Status Updates From The Writer's Advantage: A T...

Too many writers fear success, believing they don't deserve to sell their work or find a following, which is an untrue sentiment they need to overcome.

Too many writers fear success, believing they don't deserve to sell their work or find a following, which is an untrue sentiment they need to overcome.

In order to pitch you work, you require a logline and synopsis. You also need the loglines for 3-5 additional projects (preferably one of which is near completion) to pitch to prevent coming off as a "piker" (a wannabe; someone who isn't really planning to, or going to, climb the mountain) when asked the inevitable question, "What else have you got?"

The book contains a handy (and extensive) worksheet to use in positioning your work within the current media landscape. And also what is perhaps the best quote in the entire book: "No idea on its own is great enough to sell without knowing the marketplace you are selling it within." (p.126)

If you want your work to have mass appeal, the author recommends looking to Top 10 lists within your genre, identifying the traits the list entries have in common, and applying those traits to your own work. Mass appeal isn't the only option available to a writer in the modern transmedia environment, however: you have the opportunity to write for mainstream, niche, cult, or any combination of these types of audiences

Works can go on to find wide popularity among mainstream society or remain restricted to cult followings. What dictates which will become a work's fate often has to do with the social and political backdrop at the time of release. As well, a former cult favourite can later go on to achieve mainstream acceptance while a pop culture craze of old can be reduced to cult status over time.

Every genre has it's inherent traits. A writer must simultaneously preserve these traits yet find extend them to create new ways for audiences to enjoy the genre (this is often done by introducing new/outside traits alongside a genre's traditional traits, although this can also be a risk).

It is important to identify the “quintessential text” of your genre (be it a book, movie, TV show, or some other media format), both to avoid rehashing what’s already been executed to perfection and to determine areas where you can bring something fresh to the genre through your work.

It's strangely inspiring, the author's claim that "Nine times out of ten your idea is quite mediocre" and that agents/publishers/producers/etc. "don't want to be bothered with material that's just ordinary". It's like a rallying cry to true creativity - to figuring out who to make one's work truly special.

This book is very interesting, so far discussing how we've come to live in a "transmedia" environment (multiple media sources and formats that are available to people, often simultaneously), with the promise of tips for writers to create works that appeal to a wide range of audiences.