drama – Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

Z – Zzzz or the End

Published on April 29, 2013 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle12 Comments

Why does Z stand for sleep. I am getting quite sleepy right now just think about it. While I would love to take a break and get some sleep, but I can’t. I have way to much to do. To many things are coming up. Z also stands for the end, the final, the last. For my last post of the A to Z challenge, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite post from A to Z:

A – Avengers, Captain America and As I Am by Alex Cavanaugh – Come on, it’s a post about the Avengers. Nothing more needs to be said.

B – Best Crying Scenes in a Movie at World of My Imagination – The Steel Magnolia and Pursuit of Happiness scenes get me every time.

C – Getting too Comfortable by BDevereaux – Don’t get to comfortable

D – Disaster Movies at Tossing it Out – Some of my favorites are on this list, Titanic, 2012, Poseidon Adventure

E – Energize Yourself to Write at World of My Imagination – How do you do it?

F – F is for Fear at Scribbling in the Storage Room – “The enemy of creativity.”

G – A Grown-up Kind of Pretty by Tasha Seegmiller – on my to read list

H – How to Be a Good House Guest at Laugh-Quotes.com – read before you visit someones house

I – I is for Imagination at Tasha’s Thinkings – Synonymous with being a writer

J – Joy at Spunk on a Stick – You can’t steal mine.

K – K is for King at The View Outside – my favorite author

L – L is for The Lincoln Memorial by Lara Lacombe- my favorite monument in DC

M – Memento by Alex Cavanaugh – Also includes the sign up for Alex’s Best and Worst Movies Remakes Blogfest, which is coming up on May 17th.

N – Never-ending at Wrote by Rote – Is your love never ending?

O – Oxford Comma by Margo Kelly – All you need to know about the dreaded comma.

P – A-Z Geek (P): The Favorites by Lynda R. Young – Prince Bride, enough said.

Q – Querying at My First Book – You can’t read enough about how to query.

R – What Makes Us Right? at The Madlab Post – Fair Game illustrates the point well.

S – Sigma at Tara Tyler Talk – Great tips on show.

T – The Time Traveler’s Wife by Tasha Seegmiller – On my to read list

U – Unified Theory of Writing at Moody Writing – Do you agree?

V – V is for Villain (Best Movie Villains of All Time) by Reese Ryan – Who are your favorite villains?

W – W is for The White House, the Washington Monument and the World War Memorials by Lara Lacombe – Have you been to DC?

X – X is for Project X at Blogging from A to Z – I have a project X, do you?

Y – Y is for Young Ladies of Substance at Pensuasion – Love Jo March from Little Women the best.

Z – Z is for Zola at The View Outside – Have you read Emile Francois Zola?

Thank goodness, I finished the A to Z Challenge. How did you do? What were some of your favorite post?

Character Profiles as a Marketing Tool

Published on September 21, 2012September 21, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle6 Comments

I was watching one of my 4 English channels. Yes, my much anticipated move to Shanghai reduced my tv watching options. Recently, they have been heavily advertising a new show called Last Resort. It stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman(the hot guy from Felicity).

One marketing tool they use in Asia is marketing the show as airing the same week as the US telecast. I don’t really get that one, I mean really, who cares. It’s not like I am calling up my friends in the US to see if they caught the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 400. It’s kind of an expensive call, we stick to important topics.

But, a more effective marketing tool they are using is 15 second character profiles.

The first profile they show is of Scott Speedman’s character, Sam Kendal.

In 15 seconds you learn:

Sam is the XO on the USS Colorado.

He is the morally conscious character.

He spells charm without a c. (not sure what that means)

Committed and Determined

He’s as loyal to his country as he is to his wife.

*Imagine these lines delivered by the movie trailer guy voice.

In an action packed promo, they tell who he is, his motivation and his role in the series. They use images and quotes from him that make you instantly like him, relate to him and want to root for him.

In a clearly action packed type series; regular promos show submarines, bombs, and drama, drama, drama, ABC understands in order to have a successful series long term, the audience has to get to know and care about what happens to the characters.

This is a great tool to use in book promotion as well. A book and a television series are similar in they takes some commitment from the reader and view in order to be successful. If you don’t like a movie, well, you only committed a couple of hours. No big deal. But, most series want you to stick around for at least 20 episodes. In books, you want people to read until the last page.

So, how do you keep people turning the page until the end. They have to either like, hate or at the least, relate to the character. So, why not tell them about your characters early on in the promotion of your book.

My MC Character Profile:

Sierra is smart, funny and reliable to a fault.

But, when it comes to her own happiness, she has a history of putting others needs above her own.

When she meets John, she realize she could easily fall into her old patterns, but she is determined to not let that be her legacy.

*In the movie trailer guys voice.

Use your characters in your marketing to get a head start on letting your audience know why they need to read your book.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an awesome quote like the one used below in every Last Resort Promo.

“I am not going to annihilate 3.4 million Pakistanis without hearing directly

: Greatness of Andre Braugher

from someone whose authority that I recognize.” Marcus Chaplin played by Andre Braugher.

Share three statements about your MC that will make readers want to read your book.

Complaints from a Frustrated Read

Published on May 25, 2012May 25, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle2 Comments

An expert is someone who demonstrates great skill at something due to experience, right? So, I don’t think I am to far off base (or narcissistic) by declaring myself an expert in the art of book reading. I have been readying books for as long I have been able to read books. I have over 20 years of book reading experience. I have even been tested as an exceptional reader (got the gold star in 2nd grade to prove it). I am confident in my book reading ability.

Now that I have my credentials out of the way, I would like to impart to you, my fellow writers, my knowledge and experience in recognizing frustrated fiction from a readers point of view.

Lately, I have been spreading my literary wings and reading some genres that I haven’t read before. I have found some real great stuff out there.

I have also experiences some frustrating reads. Now, I understand that we are all learning and growing and perfecting our craft. My point isn’t to criticize anyone for doing what some many of us want to do. And, anyone who has had a book published has my utmost respect. Hell, I haven’t done it, . . . yet.

But, let’s face it. There is some bad writing out there.

But, all is not lost. It is my goal here to thank those writers who brave the critical world and put their stuff out there in order to teach us the following lessons:

Flashbacks and back story are not the same thing. You can achieve great back story for your character without resorting to full on chapter long flash backs to where your character first meet the trauma, issue or conflict. If your character is afraid of roller coaster. No need to tell us about the three other times she threw up from riding a roller coaster. We as reader are smart. We can understand a fear of roller coasters, public speaking and spiders. No further explanation is necessary. Now, if you character is afraid of puppies and it is central to the story, then by all means, take us back, but just once.
Don’t have stuff just happen to the main character just to happen. If something happens to the main character, it should be relevant to the main plot or story. Otherwise is just appears you are trying to fullfill some word count. Unless you character gets in a car wreck (that changes her life) on the way home from work, no need to tell me about her leaving work, driving on the free way and then arriving home. No need to go into every thing she saw, heard and did. Just get the good stuff.
Don’t lead us to assume one thing about a character and then later prove our assumptions are completely wrong. This doesn’t create suspense or the unexpected. It just causes confusion in the reader and disturbs the readers flow. You don’t ever want your reader to stop reading and say, “Wait, that can’t happen.” If you start a story about your main character’s bad luck with men and then she meets a guy and it is all wine and romance and then the rest of the book is about her conflict with her mother. Uh, wait. What happen? What about the boyfriend. Stick with one theme and don’t gloss over the conflict. To a reader, that is the good stuff.
Don’t tout a story as being something that every one can relate to when nothing that happens to the main character would or could happen to a person in real life. If you do this and you are a realistic fiction writer, I think you might want to rethink your genre of choice. That sounds more like fantasy. I can related to issues of loneliness, unfulfilled dreams, falling in love. I can’t relate to being a vampire and trying to find my vampire mate in New York City. Don’t get me wrong, I may still enjoy the story, but don’t advertise it as something it is not just to get me to read it. It is what is and that should be good enough.
Don’t allow your secondary characters or insignificant characters to have huge issues that need to be resolve in the story. If it doesn’t also related to the main characters, then leave it out. Write another book for them. If you main character is having trouble finding a job, please don’t switch gears and tell me about her best friend from high schools issues with her boyfriend. Unless that boyfriend is going to give your main character a job, leave it out.
Don’t. Do not under any circumstance, no matter what, ever jump to a secondary characters POV in first person when 95% of the book was written from the main characters POV in first person. If your main character dies, that is it. The book is over. Only if your character turns into a ghost can she observe and report on happenings herself. Someone else cannot step in now and finish off the story for us. That’s just common writing sense. If your story needs further explanation, write it in the epilogue or write it in a new series from that other characters POV.
Be original. Don’t write a story with a story line similar to someone famous even if that person inspired the story. We are fiction writer. Writing a story about a famous person, isn’t fiction, it is called a biography. Changing the names and occupation doesn’t make it an original story.

Have you ever been frustrated reading a book? What did you learn from it? It’s ok to tell, we are all here to help each other, right?

The Greatness of Peter Berg and Battleship The Movie

Published on May 18, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle14 Comments

battleship — Look what cute and crazy get you! Brilliant

The first time I saw Peter Berg, he was playing cocky bad boy Dr. Billy Kronk on the medical drama Chicago Hope. The show that featured the amazing Mandy Patinkin as well. Little did I know that just a few years later, he would become one of the most innovative and entertaining writers and directors in Hollywood.

In fact, his greatness is best exhibited by what he does behind the camera and with a pen (I am sure he uses a computer, but I am going for a visual here).

First, I must admit that Peter Berg is a weird guy. He looks weird, he sounds weird. He always puts himself in bit parts in the movies he is involved in. He is as eccentric as they come. But, aren’t most brilliant people a little weird. But, like I always say, “All things amazing start with a little crazy!” (I am not sure if I actually said that or if I heard it. If I stoled it, I am sorry, I can’t remember where I heard it from).

In 1998, he wrote and director a movie called Very Bad Things staring Jon Favreau, Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz. I can only describe this movie as what Hangover, Hangover II and Bridesmads could only hope to be. The movie follows a group of friends at a bachlor party in Vegas and as the title says, Very Bad Things happen to them. There is even a dead hooker in the movie. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

He directed the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights and spear headed the hit TV show as well. Friday Night Lights is a movie that is bitter sweet for me as well as being close to my heart. I was raised in Texas and my brother played high school football. His team lost to the team portrayed in the movie during my brother’s senior year. I hate Odessa Permien and that damn MOJO stuff. Peter Berg one hundred percent accurately depicted the insanity of Texas high school football. Great job for a guy from New York.

He also directed Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner in The Kingdom. The Kingdom is about a FBI teams investigation of a bombing in Saudi Arabia. It is one of those movies that get’s better every time I see it. And, it is such a intelligent movie. Again, if you haven’t, go see.

He also wrote the movie The Losers which has one of the greatest assembly cast of little to no name actors; Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans (Captain America), Idris Elba and Columbus Short. Not all well known, but very talented group. That movie has some great lines such as, “Oh my God. I’m the black MacGyver.”

He returned to his acting roots in two great Tom Cruise movies: Collateral and Lions for Lambs. But, his biggest project was recently released.

His latest offering is a little low budget flick known as Battleship. I saw Battleship this weekend and was not disappointed. The drool worthy, but bad acting of Taylor Kitsch couldn’t distract me from what is visually an amazing movie. The alien ships were very unique and utterly terrifying. I really showcased the power of the US Navy in the present and the past. I loved the idea of the old World War II guys coming back to commission the original battleship – US Missouri to save the world. The movie had great pace and was big budget action with a heart and you liked the characters.

From drunken escapades, to intellectual suspense; low budget films with heart to futuristic big budget blockbusters. Peter Berg can do it all.

Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

What is your favorite Peter Berg movie? What do you think about board games being made into movies?*

*I have a great post coming up about the movie Clue next month.

Distracted, Again

Published on May 2, 2012May 2, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle28 Comments

I was excited to get home from work today to write a post for the Insecure Writers Support Group and it happened. I got distracted.

I have been pretty focused lately. I survived the A to Z challenge with confidence and the accomplishment really motived me to get going this week on outlining my novel. It is May 2 and I got distracted.

I only have a few hours per day to write. If I enjoy sleeping, which I do, I can get in about 2-4 hour per day. Maybe another 1 or 2 at work if my boss is away from the office (don’t tell her).

I get home and I am all set to write a quick post and then tackle my outline. I turn on the t.v. for background noise. And, there is a Woody Allen Movie. Manhattan Murder Mystery. Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Manhattan.

NY Rockefeller — NYC can distract me, too!

I love this movie. In fact, I love all Woody Allen movies. Especially the ones that take place in Manhattan. Something about the way he shoots Manhattan.

Then, it got me thinking. What excuses, if any, are good excuses to interrupt the pursuit of my dream.

Sure there are the easy ones; death and injury – to myself or a loved one. Work obligation – But, not really. I run a golf Academy. Not to many golf instruction emergencies that I can think of.

I have compiled a list of things that I will allow to distract me from my scheduled writing for the day?

Woody Allen Movies – They inspire me, so that is a good thing.
The opportunity to have a great steak with cream corn, broccoli au gratin, and a green salad with red onions and homemade ranch dressing – I am specific about my food.
A phone call from my mother or my cousin – I miss them.
A Stephen King Book – but, this inspires me,too. I have put off starting 11/22/63 until after June.
A quick read of my favorite blogs – again, that inspiration thing.

And, with that, I think I better close down this list because it could go on forever. If I stick to this list, then I should have plenty of time left over to get my writing done.

So, my fellow writer out there, how do you handle distractions? What do you do to stay on schedule?

And, what would you put on your good excuse list?