By Ann Marie Ackermann When the director pointed out a plot hole in my movie script, I winced. We were walking through the old section of a German town, scouting possible shooting locations, and she was trying to imagine the film, scene for scene. “If you don’t put the murderer and victim together right away,” she said, “the audience won’t figure out their connection. We need to add a scene of the murderer stalking the victim at the beginning so they don’t come across as two separate characters with separate stories.” Ouch. Why didn’t I think of that? In 2017, I published a book about the murder case, the record-breaking 1835 assassination of a German mayor. When the local museum in my German town decided to create a film for a museum exhibition on the murder, they asked me to write the script, and then we hired a film school to produce it. A historical murder is not only a fun topic for students learning their craft, but we reaped the benefits of working with school’s staff, including a professional director and cameraman. The director’s comment about the plot hole made me realize she was a writer, too, and that I, as an author, can learn from her. Here are some of the things I picked up. I hope they can help you, too. Directors are visual story tellers. Our medium consists of words, theirs, images and sound, but we both share a passion for clear communication of plot points,…
Perhaps you got hooked on podcasts last year by listening to Serial. From the creators of This American Life, produced by WBEZ Chicago, and hosted by Sarah Koenig, Serial offered listeners a true story told over the course of a season with weekly episodes. The first season focused on the disappearance in 1999 of Hae Min Lee in Baltimore and the conviction of her boyfriend,… [Read More]
Filed Under: Ann Marie Ackermann, Crime Writers, In the Dark, John Ferak, podcasts, Reveal, Ron Chespesiuk, Serial, True Crime
9 Comments
Last week here I shared a dirty little secret. Authors get the blues. Depression strikes when you least expect it: upon the successful publication of your book. I did not intend to discourage writers from pursuing the path to publication, though it may have had that effect on those who hadn’t realized how much hard work and personal sacrifice might be involved. Today I’d like… [Read More]
You spend years working toward the publication of your book. Take writing classes. Attend workshops. Mingle at literary conferences. Develop your craft. Work with a writing coach. Write the manuscript. Hire an editor. Revise and rewrite. Build a website and blog every week. Grow an audience platform. Write reviews of books by authors you admire. Polish a proposal. Query agents. Receive rejection after rejection. And… [Read More]
Filed Under: agent, Depression, fame, fortune, post-publication, Publishers, Rejections, royalty statement, sadness of success
This week Rowman & Littlefield releases Compassionate Critical Thinking: How Mindfulness, Creativity, Empathy and Socratic Questioning Can Transform Teaching by Ira Rabois. In his new book, Ira demonstrates how to use mindfulness with instructional effectiveness to increase student participation and decrease classroom stress, and it turns the act of teaching into a transformational practice. Many books teach mindfulness, but few provide a model for teaching… [Read More]
Julia Cameron advocates “morning pages.” Three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. Every morning. The Artist’s Way. Natalie Goldberg recommends writing daily for at least twenty minutes. Free the writer within. Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don’t think. Writing Down the Bones. Stephen King prescribes the writing routine of butt-in-chair habitually. Set writing goals and write… [Read More]