The Creative Penn Blog: Helping you write, publish and market your book

Why Authors Should Learn To Speak In Public With Joanna Penn

October 18, 2019 by Joanna Penn 1 Comment

Podcast: Download (Duration: 10:25 — 9.1MB)

All successful creatives have to speak and present in public, whether that's at a festival, on a podcast or radio show, or as part of earning multiple streams of income.

But you don’t have to be like Tony Robbins, bouncing around on stage with a booming voice and larger than life personality. You just have to be you and tell your story in your own way. This is an excerpt from Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts, Second Edition by Joanna Penn. The book is available in ebook, paperback, hardback, large print, and audiobook narrated by the author.

Here are some possible reasons why you might want to include speaking as part of your author career.

(1) Help and inspire people

One of the most rewarding things about speaking is sharing your message and changing people’s lives. If you’re passionate about your topic and you communicate well, you will touch individuals, sometimes in unexpected ways. Watching the light dawn in someone’s eyes as they suddenly understand that their life can change is fantastic, and I think many of us speak to help others. This is an intrinsic reward and the reason why some people speak for free to groups that might not be able to afford professional speakers otherwise.

Whenever I am exhausted from speaking and traveling and think that perhaps I want to give it all up, this is the anchor I hold on to. I made a commitment when I started my blog, TheCreativePenn.com, in 2008, that I wanted to help release a million books into the world. Every person that I empower to write, publish and market their book adds to the tally, and whenever I speak, I add a few more to the list.

Whatever you speak about, consider how you might change people’s lives.

(2) Personal development

Speaking can be personally transformative. When you craft a talk, you have to organize your thoughts into a coherent structure and lead people through a story. This helps to order your own thoughts and can change the way in which you think about a topic. Writing this book has helped me to clarify further what I want from my own speaking career, and we often teach what we need to learn the most.

Going outside your comfort zone is also valuable for personal development, and speaking in front of a crowd is one of those skills that can transform you and give you more confidence.

It can also enable you to face your fears and help yourself by helping others. You will share your own stories and personal experience, and in sharing from your heart, you might be able to work through your own issues.

Joanna Penn speaking at NINC, Florida in 2018

(3) Market your creative work and harness word-of-mouth

Speaking enables you to connect directly with people, and they are more likely to become fans of your creative work through seeing your face and hearing your voice. If people listen to you and see you in action, they get to know you better. They can ask you questions, and you can demonstrate your knowledge. You connect with individuals this way, and great marketing is best done with a personal connection.

If you give a fantastic talk or seminar, if you are memorable for all the right reasons, people may well talk about you to their friends. This generates word-of-mouth publicity for you — the very best kind. People may buy your books or creative products, or attend your next workshop.

(4) Stand out in a crowded market

Thousands of books and millions of creative products are put on sale each week, so how do you stand out?

Being a professional speaker can help, because most people would rather do practically anything else than speak in public. You have an advantage if you speak because you can say yes to new opportunities which many other authors will turn down.

Joanna Penn speaking at Youpreneur Summit, QE2 centre, London, UK in Nov 2017

(5) Successful creatives have to speak eventually

Best-selling authors and creatives speak at festivals, conventions, and events and also appear on the radio, TV, podcasts, and other media. Therefore, if you want to plan for success, you need to prepare for these events and make sure that you fulfill the audience’s expectations when you get there.

I’ve been at plenty of literary festivals where authors have given a poor performance, and it has affected the way in which they are perceived by the audience. In comparison, those authors who can entertain and inspire in person will draw more readers to their written work — and sell more books!

(6) Multiple streams of income

Speakers can earn a good speaking fee for a keynote speech, but can also run workshops or other events that may generate significant income.

Many speakers sell books and products at events, but you can also include the price of a piece of your work in the cover charge so that all attendees get one as part of the event. ‘Back of the room’ sales are almost guaranteed if you give a great talk or workshop or seminar because people want to take something of you home as a reminder of a great event.

You can even start by speaking on a topic and then turn that into a book later, repurposing your material in several ways. For more detail, check out my book, How to Write Non-Fiction: Turn Your Knowledge into Words.

(7) Expenses-paid travel

This may be more of a personal reason, but I’m a travel junkie, and one of my goals around professional speaking is to use it as a vehicle for travel experiences. I may even say ‘yes’ to speaking at an event because I want to visit the location or say ‘no’ because I’ve been there before.

When I speak in different cities or even a different country, I generally stay on for a day or two after the event and experience a new place. This might offset the income goal in many instances, but I often get ideas for my novels when I travel. It is a life priority for me, and it nourishes my creative soul.

Joanna Penn speaking in Ubud, Bali, 2009

(8) Serendipity

You never know who is in the audience when you speak, or what will come from your appearance on a particular day. It may be that someone talks to someone else, and suddenly you get a call that changes everything. You’ll never know unless you put yourself out there.

So, what might be your reasons for speaking? How could public speaking help your author career?

If you want to learn more, check out Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts, Second Edition by Joanna Penn. The book is available in ebook, paperback, hardback, large print, and audiobook narrated by the author.

Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts by Joanna Penn. Second Edition. Audiobook narrated by the author.

Writing Tips: 6 Ways To Write A Better Script

October 16, 2019 by Creative Guest 1 Comment

Writing for the stage or screen is a skill set different from that of writing books. Michael McGinnis explores the importance of understanding these mediums when learning to write for them.

Stage plays and screenplays are heard, not read. Writing them requires the scriptwriter to learn different skills than other writers. But scriptwriters also gain different rewards.

Poet T.S. Eliot said that he began writing plays because he wanted to reach out “not only to a larger audience, but to larger groups of people collectively.” He succeeded: 18 years after his death, he won two 1983 Tony Awards for his part in the musical Cats, but during his life, the 1950 Tony Award for Best Play for The Cocktail Party. By that time, he had been learning the rules of scriptwriting for more than twenty years.

1. Keep the story simpler

A script must be simpler than a book because a performance is bound by time. Count on one minute of action for each page of script.

At 47,000 words and 180 pages, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s very short novel The Great Gatsby would have been too short even to qualify as a NaNoWriMo winner, but a 180-page movie script would have run for three hours.

Only ten films longer than three hours have won an Oscar for Best Picture. A theatrical film is at least 80 minutes long, and an hour-long television show is about 42 minutes without commercials, while a half-hour sitcom probably lasts 22 minutes. The plot has to be simple enough to fit into those limits.

Time also limits the number of characters and the depths with which they can be explored. Because of these limits, a movie script might only be 7,500–20,000 words, while a bestselling novel might run more than 100,000 words. That doesn’t mean a script is necessarily light and fluffy, compared to a Russian novel. Shakespeare’s sonnets were about 100 words long, but they aren’t fluffy.

The human mind puts limits on scripts too – an audience can only remember so many names and events at a time. Any significant characters need to be distinguishable from each other, which could be a challenge if all the characters are soldiers of the same nationality, roughly the same age, and of course, wearing identical uniforms.

2. A script will be spoken and seen

Reading what you write out loud is helpful for any writer, but it’s crucial for scriptwriters. Actors must have a place to take a breath. And they don’t appreciate inadvertent tongue twisters. Complete sentences aren’t required in a script, any more than in a real-life conversation.

Watch the fast exchange of dialogue in a screwball comedy such as The Front Page (1931). The first newsroom scene is full of interruptions and omissions, but context and gestures help make up for missing words.

To improve the realism and quality of your dialogue, try collaborating with another writer, improvising scenes out loud, each one of you playing one character in a conversation.

3. A play has no close-ups

Stage plays and screenplays are both intended to be watched rather than read. But unless your stage has a huge TV screen mounted above it, your play can’t depend, for example, on the audience seeing the gold ring hidden in a character’s hand.

Visibility (and tradition) are two reasons that live theater is usually more auditory than films. Unlike a film, a play doesn’t allow fast cuts to a new location, so a film can handle large battle scenes more easily than a traditional play. But large motions fit the stage better than small ones since any motion has to be large enough to be visible.

In the play Once Upon A Mattress, when the queen says she’s hiding a pea in the princess’s bed, the audience has to take her word for it. Small motions work in very small theaters, however.

4. A talkie must not be talky

A stage play depends on the aural, but a film depends on the visual. In a silent film, any dialogue had to be displayed in a title and read by the audience.

Some of the first “talkies,” freed from that restriction, had to relearn the knack for visual expression that silent filmmakers had mastered. Certainly, there can be more dialogue in a film script than a novel, but too much dialogue swamps the film. If an audience member loses attention, then looks back at the screen, and the picture hasn’t changed much, he or she is likely to lose attention again.

5. Include only what the audience can see or hear

As I recall, one theater critic mocked Edna St. Vincent Millay for including stage directions such as “As they exit, we hear the sound of an angel tear.” The critic rightfully said that most directors don't know what an angel tear sounds like. It was a very poetic stage direction, but not very practical.

Everything in a script must be capable of being put into action. On the other hand, don't include action for the sake of action, as a three-ring circus does. Use action to show the character's inner motivations.

6. Don’t ask for impossible actions

Adding a new scene, or even a new planet, to your story doesn’t cost any extra, but it does if you want to film it. A screenwriter must keep in mind that every scene in their story has to be built and paid for. The more locations, the more the expense.

Harlan Ellison, one of the leading speculative fiction writers of the 20th century, wrote The City on the Edge of Forever, which is considered the best Star Trek episode ever created. But Ellison’s creative vision made it prohibitively expensive to film until it was modified by, among other changes, cutting a scene with a woolly mammoth. Apparently Desilu Productions didn’t have a woolly mammoth available.

When I wrote an adaption of George MacDonald’s The Light Princess, I did it as a radio drama – fortunately. Since the title character has no gravity (they tether her down with string when it’s windy), it would be expensive to produce as a film, and difficult to produce on stage.

In live theater, more elaborate scenes mean the show runs longer. The audience has to wait for every scene change.

Scriptwriting can be a lucrative occupation compared to fiction writing. Because of collective bargaining, a film or television script typically sells for more than a novel, assuming it sells at all. In fact, many fiction writers make most of their profit when their work is adapted (or optioned to be adapted) for the screen.

Studios which have agreed to follow the Writers Guild of America Schedule of Minimums must pay professional screenwriters at least $24,437 for Story or Treatment, $32,922 for an Original Story or Treatment or a $74,479 minimum for Original Screenplay, including Treatment.

For a half-hour network TV show in the United States, they must pay the writer a minimum of $8,858 for the story, $19,053 for the teleplay, or $26,566 for both story and teleplay. If it’s later turned into a video game or a cable TV rerun, the writer continues to get paid each time.

But you don’t need to crack the major studio markets to see your script come to life. Cameras are more affordable than ever, and your local park can become a theater.

Are you interested in writing an original script or adapting one of your books into a script? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Michael McGinnis is a writer for DailyWritingTips.com. Make sure to download our free e-book 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid and start writing better today!

[Film reel image by Denise Jans on Unsplash.]

How To Write a Novel In A Month #NaNoWriMo With Grant Faulkner

October 14, 2019 by Joanna Penn Leave a Comment

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:19 — 50.7MB)

Is it your dream to write a novel but you just don’t know where to start? Have you written lots of non-fiction but secretly, you'd love to write fiction? In today's interview, I talk to Grant Faulkner about tips for writing a novel in a month, whether that's part of #nanowrimo, or whenever you decide to start.

In the intro, I talk about my experiences self-publishing in German, and the challenges of writing travel memoir about Australia on Books and Travel Podcast. Plus, I talk to Orna Ross about Author Branding and IP Licensing on the Ask ALLi podcast.

Today's show is sponsored by my own How to Write a Novel course, which I created while writing End of Days, so you get a behind the scenes look at how the book came together.

One course member, Jim C says, “The information is outstanding, and it is laid out in the perfect order. It is a roadmap that takes you from self-doubt and confusion to typing The End. More than anything else, it gave me the knowledge and confidence to not only start my novel but also finish it. And then do it again. I am about to start my third book that is now outlined and ready to go. All of this happened after I purchased and studied your course.” Check it out at www.TheCreativePenn.com/learn

Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. He's also a short story writer, novelist, and author of nonfiction including Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

Why stories matter, even in dark times
Getting started writing fiction, even if you feel you’re not creative. You can follow the journey of my first novel, including NaNoWriMo 2009 here.
Tips on finding the time to write
How NaNoWriMo is an exercise in time management as much as a writing exercise
The power and accountability of writing together with others
Whether to prepare for NaNoWriMo or just wing it
The power of dictating first drafts
Why revision is so important after the first draft is finished

You can find all the details about NaNoWriMo and its programs at www.NaNoWriMo.org and Grant at www.GrantFaulkner.com.

Writing Tips: Creating A Compelling Protagonist

October 11, 2019 by Creative Guest 2 Comments

As Justin Attas points out in this post, the main character of your book is key to both the story itself and to our readers' enjoyment. An interesting hero will keep readers turning pages and bring them back to your books again and again.

It’s the centerpiece of your story. The cornerstone around which your entire world revolves. The source of all reader satisfaction and dismay, and it might not be what you think.

Worldbuilding, romance, a good antagonist, and epic battles are all important to telling a good story, but at the end of the day, people want to read books about people. That’s why a strong protagonist is an absolute must for all-powerful stories.

Now, strong is a word here used to describe the realism and depth of the protagonist, not their physical or emotional strength. Some of the best characters ever written actually start out lacking in one of these areas, and it’s that growth that makes their story so engaging.

So how can we give protagonists realistic flaws, and give them depth? There are many recipes to use, or pick apart and make your own. We’ll go over three activities here that could get anyone’s creative juices flowing, to ‘build' your protagonist one piece at a time.

The key to never forget is that a protagonist needs to be a person (metaphorically speaking, if you’re writing fantasy, scifi, or supernatural). This means that, when readers think of your protagonist, they should not think of just one or two characteristics, but a complete person, with their own thoughts, feelings, and values.

Here are three activities to help you make sure you don’t end up with a flat, cookie-cutter character, but with a strong protagonist to drive your story.

Activity One: Build a Protagonist Profile

A great way to get your protagonist off to a strong start is to build them a profile of interests, values, flaws, and abilities. Build a list of traits for your character using the list below, and you’ll have a solid foundation to start with.

Choose one interest

Give your protagonist something to love! It can really be anything, as long as it aligns with his or her core values, i.e., a deeply religious protagonist probably wouldn’t have an interest in artistic vandalism.

It is advisable to make it something that fits into your story. For instance, you can make your protagonist seem more human by giving them a love of playing piano, but it won’t do much for readers if he or she never comes across a piano in the story.

Choose two core values

Core values are (seemingly) unshakable beliefs your protagonist holds, at least at the beginning of the story. One of the most powerful storytelling devices is challenging those beliefs, but we’ll get to that later.

For now, pick two things your character believes in, that matter to him or her more than anything. Examples of these values include: religion, spirituality, family, revenge, justice, community service, advancement in a business, and so on.

Choose one character flaw

Make something wrong with them! It doesn’t necessarily need to have anything to do with morals either. A flaw is just an aspect of a character’s personality that creates challenges for them in the plot, and as such should have something to do with the conflict.

An example of an effective character flaw would be giving your protagonist the need to handle problems alone in a situation where others’ skill sets are needed. Your protagonist’s growth towards accepting help as they fail to conquer obstacles on their own makes for an interesting journey.

An ineffective character flaw would be to make your protagonist bad at math in an adventure story where the conflict revolves around a quest. It wouldn’t necessarily lead to failure, or challenges. Your character might never fail or experience adversity, which would make for a very boring story.

Choose one unique ability (if scifi, fantasy, or supernatural)

If you’re writing in the above genres, a protagonist profile is a great place to decide what your protagonist’s special ability will be. It’s wise to make this something that gives them an edge, but doesn’t make them invincible. Remember, lack of failure or adversity leads to a dull story.

Another great way to temper the balance of a protagonist’s supernatural advantages is to give this amazing power a price. Can your protagonist breathe fire? Maybe this damages his or her throat a little each time. Not only does this limit the protagonist from overusing their power to be invincible (and boring), it creates some interesting conflict points. The protagonist may be forced to decide between his or her own health or power.

Activity Two: Put Your Protagonist Through a Minor Conflict

Now that you’ve built a basic personality for your protagonist, you can get to know them better by putting them through a minor conflict, using their Protagonist Profile as a guideline.

Alleyway Experiment

Here is a simple minor conflict that is feasible in virtually any fictional universe: your protagonist is walking down a dark alleyway, and a figure blocks the opening. Based on your Protagonist Profile (interests, values, flaws, abilities), how do they deal with this situation?

If your protagonist is a peaceful soul who only cares about charity work and church, he or she isn’t going to pick a fight. If your character is insanely intelligent and values logic above all else, maybe he or she will be able to bargain.

Remember your protagonist’s flaw, though. If he or she has a fear of the dark, this encounter will likely strike your protagonist with mind-clouding fear.

Write out how your protagonist would deal with this dark alleyway encounter!

Activity Three: How Will Your Protagonist Change?

As you’ve seen above, a hallmark of any great story is that the protagonist changes. A character who doesn’t grow is predictable, flat, and dull. If this is your protagonist, the whole story will suffer, and become insufferable.

Choose one change to your Protagonist Profile

This change is something that should be sprinkled throughout the story, through many minor conflicts like the alleyway experiment above. As the story goes on, your protagonist should question one of their core values, or perhaps gain a new one. They might act in a way that defies their flaw.

Your protagonist can grow, or devolve. There are endless possible paths he or she can take, but the key is to make sure your protagonist is not the exact same person at the end of your story that they were at the start.

This is just one method of piecing together the aspects of a strong protagonist. If you build them a Profile, then put them through a minor conflict, and make sure they change, you’ll have a great place to start.

Remember, the plot revolves around your protagonist’s conflict- make sure they aren’t defined by one trait. Make sure they are a strong character, and the story should follow suit.

How do you breathe life into your protagonists? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Justin Attas is a professional ghostwriter. He has written twelve novels across genres including: western, science fiction, supernatural, mystery, and crime thriller. Justin is also the author of the science fiction novel, Strand: the Silver Radio. He has a background in education, which he uses to create articles and videos to help other writers along on their journeys. As someone who had a crooked journey to writing himself, Justin aims to use his experience and skills to encourage anyone with the soul of a writer to grab a pen and start writing.

Justin’s Youtube Channel is an ever-growing resource for writers, including this video of interactive activities to create a protagonist.

6 Ways To Stay Productive In A Creative Slump

October 9, 2019 by Creative Guest 5 Comments

Every creative person encounters times where we're not feeling creative at all. In this post, Macy Thornhill shares ways to support yourself to get past the natural blocks and slumps that come with the creative life.

“Being a writer is not just about typing. It’s also about surviving the rollercoaster of the creative journey.” ― Joanna Penn, The Successful Author Mindset

As writers, we’ve all had those times when we’re procrastinating. Whether it’s because you feel like your creative spark is waning, life is getting in the way of your writing goals, or, if we’re honest, because you’re a little afraid to take the plunge into serious writing.

How do you keep yourself productive when you’re in a creative slump? Sometimes, it’s possible to write your way through it. But other times the best you can do is keep yourself productive in other ways. But how do you know when you’re staying busy, versus when you’re doing busywork?

Over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about writer’s block and creativity. With these tips, you’ll be able to keep yourself motivated and inspired, while waiting for that spark to come back.

1. Take Time To Think About Your Writing Career

“When you feel that creeping self-doubt, acknowledge it. Write down your feelings in your journal in your journal… and then continue with your writing.” ― Joanna Penn,

Sometimes, especially when you’re just starting out, it’s easy to get overwhelmed as a writer. It’s lonely work, and it can take a while to build up a readership or client base before you really get going.

It can be tough to self-motivate sometimes. When you’re finding it difficult to carve out time for writing because life gets in the way, or you’re not sure where to start, take some time to think about your goals.

For me, I have a notebook that I write in daily. It’s one part diary, one part bullet journal. I use it to keep track of what I’m working on, and where I’m hoping to take my writing in the future.

Find a way to keep yourself on task, whether it’s weekly writing goals or a list of places you want to eventually submit to. You’ll find it’s a great way to stay motivated.

2. Connect With Other Writers

Whenever I feel stuck, I find it motivating to spend time with other writers. Not only is it great to talk shop with someone going through things with you, but other writers might also see things you miss.

Procrastination and writer’s block can come from a mistake you don’t know you’re making. Connect with other writers, through writers groups or classes, and let them help you work through the problem.

At the very least, it might be enough to get you excited about writing again. If you don’t have a writing group in your area, try the Twitter hashtag #amwriting to connect with other writers, or find writing communities on Facebook or Instagram.

One caveat: As described in The Successful Author Mindset, writer groups can have an opposite effect on your creative flow. Group members can be critical for the sake of being critical and you can get lost in the avalanche of untargeted feedback. So make sure the group you’re in is one that will help you grow and move forward.

3. Write Something New

Many writing blogs advise against starting a new project when an old one is floundering, but I think the trick is to do something small. If you’re working on a novel, try a short story. If you’re writing fiction, write a non-fiction article.

The shift in your thinking can sometimes be enough to shake something loose creatively. So get out there and try something new in your writing! You could surprise yourself.

4. Work On Your Portfolio

A writer’s portfolio is a calling card for clients, agents, and publishers. If you’re in a serious writing lull, sometimes, going over your best pieces can help you remember your goals. Updating your portfolio can keep you busy, without succumbing to busywork.

What you need in a good portfolio depends on you, but a welcome page, resume, and references are a good start. Update and organize your contact info.

When you’re choosing pieces, make sure to choose not only your best but samples of the kind of work you’re most interested in doing. Try not to mix genres too much here. You want to show flexibility, but with a clear voice, and clear goals. Finally, mention the domain of your portfolio on all your online profiles, so potential clients, publishers, and agents can find you.

5. Resist Temptation to “Research”

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Oh, I really can’t write this scene without checking…” and two hours of Google later, you still haven’t written anything, but you now know everything there is to know about 18th-century juggling, how to bury a body, and the correct way to swaddle a baby.

When we’re procrastinating, research can be a very tempting distraction, especially now that you have an endless universe of data at your disposal. But resist the temptation. Without a clear idea of what you need to find, you’re not going to be effective as a researcher. Use your research only when you have a specific goal, and don’t use it to avoid producing work.

6. Take a Writer’s Walk

Sometimes, we can get so busy with writing we forget other things. If you’ve been pushing for a deadline, working on a big project, or looking for clients, it’s tough to make time to stop and smell the roses. Literally. Sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what you need to get your creative juices flowing.

Spending time in nature also boosts your memory, improves your mental health, and even increases brain activity! If spending too much time in your home office is sapping you creatively, get some fresh air, and replenish your creative energy. It’s better than sitting at home, staring at a blank page!

Takeaway

The best way to build a successful writing career is to make writing a habit, and show up for yourself. But we’ve all had times when it feels like the creative spark has left us. Sometimes it’s a day or two, sometimes a couple of weeks at a time.

When you’re in a slump, it feels easier to fill your life with pointless online meandering or lose yourself in irrelevant statistics.

It’s fine to take breaks, but spend that time to move closer to your goals. If you use this inspiration gap to work on other aspects of your business, you’ll stay motivated, and will return to your writing in no time.

What do you do to motivate yourself when you hit a writing slump? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Macy Thornhill is the frantic scribbling squirrel over at Clippings.me. She loves writing herself out of sticky situations and helping fellow scribblers grow their freelance writing business.