These 3 movies – Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Heaven Can Wait, Down to Earth – serve as an example.

THEME [ Be true to yourself and everything will be all right.] + PLOTLINE [a man who is sent to heaven before his time (due to an error by an angel) wants his old life back]  =

* * * * * * *

Here Comes Mr. Jordan  1941  protagonist Joe Pendleton (a boxer) portrayed by Robert Montgomery

Writing Credits: Sidney Buchman & Seton I. Miller (screenplay); Harry Segall (from the play Heaven Can Wait)

* * * * * * *

Heaven Can Wait  1978 – protagonist Joe Pendleton (a quarterback) portrayed by Warren Beatty

Writing Credits:  Elaine May and Warren Beatty (screenplay); Harry Segall (from the play); Robert Towne

* * * * * * *

Down to Earth (2001) protagonist Lance Barton (a stand-up comedian) portrayed by Chris Rock.

Probably to honor the original script, the name (and body) that Lance Barton will use at the end of the movie is “Joe”

Writing Credits:   Chris Rock & Lance Crouther & Ali LeRoi & Louis C.K.

Above data regarding writers’ names are from http://www.imdb.com

I, Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan, recommend:

* Martha Engber’s book and workshops on how to write scenes

* Christopher Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey (about Hero’s Journey and Archetypes)

* all books and workshops by Martha Alderson on plotting

* your rereading your favorite books and studying that authors’ techniques

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan aka Coach Teresa teaches writers how to transform their email signature-blocks, photos, videos, social media, website/blog descriptions into platform statements . . . to attract target audience/readers/fans . . . before and after publication.  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com and  https://www.youtube.com/user/teresaleyung

*

She is the creator of:

• classes, including:
• *For Theme’s Sake: Edit Your Own Manuscript Before Pitching to Agents or Self-Publishing
• *Heroes, Tricksters, and Villains – What Do These Archetypes Want in Your Story World?
• *

• Immigrant Experience Writing Contest
• *

• interactive presentations, including:
  • *Help Your Fans Find YOU
  • *Build & Retrofit Your Writer’s Platform

*

the author of:

• Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (workbook);
• *
• Love Made of Heart: a Daughter, a Mother, a Journey Through Mental Illness (novel used in college classes and archived at the San Francisco History Center);
• *
• “Talking to My Dead Mom Monologues” (the first monologue received an award from Redwood 10-Minute Play Contest and was staged at the 6^th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA);
• *
• her blog (which attracts tens of thousands of writers) at http://WritingCoachTeresa.com helps writers build their platforms before and after publication

*

and a proud member of:

• California Writers Club (3 branches! And a past president of the San Francisco Peninsula Branch); and a recipient of the Jack London Award for outstanding service to California Writers Club;
• *
• Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter (a past board member).

Writing Coach Teresa asks: “How do you hook your reader at the middle of your book?”

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here . . . recording notes . . .  energized from co-teaching with Mary E. Knippel today – Day 2 of “For Theme’s Sake: Edit Your Own Manuscript Before Pitching or Self-Publishing”.

Our students / hardworking authors supplied plenty of inspiration for their own protagonists as well as for fellow-classmates.

Today we focused on the middle of everyone’s manuscripts. Why the middle?

Before I take on the role of the writer, I put on my reader’s hat.  For me, reading a book is like going for a hike on a trail that I’ve never been on before.  By looking at the signs at the trailhead, I know how long I would have to walk in order to get to the end . . .  just as I know how many hours it would take to read a book by seeing the page count.

That hike I’ve started – the sign posts on the first half of the trail are clear and helpful. I know that if I follow the arrows, I will reach the end, and feel great as I always do after a “good” long walk.

I’ve started reading a book. The author hooks me from page one – sometimes that hook is the narrator’s voice/language, other times it’s the subject matter (a topic that I do relate to or one that I would like to know more about).  By page 5 (oftentimes, even sooner) I know what the main character/protagonist wants or needs, and, I want to see what’s going to happen next. So I turn the page.  I am in the story world.

The author had planted “sign posts” to guide me. Those sign posts are called “themes”.

By the middle of the book, that core theme/sign post better be there.  If the story has stopped hooking me, I will put the book down and probably not open it again.  (On my hike, if at midpoint the trail seems to have disappeared, the marker has fallen off its post, and I’m all alone  . . .  do I continue on? By the way, I am not interested in getting lost today. My dinner awaits me at home.)

Such is the task for an author – how to guide the reader with that core theme, scene after scene.

To the dear authors in our class,

That big sheet of paper that Mary gave you today?  Tape the class handouts from Day 1 and Day 2 onto that sheet. Look at those aids every time you meet with your protagonist.  And, ask your protagonist these questions:   “Where are you today on your Hero’s Journey?”  “What do you want ? … in this scene.”

Speaking of “scene” –

Writing Coach Teresa says: “A scene is a compilation of paragraphs that creates a “movie” in the Reader’s mind.  Which means:  action, dialogue, sensory details, and authentic details.

A sequence of scenes guides the Reader in your Story World, and, is a vehicle to show the Hero’s/Protagonist’s transformation.  Go into scene whenever you want to show us what your protagonist is made of.

In real life, if someone says “I’ve changed. Take my word for it.”  . . .  wouldn’t you be thinking . . .  Hmm….    I’ll believe it when I see it.  Instead of telling us how your protagonist has grown, show us through scene, not through summaries.

Summary cannot spark the same emotional responses as a scene would . . . because summary either recaps what has happened or jumps over time in order to get to the next scene.

I recommend:

* Martha Engber’s book on how to write scenes

* Christopher Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey (about Hero’s Journey and Archetypes)

* all books by Martha Alderson on plotting

* your rereading your favorite book and studying that author’s techniques

The fabulous authors in our class have mighty themes:

* make my own decisions and change my circumstances (author of YA science fiction)

* move on with my life in spite of unanswered questions and a broken heart (author of women’s fiction)

* speaking my truth transforms shame into courage and forgiveness (author of memoir)

* embracing my past and loving myself feed my spirit as well as my marriage’s spirit (Diana Lynn, author of women’s fiction)

Their readers will surely stick by their protagonists and be there at the end of the book.

Cheering for YOU!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

on behalf of

“For Theme’s Sake” teachers Teresa LeYung-Ryan & Mary E. Knippel

May 2, 2015 Teresa LeYung-Ryan ( Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days – workbook; Love Made of Heart: a Daughter, a Mother, a Journey Through Mental Illness – novel) celebrates Independent Bookstore Day / California Bookstore Day  with other local authors at Laurel Book Store, Oakland, CA  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  and http://www.laurelbookstore.com

Saturday June 6
Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Fanbase-Building Coach and “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” sponsor) joins California Writers Club colleagues for Writing Contest Awards Ceremony and Writers Helping Writers Through Mentoring;

June 13, 2015  for Authors Day

June 6 and June 13, 2015  at Literary Stage, Fine Arts Galleria, San Mateo County Fair (Cheers to Bardi Rosman Koodrin, Boris Koodrin, Laurel Anne Hill, David Hirzel, Margie Yee Webb, Wini McCaffrey, et al)  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com http://cwc-peninsula.org/fair.html

As Writing Career Coach

I presented “Build My Name, Beat the Game” to delightful writers at the Redwood Writers Conference.  Writers in my session, please scroll down until you see my post/column entitled “Redwood Writers Conference Pure Joy” and follow instructions please to build your names.

There’s post-conference work for me.  I’ll email colleagues and follow up on our conversations; I’ll email writers in my session some coaching notes; I’ll pitch my workshop to other organizations.

Do you know a non-fiction writer who wants to go to a writers’  conference but can’t afford it? Encourage her/him to ask family and  friends to chip in (what better Christmas gift or birthday gift!).   Check out Writing for Change Conference.

As Author

I’m writing down “gems” as they pop into my head.  Gems in the form of dialogue, metaphors, descriptions, hooks, and story-questions.

I had a chance to chat with Martha Engber at the Redwood Writers Conference and read the jacket copy of her novel  The Wind Thief.  I started reading it when I got home Saturday night and have been reading a little everyday.  What lovely prose and sensory details! What a gifted writer.  Tanya Egan Gibson is another gifted writer; I’m also reading her novel How to Buy a Love of Reading. My reading well-written books can only make me a better writer.

As Publisher

I’m updating Build My Name, Beat the Game: 22 Days to Identify & Develop My Writer’s Platform to Attract Agents, Acquisition Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention so that I can take the next step in publishing the next edition–and that is letting Nancy Mulvany create the index.

This evening I attended a Business and Leadership program at the Commonwealth Club on “iPad Revolution and the Future of Digital Magazines” with Matthew Davis of Zinio and Matt Carlson of Hot Studio, two pioneers in this emerging field.  Kevin O’Malley, President, TechTalk/Studio was Moderator (Thank you, Kevin, for inviting me.  The program was enlightening).

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, when building your writer’s name/platform.”  

To comment on any of my columns (blog posts), just click on the blue title bar of the post, fill in the boxes and press “submit.”  Please click here http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/ for Home Page of my blog.

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