Publisher Updates

Hi friends, not sooner, do I wish to start helping with info from publishers currently accepting books. But because, of the author Sarah Baethge, whose book I'm featuring today, I've decided to share this information with all of you. She is presently seeking an agent for a six book series in which she currently have one book written.

This might be of help to Sarah, and to anyone of you also. Jaime Martinez has been a darling, linking me to Brian Grove. 

Lowa based Port Yonder Press are accepting fiction submissions during February. So now's your chance if you think your work might fit what they are looking for, have a look around their website: Port Yonder Press 


Peepal Tree Press Ltd are a small independent UK based publisher of Caribbean and black British literature - fiction, poetry, literary criticism, memoirs and historical studies. Peepal Tree Press rarely pays advances, but are a royalty paying traditional publisher. Have a look at their website. Submission details are here:  Peepal Tree Press Ltd 


Jasper Joffe of London, UK, based publisher Joffe Books are looking for "great new fiction authors", and are open for submissions. Joffe Books pays royalties based on a percentage of sales, and never asks its authors for up-front payments. Take a look at their website here: Jasper Joffe of London, UK

and see if your work might suit.

Lerner Publishing Group. Lerner is one of the largest independently owned children's book publishers in the USA, with a number of imprints and a backlist of over 5000 titles. The company publishes several children's fiction and non-fiction genres (see their website for details) and will consider relevant work submitted in accordance with their guidelines. Andrew assures me Lerner Publishing Group is a traditional publisher. They pay advances and royalties, and never ask authors for money. Details here:  Lerner Publishing Group

Brian Grove is the one with the direct contact with these publishers. He has put together a quick and easy guide to teach you how to approach publishers correctly and secure a book deal.

Have a look at it here and in particular his 75% discount offer today, also some free personal coaching/mentoring from him.
 

Your Story Protagonist

Before you sit down to write a screenplay or a novel, you need to come up with a story. What is story? Story is how your idea is developed through the use of character, words and action. There are two story lines, approaches to help you avoid the one-dimensional pitfall most common with creating a story. And that's the purpose of posting this article today.

• Outer Motivation

•Inner Motivation

Outer and Inner Motivation are extremely important to a story entertainment and thematic value.

To achieve this balance in your writing, the main character, or protagonist of your story, must be involved in 'two story lines'. One story will deal with his/ or her inner motivation. The inner and the outer stories are fleshed out through conflict and theme. Let's take a look at the two elements.

Story

Stories which focus a lot on action seem to be petty, while those that focus a lot on character seems to be lifeless. The finest stories avoid the pitfall with story creation by developing clearly defined action and realistic, rounded characters.

Outer Motivation

The term OUTER MOTIVATION is commonly used because the goal of your protagonist is outwardly apparent to the audience as they watch the action on the screen or read a novel.  In other words, outer motivation does not involve the desire for invisible, inner qualities. The outer motivation is about the protagonist clear goal. It is important for the protagonist because it gives the story direction and purpose. This goal must be solid and manifests itself in physical action of the protagonist. It must be clear to the audience. The outer motivation is resolved when the protagonist succeeds or fails at achieving his / or her goal.

The outer motivation provides most of your story entertainment value. It moves it forward by keeping the audience expectant of the story outcome. Without a solid outer motivation, there is miniature motion and the outcome is a dull story.

In the Wizard of Oz, for example, the outer motivation of the lead character was to get back home before he changes to stay back and protect a woman he met.

Your Protagonist desire must have a clearly implied endpoint.

Not only do we see the protagonist pursue the goal throughout movies and novels, we can easily imagine what achieving the goal will look like. We know when we watch Con Air that we will ultimately see a showdown between the hero and the villain. We may not know all the details, or exactly where and how it will occur, but we know that the outcome will resolve the story.

When you write a screenplay or a novel, you are taking the readers on a journey. But this isn’t one of those trips where you jump in the car and say, “Let’s just go for a drive and see where we end up.” In a story creation, you are subconsciously telling the audience, “I’m taking you to this specific destination. I won’t tell you all the roadblocks we’ll encounter, or all the sights you’ll see along the way, but I promise that when the story is over, you’ll be here.”

Think of your story as a race. Your protagonist is trying desperately to reach the finish line before some other character or force of nature can stop him / or her. If you don’t tell audience where the finish line is, how will they know what to root for? How will they even know when the story is over? (Yes, I know the credits will come on, but how exciting is that?)

Your Protagonist must actively pursue his goal.

Your story characters can’t simply sit around talking about how much they’d like to have money, success, or the love of a beautiful woman. They must take control of their lives and use every ounce of strength, courage and intelligence they have to rob the bank, stop the serial killer, or win the love of the prom queen.

Nor can your protagonist simply watch other characters pursue a goal, or allow others to pursue them without reacting. By definition, the protagonist is the character whose desire defines the plot of the story.

Passive protagonists destroy interest and emotion. How can we root for someone who takes no action? Your protagonist can be passive at the beginning of your story, but before too long, he / or she has to declare, “I WANT THAT!” and go after the goal.

As a writer always have it at the back of your mind that the outer motivation is about a solid physical goal that must manifests itself in the actions of your protagonist

Inner Motivation

Inner motivation is about the protagonist's inner need, that is flaws. It is not fully identified by the protagonist despite the fact that it rules the negative way he treats himself and the people that care about him. The inner motivation of your protagonist can have envy, lack of dignity, selfishness, etc. And it is resolved when the protagonist identifies and overcomes it.

How do you distinguish outer motivation from some of your protagonist inner desires and get the audience involved in the two story lines?

In my upcoming novella The Seamstress Daughter, a heartbroken mother wants to get revenge (invisible) on the rival of her late daughter for snatching her husband and killing her and her baby. This instills in this woman a visible desire to destroy the rival. It is destroying this rival that drives the story forward, gives it a clearly defined endpoint, and keeps the audience emotionally involved.

The inner motivation is usually caused by a traumatic experience in the protagonist past. It is ultimately about relationships. It is how character and theme are explored. In my screenplay And There is Blood, Victoria's inner story is about her transformation into a heartless killer, killing her offender, family members and the cops.   

The inner story is about a character flaw relationships and theme

Your Protagonist must put everything on the line to achieve the desire

Again, the more passionate, determined and courageous your protagonist is in pursuit of his / or her quest, the greater the audience’s own emotional involvement, and the greater their elation when he succeeds.

This principle is fairly evident in action movies and thrillers like Terminator 3, X Men 2, or Panic Room, where heroes put their lives on the line to save the world, stop the bad guys or escape from danger. But it’s also true in any successful love story or comedy. The Robin Williams character in The Birdcage risks embarrassment, humiliation, self-esteem, the loss of his lover and the loss of his own son’s love and happiness in his attempt to convince his future in-laws that he’s a straight man.

And in romantic comedies and love stories like Sleepless In Seattle, Good Will Hunting, and As Good As It Gets, the protagonists must take the greatest emotional risk of all: exposing themselves to rejection, fear and pain as they let go of identities that have brought them a lifetime of protection. But they find the courage to put everything on the line as they pursue their love and their destiny.

Your protagonist’s desire must be resolved at the climax of your story

You may add ambiguous elements to your story, and even leave your protagonist with an uncertain future. But you must resolve both the Outer and Inner Motivations by the end of the story be it screenplay or novel. Your readers and audience have spent two hours rooting for your protagonist to achieve these compelling desires. You can’t now leave them hanging and expect your script/novel to either advance your career or transform your audience.

So if you have been brewing a story in your head for a long time, consider these two elements (outer and inner motivation).

As you pour out the words onto the pages to begin developing your story, keep your protagonist outward goal and flaws in mind. Ask your protagonist what he wants to achieve so badly, what is his flaws, and what was it in the past that caused it. This gives you a direction to write a complex character.

Conclusion

Go out there and rent three movies. With your paper and pen with you, sit down to watch. As you watch the movies one by one pay close attention to the lead characters outward goals and flaws. Note how the writers achieved their protagonists' goals and resolved their flaws. If given the effort to this approach, by far, you will have better understanding of this powerful elements and it will take you to a better story.

Have you enjoyed reading this article? Leave your contribution, comment on it or email a friend.

Lateral Thinking

Often times when I'm introduced to some people as a creative writer, the next thing they ask me after sharing pleasantries with them, is how do you do it? How do you know you can write? Can you teach me how to write? And so on and so forth. Well, before you can be taught how to write professionally, if you are not so talented, you must know how to generate ideas. What makes a difference between writers and the other people is that we know when we are getting ideas and how to generate one. Now, the topic I'm going to talk about do not only work for people who have problems stimulating ideas, but also works fine for writers suffering from writers' block.

Besides brainstorming, lateral thinking is another powerful way to stimulate creativity. This approach involves taking an unorthodox or seemingly illogical approach to generating ideas and solving problems. There are lots of ways to go about this, with the more common approaches I'll touch in this article.

Lateral thinking is taking an unorthodox approach to generating ideas and solving problems.

1. "Is Not"

Talented or not, once you have it in mind that you want to write a story, there is an idea on your mind. The problem here is that you feel your idea isn't good enough. So an interesting way to stimulate better and new ideas is to determine what your idea "is not" about. For example, when trying to decide the objectives of a story, an idea or a scene you are about to churn out, it will be helpful to list what the story, concept, or scene is not about. This for sure will get your creative juices flowing and help you crystallize the true objective of your concept.

2. Change Perspective

Changing perspective of an idea or problem is another way to stimulate the flow of ideas. There are lots of ways to do this. Let's say you already scrawled out your story idea: change the location of the story, change the time frame, change the outcome, and change the meaning of the outcome (i.e., turn a victory into defeat or verse verse). You may require a separate brainstorming session simply to determine how you can change the perspective of your idea.

3. "What If"

This is a technique used by actors to determine different ways to play a scene. It is a fun approach that can be used for stimulating creative though. First, state the problem that you are trying to solve, a desired story you wish to achieve. Next, determine what will happen if you change certain variables with your concept. Let's check out these few examples:

1. A cinematographer might ask "what if" the lighting source for the romance scene in the bedroom is theoretical light coming from outside rather than lighting the room within.

2. A screenwriter or novelist might ask "what if" the murderer turned out to be the protagonist's father or brother.

3. A Director might ask "what if" the audience is given information that the protagonist is unaware of.

These are just a few simple examples, but you can see how they can radically change the outcome of a material. There is more to optimizing the power of your mind to become a creative writer and, catching ideas when they pop. If you wish to try your hands on writing or wants to brush up the knowledge you already obtain on the field, consider taking a private mentoring with me, or purchase a creative course online.

I urge you to like this post or tell a friend about it.

Glamour | The Darmie Orem Quote

Though to early or ripe death I easily may lose my earthly appeal, rebuke not the building of my physical manifestation, and stop not my hewing out of the five rewards of beauty:

Love

Lust

Hatred

Friendship

Style.

For by controlling the quality of the alluring beauty is not how my chance of the abode of God is limited. But grace and conducts that conform to an accepted standard of right and wrong of The Most High delivers the paradisaical relief after the vigorous fight through the narrow scrutiny road. - Darmie Orem

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM AUTHORS CURTILAGE

Dear Writers, Creators and Audience

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I just want to wish you a  business successful and a (literary) prosperous New Year. 

Warmly,

Darmie Orem (Damilola Ogunremi)

Authors' Curtilage, founder

Authors' Curtilage

Tales from Frewyn: Volume 2 Blog Tour

Follow the tour!

Featuring appearances from thirty of the Haanta series' most beloved characters, Tales from Frewyn Volume Two pays tribute to the animals that inhabit the world of the Two Continents. From Mr Cluck, the rooster that refuses to crow, to Tuatha, the stubborn Westren longhorn, the series boasts a multitude of strange and wonderful creatures, including traveling mice, mischievous mares, vicious rats, and eloquent gulls. Join everyone in Khantara Ghaasta, the Diras Castle keep, and the far reaches of Westren and Haantaledhran in honouring their feathered companions and furred friends with this collection of their most daring and delightful episodes.

Buy the book at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Smashwords

 

Interview with Michelle Franklin

D.O: I would like to welcome Michelle Franklin, author of Tales from Frewyn, to the blog! We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

Many people, when they first begin writing, often want to write just like their favorite authors. Do you write like your favourite authors?

M.F: I suppose I must, to a certain extent. Jane Austen and T.H. White are my most prevalent influences, and I've read their books countless times, so I'm sure something stylistically must have rubbed off. I certainly wish I could sound like my literary heroes.

Interview with Michelle Franklin

D.O: I would like to welcome Michelle Franklin, author of Tales from Frewyn, to the blog! We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

Many people, when they first begin writing, often want to write just like their favorite authors. Do you write like your favourite authors?

M.F: I suppose I must, to a certain extent. Jane Austen and T.H. White are my most prevalent influences, and I've read their books countless times, so I'm sure something stylistically must have rubbed off. I certainly wish I could sound like my literary heroes.

D.O: Is Tales from Frewyn your first collection of short stories?

M.F: It's the second collection, but Tales from Frewyn volumes one and two were put together for the first time for the paperback publication.

D.O: In Tales from Frewyn, there is a story called Ode to Cluck that features Mr Cluck, a chicken who won't crow, and Beryn and Lochan. Tell us who Beryn and Lochan are.

M.F: Lochan Donnegal is master stockman for the kingdom of Frewyn, and Beryn Dunhuram is master poulterer for the castle. Beryn and Lochan are best friends and often get together to commiserate about the woes of being celebrated husbandmen.

D.O: I really enjoy this piece from the story:

Beryn went over to the coop and unlocked the hinge on the cockerel’s enclosure.

“C’mon out, Cluck,†said Beryn. “Got a few hens here who are after meetin’ you.â€

After a preparatory preening, the cockerel made his grand appearance: he poked his head out to make certain that the hens on the nearby grazing sward were watching, and after a few solemn coos, he leapt down from his enclosure, flapping his large wings, flourishing his brown feathers, extending his black talons, and once gracefully landed, raised his red comb, turned up his golden beak, and resumed his usual strut, taking his long marching strides with chest out and head high.

Mr Cluck seems to be one special chicken. What inspired you to write him into the book?

M.F: I often wonder what animals think of us, and writing from their perspective is always amusing to me.

D.O: Do you have any writing advice for aspiring writers?

M.F: Write every day and read every day.

D.O: Thanks for stopping by! Good luck! Wishing you all the best in the field.

M.F: Thank you!

---

About the Author: Michelle Franklin is a small woman of moderate consequence who writes many, many books about giants, romance, and chocolate.

Follow the author at: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Giveaway is open internationally and ends on December 25, 2013. Winning entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter and announced on the widget as well as emailed; they will have 48 hours to respond. Failure to respond will result in a new winner being selected. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter, or any other entity unless otherwise specified. Number of eligible entries received determines odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Paper Crane Books and sponsored by both the press and the author. Void where prohibited by law.

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