Category: Elise Speaks

Elise Speaks

Screenplays: The Essential Three Acts

A professor I once knew used to boil down good storytelling into a very simple mantra: “Every story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end.”

Well, duh! I know, I know … It seems like a no-brainer – and it sort of is – but when it comes to movie scripts that work the way they’re supposed to, these elements, the three “acts” of a story, are crucial. Not only that, but these stages of storytelling require very specific ingredients that, when combined properly and precisely, make for a compelling script.

Act One: Story Set-up
The first act of your script must immediately and clearly set the tone and establish a theme for the film. Is your story a light-hearted comedy, or a quirky superhero caper? This beginning not only must introduce your main characters, but should define their weakness, tensions, conflicts, objectives and what’s at stake for them. Near the end of the first act, the inciting incident occurs. It’s the moment in the story when you lay out the important conflict that defines your tale.

Act Two: Obstacles
The second act revolves around the main character’s attempts to resolve the conflict introduced in Act One. The character is confronted with an obstacle or a series of obstacles. The script must describe in visual terms the character’s attempts to overcome. It is in Act Two that the screenwriter can introduce a subplot that runs parallel to the primary conflict. Throughout this act, the main characters should be further developed; it should be clear in this act how the efforts to deal with the conflict are leading to change in the characters.

Act Three: Story Resolution
New tensions and conflicts are introduced in Act Three, but this time changes in protagonist’s outlook lead him to confront this tension in a different way. The final act is where plot twists provide unsuspected but welcomed surprises, as well as the “obligatory scene” during which the script delivers some sort of anticipated payoff to the audience. Lastly, the final conflict is resolved and the audience gets a glimpse into the characters’ new realities.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com.Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist self-publishing authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.
Elise Speaks

Scriptwriting 101: Show, Don’t Tell

Books are a wonderful thing. A writer can put us right inside a character’s head, simply by telling us flat-out what he’s thinking. Book authors have the luxury of being able to spell out in crystal-clear terms what a character is plotting, what she’s doing, why she’s doing it and what was on her mind at the moment.

Movies don’t speak the same language. Film is just as vivid, but in a much different way. As a book author, you know exactly how to tell your story – just spell it all right out. However, if you’re telling a tale for a movie audience, you have to get the feel for conveying many of your most important ideas visually.

So keep this mantra in your head as you rewrite for the silver screen: Show, don’t tell. Keep these rules in mind as you develop your screenplay.

  • Slow the chatter. Too much dialogue is a scene killer; it bogs down or interrupts the action. It’s usually dull, so please, don’t overdo it. In fact, don’t do it at all where you don’t absolutely have to.
  • Describe your action. Emphasis on action. Describe what your characters do as the story plays out. Omit descriptions of what motivates them to carry out these actions; unless your movie has a narrator, there’s no way to convey these to a viewing audience. Show motivation with solid, tangible actions or through the arrangement of scenes.
  • Allow for interpretation. This is a difficult concept for many to grasp, but it’s important to leave wiggle room for a set designer, producer, director and, ultimately, actors to interpret your script and bring it to life. It needs to be specific enough to convey a clear story, yet vague enough to allow these players to envision all the possibilities. After all, picturing the potential is what sells scripts in the first place. To that end, resist the urge to write instructions to your actors and director into your script. Instead of writing “Bill looks sad and places the manila envelope in the mailbox,” go with a looser “Bill places the envelope in the mailbox.” Let the ultimate owners of the script decide the character’s demeanor and other visuals that convey the action.

Frame of mind is half the battle. If you can keep these goals in view, your screenplay will quickly take shape.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com.Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist self-publishing authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.
Elise Speaks

Big Book to Big Screen: Arranging Your Story for Your First Screenplay

Writers already know all the vital elements of storytelling: antagonists, protagonists, the inciting incident, plot points, character development, and all that juicy conflict that makes for a compelling page-turner. Book authors explore these elements in great depth over dozens, even hundreds, of pages of prose. What stymies many accomplished authors is how to adapt these often lengthy tomes to the much more concise screenplay format.

There’s no question — a movie must tell in roughly 120 script pages what an author usually tells in several times as many pages of single-spaced paragraphs. Paring down that kind of volume can seem like an insurmountable task, but if you organize your book a different way, you’ll be off and running before you know it.

Many writers find it useful to begin the screenwriting process on notecards. This is essentially another way to outline your script, but notecards allow you to rearrange, add, and remove elements easily. Start by writing the title and brief summary of each scene in your book on a notecard. (A scene is a short, self-contained segment of a story that takes place in a specific time and/or place.) If you’re a beginner, consider writing down even those scenes you don’t expect to include in your final script. These may prove useful to you as you determine what other scenes to drop, add, or combine.

Next, decide whether you want to tell your story in chronological order or some other fashion and arrange your cards in that order. Once this is done, you can begin paring down.

Paring down your scenes for film format may be the most difficult part of the process. Writers fall in love with their own words. Cutting them or telling the story without them (using visuals instead) can make a writer feel as though the heart and soul of their work is lost. But the Big Screen is a different animal.

Flip through your notecards and pull out all scenes that don’t a.) advance the plot or b.) develop your main characters – all of them. Be merciless. If that charming café scene does little more than look pretty and show verbal prowess, it has to go. Your visual story will be all the better for it.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com.

Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist self-publishing authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.
Elise Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book

Beyond the Tweet: Tips for Making the Most of Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…

There’s a social media/networking site for just about everyone. While most people use them to keep up with friends and track down old contacts, businesses and individuals with goods and services to sell are hopping on the bandwagon to round up more traffic and more sales.

Not everyone’s riding that wagon in the right direction. At least, not the right direction for their destination. Social media can be a terrific tool for authors looking to pitch their latest books, but it requires a plan and the right frame of mind. With Social Media Day right around the corner (tomorrow), what better time to get involved in the digital wave of the century?

As you embark on your social media journey, here are some tips to help you along the way:

  • Content still is king. Use social media to create high-quality content – NOT marketing copy! Think of your blog as one big corporate white paper or newsletter that you post one piece at a time. These types of communications are, first and foremost, informational. People should turn to your blog, tweets and Facebook posts because they find them useful or enjoyable. A potential reader is not likely to “follow” or “like” your status because they just love reading marketing copy, and they usually don’t “digg” a sales pitch.
  • Remember it’s not all about you. Individuals tend to use social media to focus on themselves, usually to fulfill some need of their own. However, when you’re using social media for business purposes, the format works better when you focus on what you can do for those who read your updates. You’ve got to give to get. Write blogs and post updates with the mindset that you’re providing information to your contacts that will enrich them, not you. As hard a concept as that can be to master, always think about what you can give to your readers – not what your posts can get you – and the loyalty you build will be worth the effort.
  • Enjoy a lengthy engagement. Get your name and your book title out there every chance you get by engaging with others on social media. Comment on blogs and leave links to your homepage when it’s appropriate. Now, note the emphasis on “when it’s appropriate.” As already mentioned, your interactions should be selfless, not an excuse to market or plug your wares when it’s unrelated to the topic at hand. Posting a link to a romance novel on a political blog is not appropriate. Multiple posting your book title to bump it to the top of the comments is not appropriate. Spamming is never, ever appropriate.
  • Build links, build bonds. Linking is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your site and also help search engines find you more quickly and rank you higher. But be smart about your links. Network with other authors and swap links, even ones writing on the same topic. Your visitors may find them, but they’re visitors may also find you. Your goal is not to get as many visitors as possible, but to get the most appropriate visitors possible. A hundred site visitors who are a great fit for what you have to offer are better than a thousand who aren’t likely to connect with your message.

Be smart and be generous, but above all, enjoy the ride. This is the key to using social media to promote your book.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com. Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist self-publishing authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.
Elise Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book

Espresso Book Machines Offer Self-Publishing Authors a Jolt in Sales

Oh, the publishing industry has come such a long way since the days of minimum advance orders, massive preprinting and prohibitive upfront production costs. Technology has not only given digital readers the gift of instant downloads, but now has given hard copy traditionalists the ability to choose a book digitally and have it in hand in the time it takes to press a few buttons on a vending machine.

In fact, the Espresso Book Machine® (EBM), as the name implies, is essentially a vending machine for literature. Just as an espresso maker both makes and vends a piping-hot beverage on demand, the EBM produces a paperback copy of your selection on the spot. The buyer selects a title and the EBM instantly prints the selection, complete with a full-color cover, that is indistinguishable from a preprinted paperback plucked from a bookshelf. The machine even cuts the book to the proper size for that title!

All that in three or four minutes. You can’t even make a latte that fast.

It’s understandable why so much excitement is brewing over this technology. Booksellers and libraries, wise to many readers’ undying love for both tangible reads and instant gratification, are keen to offer as many new releases as possible, even when shelf space is hard to come by. Naturally, authors are drinking it up, as well; any gadget that serves up their books without requiring huge advance printing and shipment costs is a sweet deal. Authors only pay a small preprint cost and receive the full retail price, minus a consignment fee.

Espresso Book Machines are already working overtime in libraries and universities all over the world, including but not limited to:

  • New York Public Library
  • University of Michigan Library
  • New Orleans Public Library
  • San Francisco Internet Archive
  • University of Michigan Library
  • Manchester Center Northshire Bookstore
  • University of Alberta
  • McMaster University Bookstore
  • London Newsstand UK
  • Library of Alexandria, Egypt
  • Melbourne, Australia Angus & Robertson Bookstore

More vending locations are being added all the time. Self-publishing giant Outskirts Press has added the Espresso Book Machine as an affordable distribution option for its authors, and it’s a smart addition to any book marketing plan. The small set-up fee makes the book available at all of the EBM locations and automatically uploads your title to new machines as they’re added to the EBM network, at no extra charge.

Combine an EBM edition with Amazon book listing, and iPad, NOOK and Kindle editions to maximize access to your book and make it easier for readers to make the decision to buy. Of course, you can still keep your car’s trunk stocked with your latest book just in case, but the Espresso Book Machine can help you lessen the load when preprinting isn’t possible.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com. Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist not only published Outskirts Press authors, but also all authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.