In the documentary Spielberg on Spielberg, Spielberg said his main job was to connect his audience to his films.

I’d say that’s the job of every artist who wants their work to be seen by the world.  How do you do that?

Chinese Connection.  Sorry.  Had a Bruce Lee moment.

Emotional connection.

Underdog stories are very emotional.  All of us can relate because at some point we’ve been the underdog.  I’m working on becoming a published author.  I feel like underdog.

An artist’s initial job is to feel.  Seems obvious, right?

I’ve asked people about how they felt when they watched a movie, read a book, seen a photograph.  What’s the most common answer?

I don’t know.

Feel yourself out (get your mind out of the guttah).

Whenever something moves you, ask yourself why it moves you.  If something doesn’t move you, then ask why.  The answers will amaze you.  When I started acting, my teachers always said my body was the instrument.  Use it.  Feel it.  Live it.

Forever moments.

Every year the carnival comes to town.  They’ve been coming since I was a kid.  One year I took my girlfriend at the time and bought a ride-till-you-throw-up pass.  We rode all of the stomach churning rides.  Walked through exhibits like the double headed rubber rat (huh?), a wax figure of a fat bearded lady (what?), and a pickled snake with mutant feet (a lizard?).  Then our nerves were tried at the haunted house.  Only half the stuff worked.  A vampire ain’t that scary when it can barely pop out of its coffin.  We talked to carnies.  Many of them stared at my ex through their good eye.

There were two things that I remember most.  It was her first time at a carnival, and she was excited.  Every time she got excited her voice would rise, and she’d sound like a little girl.  Despite the jungle of carnival noise, her voice sounded like music.  Touched me like no other voice has touched me.  Yes, I was in love.

She’d never eaten carnie food, so I bought a tray full.  As we dug in, she wanted a bite of my corn dog.  I dipped it in mustard and she took a bite.   “Mmmm,” she said.  In that forever moment, all I remembered was sharing that corn dog.  There was one more bite left.  So I let her have it.

I read something in her eyes.  I got up and bought another dog on a stick.  Another forever moment strolled by as we shared in the goodness.

And every year the carnival comes to town, the sound of her voice and the forever moment sharing the corn dog permeates my mind.

My mom and I went to a restaurant one time.  The hostess sat us at a small side table.  Sheer drapes were drawn to shade us from the afternoon sun.  Old Chinese ladies rolled aluminum carts of dim sum.  Since my Cantonese wasn’t great, my mom ordered.  We made small talk as we enjoyed good food and the warm sun.  My mom kept my tea cup filled and continued to order dim sum.  She wanted me fat.  Still does.  When the bill came she pulled out an old leather coin purse, and popped it open.  She meticulously counted each bill and each coin and made sure there was enough tip.  She looked at me and giggled, asking me if I’d had enough to eat.  I shook my head.  That day has become one of my favorite birthdays.

Forever moments.

I saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. And with the slew of good to raving reviews that are out there, I’m not going to add to it.  Now, for you Potter fans, I’m not here to say how good or bad it is.  I love stories and always ask myself why I like certain stories in comparison to why I don’t.

I liked this one, based on Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts.

J.K. Rowling has said in many interviews that the books would get darker, and this one, with the death of a main character, is definitely dark.

One other series I’ve been obsessed with are the Matrix movies.  The first one was a sleeper hit.  Every one loved it, critics and fans.  But once the sequels hit theaters, despite its financial success, not many really liked them.

And I think I know why.

With both Potter and Matrix sequels going toward dark, why did one do and feel well, while the other just felt monotone?

Humor.

The sixth movie had enough humor to bring the laughs all the way up to the climax.  The climax was the darkest part of the whole movie, so the laughs ended.  Makes sense.

Matrix had humor and sarcasm.  There were also different types of characters. One wished they didn’t take the red pill, another would pimp out a virtual girl, then there was one guy half black, half Asian who was enthusiastic, etc.  Those characters contrasted the war that was going on.

With both the Matrix sequels, there was no humor at all, no characters with color.  That’s why to me it felt monotone.  People will say that Neo and his crew were fighting a losing war.  But Harry and crew are fighting what seems to be a losing war, too.

Laughs.

Now the question becomes why laughs are needed in a dark movie?

I was talking to a coworker who is an avid churchgoer.  We were talking about perspectives on life, and I asked him what he thought about the world.  His response was this is a fallen world.  Then I told him mine, which of course is prettyPollyanish.

He countered with, “Then why is there so much suffering in this world?”

I imagined him and his choir of religious heathens eating this fallen view of the world and answered, “Because in order to have light, you must have dark.”

I personally don’t like it but understand the philosophical side.

In story, humor is not just a good release of tension.  It also contrasts the dark, making the dark darker when the dark comes.  As the story works toward its dark climax, we feel even darker as the dark falls upon us.  Which is the exact purpose of the sixth Potter movie.

Mr. Miyagi bowed. His student followed. The old teacher slapped his young student behind the head. “Look eye! Always look eye.” Daniel-san bowed with eyes glue on his teacher.

Sticky.

My favorite thing about women are their eyes. Every time I meet an attractive woman, I’ll see if I can read anything in their eyes. Is there anything stirring behind them? Any depth that’ll make them interesting? Hoping that I’ll connect to that intangible thing that sparks love at first sight.

In writing, is there anything wrong with using the eyes?

‘His eyes dropped to the floor when he learned of his daughter’s late night activities.’

Must have hurt!

‘She snapped her eyes away when she opened the bedroom door to her parents’ copious play.’

Whiplash!

‘Her clothes dropped to the floor. His eyes burned with desire.’

Smoky!

I’d read an article about using the words eye and look. The author was editing a manuscript where the word look was used every single paragraph.

I laughed out loud. “What an amateur,” I said in a British accent.

I turned to my completed manuscript, did a search for the word look, and found over 400. “Whatever!” I said in a valley girl voice. That was nothing. My word count was around 130,000.

Then I searched for more related words–glance, stare, gaze, watch, glimpse, eye, gander, squint, peek, peep, and all of the conjugated versions. Let’s just say I felt very amateurish as I squinted my eyes in anger. Fire blazed from my eyeballs to my screen.

So how do we say that someone is looking at something wihout saying he’s looking at something. Maybe like this:

He hid behind the curtain. His wife undressed. Her lover lit a candle. She giggled like a dirty girl. The strange man with a perfectly manicured five o’clock shadow unbuttoned his shirt. Two slabs of muscle bounced when he removed it.

So instead of saying he saw all this, just describe the scene. This was a huge revelation, freeing me of the looking words.

We’re so inundated with TV and movies and great actors using their eyes to communicate their lines. It’s no wonder that writers fall into the trap of having our characters glance and look at everything.

Using them is totally fine. Just don’t over use.

A pet peeve of mine is people not listening to each other when they talk.  It’s one thing if passersby just greet each other.  But it’s another thing when I talk to a friend, and the next time I talk to them I have to repeat what I told them last time.  Weren’t you listening to me?  And if you weren’t interested, then why do you ask what I’ve been up to.  In listening to other people, I can tell who’s listening and who is only hearing.

Want to be more charismatic with people?  Listen.  It’s one of the biggest complaints women have of men.  But when I talk to women, a lot of them don’t listen.  And they wonder why guys don’t listen to them.

A couple of days ago I was in the lunch room.  Three ladies were sitting at a table.  A feast spread in front.  I was listening to them talk.  I do this a lot.  As a former student of acting, and now an author, I listen to people speak, toreadthem.  It’s a great way to learn what natural dialogue sounds like.  I’ve heard industry professionals theorize endlessly about natural dialogue, but just listening to others is the best way.  The best way to learn a new language is to submerge yourself in it.

But here’s another pet peeve of mine:

Lady #1:  Your son. He worked on Sunday?

Lady #2:  Well, you know, he, uh, you know, like, he works on Sundays, you know.

Lady #1:  Why?

Lady #2:  You know, he, you know, like, gets paid more, you know, um, Sundays. He even like, uh, worked on Mother’s day. You know? (laughs)

I can’t stand filler words.  I use them.  But not like that.  It was like watching the adult channel through all the fuzz because I wasn’t subscribed to it.  And this lady was in her fifties.  The above is exactly how she spoke.

One thing that authors have to keep in mind as we write dialogue is where the person comes from.  When researching for a character, there are several things that will affect their speech:  occupation, gender, age, culture, education, quirks, passions.  The list could go on and on, which can make writers go crazy trying to figure out speech patterns.  Lucky for us that 90% or more of speech is the same for everyone.

Dude #1:  Hey, wassup?  What you been up to?

Dude #2:  Man! Long time. Uh, not much. Just pluggin’ away, hangin’ out, terrorizing chics.

Dude #1:  Aw dude. I got this one chic…

The dialogue is fairly normal until the dudes rudely call women chics (wink), but a lot of guys do that.  But scenes aren’t made up of these normal everyday things.  Scenes usually get heated with conflict, tension, suspension.  So if we look at two guys who’re betting against each other, ten thousand dollars on the line on a basketball game, they’ll not only use lingo that pertains to basketball.  Their speech will get excited as the teams battle back and forth.

Heed the endless babbling of industry professionals as they theorize about dialogue.  But it’s way better and much more fun listening to others.  Read them.  Create mini stories as you listen.  I do this every day.

If you want to learn specific techniques about dialogue, check outBeyond Structure.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited on a friend’s yacht. I was talking about my book to an acquaintance. We were talking about one of the most basic elements of a good story.

Disasters.

I told her that disasters occur at the end of most scenes. And if a scene did end on a positive note, a win for our hero, a disaster would quickly follow.

She was taken aback. And she’s well read. “Pollyanna is boring,” she said.

Now, I was surprised she didn’t know this. Because I took this basic story element for granted. All good writers know this, however.

So why am I posting this? Because I spend so much time hiding writing techniques, making sure different story elements work undercover like a secret agent.

When you watch an Olympic ice skater perform, you don’t see every single technique, the thousands of hours of practice, and the relentless coaching. What you see is greatness.

Not that I want to neglect the practice of making my writing seamless, effortless. But people are totally more concerned with a story being good. Whether they can see the technique used, doesn’t matter. Does your story have passion? Heart?

I read an interview of top editors from different major publishing houses. They said one of the worst things they faced were stories that were technically written well, but lacked heart. At that point they couldn’t tell the writer what to do.

Ask yourself. What is the purpose of your story? What is the message you’re trying to convey?

Take Matrix. The message is simple. Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.

How do you read people? Go with your gut.

What more is there?  Body language.  It’s said that at least 80% of what people say is through body language.  And in fact, people intuitively read body language.  They may not be conscious of it.

If someone is assertive, their posture is straight, chest out, shoulders back, head craned like a flamingo.

What if someone slumps, hesitates to look you in the eye, crosses their arms, and even angles their body away?  Could be signs of deception, signs of low self worth or esteem.  With everything remaining the same, but you add the characteristics of someone who’s assertive, then we can assume that person simply doesn’t find you attractive.  Or they can be looking for someone and just doesn’t see you.  Or they may be angry because someone stood them up.

But when reading people, I tend to go with my gut.  I do this with women.  Friends of mine have tried to set me up on blind dates.  The problem with that is within the first minute I can tell whether I have a connection with the woman or not.  And I’m old enough to realize the difference between lust and like.  Lust for men is pretty obvious.  Let’s just say feelings toward the woman I’m in lust for don’t originate anywhere within my chest.  And my eyes will most likely be focused on hers.

It sucks when I don’t feel a connection.  Cuz I gots to talks to her.  Kinda like talking to a blank wall.  I’m sure it’s the same for her.

Most people can’t seem to read people.  Why is that?  Have they lost that special power?  Can anyone read people?  First off, any human can read another human, unless said human doesn’t want to be read.  And you can lose that power by mistrust.  Whose trust?

Going with your gut means that you have to trust yourself.  Do you?  Well…do you need or ask others for their approval or opinion?  Read my post onGo with your gut. It’ll give you an example of how I seeked approval outside of myself.

The way to practice this is by people watching.  Sit in a mall.  As a person walks by, let your mind create a story.  And trust that it’s true, no matter how strange.  If you want to take a step further, go up and talk to them.  See how close your story came.

A better way of doing this is bring a friend.  My best friend and I used to do this a lot.  Most of the time we came up with the same story.  If our stories didn’t match, then we’d discuss why we read what we read.

Writing the emotions of different characters can take the form of telling:  He’s mad.  It can take the form of action:  He slammed his cup down.  It can take the form of body language:  She shoved him off and turned away.  Or it can take the form of dialogue:  “Get off me!”

Oooh.  Too much information.

Actors people watch a lot.  When I studied acting, I spent a lot of time people watching.  Now, I use that resource in my writing.  Because if you communicate emotion through just one way–telling, action, body language, dialogue–it can get boring.  Combining different ways allows for character development and variety.

Most important of all, trust yourself.  As kids, parents tell us ‘No’, ‘Do this’, ‘Do that’.  As a result, we’ve become reliant on others.  Rely on yourself, open your mind, and let the stories come about.  You may be surprised.

Write what you know.

Wise words given to beginning and experienced writers. Published writers also repeat this crap.

Oops. No I didn’t!

Did I say crap to one of the most repeated maxims—ahem—crap advice?

Hell yeah!

I can already see the comments and emails. What do you know? What have you been published? Blah, blah, blah.

Let’s take Star Trek. When Gene Roddenberry began his epic TV show, did he know what the future truly held? He definitely got a lot of things right. But he also got a lot of things wrong. But what do the millions and billions of Trekkies worldwide focus on? Their love and connection of the characters.

J.K. Rowling wrote one of the most published stories ever. Does she really know how to be a wizard? Or a witch? She’s got a good idea. But she doesn’t truly know. I use the word know in reference to having performed magic. Real magic. The kind done with a wand. She’s never said, “Wingardium Leviosa!” and, bam, her Rolls flew into the sky. Although, her bank account did.

Why do millions upon billions of people feverishly read her books? Cause they love and connect with the stories and characters. It’s totally engrossing.

Talk about engrossing! Stephanie Meyers wrote the Twilight series and millions and billions of girls, women, and ladies engulfed all four books in record time. However, she’s gotten severe criticism on her writing.

So what? Look at her fans, her numbers, her ability to connect her story and characters to her readers. Tell me if her writing sucks. Don’t even mention she sucks to her fandom. Images of teen girls tearing flesh off bone come to mind.

Has Ms. Meyers sucked blood? I don’t know the answer to that, but I would assume no. Nor is she a vampire. And no matter how Gothic you are you don’t know what being a vampire is like, to only thirst for blood, to despise the smell of cooked food, to see people—cattle—talk to you, smile, laugh.

What all writers, all artistes, anyone who is human, know is what it’s like to be human. We all know what it’s like to fall in love, to lose something precious (like a ring formed in the fires of Mordor), to be isolated, to be the underdog, etc. It’s the emotions that we should write about. That’s what we connect to. That’s what we know.

Don’t believe me?

Listen to all the previews shown before the feature film. A deep voice:

The use of structure is superb. Dialogue written so realistically, it’s realistic. The scene breaks done so well you don’t know if there was a scene break. But there was. Or else the whole movie would be one big scene! Opening in June with the perfect first line EVER!

You’re more likely to hear this:

In the barren city of San Francisco, a lone straggler wakes to the cold realization that he’s alone. His screams are unheard. Thrilling! The eerie echo of his foot steps lure predators scarred by terrors unknown. Gripping! He retreats into Starbucks only to find brewing coffee. Stimulating! But where is the barista? Spellbinding! He finds an adult bookstore. Movies are still playing! Exciting!

One drill my friend and I use is tell each other what we feel when we read each other’s work. Do we connect to the characters? Who do we care about? Why? Do the events make logical sense? If not, what’s missing? I ask these questions when people read my fascinating stories. Hoping that the compelling nature comes across grippingly.

Check out my episodes. I’ve done my best to do this.

I was talking to a fellow writer who found a tid bit about paragraph structure.  The source was from a teacher of professional writing at the University of Oklahoma, Dwight V. Swain.  I have one book of his called Techniques of the Selling Writer, which is still in print.  I definitely recommend this book.

The tid bit didn’t come from the above mentioned book.  But Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, definitely used this technique in the first book of the series.  It is:

A fictional paragraph ends on the fact beat, leaving the emotional note for the start of the next paragraph.

Has anyone heard or seen this?

Below is a link to an episode of a side story, just improvisational writing.  There are two versions of it.  One uses the above technique.  The other does not.   Please read the two versions and vote on which one FEELS better.  The claim is that this structure provides emotional connection to the reader.  Thanks.

Episode 1: Graywolf

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One of the things I indirectly explore in my fantasy is age. I was out with some friends the other night and one of the girls harped on my age, worried I’d be the oldest. Among the group, I was the oldest. I’m thirty six. It’s a freakin’ number. Mentally I feel real good. Physically I feel fantastic. Spiritually, I feel present when I want to be. I’m still learning. Maturity wise, I’m in my early teens. I laugh at farts. I crack up at groin shots in movies. I tell jokes no one ever gets. Or if they do they don’t want to let me know cuz it’ll show how imature they are. It’s part of my sensibility.

One thing I don’t do is think about my age. I love writing my book, working on this website, fantasizing about my stories, watch almost half of the movies that are released, including the crappy ones. I do things that I love, I eat healthy six days out of the week, exercise 4 days a week, and laugh as much as possible.

This, to me, is how to be ageless.

Stop thinking about it and delve into what you love. For age IS a number, never a state of mind or a place in your life. There are teenagers in the world who are millionaires. Who’s to say they can’t be because they’re so young?

Don’t place limits on yourself because of age.

Look at all that Bruce Lee has accomplished. He graduated from Washington University. He started a small chain of martial arts schools. Got married and had two kids. Developed a philosophy of martial arts that is still prevalent today. Did some tv acting. Through that he became a huge movie star in Asia that gave him the opportunity to star in a Hollywood movie when most industry leaders said he’d never make it as a leading man in America. He’d published several books. All this and more was accomplished by the age of 32.

Don’t focus on your age. It doesn’t matter. Do what you love, and love what you do. And if you allow it, everything else will fall info place.