The official blog of Jay Fingers
Your Idea Machine by William C. Martell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another great, informative (and, like this review, short and quick) read from screenwriting guru William C. Martell. Your Idea Machine offers several ways that you, the Writer, can brainstorm story ideas for your screenplay (or novel or play or whatever). There are tips on where to find ideas and how to determine if they satisfy the rule of the “Two Ewes” — are they both Unique and Universal?
Watch out, Fabio — Colonel Sanders is coming for your crown.
That’s right. Colonel Harland Sanders, venerable mascot and spokesman for KFC, is the love interest in a just-released romance novella entitled Tender Wings of Desire. The novella is part of a marketing campaign for the fast-food chain’s $20 Fill-Up, which it hopes customers will purchase for dinner this Mother’s Day. According to KFC, the maternal-centric holiday is one of its best-selling days of the year, with locations often seeing a 40 percent boost in sales. The company claims to sell nearly 6.5 million pieces of chicken to 380,000 families on Mother’s Day.
Continue reading “KFC’s Colonel Sanders Gets His Very Own Romance Novella”
So, you’ve written a screenplay and now you’ve dreams of selling it. But do you even know how to get your masterpiece in front of those who matter?
Fear not, newbie. Actual screenwriter William C. Martell will guide you in Secrets of Selling: Breaking In, a handy “Blue Book” with all sorts of useful information and strategies for breaking into the notoriously difficult Hollywood film biz.
At more than 130,000 words, Martell packs this tome with topics such as how to think like a producer, writing query letters, making connections, finding a manager or agent, and even when you should run away from what seems like a good deal.
And it’s not going to be Hollywood Whisper … aka Truffle Butter.
For a while I’d been toying with an idea I’ve titled Side Chick. I admit, the plot’s not that innovative: A family man becomes involved with an unhinged woman, shit hits the fan, terror ensues.
And it’s also a story that firmly fits within the genre of “hood fiction” — my first take on hood fiction, Orange Mound, has quickly and recently become a readers’ favorite, and since I’m interested in writing tales that are commercially viable, I’m thinking another trip to the well can’t hurt.
