The 5 Stages of Becoming a Successful Writer

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fiction, fiction writing, screenwriting, TV writing, Writing, writing books, writing novels, writing tips

Hey everyone, I created a new e-book called the 5 Stages of Being a Successful Writer and you can grab it HERE

I created this to help you get past those mental roadblocks and limiting beliefs you may have around submitting your work and being successful. As a creative, we are taught to repeat the mantra of “I’m a starving…..” enter writer, artist, actor etc.. we have been trained to be the “broke….whatever” and I call BS on that. You can be a successful writer. I hope this is helpful to you!!

xo Stephanie

#writerslife #amwriting #writingcommunity #storytelling #screenwriting #TVwriting #novelwriting

Tuesday Tips~How To Find The Right Agent For Your Writing

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author, author life, fiction, finding an agent, how to find an agent, literary agents, novel, publishing, query letters, researching agents, screenwriting, show business, TV writing, writers life

Cheers to all the writers & storytellers who are here today!

I want to talk to you about finding an agent because this is something I am asked about all the time.

“How do you find an agent?”

“I have no idea how to find an agent.”

“Where does one find an agent?”

“I heard that I need an agent but have no idea how to find one.”

and finally.

“Do I need an agent?”

Let me start with the last one and work my way back up.

The answer is both YES and NO. It really depends on what YOUR specific goals are for your books. 

If you want to be traditionally published by one of the big publishing houses in New York–then having an agent is definitely the way to go. Of course, like anything, there are always exceptions to this that will prove me and anyone else who recommends you get an agent wrong. Those exceptions might be when a writer meets an editor at a conference, or when a writer wins a contest, or something similar. Some publishing houses allow non-agented submissions too–that’s a horse of another color and I will do a whole blog post about that at some point.

The thing is, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, the reasons to have an agent far outweigh the reasons not to have one. 

Here is one example of a situation where having an agent is a good thing.

If you get an offer from a big publishing house–let’s say that you get really lucky and this happens–without an agent, you really are on your own to negotiate. I don’t recommend this for many reasons. Agents do these deals for a living. They know better than we do what is a good and what is a bad contract. They know the industry and they know what editors will be the best for you and your book.

***I have to stop and say–yes there are bad agents out there-but for the most part they are great to have on your side.

For the film and television writers out there-YES, YOU NEED AN AGENT. For all the same reasons that novelists do and more. The entertainment industry is so crazy competitive AND deals in Hollywood go south all the time. Your agent is the one who will have your back. Not only do they get your script in front of the right directors, producers, studio execs, they will also fight for you when you need it.

It’s the same as novels in that you could get lucky but it’s just not worth it in my opinion. I have worked in the film and television industry for more than 20 years and I have seen so many things go wrong that I would never go at it without an agent.

Yes, agents can make bad decisions too–they are humans, just like us but for the most part, they really are the best career partner you can have. 

“But aren’t all agents just there to make money?” 

Even if this was true and it’s not always true–that’s a good thing. This is SHOW BUSINESS. It’s a BUSINESS. Publishing is a business. The entertainment industry is a business. You want to make money.

***If you really don’t care or want money–you may be okay without and agent.

OKAY—now that we have decided that YOU NEED and WANT an agent.

HOW DO YOU FIND ONE? 

There are many ways to get an agent. 

Tomorrow my YouTube video on finding an agent comes out so please watch as a complement to this blog today!

Also on YouTube, I have a video all about why agents are rejecting your query letter and you can find that here.

Here are some of the ways that I have found to be effective for myself and others.

Join organizations for what you are writing. There you will meet other writers and most likely meet agents at conferences and events that are held within that organization.  Also, most of these websites will have a resource page that has agents listed.

*See resources at the end of this blog

Here is a video on attending conferences.

Writing conferences are great for meeting and making connections.

When you go to writing conferences there are often workshops or pitching events where you get to meet agents one on one. This is a great way to make a connection.  Keeping in mind that this isn’t the place to pitch to agents in the bathroom, hallway, in a workshop–unless they ask you.

Social Media is another great way to find and research your agent. Following them is perfect to find out what they like, want, who they already rep and if they are open to submissions. Don’t stalk them, but following them is really good. Many agents also participate in things like Pitch Wars on Twitter and use hashtags when they are looking for something specific-Manuscript Wishlist #MSWL. Then you go to their agency website, get the submission guidelines and submit.

Twitter and Instagram are both exploding right now (summer 2019) but Facebook is still a great way to make and create connections through groups and just being FB friends.

Social media is NOT a place to pitch unless asked to or as part of a pitching event. 

Trade books like Writers’ Digest Marketplace books—although with the recent bankruptcy, I’m not sure what will happen with those in the coming years.

Query Shark, Query Tacker, Publishers’ Marketplace are all great too.

Asking fellow authors and or writers who their agents are and getting recommendations to submit.

The most important thing to do is your research and take your time.

Don’t send out hundreds of query letters. Would you do that when finding a spouse or significant other? Or if you were hiring someone to join your business? No, you wouldn’t. Your agent is like a business partner, so you don’t want to rush it.

Be selective. When you meet agents at conferences, it’s a great idea to come home and Google them. Find their blogs, social media, and anything else you can about them. You may find that they aren’t a great fit even if you loved their workshop.

I will say that the biggest mistake I see writers making is being too broad and just submitting to anyone who will and or is accepting queries. Don’t be that writer.

This is an important step in your career. Whether this is your first or fourth agent, the process is the same.

I hope that this is helpful for you. Below are links to some great resources for your agent search.

If you have other resources that you would like to share, please do in the comments! 

 

For Children’s Book Writers

http://www.scbwi.org
http://www.kidlit411.com/

For novelists (any genre)

https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/
https://www.authorsguild.org/
https://www.rwa.org/
https://www.writersdigest.com/
https://www.agentquery.com/
https://queryshark.blogspot.com/
https://www.pw.org/

Video for TV writers

For screen and TV writers
https://www.wga.org/
https://scriptwritersnetwork.com/
https://www.hollywoodscriptexpress.com/literary-agents.html
https://screenwritingumagazine.com/2019/01/25/7-ways-to-get-an-agent-or-manager/

 

Resources from Judanie Bean 

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Tuesday Tips

Tags

author, character, creating characters, fiction, Film, Novels, screenwriting, Television, TV writing, Writing, writing for teens, writing tips, YA fiction

You want to be a writer? Okay then, you need to write. It’s literally that simple.

People always ask me, “how do I become a writer?” I mean people I met on planes, at coffee shops, at the grocery store, while at malls/shopping centers, at events, dinner parties. “Oh, you’re a writer? Cool. I have an idea, how do I do that?”

WRITE, that’s how.

There is no other way to be a writer than to write.

The way you get good at it, write every day. You have to, there is no shortcut on this one. It takes time to learn your craft.

You also need to read-constantly. If you want to be a novelist, you have to read novels. It is best to read in your chosen genre. I met someone recently who said that she was writing YA and I asked her what she had read lately and she said, “Oh I hate books for teens.” I was so confused, why write YA then?

***don’t write to trends

If you want to be the next Cameron Crowe—watch a ton of films, study the characters, dialogue, story and to up this to the next level, get your hands on some shooting scripts. It’s important.

TV writers who don’t watch TV? What?? Yes, they exist. They often brag about how they don’t even own a TV and or waste their time, and then they are writing the next great sitcom or drama. That makes no sense to me.

You need to immerse yourself in whatever it is that you want to do. It’s important.

You can also get many TV scripts online. For TV writing it’s a bit more complicated because of formatting for cable, network, primetime, late night, half hour, single camera, multi-camera—-but first—get your characters and story down, then you will need to learn all the above to start submitting. Also in TV writing you must have spec scripts of existing shows—this is beyond important.

Okay, so what are you going to do today??? WRITE!!

If you don’t know how to start, how about at the beginning–get a blank sheet and just get some words down.

YOU CAN DO IT. I know you can!!!

www.judaniebean.com 

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How Do I Love Thee? Dialogue Tips to Avoid Being Cheesy

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fiction, Film, Films, Novels, Television, Writing

Sometimes writers get into the habits of making their characters sound a bit too cheesy when writing romantic love interests in books, plays, films, etc. Now, I’m not saying this amazing line is cheesy because it’s not, but if you met a man/woman/guy/girl on the street had some coffee with them and then they said this to you, you’d be running for the hills, right? Er…I hope you would be.

Make your dialogue real.

Look I love Hallmark movies. I do, I love them. Especially at Christmas time. I can’t wait to watch them because they make me happy. They don’t even have the cheesy dialogue I am talking about. If they can do it, you can too.

My best advice is think about your own life. What did someone say to you that swept you off your feet? What is a cheesy line or was it sincere?

I find that the best way to be sincere in dialogue is to continue to always be thinking about what the character wants in every scene. Everything comes back to character–notice this theme. It’s important.

You can also read books that you love and look for the dialogue.

One love story that I read every year is the YA The Fault in Our Stars—Gus never drops a line on Hazel Grace–he is a real person. He isn’t cheesy in the least. Sure John Green could have loaded up the cheese factor but he kept it real and that’s why teens (and adults) all over the world fell in love with their story.

*Speaking of Gus—he has a very unique way of speaking (back to an earlier post)

In films.. Star Wars…

“I love you.”

“I know.”

No magical line was needed.

It is all real and the love story works.

This is important and I read work all the time from writers who make the mistake of trying too hard to be clever and it just comes off cheesy.

If you haven’t been in love like this yet or can’t honestly remember the dialogue you and yours exchanged read, read tons and watch films and TV.

You can do it. I know it!

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Tips for Tuesday–DIALOGUE TAGS

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dialogue, fiction, Film, Films, Novels, Story, Television, writers life, Writing, writing dialogue

Dialogue tags continue to stump many writers, new and experienced.

I’m not sure why this is, maybe it’s because we as writers feel the overwhelming need to paint a detailed picture. We want the reader to not miss even for a second what we mean—right?

She said angrily. She yelled with the noise of thunder. He howled like a wolf. –these are not needed.

My rule of thumb is when in doubt use SAID.

***The way a character speaks is so uniquely them that it should be obvious who is speaking but sometimes it’s not, so fine–use he said, she said, they said..

Don’t over think it.

In preparing for this blog, I found this article that does a great job of further explaining what I mean.

I have posted the link below. I hope you like it and I hope that it helps!

https://www.novel-writing-help.com/dialogue-tags.html

An exercise: tell your friend, spouse, neighbor, anyone a story about a conversation you had with someone else, do you ever overly describe the way they said it? HINT–you don’t. People don’t. Go do this and you’ll see what I mean.

If you do. If you are the type who uses adjectives to describe the way someone spoke–well that just might be YOU and the way you as a character speaks, but in books it pulls readers out. In screenplays and teleplays, it confuses the actors–or they will follow exactly instead of doing what comes naturally. I would say in scripts—NEVER qualify ever. Scripts don’t need tags.

Monday Writer Goals-Halló from Iceland

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am writing, fiction, Film, Films, Novels, reading, Television, writers life, Writing, writing goals

I’m in Iceland for the Iceland Writers Retreat which officially ended yesterday! It’s so amazing here. I love it. Today I have a free day and I’m planning to spend the day doing literary things.

The week is a lot for me to figure out this week because it will basically consist of traveling and readjusting back to California time, so here is what I will do TODAY.

Write because I’m super inspired after the past few days of workshops.

Read because I love getting lost in books.

Finally, explore the city a bit.

What are your goals for today or for the week??

**it’s okay to make daily goals when the week is too busy, unorganized or just too crazy. Be kind to yourself. 

Writing Wed

Tags

am writing, fiction, Film, iceland, iceland writers retreat, reading, Television, travel, Writing

Hello dear Writers.

How are you?

What is going on this week?

I have just landed in Iceland and am so excited to meet up with all the new friends I met via FB before the retreat has even started.

This morning I plan to drop my stuff at the hotel and find the nearest cafe, grab a cuppa and write a bit. It may not be brilliant but that is the goal.

How about you? Will you write today? Even for 10 minutes, no excuses?

We can do it!! That’s all for now because–traveled for over 20 hours to get here!! YAWN! 

HAPPY WRITING 

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Tip for Tuesday–DIALOGUE-Be UNIQUE

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dialogue, fiction, Film, Films, Novels, Story, Television, Writing, writing dialogue

I’m traveling to the Iceland Writers Retreat this week so this will be short but to the point.

Dialogue is so important in showing us who the character is. This is true for all writing. Screenplays and teleplays and stage plays rely so heavily on the way characters speak and what they say that it’s even more important to nail it.

This doesn’t mean being overly clever, it means being UNIQUE.

One example that I LOVE is the show, the GILMORE GIRLS. They have a very unique way of speaking. It’s very specific and so much that other characters in the show comment on the way that Rory and Lorelai speak. Watch it. You’ll love it, or hate it, either way, you will see what I mean.

Other shows that have GREAT & UNIQUE DIALOGUE ARE:

FRIENDS

THE BIG BANG THEORY (especially Sheldon)

FELICITY

GREY’S ANATOMY

Homework this week is to watch tons of TV and write down the names of shows that you love or hate because of the way they speak. Why do you feel that way?

Be Fearless Today (and Every Day) THURSDAY

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fiction, Film, Novels, Story, story concierge, Television, Writing, writing goals

Happy Thursday!

So I asked over on Instagram how your writing week went.

I’d love to hear. I was inspired to write this today because so many of my FB friends have been posting about the fear of rejection, especially after getting rejected.

Please, friends, do NOT let fear stop you. 

We ALL get rejected all the time. Even when your book is a best seller someone will hate it. That’s just a fact.

When you are a top showrunner and your show is on HBO, or NBC or Netflix and is nominated and even won awards people will still hate it.

The life of a storyteller is not easy and I am cheering you all on for just being here and continuing to put your stories out there.

I hope that you had an amazing week and even if you didn’t, that’s okay.

What are you working on today?

xo 

Stephanie

 

 

Writing Wednesday

Tags

fiction, Film, Novels, Screenplay, screenwriting, Television, TV writing, Writing, YA fiction

I’m working on my WIP YA. It’s in the revision stages so I’m playing around with plotting to make sure it’s all working. Hoping to just write for at least an hour today.

 

How about you??

www.judaniebean.com