Patreon_Writing: Write What You Know

https://www.patreon.com/posts/writing-write-73444200?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator 

Are you thinking, what does "write what you know" actually mean? Or that you don't know anything significant. Some of the most "insignificant" things are very significant. So, writing what you know is really kind of simple for the most part, depending on what the knowledge is. Whether about nuclear power or the workings of the heart, both physically, and most certainly, emotionally.

• Things you are expert in and take for granted. That stuff that makes your friends and family...https://www.patreon.com/posts/writing-write-73444200?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator 

Neale Sourna's Writer's Tidbits Creating Creative Writing/Research _ POC/Black Historical Fiction (BHF) Patreon.com/NealeSourna

About Neale Sourna's Writer's Tidbits

People of Color (POC) / Black Historical Fiction (BHF)
POC / Black Historical Fiction / Literature / Romance / Erotica and More
https://www.facebook.com/groups/163627582322721
https://www.patreon.com/NealeSourna

MISSION: To SHARE Historical Black, African, and People of Color (POC) Fiction author historical research references, story prompts, writer hacks, and links for writers and readers of People of Color Historical fiction and nonfiction.

Providing you with writing trigger topics and bits of history you never considered were a possibility. Or "someone" said it never was / never could have happened like that. They're wrong. And probably actually existed, was forgotten, ignored, or cast aside.

Plus, I'll be giving brief personal analyses on: character, a writer’s journey, and more that may prove helpful in creating your own colorful characters, in-depth stories, and completed published works.

NEED HELP:

• How to build an idea into a story?
• How to create interesting characters?
• How to keep your writer sanity sane?
• How to see or feel a writing trigger or a character trigger and what questions can get you to where you want to go.
  • Like always remembering Depeche Mode: "People Are People"

WHY? WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

• Finding relevant reference materials remains scattered and haphazard. Searching for historical information for People of Color isn't just as easy as digging out your old school history books.
        Most often we aren't mentioned, well, not as thoroughly and heroically as European males.

• Writing historically about People of Color to bring something new to readers' minds and emotions about People of Color in History is the plan.
  We are people, with the same or similar wants, drives, hopes as everyone else.
        Ethnic cultures are the unique seasoning for the people we were, are, and want to be and I hope to help you find thought and feel points on cultural points of view (POV) you never considered.

• Finding material that gives us a mental or emotional writing prompt, an urge to build it into a scene, one story, or an entire series.

Maybe its a tapestry image of an African Brit trumpeter for Henry VIII of England, a notice about a foreign black officer soldier who fought for King Henry VIII and his son, Edward—a man of African descent Knighted (Sir Pedro).

Or ... hm, what time periods of historical films do you love and want to see yourself in?

To be blunt, those of European descent, usually male, write themselves into the history of the Great Wall of China, Polynesia, and running with Mongol hordes. 

If Europeans "might" be there, why not Africans, like Yasuke, the "Black Samurai / Black Ronin" or "African Samurai / African Ronin"?

• Plus, marketing and making connections outside of the larger African American Book Clubs, when "lists" for Black Historical Fiction and Literature, because most are only rearranged rewrites of the SAME lists of older / classic African American or Black American tales. 
  • For example. Try searching for "African British Historical Fiction" sometime and see what limited material comes up. Even just African British, when Africans have been in Europe since, at least, Roman times. 
  • Or look for "African American Historical Fiction" that's not Z. N. Hurston, A. Walker, etc.
  • Yes. Some newer books get listed but, you have to scroll and scroll to find the newer stories about older, more varied, or different tales.

NOW. WHO AM I…?

Neale Sourna (www.Neale-Sourna.com), an award-winning author / publisher - screenwriter - game story narrative writer, based in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, USA area. My novel and short story writing grew from self-prescribed short story exercises to work out ideas for TV scripts and feature screenplays.

My first published work was the short story "Hesitation" for PLAYGIRL, May 2002. 
“Characters should have depth and reality, and be unique in their own way.”

Some awards include my first published novel HOBBLE which won Best Romantic Erotica of the Year from BlackRefer.com; screenplay FRAMES which ranked as a New Century Screenplay Finalist; and Best storytelling @ White Nights Conference Game Narrative Awards for online video game METROPOLIS: LUX OBSCURA. http://www.neale-sourna.com/scriptgateway.html

I am a member of the Writer's Guild of America - West (WGA-w)'s Video Game Caucus.

I also edit and design (ebook and book covers plus interior layouts) of the character-driven stories published through PIE: Perception Is Everything (www.PIE-Percept.com), which is my author-publishing company.

EVER HEAR OF "WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW”?

A little bit of everything in my life goes into my writing, because I believe in building characters who have unique depth, freshness, and reader memorability. So, they get some degree of my thoughts, emotions, and experience or that of someone I know directly or by observation.

Plus, with a lifelong love of learning and with life experience as a temp and perm employee in various fields besides writing; including: retail, business banking and wealth management, accounting, engineering, live theatre, cinema, music (vocal, instruments, and radio), erotic photo modeling, historical and cultural research, and even a little microgravity research at NASA.

You never know what comes in handy for writing characters and plots.

EDUCATION:

• Cuyahoga Community College’s Digital Film & Editing, Game Design Building; plus studies in Music Theory & Harmony. 
• Graduate level Film & Video writing and analysis at American University, DC. 
• A Performing Fine Arts Bachelor Degree from Lake Erie College, OH in Music, Photography, Painting, and Live Theater Stage Management and Theater Management. 
• An undergrad-intern semester at Mount Vernon College with the National Endowment for the Arts Opera-Musical Theatre Financial Distribution Program. 
• And an academic term alone abroad in Vienna, Austria just living, making friends, and learning.
  

A MISCELLANEOUS FUN FACT.

I share a birthday with sensual and sensational authors the Marquis de Sade of France and Thomas Hardy of England.||

_BUY STORIES online at your usual bookstores (BN and Amazon). Or get mobi / kindle / epub versions banned by Amazon Kindle or other vendors available at: https://payhip.com/NealeSourna 

https://www.patreon.com/NealeSourna

• 
  

26 Years Ago Today… Posted on March 06, 2014 1:24 PM

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2014/03/26-years-ago-today/


I get the occasional question as to how I came to write OUTLANDER, and given that today is the 26th anniversary of my doing so, thought I’d maybe post this explanatory message—which I wrote a few years ago in thanks to the Compuserve folk who Witnessed the Creation , now updated.

Dear All–

On March 6, 1988, I started writing a novel. I wasn’t going to tell anyone what I was doing, let alone ever try to publish it. I just wanted to learn how to write a novel, and had concluded—having written All Kinds of nonfiction at that point—that the only way to do that was actually to write one. (I was not, btw, wrong in this assumption.)

Now, as a (rather convoluted) side-effect of my day-job, I’d become an “expert” in scientific computation (really easy to be an expert, if there are only six people in the world who do what you do, and that was my position, back in the early ’80′s), and as an even weirder side-effect of that, I became a member of the Compuserve Books and Writers Community (then called the Literary Forum), somewhere in late 1986.

Well, when I decided to learn to write a novel by writing one, I also decided a few other things:

1) I wouldn’t tell anyone what I was doing. Aside from the feeling of sheer effrontery involved in doing so, I didn’t want a lot of people telling me their opinions of what I should be doing, before I’d had a chance to figure things out for myself (as I said, I’d written a lot of non-fiction to this point, and nobody told me how). Also didn’t want a lot of busybodies (in my personal life) putting in their two cents, asking when I’d be done, and when it would be published, etc.—since I had no idea whether I could even finish a book.

2) I would finish the book. No matter how bad I thought it was, I wouldn’t just stop and abandon the effort. I needed to know what it took, in terms of daily discipline, mental commitment, etc. to write something like a novel. (I had written long things before—a 400-page doctoral dissertation entitled “Nest Site Selection in the Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus,” (or, as my husband says, “Why birds build nests where they do, and who cares anyway?”), an 800-page monograph on “The Dietary Habits of the Birds of the Colorado River Valley,” etc.—but I’d never written fiction, other than lame short stories for English classes.) And

3) I’d do the absolute best that I could with the writing, every day. Even though this was a practice book that I’d never show anybody, it didn’t matter. If I wasn’t trying my best, how would I ever know if I was any good, and more importantly, how would I get better?
 
(In this regard, I had some evidence to go on. I’ve read all my life—hugely—and noticed that in most cases, while I’d enjoy all of an author’s books, including the first one, the books got noticeably better as the writer kept on writing. So, I concluded, with perfect logic, writing was like ballet dancing or piano-playing; if you practiced, you got better at it. I was not wrong in this conclusion, either.)

So, anyway, the book I wrote for practice was OUTLANDER, and here we are, 26 years and (almost) 14 books later. I just wanted to acknowledge the role of the Forum and my friends there, in that process.

How did that work, since I’d decided not to tell anybody what I was doing? Well, I stuck to that decision (I didn’t even tell my husband), but about six months into the writing, I was logging on intermittently late at night, picking up messages and posting replies—and found that I was having a argument with a gentleman (named Bill Garland, RIP) about what it feels like to be pregnant.

“Oh, I know what that feels like,” Bill assured me. “My wife’s had three children!” [pause here to allow the ladies to roll on the floor for a moment]

“Yeah, right,” I said. “_I’ve_ had three children, buster.”

So he asked me to describe what that was like.

Rather than try to cram such a description into a thirty-line message slot (all we had back in the old 300-baud dial-up days), I said, “Tell you what—I have this…piece…in which a young woman tells her brother what it’s like to be pregnant. I’ll put it in the data library for you.”

So—with trembling hands and pounding heart—I posted a small chunk (three or four pages, as I recall) of the book I was calling CROSS STITCH. And people liked it. They commented on it. They wanted to see more!

Aside from a few private moments associated with my husband and the birth of my children, this was the most ecstatic experience I’d ever had. And so, still trembling every time I posted something, I—very slowly—began to put up more.

 Now, I don’t write with an outline, and I don’t write in a straight line, so my chunks weren’t chapters, weren’t contiguous, and generally weren’t connected to anything else. 

But they did have the same characters –and people liked those characters.

There were (and are) a lot of very kind and encouraging people who inhabited the Forum—some of them still there: Alex, Janet, Margaret, Marte… and many who aren’t, like Karen Pershing and John Kruszka (RIP), Mac Beckett, Michael Lee West–and Jerry O’Neill, whom I count as my First Fan and head cheerleader; always there to read what I posted and say the most wonderful things about it, one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.

So, over the course of the next year or so, these people kept egging me on. Asking questions, making comments*, urging me—eventually—to try to publish This Thing (it started out as a perfectly straight-forward historical novel, but then Things Happened, and what with the time-travel and the Loch Ness monster and all, I had no idea what it was).

*(Just to clarify—these were not critiques, just interested comments. I’ve never had a critique group nor ever would; nothing against them at all—I just don’t work that way. But regardless, I’d never put up _anything_ for public viewing that I didn’t think was completely ready for human consumption.)

Some of these people were published authors themselves and very kindly shared their own stories, and advice regarding literary agents and the publishing process (thank you, Mike Resnick, and Judy McNaught!), and in the fullness of time, John Stith very kindly introduced me to his own agent—who took me on, on the basis of an unfinished first novel. 

And…I finished it, to the supportive cheers of the Forum. A couple of weeks later, my agent sold it, as part of a three-book contract, to Delacorte, and bing!—I was a novelist.
Not saying I’d never have written a book without y’all—but man, you guys _helped_. 

Thank you!
–Diana

====
I avoided this book until its siren’s call said, Really, just read a few pages, then buy me and read me in full. Did, and have been in love ever since.

There’s more to how she did it. Search online about Jamie Fraser and his inspiration and connection to Doctor Who.

_NS

LOVE this guy's writing; Bryan Fuller! Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes. EXCELLENT. Too too excellent.

LOVE this guy's writing; Bryan Fuller, TV writer! Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes. EXCELLENT. Too too excellent.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/486965

Still getting over last Sunday's "The Red Wedding" Game of Thrones fans?

Still getting over last Sunday's "The Red Wedding" Game of Thrones fans? That is a great gift of great writing that makes your emotions SCREAM and your brain FREEZE with OMFG!

Happy Birthday me.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/06/03/game-of-thrones-red-wedding/2384031/

Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Six tips to survive driving emergencies from professional women racers

Six tips to survive driving emergencies from professional women racers

By TrueCar Staff | TrueCar – Fri, Apr 13, 2012 4:25 PM EDT

Regardless of whether you just got your driver's license within the last few years, or whether you've been driving since cassette players were standard equipment, automotive accidents and driving emergencies are difficult to prepare for. 

Being a good driver means knowing how to respond to the unexpected, so we asked the female athletes on TrueCar's "Women Empowered" racing team to share some tips to help drivers stay safe on the road when a driving emergency strikes -- after all, who knows better how to handle driving emergencies than professional racecar drivers who must be prepared to face them at high-speeds and under intense pressure?

 

#1 What To Do If Your Car Is Hydroplaning, Or Skidding Out Of Control
 

Verena Mei, Rally America, says:
 

Hydroplaning happens on wet surfaces when water accumulates in front of a car's tires, creating a layer of water between the rubber of the tires and the road's surface that reduces traction and makes it difficult to control the car. 

Your first priority is to carefully slow the vehicle down so you can regain control of the car. 

As with any driving emergency, keep a firm grip on the steering wheel and stay calm. Ease your foot off the gas and carefully steer your car in the direction of the road. Do this until the car slows and you can feel your tires on the ground again. Avoid sudden acceleration, braking, or steering inputs, which may only cause the car to slip (hydroplane) more.

If the back wheels hydroplane, the car's rear may fishtail or veer sideways into a skid, possibly causing you to spin. Steer in the direction of the skid until the rear tires stop hydroplaning and come in contact with the ground again, and then gently steer in the opposite direction to straighten out your vehicle.

To reduce the chance of hydroplaning, try to drive in the tire tracks left by the cars in front of you. These techniques can also help maintain traction when driving on snowy roads.

What does Verena drive?
On the race course: #335 TrueCar 2011 Ford Fiesta
On the road: Subaru Impreza


 

#2 What To Do If Your Car Stalls While You’re Driving
 

Shea Holbrook, Pirelli World Challenge, says:
 

It can be frightening if your car stalls while you're driving, as you may lose power steering and braking. Keep in mind these systems DO still function, but you will have to work harder to use them. Stay calm and focused, turn on your flashers, and try to restart the vehicle while the vehicle is still moving.

If it won't restart, use your car's forward momentum to help you roll to the side of the road and park off the shoulder or out of the way of traffic. If you can't make it to the side of the road, stay in your car (you definitely don't want to be out of your car in moving traffic!) and call 911 to get an emergency crew to help block traffic and move you off the road.

 What does Shea drive?
On the race course: #67 TrueCar 2012 Honda Civic Si
On the road: Audi A4


 

#3 What To Do If The Tread Separates From The Tire
 

Ashley Freiberg, Star Mazda, says:
 

Tire tread separation can be even scarier than a blowout, because the outer belt can become separated from the rubber of the tire and sometimes detach completely from the rest of the tire. You may notice loud thumping and feel the vehicle pulling to the side as the tread pulls off the tire; at high speeds, this flopping tread can damage your wheel well or even drive your car completely out of control. Get a grip -- literally! 

Do your best to steer the car straight and gently lift your foot off the gas. Cautiously guide yourself to the side of the road, braking carefully, and then call a tow truck to change the tire. Phew, you made it!

What does Ashley drive?
On the race course: #91 TrueCar Star Mazda
On the road: Toyota Tundra


 

#4 How To Stop In An Emergency Situation
 

Shannon McIntosh, USF2000, says:
 

The other day, a dog ran out in front of my car. I just gripped the wheel and stood on my brakes. I could feel the ABS pulse as the car came to a stop, and thankfully the dog escaped injury. If you have a chance to try this in an empty parking lot you'll discover that your ABS also allows you to safely steer around obstacles while in full-brake mode. Just keep your foot stomped down; don’t lift off the brake until your car comes to a complete stop. 

Most of today's modern vehicles are equipped with anti-lock braking systems that help drivers maintain control of the car by preventing the wheels from locking up, and as of 2012, NHTSA requires all passenger vehicles to be equipped with electronic stability control systems (which are operated by the ABS). This could prevent from 5,000 to 9,000 fatalities a year!

If you don't have ABS, panic braking takes a little more skill. You have to be able to push the brake pedal down hard, but not so hard that you lock up and skid the tires. It takes a lot of finesse to do this well, so this is another skill you could practice in an empty parking lot, to help you learn how to do it in an emergency.

If your brakes don't work at all, try to steer yourself away from traffic and people. Turn on your emergency blinkers. Use your gear selector to downshift into lower gears and, if you have room on either side of you, steer the car sharply from side-to-side to slow you down. If that doesn't work, sideswipe your car against the guardrail until you are going slow enough to use the hand or foot brake to bring you to a standstill.

What does Shannon drive?
On the race course: #18 TrueCar Van Diemen DP08 Mazda
On the road: Acura RSX


 

#5 What To Do If Your Gas Pedal Sticks Or If Your Car Won't Stop Accelerating
 

Emilee Tominovich, Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup SCAA Pro Series, says:
 

It’s going to sound counter-intuitive, but the first thing you should do if your car won't stop accelerating is to lift your foot off the brake -- you might have accidentally put your foot down on the accelerator by mistake! 

If the pedal sticks, reach down to see if something (like floor mats, or in my case, water bottles) might be wedged under there. 

Be sure to stay calm! 

The next step is to put the car into neutral (or press down the clutch). Don't worry about damaging the transmission; putting the car into neutral just takes the power from the engine away from the wheels, and lets you use the brakes to stop the car from rolling. In the worst-case scenario, you can even shut off the engine completely; just turn the key to OFF. 

Your steering and brakes will be harder to use, but they will still WORK! 

Coast to the side of the road, and use your emergency brake if you need extra help stopping. You can always practice doing this in parking lots, so you'll feel more confident if such an emergency ever arises.

What does Emilee drive?
On the race course: #19 TrueCar Mazda MX-5
On the road: Acura MDX


 

#6 What To Do If Your Tire Blows Out
 

Katherine Legge, IZOD IndyCar Series, says:
 

A tire blowout can pretty much happen to anyone anytime, but it's more likely to occur if your tires are low on tread, improperly inflated, or if you hit sharp debris on the roadway. It has happened to me on the track at speeds as fast as 200 mph, and trust me, the most important thing is not to panic! 

You might have heard a loud boom from under the car, but don't worry. Keep a firm hold on the steering wheel and avoid hard braking. Gently lift your foot off the gas, and coast until you have control; THEN you may brake carefully. 

Be sure to use your emergency flashers to warn the cars behind you, but stay focused on steering the car as straight as you can while you slow down the vehicle, and guide yourself to the side of the road. Your ability to steer may be harder if you blow a front tire, and depends on how much of the rubber is left on the wheel. 

Call a tow truck after you get to the side of the road; if you had to roll very far before you stopped, you will probably need to replace the metal wheel in addition to the tire.

What does Katherine drive?
On the race course: #6 TrueCar Lotus Dallara DW12
On the road: Lotus Evora from her engine provider, Lotus.

You can follow the TrueCar racing team at: www.truecar.com/racing

Okay. I love this song BUT Sean Paul is an incomprehensible singer and so, this is a lesson in writing AND pronouncing clearly; or you get....

Misheard Lyrics - Sean Paul - Temperature

Neale Sourna, PIE: Perception Is Everything - Owner | Featured on MO.com

Neale Sourna is a Midwest USA author/publisher with a strong preference for and aptitude for great characters that generate unique stories with a powerful interpersonal and erotic nature.

Neale is an individual owner of three overlapping companies: writing for others as Neale Sourna’s Writing-Naked.com as a freelancer with worldwide clients (ghostwriting, creative writing, and editing of screenplays, game stories, short stories, novels, and more); publishing and marketing ebooks and print books (fiction and nonfiction) through PIE: Perception Is Everything [pie-percept.com]; and as Neale Sourna the writer, editor, design layout artist, marketer, publisher.

MO: What influenced your decision to get into the publishing and marketing aspect of the writing industry?

Neale: The interminable slowness, from months to year(s) each, of finding an agent, then finding an editor, then finding a publishing company for film and/or literature or separate ones for both paths; hoping they don’t move to another job or fold and have your projects locked in contract and unavailable to readers. I spent a solid year or so just absorbing from every avenue and searching online the kinds of publishing avenues there were: “traditional,” online, electronic, author publishing. I printed contracts to see what was “really” offered, what their costs and legal strengths and hamstrings, like a super long contract versus an open and easy to end one. Only one company survived my search: InfinityPublishing.com.

Watching how Infinity handled my print on demand (POD) needs and then watching the ebook company I chose, Overdrive.com, work on my books both showed me....[more]

Need Game Story Narrative and Script Writers_Then Contact Us...

Game Writer Exchange at LinkedIn.com www.linkedin.com/groups/Game-Writer-Exchange-2578390">Neale Sourna's Game Writer Exchange for LinkedIn members only; so, sign up and post your game writing jobs to us. Or give us a heads up on your job links elsewhere, like Elance, Guru, Freelancer, or your game company, etc.

Thanks, Neale Sourna

and

Game Writing at LinkedIn.com www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=89330">Game Writing Group for LinkedIn members only; so, sign up and post your game writing jobs to us. Or give us a heads up on your job links elsewhere, like Elance, Guru, Freelancer, or your game company, etc.

Thanks, Neale Sourna

Client Project: Indian Sex Short Stories by Neale Sourna at Guru.com

Indian Sex Short Stories
http://indiansex-video.com/indian-sex-stories.html

Bound
Bound 2
Raj
Raj 2
Raj 3
Garba Magic
Garba Magic 2
Garba Magic 3
Call Center
Mile High Club
Rini and Kala
Internet Connection
No Kisses
Wedding Hookup
Cock Wonder

All of the above stories by Neale Sourna at www.Writing-Naked.com / copyright for these stories in this form by http://indiansex-video.com/

My Guilty Romances with Keanu Reeves, Lovers, and Writing

My Guilty Romances with Keanu Reeves, Lovers, and Writing

By Neale Sourna (Guest Blogger)

I write erotic fiction, both soft and hardcore, and sensuous and romantic game texts, and do so boldly. And even call my writing consulting site Writing-Naked.com, because I love writing, love to write, and love to have written—and yet I find, repeatedly, a middle class, middle American, Midwest, working class vibe of, “Hm, writing, that’s not REAL work, a REAL job you can do with pride, tell your grandma, and pay all your bills with.”

Like I had total pride and all my bills paid back when I was a secretary / executive assistant / office manager or retail salesperson or whatever. Absolutely not.

And my mom and grandma know what I write, even if they don’t read it.

“They” never leave you alone, nor does the noise in your own head, except unless you can prove you can afford to live in Anne Rice’s mansion, Stephen King’s gothic estate, or give the forever waving and REAL jobless Queen of England a run for her pound Sterling by being “Harry Potter’s” multimillion, writing mum.

And, probably, even then, you’ll have to tell yourself—until you believe it, too, and then some—that sitting on your bum, writing “little stories,” especially “little, romantic and erotic stories” IS REAL. And a guilt-free occupation.

That it’s more than okay.

That it’s really a breath of air filling your lungs, and a thing that keeps you sane.

Or, maybe, that’s just me.

And what does this have to do with Keanu...? http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-guilty-romances-with-keanu-reeves.html

Bill Johnson (Story Is Promise) on "Twilight" Prologue and More

Notes on the Preface of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

"I saw the film before reading the books, and my first idea--in reading the Prologue--was that it was film editing.

"The brief tantalizing teaser at the beginning to get you to realize, oh, it's not just some teen whining about her devastatingly cute boyfriend; but something that is life and death and even spiritual.

"I was glad for it.

"Mushy stuff--and dear Bella is a mushy, mis-thinking lover, who is at her best when she BRAVELY FEELS, not thinks.

"The prologue immediate says this. Great hook. "

--Neale Sourna


Story is Promise Deep Characterization

"Writers do often write THEIR lives and fears to the detriment of their characters, no matter age, gender, or expertise.

"Woman author, 50+, who should've known better with NY editors to correct her error--and didn't.

" 'The Witching Hour' takes about 90 or so pages to get to the main characters who can actually do anything. Why the previous bits weren't cut or moved deeper in is painful to read.

"My first Rice. And a slight insult/compliment, as I was told my "Frames" script reminded them of her.

--Neale Sourna

Neale Sourna's Writing-Naked.com

Neale Sourna's Writing-Naked.com

Your screenplay, novel, your dialog and visuals need hardcore writing and intense character rebuilding or revisualization, it needs its impact to be more, well, impact-y; invest in fine writing and great storytelling. Quality pricing gets you quality writing; by byline or ghost (ghostwriting).

Only make contact if you're truly ready to be serious about investing in and doing the very best for your project; when you want a voice that's strong, profound, and farseeing--whether scifi/adventure, romance, spiritual, or drama.

Neale Sourna's Writing, Ghostwriting, Rewriting, Screenwriting, Proofing, and Editing

Elance.com / NS Elance Writing-Editing Profile and Guru.com / NS Guru Writing Editing Profile

(for scripts, screenplays, novels, game stories/gaming stories, sales dialog scripts, and more)

"I will not fear.
Fear is the mindkiller.

Fear is the little death
That brings total Oblivion.

I will permit my fear to pass
Over me and through me.

And where it has gone
I will turn the inner eye.

Nothing will be there
Only I will remain."©

from Frank Herbert's DUNE.

What is Writing Naked?

Don't think that I have it ALL worked out for the now and future, I need help sometimes as much as you may need quality assistance, and I've most certainly been told, on several occasions, that I really need help. :) But I've gotten somewhere you may not have been yet, and perhaps I, or my associates, can help you.

Who doesn't need help sometimes? Myself, I've gone it alone too many times even when I shouldn't've. I've learned from it.

Bad and good. Negative and positive. Yet nearly everything I have, everything I've experienced, have seen, heard, felt goes into my writing--ALL of it--truths and lies and subterfuges all. But, if that makes you nervous and scared, don't read any further.

Boldness.

THAT'S WRITING NAKED.

I've read on the web that author Victor Hugo of "Les Miserables" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," etc. often wrote naked, which means, considering the thickness of his books, that he must've been naked a LOT! And cold and wet!!

But, here, with me, you can keep your clothes on, or not.

As any storyteller can tell you or anyone who's lived a life, crap happens and characters, even YOU, could change this story of mine completely all around. Or I change yours.

When that happens in my stories, the surprises are startlingly grand. And.... [http://www.writing-naked.com/]

Too much TV: There is overlap and learning, and if you have to ask....

From Neale Sourna at Absolute Write Forum.

It's okay to love TV, film, oh, and novels/short stories.
I think TV watching, if you actively watch and question it as you view, is not a problem in an of itself. Except in whether there are too many hours in it versus a deadline you have. And yes, I am guilty there, but so are all of us spending just a little more extra time reading all the replies to that Absolute Write forum thread.

It is interesting that no one questions whether your new Harry Potter or finally sitting down to read War and Peace will eat up just at much time, or more.

And yes I watch, a lot, and DVD seasons, etc. But also, I often find better writing and character execution with Joss Whedon, or on Smallville. More freshness in how to tell a story and just put a smile on a face with a Pushing Daisies, and the like.

Because there are some novels and books I own or have read for genre research and the like and they are not that good; they need editing, proofing, another revision or two or three. I mean, really, Bridges of Madison County could not be handed in as first class classwork to the teacher who wrote it, and expect to get a good grade, and yet it was published and filmed, to boot, with hall its unfinished, illogical bits just lying there like old, clumpy oatmeal. Unpalatable, but it hit a wave and rode to shore.

TV is not always some kind of waste, think how many people must subliminally accept Barack Obama as presidential material, because two very tall, very black and smart men have been president on 24; giving us a new way of seeing ourselves in the future we make now.

It is--my keyboard is not letting me make contractions, and it is killing me!!--reboot.

It is your life, your time, some stories must be written NOW, others need time, lots of time to get down to their juicier, more subtle bits. There is stuff like that on TV, and well done too. And the good actors with the good scripts oft times give you better stuff on TV than in feature movies; think Battlestar versus Starship Poopers.

And then, again, there is the WWE and Stargate(s) things--guilty pleasures that make you happy. Happy is good. Plus, it is THE medium, other than the third world war of WWW that has to be accepted and used, ignoring it makes you an extinct dinosaur.

Besides more people waste more time away at work, commuting, getting bagels, talking to cubicle mates, and emailing friends, than half of us foruming, TVing, and multitasking our writing careers from home, with two novels, a client project or two, and a new proposal all in the works and open on our PCs.
__________________
Neale Sourna
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Overlap. Whether watching TV, films on DVD (on tv), live theatre, reading books (that you're not editing or writing), etc. are all the same time wasters. As are forums, Google, Wikipedia, etc. And yet, there is a necessity for them, and a conscious or unconscious manner of getting lost in them.

Learning. No where, except on TV, can you have so many time eras visualized (and the hard work or enforced segregations of various people and castes, how even Queen Victoria thought girls should not be educated, which I find reprehensible, inconceivable, and hypocrisy, but, then, she was royalty and we are not).

TV (broadcast, DVD, cable, satellite) places all of this before you, giving you, well, me, insight into how different and the same we are between us now and now, and now and then, or the chance to pop in disc after disc to see how "Little Women" (and attitudes toward women and starlets' capacity) has been handled, and changed considerably, from decade to decade in Hollywood Film. --I use this in my writing; Victorian era, servants/masters, mistreatment of....

TV's better than life. Sometimes. It's more concise in telling a story of certain kinds, well and badly. Both good and bad are useful to me. Actual language between people on buses and in malls, seldom gives me anything useful for dialog or situations; besides, we write film, TV, novel, theatre dialog not REAL dialog, which is boring, inane, and babbles on forever about nothing.

Did I mention that I hate cell phones on public transportation?

And insight. I think a lot while watching. And think a lot while not watching. And while trying to sleep.

"Letting it wash over" me, is more than a bath of visuals and sount, it's zen. And, yes, if you have to ask if you're using too much time for it, it's the same as asking, "Do you think Terry loves me, what do you think, BFF?"

A few insights for me this week, while watching broadcast (recorded or "live") and DVDs, plus misc. other media and thoughts and family comments coming together in divine moments:

* solid and attractive actor Rufus Sewell (U.K.) now on CBS-TV's version of "Eleventh Hour"--why doesn't he get more leads to front movies and stuff, has been my question since "Dark City", and I knew, but now I get it. I get how THEY must see him, when highering. It's his eyes, they're an odd color on screen, whether in color or b/w, and more specifically he looks a bit haunted, and has sharp, lean cheekbones, so casting souls see him a certain way, negatively; where I've mentally cast him for a lead actor because of those eyes, positively.

* PBS's "Secrets (or whatever) of the Inquisition" taught me that school had misled me into thinking the Inq. only existed during medieval/renaissance days. While it lasted, officially, until 1870, making the last who were actively harmed by it lived to see my grandmother and John Kennedy born. And:

o That it answered that 9-1-1 question noncolored Americans asked a lot in Sept 2001, "Why do they hate us (U.S.A.) so?" Well, watching TV/PBS tied in with a book from Cleveland Public Library on "Defiled Professions...Outcasts" in medieval/renaissance times answered it sharply. Yeah, THEY like our stuff, and our pour are richer than their poor, that THEIR religion isn't getting them ahead of us, blah-blah-blah. It's hard for Americans because we never were like any of them. The closest who were, were enslaved, and never asked "Why do they hate...?"

The answer, to me: Citizens of the US don't know their place. Fiddlers on roofs know their place. Upstairs/Downstairs people know theirs, but Americans were one thing yesterday, are something or someone else today, and tomorrow will move physically again, or shift themselves inside, and rewrite their whole universe again. That frightens people about the US, while they still try to live some life they imagined worked for some dead ancestor thousands of years ago: before phones; cars; voting for ALL citizens of age, regardless of sex or ownership, and education for same, for all.

It's not a special badge of honor to be wholly ignorant of such a powerful medium, nor great to be wholly enslaved to it. But it keeps us off the streets, starting wars, and stuff. And do you think the new special guest star on "Heroes" is...?
__________________
Neale Sourna

I write for the delicious "feel" of it, how about you?

It is our Independence Day, or at least mine. And this is my official declaration of intent to remain independent, of all the negative dross which can drag a creative writer down. [Oh, yeah, and "Pan's Labyrinth" is paused on the DVD.]

This is the thing.

It really settled on me the other day while revisiting the past at the Cleveland Art Museum's reopening, and after asking myself a bunch of silly questions of why I should continue to write and publish--why me, what is my importance.

And simply, the true basics of it all is that I write for the delicious feel of it. It takes my emotions everywhere, making me happy, or sad, or whatever "they," "my" characters, are emoting about. I actually "feel" it within me. It's as profound as time travel, teleporting, being in love, being in hate, or being indifferent. Whether I'm experiencing it in space, in Victorian England, or as an African vampire.

It's on the page, simple paper and ink, tiny pixels of daydreams and nightmares, but it makes, causes an actual "shift" within me, that is tangible. Not unlike the peculiar and shocking feeling I once had when a certain person looked at me at a party, and I "fell" inside. I had the distinctive feel of falling through soft space, which I remember all too clearly.

So, why is love for a person easier to remember than love personified in the body of a novel, script, or short story? Because it's easier to explain, probably.

But the feeling, THAT feeling. I take if for granted, and have pooh-poohed it to some extent because it is such an inherent part of me. But if I can craft this and have it make me feel this way, I should remember that others have told me so in their own way, or that even more others will feel it too, just by reading what I've written.

So then, who the heck am I to be so bourgeois and forgetful of this and to pooh anything? True feelings are precious and shared ones even more so, so those of us who write naked.

Don't lose the feeling my friends, and don't ever forget it, neglect it, or push it aside to die in hiding. Write and publish.

This is my official testimony. Do you feel it too?
__________________
Neale Sourna

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