The Breakdown - Week of 5/11/20
Well, hello there! I’m starting off this edition of “The Breakdown”with a very special announcement that I will dive into and elaborate on further in my very first premium post. Yes, you heard it right! We’re going premium! Now note, this post will be sent out in the next week or two, so keep an eye out for it.
But before the announcement, I wanted to let you know that we now have the ability to gift premium subscriptions to our subscribers. So, in celebration, those of you who’ve already signed up will automatically be upgraded to a free, six-month premium subscription.
And for the next 25 readers who sign up, you will also be upgraded to a six-month premium subscription for free!
Awesome! This will not only get this party started, it will also qualify you for the Query / First Five Pages Critique Workshop, starting soon. 🥳 🍾🎉
Okay, now, back to the big news. While it’s not my news, per se, it does affect me in a tangential way. This news being that Wattpad, the digital publishing platform I write on and for, is launching a Development Fund to turn Wattpad stories into film and TV projects! This. Is. Huge! Read more about it below.
It discovered ‘The Kissing Booth’ and ‘After.’ Now Wattpad is ramping up its hit factory
Using my knowledge as both a Wattpad Star (don’t laugh…that’s an official title, not me humble-bragging) and having consulted for them before (no, I won’t be revealing any state secrets, but I do have some nuggets of wisdom to share with you), I’ll be breaking down why, exactly, this is so huge for writers like you and me, and also how to best position yourself to take advantage of this latest development. Essentially, I’m gonna to try to give you the big picture, so to speak.
Credit: Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash
Okay, you know the drill. Let’s first start out with some new prompts to get you unstuck if you’re struggling with your writing. As a reminder, these are drawn from my book “What Would Your Character Do? - Writing Prompts to Help You Destroy Writer’s Block, Write Faster, and Write More” (up on Amazon and free in Kindle Unlimited!)
Prompts
If these five prompts don’t work for you, hang tight. You’ll get another five in a week, or you could just buy, or check out, the book to pick from over 500 more!
Let’s get started.
If you're stuck in a scene, try to have your character:
1. Interrogate someone about something
2. Comment on what something (an item, a person, or a place) reminds them of
3. Call someone to apologize
4. Bring someone something precious
5. Push someone to their limits
Give those prompts some time to marinate, and if they’re not doing it for you, you’ll get five more next week! And please do let me know in the comments if any of them helped you. :-)
News
(Click title links for the articles)
Book Deals: Week of May 11, 2020
Personally, I didn’t find anything all that trend-setting in this week’s Publisher’s Weekly Book Deal report, but that could be because it was comprised largely of non-fiction titles. Not that non-fiction titles don’t get frequently adapted to film and TV projects, on the contrary, NF titles make great sources of IP. It’s just a very different part of the market than what I track, and I’m less familiar with the players and what might be driving the book deals there (other than timeliness of the topic, the author’s platform, etc.)
What I did find interesting in this report was romance author, Sarah MacLean’s, re-up deal with Avon (she’s a leading Historical Romance author for those who don’t know.) It’s a four-book, high six-figure deal based around a new series entitled, Hell’s Belles, about a gang of women in the Victorian era who, the publisher said, are “hell-bent on smashing the patriarchy in all corners of London, from glittering ballrooms to dark alleys.” Why do I find this interesting? It’s refreshing to see, and a possible harbinger of, a shift to more blatantly feminist stories within more traditional romance. There’s always been a feminist streak to a lot of the literature within the genre than non-romance readers realize (and a heck of a lot of attitudes and behaviors that have set women back centuries, to be sure.) However, this blatant feminist tack, in between the various romps in the sheets (and on the table, and in the closet, etc., etc.), is a decidedly bolder approach, and one I’d be interested to see if it will evolve into a trend.
Normal people, extraordinary readers (hopefully you can access the article)
So, book-to-TV adaptations are great for books sales, even more so I believe, than book-to-film adaptations. Longform “bingeability” seems to engender strong emotional ties. However, what’s interesting to me is how this particular book-to-TV adaptation, of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, could become a such a cultural phenomena, merely due to the power of social media. I’m halfway through the Hulu adaptation, and I’ve read the book and both are great (honestly, Normal People was one of my favorites of 2019.) However, I’m truly surprised by the general public’s meme-like embrace of the story. Normal People is a subtle exploration of a very complicated relationship, on an emotional, psychological, and a sexual level. Not your typical YA love story. Certainly not Kissing Booth or To All the Boys, that’s for sure. But, the same thing happened with The Witcher, remember? Story aside, what captured the public’s imagination more than anything was all the Bard memes and that earwig tune, “Toss a coin to Your Witcher.”
From what I understand, the song and character helped to drive a lot of buzz, which in turn, led to a ridiculous number of views for the show on Netflix (It was the most viewed show in their catalog at one point, I believe.) In any event, I honestly don’t understand what makes one story catch on culturally, and seemingly universally, and another get adequate praise, sales, and views, but not much more. If only we could bottle that, huh? P.S. - It’s hilarious to me that for one of the main characters of Normal People, Connell, it’s his chain that seems to have enamored the public more than anything else. 😄
Freeform Orders the Inevitable Quar Rom-Com, Love in the Time of Corona
Well, it was bound to happen, wasn’t it? I mean if you’ve checked out Amazon, there are a surprising number of Quarantine Romances too. And to be fair, this TV project isn’t the only one (NENT Group & Josephine Bornebusch Prep Social Distancing Drama.) I imagine there will be more. The universal impact and unique nature of the pandemic makes it irresistible as context, if not the outright topic of a story. But, will we still want to delve into this arena in three or six month’s time, when hopefully, we’ve emerged from lockdown? Not sure.
Go Into The Story Resource: Screenwriting Tweetstorms
Oh, my gosh! I cannot extol the value of a good Hollywood Tweetstorm! These are often like mini-master classes on topics relevant to screenwriting from those actually working in the business. Scott Meyers has blogged about screenwriting and the film & TV industry for over twelve years, proffering invaluable insight and advice at his blog Go Into the Story (now a part of the Blacklist.) If you’re at all interested in screenwriting, you need to dive into this treasure trove!
Final Thoughts
I’m so excited to start writing some premium content for you all and getting the chance to put my 10+ years working in Hollywood and my 3+ years working and consulting in the digital publishing industry to good work for the community.
How both publishing and entertainment really work is not at all transparent, and what’s more shocking is the lack of transparency at the intersection of the two industries, even to those who work in those industries.
Given how rapidly each is changing, I’m looking forward to unpacking all the various advancements and developments so that we can all learn and leverage what emerges from these changing times.
Until next time!
~ Paula G.