Ask the Author: Mark Saha
Answered Questions (12)
Mark Saha
Hi Janet ... I never actually used them and couldn't find anything either.
I did find this link for them but it's from 2016.
-- Mark
https://www.bookworks.com/2016/07/bla...
I did find this link for them but it's from 2016.
-- Mark
https://www.bookworks.com/2016/07/bla...
Mark Saha
Nothing is more inspiring than stumbling upon a story that speaks to you and demands to be put on paper. It’s such a fine day when something like that happens, and you can’t take anything else in life too seriously until the tale is accomplished in a manner worthy of the material.
The hardest kind of writing is when you don’t have anything like that at hand, but feel obligated to turn out something for the sake of being productive. Contriving a piece for formula fiction is for me as tedious as typing up a draft of the dictionary.
The trick, I suppose, when confronted with the task of executing a contrivance, is to seek some important theme about which you can use the story to make an original statement.
The hardest kind of writing is when you don’t have anything like that at hand, but feel obligated to turn out something for the sake of being productive. Contriving a piece for formula fiction is for me as tedious as typing up a draft of the dictionary.
The trick, I suppose, when confronted with the task of executing a contrivance, is to seek some important theme about which you can use the story to make an original statement.
Mark Saha
That's for sharing that. I envy you for having known him personally. Everybody working in television knew who he was back when I was starting out.
Mark Saha
Hi Denny ... I certainly knew who Bill Froug was back then but never had the opportunity to get to know him. He began teaching at UCLA about the time I started getting writing assignments. I wish I had studied under him, because he could have shown me a lot of things I had to figure out for myself. They mostly taught playwriting and dramatic theory when I was there. Bill would have shown me the craft of writing television episodes of thet day, about which I had not a clue. I envy you for having known him.
Mark Saha
Bartenders are always telling me great ideas for the novels they intend to write someday but probably won’t. My sense is that if you talk about something enough, you lose the need to write it. I tend to shy away from discussing anything that might be good enough to tackle eventually. And have the decency not to share my duds with you.
Mark Saha
I would love to write by hand, but mostly use a computer because thoughts now come faster than I can capture them on hand. I would prefer to write by hand and do sometimes, but less and less.
Basically I do whatever I can to survive and keep writing.
I would love to write by hand, but mostly use a computer because thoughts now come faster than I can capture them on hand. I would prefer to write by hand and do sometimes, but less and less.
Basically I do whatever I can to survive and keep writing.
Mark Saha
Like most of my ideas, Lady Joe evolved over time from solitary walks, but its elements have diverse sources. The characters, frankly, were inspired by high school friends in Texas years ago. The plot was in part from an old failed screenplay idea that took off in a different direction when I dropped my high school experiences into the mix. I also attended a lot of cuttings and accumulated a new body of experience to draw from there. I was amazed at how tightly it all shook out in the end.
Mark Saha
(1) Again, shut off your phone and put it in a drawer. (2) I like to take long walks alone to explore new (but safe) neighborhoods and let thoughts come and go. Often a story, or scenes for a story in progress, come out of nowhere. Sometimes a seemingly insurmountable difficulty in a story magically resolves itself. A writer friend carries a small inexpensive recorder on his walks to record snippets of dialogue. (3) When you sit down at your laptop or computer, often you will have accumulated enough material from your walks to “download” and jump start a session. If, on the other hand, you’ve been chatting on the phone or texting friends (even other writers) all day, it’s unrealistic to expect you can just sit down and start writing.
Mark Saha
After many years of writing screenplays, I’m transitioning to prose fiction and have just self-published a novel I’m trying to figure out how to promote without being cheap or tacky. Probably I will want to see how Lady Joe is accepted before committing to the next one. Meanwhile I’m adding a new short story to a collection. Mostly ideas come to me during long walks around town, and I sort through them to decide which is a short story and which is a novel.
Mark Saha
It can’t be just a daydream. If you’re seriously considering this, look into it a little and find out what it’s is like; e.g., my impression is that very few novelists make a living at it. Those who do generally write in popular genres – thrillers, romance, etc. Personally, for me, writing genre fiction would be a “job” similar to clerical work. I have to write what interests me. But I don’t hold that against others who are thrilled to write successfully within a genre. So, basically, find out what you want to write, and what to expect. Be aware that writing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you want to write in film or TV, you need to move to L.A. Writing classes of all kinds are useful if only for meeting like minded people.
Mark Saha
I like the creativity and flexible lifestyle. If you are writing on assignment, each will eventually be completed, and you will be looking for something else. Often there is opportunity for travel, and to meet interesting people who would not otherwise have been accessible to you. But the most rewarding thing, of course, is to see a TV program or movie from your script, or signing a book that you have written for a reader. And I like thinking about ideas or working out narrative stories.
Mark Saha
(1) Shut off your smart phone and put it in a drawer. (2) If a library or other quiet place is nearby (not a coffee shop), set a strict schedule of going there to write if only 2 hours a day. Place no other expectations or demands on yourself other than showing up every day. If nothing happens so be it; when the 2 hours are up, the rest of the day is yours. Eventually you will learn that if you write a little in those 2 hours, nothing bad will happen. Once you start writing, you can increase the time from 2 hours to 3 or 4 hours. Don’t write to exhaustion. Always leave a little so you can continue the next day. (3) It can be helpful to join a writing group in which members read their work to each other. This can give you incentive to have something to read at the meetings. Ideally the group should be mostly supportive rather than hard core critical.
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