I do give advice on writing and self-publishing, and I publish those methods here on my blog, or if I am invited to speak at a panel, a class or seminar, in interviews, or if you meet me at a convention and I have a Q & A going. I am open to being part of panels on comic books, writing and self-publishing, giving media interviews, or answering questions at conventions. :)
I’d rather be honest with my fans than make the think that I am blowing them off by seemingly not wanting to give advice on a one-on-one basis. At the same time, due to so many requests, I would end up having to charge for giving advice, and that’s not why I want to end up doing because I do want to help in some way. But there has to be a balance and a middle ground. Hence, I added some sections on free writing and self-publishing advice on this blog.
Otherwise, in general, please note the following:
I get a lot of individual requests from people who send me messages if I can read/review/edit their manuscript/story/book etc. or publish their books for them. I have made it my general policy to not do so only because it is a full time job and takes away from my own work which is a full-time job in itself.
Although I do encourage readers to read my blog writing advice, I don't have the luxury of giving writing advice one on one or publishing other people’s works full time. It’s not what I do and I need to concentrate on my own works. Otherwise, I’d be working on other people’s projects that are not my own and that is not what I want to do.
My production company also does not accept screenplays for producing, and I don't review screenplays. That's the full-time job of a script reader, which I'm not. I don’t produce other people’s movies, unfortunately. There are other companies that do and you should seek them out.
If you do email me with questions, I will direct you to my blog for tips and Q & A that I have already posted. If I get enough questions about something I haven't addressed yet, I will make a blog entry on it.
So all I can provide is general tips and advice that you can find on my blog. As far as editing and review of our work, you will need to find or hire an editor. (Some of my own books have been independently edited/reviewed, and even though I am a DIY author, I do make it a point to hire an editor, or I take the time to do it myself.)
So please respect my time as a creator as well. I will find way to share my advice such as the entries in this blog, and please understand that I have to draw the line somewhere. It would be difficult to answer 10 plus requests a day. I've found that I give the same answers to questions anyway, so those answers are reflected in my posts, so please see my articles in the Writing Methods and Self-Publishing Methods sections.
Copyright Lia Scott Price
Vampire Guardian Angels is a comic book series written and created by Horror Author Lia Scott Price. Don't Pray. You Become Prey.
Friday, July 10, 2015
The "Letter Writing" way of Creating your Book Chapters
The "Letter Writing" way of Creating your Book Chapters
Copyright Lia Scott Price
Write everything down like you are writing a letter to someone telling them a story of how your day went. Of course, the intro will be something like "I had something really weird happen to me today!" With that opening, people will automatically ask "What? Tell us!" That is the same as the opening of a story of a book. You want the reader to read more. You want them to say "Go on! Tell us more!"
Continue on with your story, and your letter format. This can help narrow down the plot. In other words, if you only have one minute to tell someone of the story, how would you describe it? What's the main story? "I had a weird day. Someone thought they saw a UFO fly over the freeway in Los Angeles, and the highway patrol shut down the freeway!" So , the whole premise is about aliens in Los Angeles.
Then break it up into chapters. For instance, you can start the story with something like "I am going to tell you a strange story." The first chapter can be about the man who saw the UFO and stopped in the middle of the freeway, blocking traffic. The second chapter can be about the people stuck on the freeway. The third chapter can be about how the cops got involved. Again, describe the story in a letter. To make it easier, devote two pages to one chapter, then another separate two pages to the next chapter. That way, you can put them together later and rewrite it as a novel or in any way you want.
Be sure to copyright your work. As soon as your story is done, go to the web site for the copyright office (type in US Copyright office on google) and download the forms. Make sure your book or manuscript is complete though, since you will need to send in a copy with the form.
Please read my writing and self-publishing disclaimer here
Copyright Lia Scott Price
Write everything down like you are writing a letter to someone telling them a story of how your day went. Of course, the intro will be something like "I had something really weird happen to me today!" With that opening, people will automatically ask "What? Tell us!" That is the same as the opening of a story of a book. You want the reader to read more. You want them to say "Go on! Tell us more!"
Continue on with your story, and your letter format. This can help narrow down the plot. In other words, if you only have one minute to tell someone of the story, how would you describe it? What's the main story? "I had a weird day. Someone thought they saw a UFO fly over the freeway in Los Angeles, and the highway patrol shut down the freeway!" So , the whole premise is about aliens in Los Angeles.
Then break it up into chapters. For instance, you can start the story with something like "I am going to tell you a strange story." The first chapter can be about the man who saw the UFO and stopped in the middle of the freeway, blocking traffic. The second chapter can be about the people stuck on the freeway. The third chapter can be about how the cops got involved. Again, describe the story in a letter. To make it easier, devote two pages to one chapter, then another separate two pages to the next chapter. That way, you can put them together later and rewrite it as a novel or in any way you want.
Be sure to copyright your work. As soon as your story is done, go to the web site for the copyright office (type in US Copyright office on google) and download the forms. Make sure your book or manuscript is complete though, since you will need to send in a copy with the form.
Any Customer Service Job is Free Public Relations Training
Copyright Lia Scott Price
In a way, it is. If you're an aspiring self-published author, musician, filmmaker or artist and you have to have a day job where you deal with the public, you might as well take advantage of this "free training". Why? Because publicists are expensive, and one of these days you may have to deal with the press on your own, and field inquiries on your own about your work. I've had friends who work in customer service positions who are artists and who grumble about having a day job, and I tell them there's opportunity there. What can you learn in customer service? It's public relations training, and even sales training Here's what you can learn:
-Professionalism
-How to market or talk about a product. This can definitely apply to the marketing of your own work. How do you talk about it? How can you help someone learn more about it?
-How would you respond to a difficult question?
-How would you respond to frequently asked questions?
-How would you respond if someone doesn't like what you do?
-What would you write and say in your own press release and public statements and responses?
These are just some of the things that you can apply to your own work. Explore life and be inspired by everything around you. There are so many things to be learned from it, even from the most unexpected of places.
Please read my writing and self-publishing disclaimer here
In a way, it is. If you're an aspiring self-published author, musician, filmmaker or artist and you have to have a day job where you deal with the public, you might as well take advantage of this "free training". Why? Because publicists are expensive, and one of these days you may have to deal with the press on your own, and field inquiries on your own about your work. I've had friends who work in customer service positions who are artists and who grumble about having a day job, and I tell them there's opportunity there. What can you learn in customer service? It's public relations training, and even sales training Here's what you can learn:
-Professionalism
-How to market or talk about a product. This can definitely apply to the marketing of your own work. How do you talk about it? How can you help someone learn more about it?
-How would you respond to a difficult question?
-How would you respond to frequently asked questions?
-How would you respond if someone doesn't like what you do?
-What would you write and say in your own press release and public statements and responses?
These are just some of the things that you can apply to your own work. Explore life and be inspired by everything around you. There are so many things to be learned from it, even from the most unexpected of places.
A Positive Person Writing about Negative Things? The Horror!
Copyright Lia Scott Price
I once received a message, a comment about how positive I am, but how I write about negative stuff such as serial killers. Well, it’s simply a what-if scenario, using my imagination, and also a way of getting negativity out of my life. So what if I write about what I write about? It’s my choice. To me, creative writing is venting and releasing negative thoughts, emotions, and feelings, and thinking outside the box. I turn them into stories, or I use the negative emotions and people that I meet or hear about. Of course, I don't advocate or support violence, I'm just using creativity to address my fears, experiences, and explore my imagination. It's therapy, and sometimes even better than therapy. Would this person think the same ways about horror film producers, writers and actors? Just because I write horror doesn’t mean I’m “negative”.
I also encounter this thinking whenever I talk about my love of death metal and heavy metal. Most people think that because the lyrics and music are “negative”, the band must be negative too. But it’s in fact the opposite. People in metal bands and in the metal scene that’s I’ve met are the friendliest, most open-minded, creative, coolest, most supportive people who are more family to me than the people who choose to criticize what I do. They write about politics, social issues, and other things that are considered negative to make a point, to be vocal about what they see is wrong in society, or about what they fear or change or whatever else they want to write about. It’s a creative way to vent or make a statement. It’s better than keeping your own fears in and thinking that the world will become more violent if anyone expresses it in a creative way, like saying that listening to certain music will make you a serial killer. If that’s the way you think, then maybe you should avoid horror movies and books. If you think these things are going to come true, that’s a little unrealistic. Then you might as well live your life in fear of everything.
I once received a message, a comment about how positive I am, but how I write about negative stuff such as serial killers. Well, it’s simply a what-if scenario, using my imagination, and also a way of getting negativity out of my life. So what if I write about what I write about? It’s my choice. To me, creative writing is venting and releasing negative thoughts, emotions, and feelings, and thinking outside the box. I turn them into stories, or I use the negative emotions and people that I meet or hear about. Of course, I don't advocate or support violence, I'm just using creativity to address my fears, experiences, and explore my imagination. It's therapy, and sometimes even better than therapy. Would this person think the same ways about horror film producers, writers and actors? Just because I write horror doesn’t mean I’m “negative”.
I also encounter this thinking whenever I talk about my love of death metal and heavy metal. Most people think that because the lyrics and music are “negative”, the band must be negative too. But it’s in fact the opposite. People in metal bands and in the metal scene that’s I’ve met are the friendliest, most open-minded, creative, coolest, most supportive people who are more family to me than the people who choose to criticize what I do. They write about politics, social issues, and other things that are considered negative to make a point, to be vocal about what they see is wrong in society, or about what they fear or change or whatever else they want to write about. It’s a creative way to vent or make a statement. It’s better than keeping your own fears in and thinking that the world will become more violent if anyone expresses it in a creative way, like saying that listening to certain music will make you a serial killer. If that’s the way you think, then maybe you should avoid horror movies and books. If you think these things are going to come true, that’s a little unrealistic. Then you might as well live your life in fear of everything.
What I am Thankful for
I'm thankful that I am able to to what I love. I'm thankful that I can make do with what I have, and do something creative. I'm happy with who I am and what I have been able to accomplish, happy with the decisions I have made in life, looking forward to learning more and creating more, and most of all, I'm happy that I used writing to cope with adversities in life and that life was able to inspire creativity. I got all the negative elements, people and naysayers out of my life, surrounded myself with positive friends and creative people, and I'm looking forward to the new year and to new projects and to continue being creative and doing what I love to do, and I hope this inspires you to do the same. Go out there and create, and share your talents with the world!
What “Secret Formula” ?
Copyright Lia Scott Price
I was recently asked by someone about how to go about writing and publishing. I gave him my usual advice of balancing creativity and business, running yourself as a business, and my writing techniques. I said it was simpler that you think, and that he didn’t need a big publisher to get started. In terms of writing, when I tried to share how I put together ideas, overcome writer’s block etc, he got agitated, telling me to stop making it sound so easy and that I was holding back the “good stuff” from him. He implied that the only way to become a “writer” was to take classes and form sentence structures correctly and take proper grammar lessons and that was the only way and he had to do all that before he even out a sentence to paper.
I tried to tell him that the process was not that complicated. Instead of listening, he became even more angry at me because he was convinced the process was very difficult and that I was hiding the “Secret Formula” and that I was refusing to share it with him (What “Secret Formula”? Really? There is one? Then I must be going about this all wrong!). He said that nothing I said or did worked and that I was not giving him the “real” ways to write and publish. As he rambled on, I kept thinking to myself that if nothing I did “worked”, then how was I able to publish my novels and comic books? (And I’m on my 5th published issue of my comic books now). He called me selfish for refusing to divulge “secrets”. He was completely convinced that there was some sort of magic writing formula that he was supposed to follow, that there was only one “correct” way to write and that I was “cutting corners” and “making things up”, and to “deviate” from that was “not real writing”. He also kept insisting that the only way to be a writer was through a big publisher and that whatever I did was “not legit”. (Never mind the fact that I’m on amazon).
He finally ended his rant by saying he was too “skeptical” and scared of trying my methods and that I couldn’t help him and that he would find someone else who could, who would help him do it "the right way". Well, I wish you al the luck in the world. In the meantime, I will keep doing what I’m doing. I really don’t feel I should waste my time again with negative people who ask for advice and then put you down for it. When I asked if he planned to get started and take his classes and go about things his way, he scoffed and said “Nah, it’s too complicated. And I don’t have the time.” Well, there you have it.
I'm not sure what advice to give for this, but I guess I can sum it up this way: Don't be this guy. If you ask for advice, listen to what someone has to say, especially when they ARE a published author. Don't be negative. I guess that is sort of a secret formula: Don't put something down and give up before you try it because of some preconceived notion of what a published author should be. You've failed before you even tried. The only thing stopping this person was himself.
Please read my writing and self-publishing disclaimer here
I was recently asked by someone about how to go about writing and publishing. I gave him my usual advice of balancing creativity and business, running yourself as a business, and my writing techniques. I said it was simpler that you think, and that he didn’t need a big publisher to get started. In terms of writing, when I tried to share how I put together ideas, overcome writer’s block etc, he got agitated, telling me to stop making it sound so easy and that I was holding back the “good stuff” from him. He implied that the only way to become a “writer” was to take classes and form sentence structures correctly and take proper grammar lessons and that was the only way and he had to do all that before he even out a sentence to paper.
I tried to tell him that the process was not that complicated. Instead of listening, he became even more angry at me because he was convinced the process was very difficult and that I was hiding the “Secret Formula” and that I was refusing to share it with him (What “Secret Formula”? Really? There is one? Then I must be going about this all wrong!). He said that nothing I said or did worked and that I was not giving him the “real” ways to write and publish. As he rambled on, I kept thinking to myself that if nothing I did “worked”, then how was I able to publish my novels and comic books? (And I’m on my 5th published issue of my comic books now). He called me selfish for refusing to divulge “secrets”. He was completely convinced that there was some sort of magic writing formula that he was supposed to follow, that there was only one “correct” way to write and that I was “cutting corners” and “making things up”, and to “deviate” from that was “not real writing”. He also kept insisting that the only way to be a writer was through a big publisher and that whatever I did was “not legit”. (Never mind the fact that I’m on amazon).
He finally ended his rant by saying he was too “skeptical” and scared of trying my methods and that I couldn’t help him and that he would find someone else who could, who would help him do it "the right way". Well, I wish you al the luck in the world. In the meantime, I will keep doing what I’m doing. I really don’t feel I should waste my time again with negative people who ask for advice and then put you down for it. When I asked if he planned to get started and take his classes and go about things his way, he scoffed and said “Nah, it’s too complicated. And I don’t have the time.” Well, there you have it.
I'm not sure what advice to give for this, but I guess I can sum it up this way: Don't be this guy. If you ask for advice, listen to what someone has to say, especially when they ARE a published author. Don't be negative. I guess that is sort of a secret formula: Don't put something down and give up before you try it because of some preconceived notion of what a published author should be. You've failed before you even tried. The only thing stopping this person was himself.
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