Or at least I tried to.
I had this idea for a story about a thirtysomething former teen starlet festering in my head for over a year. Despite plotting an outline and sketching it up, I could never get it to work as a novel. The story just wasn’t strong enough for a full-length book. But the idea just kept coming back to me over and over again. I had to get it on paper. Since it wasn’t working as a book I opted to write the next best thing: The screenplay.
I’ve dabbled with screenwriting in the past, but nothing serious. An adaptation of Isis, and some other stories I’ve written. But this is the first time I’ve written a screenplay from scratch. The project was an attempt to see if I could write an original story within the extremely rigid format of the Writer’s Guild of America. To my surprise the finished script turned out better than I expected.
From a format standpoint I was able to get the story to fit within the WGA standards. The script is a good length fitting within the standard 90-120 pages allotted for a drama. (112 to be exact) I was also able to follow most of the rules for things like dialogue, and scene descriptions. It’s frustrating fitting a story within those parameters, but I’m getting used to it.
From a storytelling standpoint I was able to tell my story effectively. In most of my novels I use the character’s eyes like a movie camera to describe the action to the reader. So it was easy to adapt that “camera” style I use in my storytelling to the screenplay format. Even though I was writing in a Third person narrative, everyone sees what the “camera” sees. I know my descriptions are a little longish, and the dialogue’s a little rough, but it’s my first script. The more I learn the better I’ll get at screenwriting.
What’s even more of a surprise to me is how solid my writing is in this style. The spirit of my distinct style is in every page. The script still has all the irony, depth and humanity of one of my novels. From first page to last, the reader knows it’s a “Shawn James” story.
I’m very pleased with my first original screenplay came out. Now I’m just going to print it out and throw it in a box. For me, this isn’t the time to go out pitching scripts to agents. There’s a lot more for me to learn about writing. The more new projects I pursue, the better I’ll get at it.
Saturday, 24 February 2007
Thursday, 8 February 2007
African American Fiction - A Cesspool at the Bookstore
A couple of weeks ago I walked into a Borders bookstore on 34th and Broadway. I was looking for DVDs, but I wound up taking a look at the African-American Fiction section to see what the market was currently producing. What I saw on the shelf turned my stomach. I had to look out the window to make sure I was still in Borders and not a Times Square sex shop.
The entire African-American section was nothing but “Erotica”, and “Gangsta” titles with overtly sexual themes. Most of the cover art featured half-naked and naked people in sexually titillating poses. As I flipped through some titles I became even more disappointed about how poorly written they were. Poor grammar, poor sentence structure, typos, and no semblance of a plot. It just was one graphic sex scene after another. Characters had no personalities or distinguishable traits. It was just one graphic sex scene after another.
I wouldn’t have felt too bad if these titles were self-published or Print-On-Demand; I know from experience there isn’t much one person working alone can do about quality. However big name publishers like Three Rivers Press (A subsidiary of Random House) and Kensington books have the staff to produce a professional quality book for their readers. I wondered if there was any copyediting or proofreading done at all on these titles. I also wondered if their editors had any sense of taste or style when it came to buying manuscripts for African-American audiences. The Black community is in SERIOUS trouble if these are the best manuscripts literary agents are submitting to publishers.
I left the store buying nothing and asking myself more questions: What happened to the broad pool of talented authors of the 90’s. People like Connie Briscoe, Bebe Campbell Moore (Lord rest her soul) Terry McMillan, and Sista Soulja? What happened to plots in Black fiction? What happened to themes in Black fiction? What happened to storytelling in Black Fiction? What happened to grammar in Black fiction? What happened to Vocabulary in Black fiction? What happened to the writers who wanted to give readers a unique perspective about the Black experience? What happened to the diversity on the Black fiction shelf? How did African-American Fiction turn from general reading audiences into XXX adults only? Why is every Black fiction title lately so sexually explicit?
I can’t give money to authors and publishers who are doing harm to my community. What publishers are currently producing as African-American fiction is unacceptable from a creative, educational and a professional standpoint. When publishers clean up the cesspool in the African-American Fiction section, I’ll start buying Black books again.
The entire African-American section was nothing but “Erotica”, and “Gangsta” titles with overtly sexual themes. Most of the cover art featured half-naked and naked people in sexually titillating poses. As I flipped through some titles I became even more disappointed about how poorly written they were. Poor grammar, poor sentence structure, typos, and no semblance of a plot. It just was one graphic sex scene after another. Characters had no personalities or distinguishable traits. It was just one graphic sex scene after another.
I wouldn’t have felt too bad if these titles were self-published or Print-On-Demand; I know from experience there isn’t much one person working alone can do about quality. However big name publishers like Three Rivers Press (A subsidiary of Random House) and Kensington books have the staff to produce a professional quality book for their readers. I wondered if there was any copyediting or proofreading done at all on these titles. I also wondered if their editors had any sense of taste or style when it came to buying manuscripts for African-American audiences. The Black community is in SERIOUS trouble if these are the best manuscripts literary agents are submitting to publishers.
I left the store buying nothing and asking myself more questions: What happened to the broad pool of talented authors of the 90’s. People like Connie Briscoe, Bebe Campbell Moore (Lord rest her soul) Terry McMillan, and Sista Soulja? What happened to plots in Black fiction? What happened to themes in Black fiction? What happened to storytelling in Black Fiction? What happened to grammar in Black fiction? What happened to Vocabulary in Black fiction? What happened to the writers who wanted to give readers a unique perspective about the Black experience? What happened to the diversity on the Black fiction shelf? How did African-American Fiction turn from general reading audiences into XXX adults only? Why is every Black fiction title lately so sexually explicit?
I can’t give money to authors and publishers who are doing harm to my community. What publishers are currently producing as African-American fiction is unacceptable from a creative, educational and a professional standpoint. When publishers clean up the cesspool in the African-American Fiction section, I’ll start buying Black books again.
Monday, 15 January 2007
The N Word- A Counterpoint
There has been a call by Black leaders to have the word Nigger stricken from dictionaries and from everyday public use. They say it’s hate language used to promote the devaluation and degradation of Black people. I say their actions water down the dialogue on race and are tantamount to censorship.
Instead of calling for a ban on the word Nigger, Brothers and Sisters need to learn why we still call ourselves Niggers. If the older Black leaders would to teach the younger Black masses more about their history and culture everyone would learn the word has more than one definition and a strange set of grammatical rules that change from generation to generation. Today, it’s a racial slur when applied by Whites, Arabs, and Asians who use the word to speak about Blacks. However, the use of the word Nigger by Blacks when speaking to other Blacks isn’t a racial slur. Hispanics have also use the word casually without offending Blacks for decades.
Throughout history, Blacks have learned Nigger wasn’t a dirty word. It was actually one of the first words Slaves learned in the American English language. It was so casually used in the Old South slaves learned the word Nigger before they learned their own name. Politicians used it to describe slaves. Overseers used it to describe slaves. Slave masters used it to describe slaves. White neighbors used it to describe slaves. So most slaves used it to describe themselves.
Due to the lack of formal education for many field slaves and even some slave masters, the vocabulary of our early community was limited. Many slaves often used the word nigger along with other profanities to substitute for words they didn’t know. Over time this racial slur was incorporated into the language as a common word by poor blacks. Each generation of unconsciously taught it to another in their casual dialogue. Follow the dialogue of Blacks throughout history and you’ll see nigger is used as a multipurpose word. It’s a noun, a verb, a pronoun, an adjective and an adverb for those with poor language skills. Ironically, some educated and wealthy blacks used it to describe an uneducated or ignorant Black person.
To take Nigger out of the vocabulary of the racial dialogue is a case of see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil by Black leadership. It doesn’t explain why so many Blacks still use this racial slur so casually in their language. The root causes of the misuse of this racial slur have to do more with education and class within Black culture, not race. Those issues are a lot harder to address. A press conference about banning the word Nigger is a lot easier for Black leaders to soundbite in a speech than a serious discussion of more complex issues in the black community.
Think about it: A superficial ban of the word Nigger also doesn’t do anything to change the national forum on race. Just because Black people actively make an effort to not use a word doesn’t change the feelings of prejudice people of other races have learned regarding Blacks. Ban the word Nigger and the racists will just express their prejudice through another racial slur. Throughout history racists have used a variety of words to insult Blacks. Words like Buck, Spook, Coon, Lawn Jockey, Boy, Buffalo, Jigaboo, Negro, Buckwheat, Sambo, Monkey, Watermelon Boy, Ape, Beast, Bojangles, Darkie; these racist colloquialisms vary from region to region in the United States. Should we ban these words as well from the American vocabulary?
Any censorship of the word Nigger diverts away from any substantive dialogue about the legacy of racism and opens a can of worms regarding the First Amendment. Like it or not, the word is a part of the American language. Nigger isn’t a dirty word. It’s a part of a painful part of American history Black people are afraid to face.
Instead of calling for a ban on the word Nigger, Brothers and Sisters need to learn why we still call ourselves Niggers. If the older Black leaders would to teach the younger Black masses more about their history and culture everyone would learn the word has more than one definition and a strange set of grammatical rules that change from generation to generation. Today, it’s a racial slur when applied by Whites, Arabs, and Asians who use the word to speak about Blacks. However, the use of the word Nigger by Blacks when speaking to other Blacks isn’t a racial slur. Hispanics have also use the word casually without offending Blacks for decades.
Throughout history, Blacks have learned Nigger wasn’t a dirty word. It was actually one of the first words Slaves learned in the American English language. It was so casually used in the Old South slaves learned the word Nigger before they learned their own name. Politicians used it to describe slaves. Overseers used it to describe slaves. Slave masters used it to describe slaves. White neighbors used it to describe slaves. So most slaves used it to describe themselves.
Due to the lack of formal education for many field slaves and even some slave masters, the vocabulary of our early community was limited. Many slaves often used the word nigger along with other profanities to substitute for words they didn’t know. Over time this racial slur was incorporated into the language as a common word by poor blacks. Each generation of unconsciously taught it to another in their casual dialogue. Follow the dialogue of Blacks throughout history and you’ll see nigger is used as a multipurpose word. It’s a noun, a verb, a pronoun, an adjective and an adverb for those with poor language skills. Ironically, some educated and wealthy blacks used it to describe an uneducated or ignorant Black person.
To take Nigger out of the vocabulary of the racial dialogue is a case of see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil by Black leadership. It doesn’t explain why so many Blacks still use this racial slur so casually in their language. The root causes of the misuse of this racial slur have to do more with education and class within Black culture, not race. Those issues are a lot harder to address. A press conference about banning the word Nigger is a lot easier for Black leaders to soundbite in a speech than a serious discussion of more complex issues in the black community.
Think about it: A superficial ban of the word Nigger also doesn’t do anything to change the national forum on race. Just because Black people actively make an effort to not use a word doesn’t change the feelings of prejudice people of other races have learned regarding Blacks. Ban the word Nigger and the racists will just express their prejudice through another racial slur. Throughout history racists have used a variety of words to insult Blacks. Words like Buck, Spook, Coon, Lawn Jockey, Boy, Buffalo, Jigaboo, Negro, Buckwheat, Sambo, Monkey, Watermelon Boy, Ape, Beast, Bojangles, Darkie; these racist colloquialisms vary from region to region in the United States. Should we ban these words as well from the American vocabulary?
Any censorship of the word Nigger diverts away from any substantive dialogue about the legacy of racism and opens a can of worms regarding the First Amendment. Like it or not, the word is a part of the American language. Nigger isn’t a dirty word. It’s a part of a painful part of American history Black people are afraid to face.
Monday, 1 January 2007
New Year, Same Old projects.
For two years I spent most of my time writing and revising manuscripts two novels, The Cassandra Cookbook and The Temptation of John Haynes. In spite of positive comments from literary agents about the premise, the writing and the storytelling, neither got an offer of representation after over 500 submissions for both. With 2006 coming to a close I’m looking forward to going into the 2007 fresh. I’m going to print these two manuscripts, stick them in a white cardboard box and move on.
Creatively, I believe both books are where they should be. After doing a year of revisions on both, there isn’t much else I can do to polish them any further. Maybe when I save up $750 for each book I’ll publish both of them both Print-on-Demand like I did Isis. This time, I’ll even buy a few extra copies and distribute them to Monroe College Alumni. Contact some Book clubs and send them a few copies to review. Contact some neighborhood Black and Latino Newspapers and offer them a review copy. I’ll even offer some to local bookstores for free and offer returnability on unsold copies.
For 2007, I want to pursue a new book project. I’ve been running some ideas through my head for new stories. I’m pondering doing a romance novel, another Black fantasy novel, and another contemporary Black fiction novel. I may even trying my hand at erotica or do a screenplay from scratch. Counts on how I’m feeling.
Creatively, I believe both books are where they should be. After doing a year of revisions on both, there isn’t much else I can do to polish them any further. Maybe when I save up $750 for each book I’ll publish both of them both Print-on-Demand like I did Isis. This time, I’ll even buy a few extra copies and distribute them to Monroe College Alumni. Contact some Book clubs and send them a few copies to review. Contact some neighborhood Black and Latino Newspapers and offer them a review copy. I’ll even offer some to local bookstores for free and offer returnability on unsold copies.
For 2007, I want to pursue a new book project. I’ve been running some ideas through my head for new stories. I’m pondering doing a romance novel, another Black fantasy novel, and another contemporary Black fiction novel. I may even trying my hand at erotica or do a screenplay from scratch. Counts on how I’m feeling.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)