An Interview with Michael Hauge

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Plotting, Story Mastery, Storytelling, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Conferences, Writing Fiction

GLVWG’s Geoffrey Mehl, interviewed Michael Hauge, keynote speaker, special seminar and master class instructor for The GLVWG WriteStuff Writer’s Conference™, March 23-25, 2017 .

Michael is a story and script consultant, author, and lecturer who works with writers and filmmakers on screenplays, novels, movies, and television projects. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors for every major film studio and network. He is also the best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read. He has presented lectures and workshops to more than 70,000 writers and filmmakers around the world. In the words of Will Smith, “No one is better than Michael Hauge at finding what is most authentic in every moment of a story.”

Hauge’s Six-Stage approach to story structure divides any successful story into setup, new situation, progress, complications and higher stakes, retreat and final push, and aftermath. These stages are divided by five key turning points: opportunity, change of plans, point of no return, major setback and climax. For a more detailed explanation of his approach, go to this article on his website: STORY STRUCTURE: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Successful Screenplays

Chris Redding Presentation at GLVWG

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Chris Redding, Editing, Ghost Writing, Professional Writing, Writing, Writing Fiction

Aren’t many writers out there, especially new authors, who don’t dream of hitting it big with a bestseller.  The odds of it are akin to winning the lottery.  Chris Redding gave a presentation at the GLVWG September general meeting and offered some tips for making money with the craft before you get published.  In the afternoon session, Chris gave us her top ten list of writing good fiction.  The following is a summary of her talks.

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Morning Session, September 24, 2016

How to make money before you get published

Writing for others is a good way to build a portfolio.

1. Who can you write for? Here’s a few examples.
   1. Magazines – which are getting smaller, and more focused by subject matter.
   2. Newspaper contributions
   3. Beta Reading – Sites do exist where people will pay to beta read material
   4. Writing, Editing, Proofreading
   5. Speech Writing – Lot of corporate folks who need a ghost speechwriter.
   6. Ghost Writing – Penning someone else’s story
2. What skills are needed?
   1. Writing ability – Seems obvious, but necessary to gain trust of potential client
   2. Professionalism and good Business Sense.
   3. Motivation, Perseverance, Discipline
   4. Goal Setting
3. Start Broad. Look for specific jobs where you have expertise. If you’re into gardening, search for all on-line sites and publications that do gardening. A few more examples:
   1. The academic community can be very lucrative, especially students where English is not their primary language. Graduate students who need someone to pen their thesis.
   2. Reputable book review organizations are always on the lookout for credible reviewers
   3. Business writing for corporations, executives in need of someone to take their ideas and organize it into a presentation.
   4. Doctors who don’t have time to pen their articles.
   5. Short fiction for magazines. Chris mentioned the “Confession Market”, or short stories written in the 1st person for magazines such as Women’s World, or True Confessions.
4. In choosing markets, look for news agencies, writers markets. Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly good places to look.
5. For those without a portfolio, Chris suggested a few sites to browse, but cautioned a need for careful vetting of potential clients.
   1. Upwork.com, Freelancer.com, Guru.com
6. Then, there’s the money side.
   1. When starting out, might have to accept lesser fees until established.
   2. Editors and Proofreaders may charge by the page or number of words
      1. Established, well-known editors charge hourly rates, ranging from $35 – $100 per hour.
   3. Ghost writing someone else’s book can run from $7,500 – $50,000.
7. Things to consider with a writing job.
   1. Will it further your career?
   2. Most periodicals pay by the article, which usually have a defined word length. Some periodicals don’t pay, operating on the premise “the writer gets exposure”. Unless you’re desperate, suggest avoiding these.
   3. Pay careful attention to fee structure and fine print with bigger jobs
   4. With big projects, like ghost writing a book, or preparing materials in business, insist on a written contract. Always front-load the fee. Chris recommended at least 50% of the fee up front, 25% when rough draft is complete, the remainder upon completion. Agree on how many rough drafts will be allowed.
   5. Try to avoid ghost writing projects where potential clients unrealistically believe their story will be a bestseller, and offer percent of future proceeds.
   6. Always have an “out” in all contracts, if project isn’t working for you and the client.
8. Problems you might encounter.
   1. Chris looks at all writing jobs with respect to how much of a “pain-in-the-derrière” a potential client might be.
   2. Client not making themselves available to keep the project moving in a timely manner.
   3. Subject matter not a good fit for your expertise, or not a good fit with potential client.
   4. How taking on writing jobs affects your work/life balance.
   5. Lot of nutty people out there. Go into all projects with your eyes open.

Writing versus Producing

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Andrew Solomon, Beth Kephart, Creativity vrs. Productivity, New Yorker Magazine, Rainer Maria Rilke, Writing, Writing Fiction, Writing Passion, Writing Poetry

Author Brenda Havens, former journalist, recently published three children’s stories. She reflects on finding passion in the golden years—writing from the heart, rather than worrying about productivity.

From: Maurus – Depositphotos.com

Are you an older writer? The person waiting until retirement years to pursue this dream? Or maybe you have several decades of life left, but see yourself working full time into eternity in order to keep the bills paid.

You might simply be a Type A—someone driven to constant action, bored with leisure time. Determined to use every minute producing SOMETHING until the day you die.

And that’s the thing. Producing. Measuring. Getting so much done. Before we die. In reading a blog today by richly talented author Beth Kephart, I found her quoting Andrew Solomon in The New Yorker:

 “But Rilke is correct in that we must all write as though eternity lay before us. Enjoy the flexibility that span of eternity offers.”