Open Letter to the New President!

I usually don't like to have things unrelated to writing in this blog, but I think given the momentous events of November 4th I can make an exception!

A friend sent me this open letter from author Alice Walker to Obama. It is eloquent, elegant, and beautifully stated. It's letters like this that help me remember how important it is to be a writer with voice. The pen is mightier than the sword. Read and remember!

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Open Letter to Barack Obama from Alice Walker

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

The Tiny Novels Are Coming! The Tiny Novels Are Coming!

Anyone who knows me knows technology is one of my addictions. I’m always looking forward (I think) to see what’s coming, what’s converging, and what’s about to land on us without our seeing it. That’s how it happens, right? Changes in technology don’t greet us at the door with a smile and handshake, it drops on our heads like a piano cut loose from the top floor or a New York brownstone before it can be pushed through the window of that fancy apartment on 5th Avenue! Okay, a long metaphor, but you get the point.

But, sometimes, technology changes, especially in the arts, sneak up on us and bite us on the ass when we’re not looking. This is kind of what’s happening with the revered novel and the cell phone. Technology is now delivering a whole new experience over the cell phone and transforming how we read.

This is from Wikipedia (I just cut and pasted because it’s easier than plagiarizing or paraphrasing):

Cell phone novels are meant to be read in 1,000 to 2,000-word (in China) or 70-word ( in Japan) chapters via text messages on cell phones. They are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as Java-based applications on a mobile phone. Cell phone novels often appear in three different formats: WMLD , JAVA and TXT.

The first cell phone novel was “published” in Japan in 2003 by a young online writer, Yoshi. His first cell phone novel was called Deep Love, the story of a teenaged prostitute in Tokyo. It became so popular that it was published as an actual book, with 2.6 million copies sold in Japan, then spun off into a television series, a manga, and a movie. The cell phone novel became a hit mainly through word of mouth and gradually starting to gain traction in China and South Korea among young adults. In Japan, several sites offer large prizes to the winners (up to $100,000 US) and purchase the publishing rights to the novels.

Five out of the ten best selling novels in Japan in 2007 were originally cell phone novels.

The phenomenon has not yet spread to the United States or Europe, but it is inevitable that as cell phone and text message usage continues to increase, cell phone novels will become popular in these locales as well. There is a blog at www.textnovelblog.com referencing a new site that is preparing for launch in the United States market.

The cell phone novel Deep Love, for example, was first “published” via text message, then it was published as an actual book, filmed as a movie, and made into a television show and a Japanese-style comic book. It hasn't simply created a new medium; it has affected other media at the same time.

Well, this Wiki entry is a bit behind the times on one thing: cell phone novels are arriving on our Western shores, and soon. I work for several publishing companies and I know that they are having internal discussions about how to incorporate cell phone services into their business models. The U.S. is behind Europe and Asia in cell technology (welcome to the 21st century), but with the new iPhone and its competitors, the delivery system is now in place and the novels are coming! the novels are coming!

So, get those thumbs in shape and start thinking in 70 word text messages, because that’s the new way to write the great Ameican novel—one SMS text package at a time!

The Bionic Screenplay: Faster, Better, Stronger—More Sellable

A New York Times article recently tweaked my antennae with a curious set of facts about a growing trend in the Movie/TV biz.

The article, by Jay A. Fernandez, suggests we consider this: in the last six weeks (as of this writing on 4/23/08) studios have announced 22 films based on graphic novels or comics. At the box office (domestic and international) films based on graphic novels have grossed all the biggest numbers, over all, and have maintained the largest dollar averages per screen, per week, for exhibitors.

Now consider this: Universal recently partnered with Dark Horse Entertainment to produce and distribute movies based from its independent bevy of comics, Paramount has its partnership with Marvel, while Warner Bros. owns DC Comics, and every other studio is scrambling for comic-based material.

What conclusions can we draw: For studio creative executives responsible for making and breaking writer’s careers and spirits, having a graphic novel in hand makes script development cheaper, faster, and more fun; since essentially the graphic novel is a screenplay with detailed storyboards already included in the mix. Plus, given the average age of the typical studio creative executive (12-19 years) they are already familiar and comfortable with the comic/graphic novel form. Add to this the fact that graphic novels already have a fan base, Internet platform, and sequel appeal; it’s a no-brainer for studio greenlighters. Ironically, as Jay points out, it can also be beneficial for the writer, since he/she will likely preserve more rights than he/she would by selling an original screenplay.

Jay quotes Frank Miller (“Sin City” and “300”), “I don't think there's a single worse story form than the screenplay … They're unreadable. Just about everything makes you want to put the thing down! Whereas a graphic novel is full of pictures . . . and you get a much clearer idea of what you'd have to spend to make a film.”

So, what’s a writer to do? I can’t draw worth a stitch. I guess I could buy some storyboard software and let a computer do it and then add bubbles to the pictures and fill the bubbles with dialogue. Throw in a few text blocks (like they do in the comics for scene direction) and presto-chango; the new screenplay made better, stronger, faster. Kind of like the 6 million dollar man, only in today’s movie dollars it’s more like 100 million, plus foreign/ancillary and new media.

So my advice to you dear writer, forget the screenplay writing program, expensive story consultants, and film school. If you want to sell your screenplays, get thee to an art school and start learning how to draw. Or, give it up for an expensive graphics package and buy a new pimped-out Mac with all the graphics whistles and bells and let technology do the work. All you have to do is add the words. But, doesn’t that just kind of put us back where we started?

Hmmm, maybe writing is still important after all?

Save The Sign!

Hollywood landmarks seem to have bullseyes on them these days.

The iconic Hollywood sign may soon be going the way of The Brown Derby, Musso & Frank’s, Chasen’s, and the Ambassador Hotel. Quietly, last month, the Chicago based investment group that owns 138 sage-covered acres above and to the left of the 45-foot-high, steel-and-concrete H put the land up for sale last month for $22 million, after purchasing the parcel from Howard Hughes’ estate for $1.7 million in 2002. Not a bad profit, even in today’s bull real estate market!

Councilman Tom LaBonge wants the city, which owns the ground under the sign, to buy the property, but the city can't legally pay more than $6 million. So, Labonge is trying for a repeat of the last time the sign was in trouble, when back in the 1970’s a bunch of celebs paid $28k each to replace crumbling letters.

We can’t lose the sign, folks. Los Angeles losing its sign is like Manhattan losing the World Trade Center towers. The landscape will be changed forever. Besides, if the sign goes, how will the pilots for the major airlines know they’re on the right flight path to Bob Hope Airport? Com’on, folks, we can’t lose the sign. Certainly the moguls, studio heads, media barons, and “A-Listers” can scrape together a few million dollars and save Hollywood’s soul—or at least it’s nametag.

Ironically, the sign was originally designed as a real estate advertisement (Hollywoodland) to help sell development in the region. Now, however, it has come full circle. From ad to icon, now threatened by the very industry that gave it birth (real estate, not the movies).

However perfect this circle might seem, let’s not lose the sign folks.

I'M BACK!!!

After a long absence--I have returned. Very sorry for the disappearing act. Life has a funny (or not so funny--ok, sometimes sicko) way of interfering with things. I won't bore you with details, I'm not a details kind-of-guy, but I will offer this: exercise, eat right, get plenty of sleep, and don't bother with the 8 glasses of daily water--it's a diet myth that is now busted, and if you're a writer-- write like your life depended on it, because it does. As my novelist friend Caroline Leavitt says, "Put blood on the page."

I'll let you figure out how literal you have to get with that one.