WALKING AROUND DEAD....AND LOOKING FOR A GOOD STORY

There's a lot of controversy brewing regarding Frank Darabont's letting go of his writing staff for the new WALKING DEAD series....

You can read about that here. Tons of comments to bury yourself wade through.

One of the comments though struck a chord with this pulpster and I think it's important to share with you because it's the formula for making a great first movie or web series, and that's what we deal with here at the old pulp HQ.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the independent, homespun wisdom of someone named Mark Georgeff:

"If people’s idea of a quality tv show is how great it is lit and looks, then we might as well shove the original TWILIGHT ZONE down the toilet.

The really great tv shows, like movies, are great stories.

What makes a great story is great characters in great scenes.

Majority of writers on the original TZ were short fiction writers and playwrights whom creator Rod Serling showed how to re structure their stories to fit 30 minute tv slot. A few act breaks for commercials round its down to actually 20 to 23 minute episodes. 

Most were done on a studio sound stage…or exteriors on backlots or in mall towns. Having great-looking visuals or well lit scenes do not make any of those great TZ episodes stand out or stand the test of time. Since they were all in black and white anyway.

Majority of them also had a lot of unknown, but talented actors who loved to just act, as opposed to very hyped up and marketable stars.

And Serling gave them a shot. 

He had a budget and stuck to it no matter what.

Which helped him focus strictly on the story.

God knows Serling made it a point for his most powerful stories about the human condition…to be done through subtext. Not overt at all.

Maybe Darabont should take a simple education from Serling…because from what I’ve seen so far…the WD is simply run of the mill. 

No amount of bigger production budgets or simply going to freelancers is going to change this. Just find and / or train good writers. You can always get them a WGA card. 

And I love Zombies as much as the next ghoul."

Pulp Philosophy: Create a Damn Good Onion!

Every night before bed, I watch around an hour of television and then settle in under the covers with a book or comic.  I find that in most instances I can feel the sleep overcome me in about 15 minutes and I pull off the spectacles, close the tome and turn out the lights.  This is the general routine that keeps me relatively sane and well-slept.

But there are those occasions where I've watched a show and/or read a book and I am instantly charged with enthusiasm to keep watching or reading until I'm finished. It's rare, but it does happen.  When it does I take note and file it away in the brain pan.  After all, as writers/ creators we are sponges whose mission is to take in and squeeze out a filtered version of what we've ingested.

In keeping track of these events, I've found that a definite pattern emerges - especially when it comes to modern genre fiction, that is built upon all that has come before.

The point is that I'm finding that the best fiction media - movies, TV, books, comics - is based on the structure of an onion.

(No, I have not been watching too many episodes of TOP CHEF or KITCHEN NIGHTMARES)

Let me explain:

We've reached a point in our culture where our genre media is fully cataloged and is accessible 24/7. I can find out any bit of trivia or access a work using a simple wifi connection.  As a result we have a generation or two with a large knowledge base when it comes to the variety of genre media.  We've all seen or know of just about every genre book, comic, game or tv show and movie.

We are really hard to surprise.

So what's come about is that creators are using that knowledge base against us and subverting...no, that's not right... redesigning our expectations to create multiple layers of meaning, depth and breadth to their works.

Now this isn't new, but it is being done in new ways and more frequently. Chaucer and Shakespeare used tropes that were available to them (example: the metaphorical rose motif to signify a woman's genitalia), but in this case creators are using other creators' works more and more to create a greater cultural context.

What's interesting to me is the pop culture metaphors being employed as a means to add meaning and engage the audience.  These pop culture land mines again add new layers of fun and taste... yes, just like a good onion.

Okay Bill - WTF are you talking about here? Give us some examples!

I was reading Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's genuinely excellent LXG: Century 1910 and kept finding new layers to the story thanks to the careful placement of bits of pop culture within the context of the story.  As I saw more elements to the story come into play working in characters like Carnacki and Raffles as well as dates, and the whole of the Three Penny Opera, I began to appreciate the depth of the story in new ways.

Page after page of new story elements came in to create one big blooming onion.

A recent episode of LEVERAGE directed by our pal, John Rogers and written by Geoffrey Thorne had another layer to it that made me laugh out loud. Specifically the computerized security system for the building Parker broke into was called a Steranko.

(Again, you didn't need to know that Steranko the comic artist was once an escape artist, but if you were in the know it added a whole new layer of meaning whenever they mentioned the term).

Now what's really good about both of these examples is the fact that in both cases the additional layers of meaning were left to the audience member to uncover.  They weren't called out to be this monstrous "look how clever we are" moment, but rather were the product of being good sponges. Taking in knowledge and filtering it properly.

(and there are more tidbits in both so I would suggest a rerun of Leverage and a reread of Century:1910)

And if you're in today's genre media game it makes sense to add new levels of meaning to your audience in order to engage them... to add the layers to the onion. It allows you to 'shorthand' and concentrate on plot knowing that certain character or tone elements are set in the audience's mind (if only on a subconscious level). It allows you engage your audience, and it allows you to mine the vast library of culture that's available at your fingertips stroking your keyboard.

Just be subtle about it.

Why Put the Pulp Into High Gear?

I'm a big advocate of momentum when it comes to media production. I've found that too many people sit back and take it easy when it comes to writing or filming and end up with barnacles on their work.  On the flip-side there are people out there who go with the flow, and are able to keep a consistent level of work going.  Is their work perfect?  No, but what is?

The one aspect of being swift when it comes to your media creation is the opportunity to capitalize on a trend and leverage your content to those looking for the same.  it's a balance between being both prescient and quick. Take Leverage for example (pardon the pun). Many of the stories they've researched for their show have ended up as headlines in the papers - right as their show airs.

This leads us to a situation outlined by Charles Crumpley in the LA Business Journal:

"I did a little market research last week. I asked my 9-year-old daughter, Katie, to play around on the Monster High website and then tell me what she thought. I didn’t tell her why. After a while, she announced, “Not bad.”

Would she buy Monster High clothing? “Yeah, maybe.” Books? “Definitely the books,” she nodded. How about a Monster High Halloween costume? Her face brightened. “Yes!”

And dolls? Would she buy the line of dolls? She looked at me as if I hurt her feelings. “I’m a little too old for dolls,” she said, explaining an obvious reality to a slow-witted dad.

And when I told her that the Monster High movie won’t come out for at least a year or so, she seemed disappointed, confused even. You could see in her expression the question, “Why would they wait so long?”

On the one hand, I presume Mattel has done a good deal of expensive research and knows what it’s doing. But on the other, I have to believe that if it wants to reach tween girls with Monster High, Mattel should speed up the movie and seriously downplay the dolls. I mean, that just seems like another obvious reality."

Bottom line: Don't wait around. Don't overthink it.  Put your imagination to work.

Or else you'll be left waiting.

Pulp Writing as Seen by Ed McBain

Courtesy of the NY Times via Pulp Serenade.


She Was Blond. She Was in Trouble. And She Paid 3 Cents a Word. 

"I always started a P.I. story with a blonde wearing a tight shiny dress. When she crossed her legs, you saw rib-topped silk stockings and garters taut against milky white flesh, boy. Usually, she wanted to find her missing husband or somebody. Usually, the P.I. fell in love with her by the end of the story, but he had to be careful because you couldn't trust girls who crossed their legs to show their garters. A Private Eye was Superman wearing a fedora."

James Patterson is a Pulp Writer

I've written about Mr. Patterson before - specifically about his Women's Murder Club series - but the NY Times takes an in-depth look at James Patterson Inc.

Reading through this article, one can't help but draw parallels to the pulp game of the 1930's and how some writers were so prolific, popular and widespread amongst various genre fans.

The opening of the article:

 Like most authors, James Patterson started out with one book, released in 1976, that he struggled to get published. It sold about 10,000 copies, a modest, if respectable, showing for a first novel. Last year, an estimated 14 million copies of his books in 38 different languages found their way onto beach blankets, airplanes and nightstands around the world. Patterson may lack the name recognition of a Stephen King, a John Grisham or a Dan Brown, but he outsells them all. Really, it’s not even close. (According to Nielsen BookScan, Grisham’s, King’s and Brown’s combined U.S. sales in recent years still don’t match Patterson’s.) This is partly because Patterson is so prolific: with the help of his stable of co-authors, he published nine original hardcover books in 2009 and will publish at least nine more in 2010.

Read the article and start thinking about guys like Dashiell Hammett,  Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Chandler, L. Ron Hubbard, Edward Stratemeyer , Walter Gibson and countless other who created different series for different audiences, used staff writers, pushed their creations into various media like movies and comics (Even Lester Dent held onto the media rights to Doc Savage and tried to get interest in a radio show).

Another excerpt:


Patterson built his fan following methodically. Instead of simply going to the biggest book-buying markets, he focused his early tours and advertising efforts on cities where his books were selling best: like a politician aspiring to higher office, he was shoring up his base. From there, he began reaching out to a wider audience, often through unconventional means. When sales figures showed that he and John Grisham were running nearly neck and neck on the East Coast but that Grisham had a big lead out West, Patterson set his second thriller series, “The Women’s Murder Club,” about a group of women who solve murder mysteries, in San Francisco. 

No sooner had Patterson established himself in the thriller market than he started moving into new genres. Kirshbaum didn’t initially like the idea; he was worried that Patterson would confuse his thriller fans. Patterson’s first nonthriller, “Miracle on the 17th Green,” published in 1996, did very well. That same year, Patterson wanted to try publishing more than one book despite Little, Brown’s view that he would cannibalize his own audience. In addition to “Miracle on the 17th Green,” Patterson published “Hide and Seek” and “Jack and Jill,” each of which was a best seller. From there, Patterson gradually added more titles each year. Not only did more books mean more sales, they also meant greater visibility, ensuring that Patterson’s name would almost always be at the front of bookstores, with the rest of the new releases. Patterson encountered similar resistance when he introduced the idea of using co-authors, which Little, Brown warned would dilute his brand. Once again, the books were best sellers. “Eventually, I stopped fighting him and went along for the ride,” Kirshbaum says.

Gee, some things never change...

Robert Silverberg Talks Pulp

Here.  (found courtesy of Boing Boing)

Mistress of the Tentacled Oblivion: Please tell my Octopulps readers a bit about your work as a staff writer for Amazing Stories.

Robert Silverberg: I was a staff writer for Amazing, turning in two or three space operas a month. The editor of Amazing at that time was either Howard Browne or Paul Fairman—Browne quit somewhere in early 1957 to return to freelance writing, and turned the magazine over to his assistant editor, Fairman. I was taken onto the staff in the summer of 1955, when I was still in college, and proceeded to sell Browne a lot of stories that he had previously rejected from me as a freelancer (he never read unsolicited stories; everything was staff written and the outside stories went back instantly with nice rejection slips) as well as a lot of stuff written to order. I was just a kid and delighted to be part of it: you brought your week's work in on Monday morning and your agent had the check the next day. In any case when Cele Goldsmith replaced Fairman around 1959 she did away with the staff system entirely.

MOTTO: How did you first encounter the pulps in all their glory? What made you decide you wanted to write for the pulps?

RS: They were sold on every corner newsstand. I hope you know what those were. I began buying them when I was in the eighth grade—Weird Tales, Amazing, etc.—and immediately figured I could write stories for them and get them published and make a lot of money and get famous. I was 13 at the time. It turned out I was right about all that, but it took another few years before those checks came rolling in.

NY Tyrant Guide to NOT Being a Terrible Writer in 2010

Can be found here.  Some of these gems include:

Don’t conceive of your “central” characters by defining them with a mental or physical “condition.
If you’re going to tell me about your Mom, do it from your dad’s point of view. I want to know what she’s like in the sack.
Don’t connect with me. Don’t try to pretend I’m not there.
Don’t try to be funny. You are or you aren’t. Or the sentence is or isn’t.
You are neither David Lynch nor Captain Beefheart. You might be Cher.
Cry more, but don’t tell anybody either. This is the way crying is like rap.
I used to say you can’t write about serial killers, but they work sometimes, if they are described in the way one would a washcloth or a doll.
Remember your asshole is a tunnel.
If you’ve ever read Bukowski, please stop.
Please, God, no characters who are musicians. There is nothing worse than trying to describe music, or how someone plays it. Leave music to douchebags.
Stop writing about rich literary boys in college. I hated you people when I was in college and I still hate you. Your frat took a shit on my porch.
If you’ve ever told someone they are “misreading” a philosopher, eat a cock.
You are not Andy Warhol.
You probably don’t really listen to black metal.
Can I reiterate the one about not writing about musicians?

All of which inspires me to write 'How NOT to be a Crappy Indie Filmmaker in 2010..."

Pulp Served!

Cherie Burbach from Blisstree had a post up yesterday about THINGS I LEARNED FROM TOP CHEF and as crazy as it sounds, it reminded me of how alike good cooking and good pulp media are:

Sometimes Simple is Best In cooking (and in life) sometimes the best route is the simplest. You don’t need to prepare an extravagant dish that goes over the top and (often) falls flat. Instead, a dish with minimal ingredients and prepared with a simple garnish can work. Simple isn’t boring, but it has to have excellence. Do one thing and do it extremely well, and this can take you far.

Stick With What You Know While it’s good to learn and grow, there is a time and a place to try new things. In a challenge (or when you have company coming over), it’s a good idea to still with what you are comfortable with. You might want to branch out a little, but keep the general technique and style that has worked well for you. Don’t abandon it simply because it’s “old hat.”

Cook for Your Audience You can say you’re a good cook, but if the people you are cooking for don’t enjoy eating your stuff, are you really a good cook? This came across loud and clear during the “Top Chef Masters” challenges. During one challenge, the chefs had to cook for some Girl Scouts. The chef that one got high marks because he not only made his food delicious but also fun. The girls loved it, and he won the challenge.

Admit Your Mistakes On “Top Chef,” there are certain challenges where a chef will completely mess up a meal. The most embarrassing part of watching is having that same chef deny that he or she made a mistake later in front of the judges. This same thing holds true in real life cooking. Not everything you make will be fabulous. But that’s okay. Owning up to your mistakes is all part of the process.

More pulp writery craftwork later...

Quote for Tomorrow

From Warren Ellis regarding his new book released POD, SHIVERING SANDS:

A persistent criticism of my interest in POD has been that only writers at my level of cultural awareness can make any kind of success out of it. And some of them will now be saying, well, even Warren Ellis can only move 400 copies in the first week of a POD project. But, for one thing, it is about the long game. For everybody. The book doesn’t go away. And, for another, if I’m not aware enough of you to order that POD project — whose fault is that, really? Because, I’ve got to tell you, I wasn’t born with a book deal in one hand and an exclusive comics contract wrapped around my other flipper. Hell, when I was starting out, there wasn’t even an internet.

It is about the long game. The building of a library of content and internet presence that allows people to discover and recommend your work.

Aaaaand Break!

Between multiple writing deadlines converging at once (my fault entirely), computer problems (scream worthy) and making a living -- I've been stressed out.

I am officially putting the brakes on for a bit and reorganizing so I can actually... you know... accomplish something and clean my plate of work.

In the meantime if you see anything cool on the web: comics, books, video, audio, games and so forth, post it in the comments. I'll catch up with it soon. Or you could write a story based on the image here. 100 words max. Go and do me proud.

I'll be in the corner asleep. Or is that passed out?

This has Been My Experience As Well...

From Denny O'Neil at Bleeding Cool :

Sorry. Writing is self-taught. You acquire the skill by applying the seat of your pants to a flat object and moving a stylus across paper or tapping a keyboard, and you continue to do that until someone begins paying you to do it, and then you spend the rest of your life teaching yourself how to do what you’re doing. It is often a lonely life–you can get help before and after, but not during–and if the notion of closing a door behind you and manipulating verbal and visual language for many hours every week is abhorrent to you, then perhaps you would be happy applying your skill and intelligence and enthusiasm elsewhere.

--------------------------------------

Add to this that life is going to get in the way, try to derail you at every turn, and will sometime succeed for the moment. But if it wins in the end and you stop writing don't whine. You weren't a writer. It's all right.

But if you keep getting up off the mat and get back in the fight then you need to work on your one-two combination and your upper cut.

Get Emotional

Shawna posted something via Google Reader the other day regarding that 100 pages is the new '120 pages when it comes to screenwriting.

I'm glad to see that Hollywood is finally catching on. Those of us toiling in the bargain bin arena have held that 95-100 is the new black for a long time now. That particular page count usually yields a 90 minute movie before title crawls and opening graphic design animated title porn.

But what this new 100 pages isn't telling you is that you're required to do double-duty with the emotional content of your script. That is, characters' words must mean something when they speak, but they should also point to other possible meanings through the story. It adds another level of tension to an otherwise exciting story.

This is layering, and it's especially important in pulp stories where the plotline is straight as an arrow (until that point where it isn't) and you need that emotional, character-driven pepper to come through via the dialogue and actions.

I'm going through right now and marking up my own notes in FLY BY NIGHT as production starts designing the look above and beyond what I've outlined in the script. I've tagged a lot of areas in the PDF where I'm going to go back and rethink aspects of a line here and there , the true undercurrents to a scene...

Staying within that 100 pages, but sharpening the dialogue and the characters so we can make a 'narrative pipeline' look and feel as exciting as Monica Bellucci nude.

This sort of thing is going to be especially important as more and more movies are going to debut as webisodes first. Giving the scenes the emotional content that makes the audience go "damn"or "hmmm, what could that mean?" can keep them coming back to your show and even go back to the beginning of the series. Giving your story a once over for its emotional content also allows you to play with your characters in different ways - picking up the rock and looking at all of the creepy crawly things underneath.

Like I did here with Fascinax.

This story wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for me looking at the wonderful absurdity of a Victorian-styled superbeing and digging underneath to find out what's really going on there.

Dig into your character's emotions, and when you scratch something that hurts then you know you're on the right track and can add that next level of meaning to your work that makes it memorable - even when your writing craft isn't (yet) it's best.

Get Stuff Done...Now.

Swiped this from John August who found it here.

You want to write? Then start typing. But first, listen:

The Sound of Young America

Tired, Cranky and Going Home...

Where I have work waiting for me there....

What?

Sleep is an option.

I'd Rather Be Confused For Ten Minutes Then Bored For Five Seconds

Will Dixon is the man for finding this on YouTube.



If you don't take the time to watch this then you will be lost in that forest of wannabes to be eaten by the wolves.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go fuckin' write.

Bill, What's it Like Writing an Internet Radio Adventure?

You write. You rewrite.

You worry that you're clear and entertaining even though this is your first radio script. You worry about getting the tone of a 1939 radio adventure "right." You worry about being able to give the actors what they need to make it sing. You work in all of those influences that hit you as a kid as being "cool."

You kill all your darlings, polish then hit "Send."

Then you wait...and wait...and wait...sending the occasional message to the elves in Toronto as they do their work. Then you wait some more...

until you get this.

And then the smiles come and you realize it's real.

Then you realize it's only the beginning!

Hear That Buzzing?

That's the sound of my furious fingers flying across the keyboard as I rewrite my movie for Andrew...

and begin my writing for Moonstone Books new anthology series THE GREEN HORNET!

I received approval of my treatment yesterday (some of you saw my glee via Facebook) and now have to get down to the grim and gritty adventures of the man who hunts the biggest of all game.

Wow. I'm writing the Green Hornet.

I'm also going to be making another big announcement next week.

Life is good (and busy).

They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab...

Been busy of late with the latest script. I'm past the halfway point which for me means an unending projectile vomit of words until the end. So this next week will be especially quiet as I finish this ambitious action-adventure script up and huddle in the corner, shaking like a meth addict.

Will it be Oscar-worthy prose? Oh hell no! (Fuck no, even)
But there will be a movie in there somewhere, and that's the point of a first draft.

A writer IM'd me the other day wanting to chat about his career. He' d (re) written two scripts in the 6 years he'd been writing. Of late he felt that he didn't want to write, felt blocked, etc...

The long and short of my advice was this:

If you can walk away from it. Then run.

I wouldn't want to wish some of the moments I've had in my writing career on anyone. And yet, I wouldn't trade them either. That's how insidious this writing thing is - you have to do it. And I'm not a great writer by any means, but if I want to see the images that I want to see onscreen (or on computer screen or page or iphone) then I'm at least going to write their first drafts.

I have to do that. That's how sick I am about writing this stuff. I mean - look at me - I'm relaxing from writing by... writing a blog post ABOUT writing.




But don't worry dear reader for the mental health of your completely mad pulp bastard. I take great solace in the fact that at least I'm not an actor.

Now that's nuts.

I'm Writing...

Pitches: for a pulp anthology featuring [REDACTED].

A Proposal: for [REDACTED] to [REDACTED]...

A Business Plan: which is taking longer than expected, and is really frustrating at times, but is ultimately really cool and so worth it. More info contained in the Pulp Legion Electrogram.

A Screenplay: which means my next 30-45 evenings will be locked up. Again, more detailed info in The P.L.E.

The Pulp Legion Electrogram: trying to figure out what to include and what not to in this inaugural issue.

Now I'm off to write some emails as I have to follow up on some work...

See you in the Mental Ward.

The Friday Update: 2-20-09

Trying to clear off my desk to get some writing done.

I have received a communication from the Purchase Bros. and we are trying to negotiate a time for them to come on Geekerati. More as this develops. Put your questions in the comments.

The Season Finale to LEVERAGE is this coming Tuesday:



The Oscars are this weekend. I will be at a party with friends.

More later AFTER I finish my writing...