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Who wants a free copy of the Presence eBook? I'm selecting a group of people who would receive a free copy for review before it is released. Anyone is eligeble to apply. Just contact me via perie_wolford@yahoo.com

The Hunger Games Phenomenon

So, the Hunger Games…

I’m not writing another review of the books\movies of the Hunger Games franchise. But being a major THG fan and a writer, I thought it would be interesting to try and figure out why the HG books\movies became so popular. 

Of course, as any other Sci-fi or YA writer in the world, I am incredibly jealous that it wasn’t me who came up with that idea. Let’s be honest here. Huge respect for Suzanne Collins for doing what she did with it (well, except for writing only three books and not more :)

And it is not just about the money. The universe of HG is so incredibly complex and simple at the same time that it becomes very captivating for the readers. And you only begin to realize how amazing that universe is when you attempt to imitate it.

I see nothing wrong with being inspired with somebody else’s idea. As long as you’re not just copy-catting and trying to create something of your own. But when I tried to do so I failed. It turns out that all the major elements that I would want in my book are already taken by Suzanne Collins. Let’s make a list.

1. A dystopian country with the evil government concentrated in the Capitol.

Who wouldn’t want to have that in their book? I know I do.

2. The 12 districts fool of rebellious workers.

That is such a simple thing and yet it is so powerful. And every attempt to imitate that now becomes a reference to the THG books.

3. The Reaping.

That is just incredible. That is such a powerful thing in a book. It is something that provides immediate excitement and crabs hold attention of the reader. And it is so amazingly intertwined with the hunger in the districts and how it is almost the only way to get some extra food. More so it is an event of the national scale and that makes it even bigger.

Try to create an even so powerful, I dare you. That is very complicated task.

4. The difference between the life-styles in the districts and in the Capitol.

That is a very graphical thing that allowed Suzanne Collins to provide the readers with the high-fashion Capitol people who are completely crazed by what they look like (and that is so great for the merchandize department). And yet we also have people in the districts who are so simple and like us and we can totally relate to them and relate to Katniss, the main character of the books.

5. And finally the most exciting thing is the Arenas.

The hunger games are hold within the arenas that are different every time and that is just amazing to have something like that in the book. You can put your character outside of his normal life, outside of his comfort zone and yet not completely. It’s like the parallel universes. There is life within the games and arena and there is life outside. And that creates such a unique atmosphere about it that I other writers are wrecking their heads now trying to come up with something like that.

And the most important thing is that the Author of the trilogy was able to put all of these elements together so well, and they fit together so well, that is just mind-blowing. And if it is mind-blowing for the writers then it is just super mind-blowing for the simple fans who don’t think about how writing actually works.

There are still people who didn’t get Hunger Games and I’m sorry for them. For one thing they should read the books first and watch the movies later. No matter how great the movies are, the books provide much more of the detail and atmosphere. And then you watch movies and you see it all come to life and it’s amazing. We are so lucky that Jennifer Lawrence agreed to play Katniss, thank you J

So, yeah, that is basically it. That is what I think about the HG.

And yeah, also I wanted to say a few words about why Suzanne Collins is not writing the 4th book. I wrecked my brain recently trying to figure out how it could all be continued. The story was wrapped, clearly. And we fans want it to continue no matter that it already ended. But there is just no logical way to put all the same elements together and make them work. The drama was resolved. Putting Katniss into another Arena would be so far-fetched. Even if there was another government that would decide to revisit the concept of the games why would they put Katniss back in and even if they did she would end up dying this time around for sure. And what about Peeta? Would he be there in the Arena with Katniss again? It’s just not coming together in any way. That is why there is not going to be another book in the series or at least not about Katniss. And without Katniss it wouldn’t be the same.

Maybe Suzanne Collins could stretch the drama for, say, five books while she was still writing them. Well, maybe she could. But she didn’t. The ship has sailed. And that was her choice and I respect her for that and I am waiting for her next book to surface and be even more incredible, if that is possible.

So, thanks for reading this. I hope I made any sense J

Yours,

Perie

Screenwriting Tips for Newbies

So, I have been writing screenplays for 10 years now. Over that period of time I’ve written about 12 finished ones, about 20 unfinished and about 7 pilots for television series and numerous short-films. The majority of those scripts have not been sold and that is the reality of business nowadays.

If you think that you can write a screenplay and get easy money out of it, you’re wrong, so wrong. Don’t even try to write a screenplay just because you want to get some money right now. That is not gonna happen, well 99% that it’s not gonna happen unless you are the luckiest son of a bitch on a planet.

I by no means consider myself a bonified professional but I have learnt a few things over the years and I would like to share. I’ve been working with a lot of newbies lately and read a lot of their scripts and they all have about the same list of mistakes.

So, if you think that writing is your calling and you’re sure 100% you want to do that then here is the process:

1. You need to come up with an idea.

There are lots of things that can be inspirational. I, for one, am a lover of science fiction and watching other sci-fi movies inspires me to write something of my own. Do not think about copy-catting, that is not what I mean. I mean try to get inspired by the idea and re-work it in your own style. One way or another you will end up with a completely different thing.

Sometimes dreams can provide some hint of what you want to write about or sometimes it’s something you might see on the street. So keep your eyes open and watch, watch the world around you and notice interesting things.

2. Once you have found the right idea you would be feeling a fire inside of you. You would become extremely excited about it and determined so much that your hands will start sweating. Good, but there is a ‘but’.

What you should do right now is sit down and write down a log-line (a short description of your idea in a couple of sentences) or a synopsis (a longer description, more detailed, no more than one page though) or get to writing the first couple of pages of the script itself.

You should do that just to get the steam out, get it all on paper and relax a little. That is very important. After you have done that go chill with your friends and have some time away from computer\paper. Give it a couple of days and only after that return to what you have written and read it.

What do you feel right now about your idea? Is it still that good and captivating and exciting? If it is then great! But most of the time you will find yourself thinking that it sounds somewhat weaker than it did before. You might not even like it all that much now. And that is a pretty good indicator to go looking for something else because that is exactly how everybody else is going to be seeing your idea. The initial fire is just a fire inside your head and it is most likely to flame out in a couple of days. If that happens then you are not gonna be able to pull it through. So don’t try to force it and go look for something else. You will find a much better idea I promise.

3. Once the right idea have been found and you’re confident about it, think it through. Right now is the best time to use your imagination and energy to see your idea come to life. Try to visualize scenes on the cinema screen. Just dream about what it would be like. Put it down on paper as brief notes.

Remember that you shouldn’t mix too many things together in one movie. Don’t try to integrate Matrix into Star Wars and add some vampires to it. It sounds crazy but oddly that is exactly what the newbies do. They mix different topics together and think that it is very cool. It’s not.

If you want to write about the vampires do so but don’t try to add time travel to it. Those are completely different things. I’m not saying that it can’t be done period. No, the professional screenwriters can do that because they are professionals and they feel the balance that is needed to be kept between the elements of the story. Newbies don’t. So just pick one thing.

You still need to learn first.

4. Now you are good to go and get started with the script.

First thing to do is to write the log-line and synopsis if you haven’t’ done it before and if you have then edit it. It is important and most newbies skip that step because of laziness and because they don’t understand how to do that but you must do that. At least write down the log-line.

It is important to begin giving your idea the structure.

5. The 3-act structure.

Don’t even try to walk away from it. You MUST use the 3-act structure or else you will fail, you will bite the dust.

It is not that hard really.

Everything starts with the BEGINNING… That is about 20 first pages of your script where you set the story. You let the reader\viewer get to know the main characters and locations and what kind of life they have.

DON’T a lot of action here. If you want to add some action opening scene then do it later. First set the story. Slowly and carefully let us know about your characters, let us relate to them.

Something interesting starts happening here, some clues of the things to come but only the hint not the things themselves.

PIVITOL POINT 1… That is an event that changes your hero’s life forever and from this point he\she cannot go back. This part is somewhat about 30-40 pages.

Say you hero gets bitten by a vampire and undergoes transformation himself. He cannot undo it and from now on he has to figure out how to deal with it.

He tries to solve his problem and does everything he thinks is appropriate but fails UNTIL…

PIVITOL POINT 2… That is the point where your hero finds out the right way to deal with his problem and does so. That is also about 30-40 pages long.

Say your vampire hero finds out who the head vampire is and how to kill him. And he proceeds to doing exactly that.

THE END… That is after your hero has dealt with the situation and resolved his\her problem. That part is about 5-10 pages long.

The head vampire is killed and the hero is again human. He and his girlfriend reunite and are happy again. The end J

That structure is gonna let you build your story logically and so that other people will understand it and not just you. We are writing for other people, aren’t we?

So structure your scene\notes along the lines of this example and you can also write a synopsis at this point for reference during the writing process.

6. Begin writing the script.

You can write in MS Word or use any other professional software. I prefer Final Draft.

Before you do and as you’re doing so, please read as much screenplays as possible, professional screenplays of the movies that are already made. That will give you the idea of how scripts are written and the more you will read the more your brain will understand how it is done the right way. You can find some of the scripts here http://www.simplyscripts.com/movie.html

After you’re done with the script, be prepared to put twice as much work into trying to get it sold and finding a producer or production company for it. And also be prepared to receive a lot of criticism and a lot of rejections. I will cover the topic of rejections later on and the topic of what to expect from your first movie deal if you’re gonna be lucky to get one.

Here is what all the efforts are for, to see your idea out there, coming to life, coming to film.  

 

My screenplay at the table readings

Actors reading the script

Getting ready for shooting

My name in the credits

Check out the trailer for Dark Harvest Movie at darkharvestthemovie.com

If you have any questions ask me in the comments section.

I hope I helped.

Yours,
Perie

How to create a book cover yourself

So, you have finished your book and you are about to get it published or self-published. The first most important thing about your book is the cover. 

Some might think that it’s the blurb but let’s not kid ourselves (with publishers that might be the blurb but not with the actual readers). The first thing people are going to look at is the cover.

And if the cover sucks then no matter how good the blurb is, the chances of getting someone interested are gonna be slim.

That is because it is easier for a person to take in the visual information rather than the text. So if you want to make a good first impression with your book then you’re gonna have to come up with a great cover. Here are some of my cover works (Presence novel, Beta novel). 

Unless you have a lot of money to spare and can afford to hire a good professional artist, or you’re singed with a big publisher like Harper Collins, you will find yourself choosing between the cover that your publishing house’s art department is gonna come up with (and let’s be honest, most of them are not gonna listen much to your ideas and opinions about it) or the cover that you would make yourself.

Yes, sometimes the art department guys manage to come up with a great cover but that doesn’t happen too often and you should be prepared to not liking their version all that much. And that is a big problem because later on when you’re marketing your book you’re gonna have to feel 100% confident about it. And if you’re gonna lack the confidence then you will not be able to push it as hard as you need to push it and show it to as many people as possible.

Besides, who else might know your book better than you do? Who else would be able to come up with a design that would represent your idea in the right light but you? You’re the creator so why not go all the way and create the cover yourself. 

The task isn’t that hard really. All that is required of you is a basic knowledge of how graphic editing software works, programs like Adobe Photoshop or any other you like.

So here is what the process would look like:

1.     You need to come up with an idea, a design for your cover. You can find the great deal of inspiration browsing through the covers of the books that are already published. On Goodreads.com you can find lists dedicated to finding out the best covers there are. Here for example https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/32194.Covers_That_Pop_For_2013#18751458

And remember that the cover should be informative and give a reader a basic suggestion of what the book is going to be about. Don’t be abstract. Some abstract images on the internet are easy to find and they look nice but they give no information about the book whatsoever. Try to be specific and find the details in your book that deserve to be visually highlighted on the cover.

You can always come up with a couple of ideas and do both and select the best one later. Don’t rush the process.

2.     Once you have an idea in your head it might be helpful to draw it on paper first. Let it be crude and rough around the edges. It’s just the sketch for your own reference.

Then you’re gonna have to browse through the stock photos and find ones that have the elements that are going to be present on your cover. You can find images that are free to use on sites like this… http://www.morguefile.com/   Or just google stock photos and the name of the element that should be on one of them, i.e. stock photo trees and branches.

You can always photograph something yourself but be sure you know at least something about the angles and the lighting. Hard shadows and soft shadows might create a completely different look, emotionally that is, so be sure you know at least something about how photography works.

3.     If you want a character from the book to be depicted on your cover then you might consider creating a 3D person using software like Poser Pro or DAZ studio. It might take you some time to learn how to work those programs but it’s gonna be worth the while.

Again, you can feature one of your friends or family member on your cover, if you get them to agree to that, and photograph them against some plain solidly-covered surface, i.e. white wall in case you want to change the background later. But again be sure you know what you’re doing with that camera.

Soft shadows (left) vs Hard shadows (right)

4.     Once you’ve collected all the pieces and images in one place on your computer it’s time to put them together in Photoshop or any other program that allows you to work with layers.

Background starry layer + planets

+ gradient layer + text layer

All the layers together

Working with layers allows you to create the background and cut out the needed elements from other images and put them together against that background. Cutting something particular out of the image can be done with Magic Lasso tool in Photoshop or if you need to say replace the sky or the plain background you will need to use the keying. If you don’t know how that is done you can find plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube which will guide you step-by-step. Like this one http://youtu.be/mA1ii3to4AE

5.     The important thing that comes next is finding the good font for your title and your name. You want it to be distinctive and Times New Roman or Ariel won’t do. So go to one of these sites http://www.1001freefonts.com/ and download some awesome fonts for free. These babies will really make your title pop out.

6.     Then, once you’ve put all the elements together and you’ve moved them around and found the perfect balance, it’s time to finalize it and export you picture as PNG or BMP file and then open it again in the Photoshop to add effects.

You might also have skipped through the first five steps and photographed the image that you believe doesn’t need any alterations. Well, good for you. Take that image and add some effects to it to make it look even better.

Photoshop has a number of its own effects but if you want something fast and professional-looking you might wanna download the plug-ins like Alien Skin Exposure or Snap Art or Eye Candy. These ones are great and they have a trial period. So does Photoshop itself so you might not need even to buy any of them.

Alien Skin Exposure

These plug-ins allow you to add some professional-looking effects like texture and dust and scratches and you can apply color filters that will make all the pieces of your collage look very much together and as one piece of art.

You can also process and add effects to your image online and for free using one of these sites http://www.fotor.com/features/photo-effects.html

That is about it, and don’t forget that you should be making your image at 300dpi so that it is good for printing. Watch this video to see what that means http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4LRaFxZZvI

So it wasn’t that hard was it? In any case, you will at least have an alternative to what the art department guys offer you. You might like your cover much better. Or your image might provide the reference for them and they will build upon your idea instead of coming up with their own. They won’t listen to you if you will be trying to explain your idea with words but they might look at your image and see the appeal for themselves.

So I think it’s worth trying and for some of us, authors who have to self-publish their books, creating a cover themselves is the only option.

Send me your covers via email (perie_wolford @ yahoo.com) and I will tweet them and show them to my followers.

I hope I helped.

Yours,

Perie  

The Beginnings...

I always loved science fiction, since I was a very very little kid...

Star Wars original trilogy for one was a window into another dimension for me, the source of infinite inspiration. And then was the Fifth Element and Men in Black. Just imagine what kind of impact those movies had on a kid who was fascinated with movies in general. I even tried to imitate the movies I saw, as I guess many did. 

I was using my VCR camera back in the day to film my own blockbusters and show off in front of my family and friends. And maybe my low-budgeted short-films were not in any way as good as the originals, they did the important thing for me, they planted a seed of inspiration into my heart and allowed me to dream. I always had a dream of becoming the movie-maker although it was completely unrealistic and I didn’t know the first things about movie-making.

Unfortunately for me, where I lived there wasn’t anything even remotely close to the film-making industry or film-school. My parents didn’t have money to send me to another city to study and to be honest I was afraid to ask. I felt ashamed of dreaming about something like that. It wasn’t practical. It was always considered to be a hobby of mine and nobody else took it seriously, nobody but me. It was considered impossible for me to break into the industry or it wasn’t considered at all.

Fortunately, I was wise enough to pick a major in computer programming\coding. Although it is not by any means directly related to film-making, knowing about how computers\programs work gave me a huge benefit later on as I started pursuing a filmmaking career. Let’s be realistic, the filmmaking process of today is unthinkable without using a computer or even thousands of them to complete different tasks as in pre-production, and as well the production itself and majorly post-production. So yeah, if you want a career in film-making you should probably start learning about some of the specific programs used to accomplish certain tasks, i.e. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition (I’m really not advertising Adobe J I’m just used to working with these products but you might find other alternatives).

So personally for me, it took a major dramatic event in my life related to my coming-out of the closet to my family which was a bigger deal 10 years ago than it might be right now. Well it was a big deal for me. And after that, after the dust settled, I realized that if I was able to survive that than I’m gonna be able to at least try and pursue the career that I dreamt about.

And that is how it all began. I started writing my first screenplay, as I figured that was the most realistic way for me to approach the film-making industry. I hope I was right. In any way in 2010 I finally landed a movie deal with a production company that optioned\bought my sci-fi screenplay (please don’t think that it was the first screenplay that I wrote. I wrote about 25 of them by that point) and it went into production.

I will tell you more about What to expect from your 1^st movie\book deal later. Right now you can check out the poster and trailer for that movie, if you want to J. darkharvestthemovie.com

But a deal with an independent production company, no matter how resourceful, probably isn’t gonna get you to the success level that you might dream about. And it does not in most cases open the doors to Hollywood which many of us believe to be the pivotal point in building a film-making career. So the next step that I thought to be logical is book-writing. Although book industry isn’t directly connected to film-making one, they both been tending lately to work together. There aren’t many people in the world who don’t know about Harry Potter film franchise that started with J.K.Rowling writing the novel about said character. Then was the Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games (I am the biggest fan of the latter). So a film-making-career-pursuer like me might think about writing a novel first to elevate chances of getting closer to, again, Hollywood, that is ultimately the place where the movie-industry concentrates.

Having said that, I don’t want you to think that I don’t enjoy writing at all. If that would have been the case, I probably wouldn’t be doing it for 10 years. I love writing. I love writing screenplays as much as I love writing books. The two are completely different forms of writing and they are intended for the different kinds of audiences (I will cover that topic later on) but they are both fun.

So that brings us to my latest effort in my pursuit of success, my science fiction novel. The deal has been signed (and I will cover the topic of What to expect from your first movie\book deal later) and the book awaits publication. What’s gonna happen next? I have completely no idea. Stay tuned and find out. J

Yours,

Perie