You’re Not Alone

April 12, 2025 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

A few years ago a playwright wrote in a local newspaper column that he was about to lose that source of income, because the column was being cancelled. He was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to continue writing full-time. At the time I thought, so what? Only a small portion of writers can earn enough money through writing to pay the bills, so they do what they have to do. But that doesn’t make it any easier. My experience, which I’m sure many writers can relate to, is the only time I’m “in the flow,” is when I’m writing.

This weekend professional golfers are competing in the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Course. Watching these athletes, you can see their intense focus and admire their excellent eye-hand coordination. They are ambitious and determined, and could excel in many other careers, but at some point they had to decide whether it was worth the risk to give up other options and focus on a career in golf.

Writers go through a similar process. Many years ago I came to the conclusion that I’d earn more money working “normal jobs,” than writing. Making a living as a writer can be a struggle, putting together a patchwork of incomes from royalties, writer-in-residence stints, government grants that you continually have to reapply for, teaching seminars, freelance writing jobs and ghost writing…. From the data I’ve seen, I earn more money as a Forklift Operator, than many writers earn.

Perhaps the most difficult part of being a writer, who doesn’t write for a living, is you may find other types of work a struggle. If writing is your gift, it might feel like you spend your life trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. If so, you’re not alone.

The next time you pass a golf course and see all those part-time golfers swinging clubs, consider that, if only for a short time, they are in the flow. Then take out your laptop and spend some time writing, let your passions flow on the screen. Maybe you can only write part-time, but in that time you can create stories that no one else can.

Review: BBC Maestro, Harlan Coben/Writing Thrillers

November 24, 2024 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

Recently, I paid $69 CDN for the BBC Maestro Course: Harlan Coben – Writing Thrillers. Since it involved a Black Friday discount of 40%, I didn’t pay the regular price, but even if I had paid the full price, it would have been worth it.

As soon as I saw Harlen Coben’s name on a course, I was interested. The first novel by Harlan that I read was The Stranger, which was adapted for a drama series by Netflix and they were both excellent. As far as credentials go, visit his website, http://www.harlancoben.com and look up his name on the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com, because there’s no room to list all his accomplishments in a single blog.

Although you could listen to all course lessons in one sitting, they are divided into ten to twenty minute segments on each topic, which makes it convenient for anyone with a busy schedule.

The course material is beneficial for both beginning writers and experienced scribes who want to want to think deeply about their craft. Even though most of the videos consist of Harlan sitting in a chair, talking, I didn’t find the material boring; I was inspired to start writing again, something I’ve been procrastinating about for far too long.

Jack Canfield has said about his book, The Success Principles, “the principles always work, if you apply the principles.” The same can be said about the material in Harlan Coben’s BBC Maestro course, if you take his advice seriously and apply it to your writing, your writing will improve. Although the course description is Writing Thrillers, the material covers all the key aspects of writing a novel, and would also be useful for writing science fiction, or any genre that involves drama.

As for myself: Over the last three weeks, two of my short stories have been accepted for publication by literary journals, and one of my screenplays made the quarterfinals of the Final Draft/Big Break screenwriting competition.

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Keep Searching

June 24, 2024 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

A few months ago I learned about Short Story Dispensers, a literary program designed to encourage reading, by offering stories to the public that can be read in five minutes or less. One of my short stories, “I Have a Problem” is now available through the Short Story Dispenser at the Edmonton International Airport. If you’re curious, visit http://www.short-editions.com to find out if there are any Short Story Dispensers in your area and how to submit stories for consideration.

One of the challenges facing writers, is finding new venues where you can showcase your writing. If you’re considering joining a writing organization, ask whether they provide listings for writing opportunities, that’s where I learned about the Short Story Dispensers. Although they didn’t choose my submissions, two other unique opportunities I discovered were short stories for cardboard coffee cup sleeves and beer cans.

I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, that it’s a good idea to contact the alumni associations of schools/colleges you’ve attended to promote your books/eBooks. If they publish newsletters, magazines, or blogs that might also be a good place to get your writing published. You could offer to write profiles of former students. I offered to write a profile of a former student for my university alumni association’s magazine, but they weren’t interested. That won’t stop me from trying again in the future.

Although most of the listings in the “Opportunities” section of the BBC Writersroom website are for United Kingdom residents, there are occasionally listings open to international writers. If you’re not sure if submissions from outside the UK are accepted, send them an email and find out before investing your time and effort. If you’re curious, their website is http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom. Another online resource is the Facebook Group, Writing Competitions: Opportunities For Experienced and Aspiring Writers to Get Published.

Before you submit any writing, make sure you understand whether you’re going to be paid. There are many markets that cannot afford to pay writers, but might still be excellent venues to showcase your writing. Literary magazines are good examples, many are published by student volunteers at universities and have very limited budgets, but they are legitimate writing credits.

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Dreams on Spec (2007)

June 17, 2024 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

I just finished watching the documentary, Dreams on Spec (2007.) Several years ago I donated my DVD to a local library, but it never appeared in their catalogue. Fortunately, I recently found it listed on the video streaming service Tubi. Dreams on Spec follows the lives of three aspiring screenwriters as they attempt to get their scripts produced, interspersed with commentary on the profession by screenwriters working in Hollywood.

You don’t have to write screenplays to relate to the experiences of the three screenwriters profiled in Dreams on Spec. All writers have been on the same emotional rollercoaster, from dreaming of success, to the reality of rejection.

Throughout the documentary two questions dominate: How far are you willing to go to succeed as a writer? and Is it worth it? Two writers put everything on the line, risking their family relationships and financial stability, but their scripts aren’t produced. The third writer keeps his day job, but his screenplay is produced.

As Dreams on Spec demonstrates, devoting your life to writing full-time doesn’t guarantee success as a writer, but writing part-time doesn’t necessarily prevent you from enjoying success as a writer either.

Considering how much time and effort these three writers invested in trying to find success in Hollywood, was it worth the sacrifices they made? I think the best answer is: If you love writing, keep at it, because you never know where it might lead, and regardless of the ultimate destination, you’ll appreciate what you learn on the journey.

Back To Basics

January 9, 2024 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

Have you been having a difficult time starting a new project? Perhaps the problem is you feel you can’t start unless you already have a complete story concept. The solution begins with one scene.

Since you’re a writer, you always have at least one scene that sticks in your mind and one character that stands out in that scene. That’s all you need. Begin by describing the scene: Where is the scene located? Is inside or outside? If it’s inside, is it the bridge of a vessel at sea or a room in a casino? What details would someone immediately notice if they were standing next to your character?

Is the time of day an important factor in describing the scene? Will darkness make the scene more menacing? If the scene takes place on a space ship, time may be a disorienting factor, because there is no sunrise of sunset to give your character a sense of the passing of time. You might note that lighting inside the ship varies, depending on time to day to compensate.

What type of dialogue is taking place in the scene? Is your character talking to someone, or is it an internal dialogue that no one but the reader hears? If the character is talking to someone, are their voices raised, or are they whispering?

Is your main character experiencing any emotions? Does your character feel threatened? Is he/she relaxed? Is your character bitter or angry? Jealous? Envious? Since stories tend to be driven by emotions, establishing how your character is feeling in a scene is essential. Spock has always been one of the most intriguing characters in the Star Trek franchise because of his struggle to suppress and control his human emotions.

Action is the final piece of the puzzle. What is your character doing? A scene doesn’t require a lot of movement to be dramatic. A character sitting in a chair and struggling to breathe, can be just as engrossing as two characters fighting on a moving train, because in both cases we understand it’s a life or death struggle.

If you’re waiting until you’re in the “flow” to start, you’ll waste a lot of precious time. For a writer, starting to write a scene is like a musician picking up her electric guitar and plugging it into the amplifier. Nothing happens until she starts playing. For all us wordsmiths, nothing happens until we start writing.

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Don’t Panic!

November 12, 2023 / J. Paul Cooper / 2 Comments

Have you ever had a period of time when you stop writing? That’s what I’ve been struggling with lately, but fortunately, through years of experience, I’ve learned there’s no reason to panic.

A PAUSE ISN’T PERMANENT. There are many reasons writing can become difficult; a change in your work schedule, events in your life that require your full attention, stress that makes it difficult to concentrate. The dilemma faced by writers, is your vivid imagination allows you to write fiction, but it also allows you to imagine terrible outcomes, even if they are unlikely to happen. It’s easy to imagine that you’ll never write again, but, as the old saying goes, “This too will pass.”

YOU HAVEN’T LOST YOUR TALENT. Eventually, you will start writing again, and when you do, the words will begin to flow. Immediately, you’ll remember how much you love creating characters and the worlds they live in. Writing isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are. Don’t be surprised that even if you take an occasional break, you’ll probably be writing for the rest of your life.

YOU MAY STILL BE WRITING, YOU JUST AREN’T AWARE OF IT. Sometimes it’s difficult to write, because your mind is creating a puzzle in your sub-conscious and there are missing pieces. You sense the frustration and label it as Writer’s Block, but it’s just because your mind has been working overtime to solve a problem. One day you’ll you have a brilliant story idea, it’ll feel like you’ve been struck by lightning, when you’ve actually been working on it for months.

YOU MAY BE OLDER, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE. If due to life’s ebb and flows you haven’t been able to dedicate time to writing for a long period of time, you don’t need to be discouraged. A Writer isn’t like a professional athlete who’s considered at the end his or her career at 40 years old. The opposite is true; the older you get, the more knowledge and personal experience you have to draw on for stories.

WRITING PROVIDES MANY OPTIONS. Can’t finish that short story? Try writing an essay. Frustrated with that Science Fiction novel? Write a murder mystery. You can’t complete that historical novel, but you’re convinced it’s a great idea, then tell the story as a screenplay. The combination of genres and formats is endless, and if you’ll just try one, they all lead to the same goal, to start writing again.

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A Toxic Word

August 28, 2023 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

August 25th, 2023 was a day marked on the calendars of many writers, because it was the day the quarter-finalists were announced for the Final Draft/Big Break Screenwriting Contest. I was one of the many who were disappointed that their entry didn’t make the cut. It’s on days like that, when you’re discouraged, that you have to make an effort to avoid negative self-talk. One of the worst words you can use, is the highly toxic term, wannabee.

The term wannabee is dangerous for writers because it can be so discouraging, making us feel that only writers who have written bestsellers or have won awards are real writers and the rest of us are, well, just wannabees. And yet, we are writers, because we continue to craft stories, with no guarantee that our work will be published or if self-published that it will be popular.

If you have a private pilot’s license and you enjoy flying your single engine aircraft, you’re not a loser because you aren’t in the cockpit of an F-35 jet fighter. You just love to fly, and take to the skies every chance you get. Writers love to sit down at a keyboard, accepting the challenge of taking the images in their minds, and creating original stories that others can read and enjoy.

Any challenge worth pursuing involves risk. The fact you’re willing to accept risk by entering contests, submitting work for publication, or posting it in public, knowing it may be criticized, proves you aren’t a wannabee. How serious a writer you are, can’t really be measured by how much you write, because everyone’s schedules are different. Being discouraged doesn’t make you weak, because disappointment can be very difficult to overcome.

Consider how many chain stores you see in shopping malls. You could walk through a dozen shopping malls and barely seen any difference, other than the order in which the stores are arranged. And the food courts? You can probably guess the brands before you see them. If you’re actively writing, you aren’t a wannabee, you’re an artist accepting the responsibility of creating something unique every time you write a story.

The reason that you can write something original, is because you’re an original. Only one person out of over seven billion has your imagination, and that’s you! Take some time today to write, and show us what you can do.

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Loyalty: The Heart of Drama

July 2, 2023 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

It’s a classic pro-wrestling trope; one member of a tag-team is taking a beating, until with a sudden burst of energy, he manages to knock his opponent off his feet. Slowly, both wrestlers crawl towards their partners. Thousands of fans are on their feet, screaming as tensions mount, because everyone knows that whoever tags his partner first, will probably determine the outcome of the match. Having survived a vicious beating, refusing to give up, their hero finally reaches the corner.

And then it happens…as he reaches up for the tag, his partner drops down from the side of the ring and walks away leaving him at the mercy of the other wrestler’s partner. That’s what keeps fans taking out their credit cards to buy tickets for live events and watch then on pay-per-view: drama is fueled by loyalty.

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) Anakin Skywalker is torn between his loyalty to the Jedi Knights and what they stand for, and his wife Padme, who he believes will become mortally ill. He is convinced by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine that the only way to save Padme is to pledge his allegiance to the Supreme Chancellor and learn the dark arts. The agonizing decision about where to place his loyalty is emotionally draining, both for the character on the screen and the audience sitting in theatres around the globe.

Just as switching loyalties can create intense emotions, a character maintaining his or her loyalty can also pull at the heart strings, if there is a price to pay for that loyalty. As the story unfolds in Saving Private Ryan (1998) we learn that Tom Hank’s character is married and was a teacher before the war started. We admire his dedication to duty and willingness to risk his life for his country, because he has so much to lose.

Drama is also created when a character finds that her loyalty was misplaced, and she feels that years of her life have been wasted. It might the end of a friendship, or the end of a marriage. Although it could involve personal relations, she might just as likely feel betrayed by a political party, a religious denomination, or a company. Perhaps she’s worked for the same corporation for a decade, even though she had other opportunities, and now she’s escorted out the front door by security guards during a round of lay offs. There she stands on the steps of an office tower, discarded by the company she trusted, with empty company slogans echoing in her mind.

Since our lives revolve around loyalties, there are endless possibilities for the characters in your stories: The married pastor of the church he attends, who he trusts for moral guidance, has been having an affair with the youth leader’s wife. Your character, who owns a small business discovers that her accountant has been stealing money from the company to pay gambling debts, and now the company is bankrupt. It’s discovered that the leader of the political party your character has been donating money to for decades, has been syphoning funds to offshore accounts.

Just as you ask what a character’s goals are, you can also ask where his loyalties lie. The higher the cost of loyalty, the greater the potential for drama.

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Four Reasons To Enter Writing Contests

April 15, 2023 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

FOCUS Entering writing contests has many advantages, beginning with how it forces you to focus on a single goal. It’s easy to become distracted, moving from one writing project to the next, without actually finishing any of them. Making the decision to put all your efforts towards writing a great piece for a writing contest might be just what you need.

DEADLINES I find that writing without a deadline is extremely difficult. I allow myself to think I’ll get around to finishing a project sometime, because I don’t have a deadline, and end up in an endless cycle of procrastination. I recently entered a screenwriting competition, and the looming deadline was just enough motivation to finish writing the script.

REWARDS If you win a lottery, it’s great to have the cash, but you don’t really have a sense of accomplishment. Anyone can buy a lottery ticket. However, if you win a writing contest, you’ve demonstrated that you have significant talent and that’s something you can be proud of.

YOU WIN, EVEN IF YOU LOSE So, you focused on one project until it was finished, paid the entry fee and entered it in a writing contest. Even if you’re not competing with the general public (like a lottery ticket), your entry is still up against all the pieces submitted by other writers. What if you don’t win? You now have a new item prepared for the literary marketplace, and that puts you way ahead of someone who has a dozen unfinished projects.

Update: My story, “The Challenge” has been included in NEW SPACES, an anthology of science fiction short stories published by Lintusen Press, a collaborative micropress.

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I Think I Have a Great Story Idea

April 5, 2023 / J. Paul Cooper / Leave a comment

I’ve lost count of the times I thought I had exceptional story ideas, but they didn’t produce the literary success I had anticipated. Does that mean I was wrong? How do you know whether a story idea is indeed, “great.”

It seems obvious that J.K. Rowling had a fantastic story concept with the Harry Potter series, since each novel was an international bestseller, and they were all adapted as blockbuster movies. The first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, however, was rejected by twelve publishers. If J.K. Rowling had given up after eleven rejections, would it have meant the story concept was flawed? No, but a manuscript with significant potential might have been lost forever.

What about originality? Can a story idea that has themes like those found in other books or movies, still be considered original? The television series Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were set on space stations, and for five years (1993-1998) both were on air at the same time. The movies White House Down, and Olympus Has Fallen were both about a terrorist attack on the White House and released in the same year, 2013. Can you imagine telling animation companies that they must stop producing movies with talking or singing animals, because it has already been done? A story idea must have some distinct elements, but writing a story that is absolutely unlike anything else that has been previously written, might be an impossibility.

The reason so many stories can have similar themes yet retain aspects that set them apart from other stories, is because they flow from the minds of unique individuals. Two writers will not image the same characters or create identical worlds. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin both include dragons, and battle scenes, but you’d never get them confused.

Perhaps exceptional story concepts are distinguished by how many ways they are adapted. The novel, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo was adapted as a feature film The War Horse (2011) by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. It is also a play, adapted from the novel by playwright Nick Stafford.

Although it’s not something you can anticipate while writing, the possibility exists that you won’t know you have a great story idea while working on a project. Writer Stieg Larson died in 2004, before his crime trilogy, beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, became international bestsellers and were later adapted as feature films.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee publishing companies will accept your manuscript, even if it’s based on a great concept. Scarcity is a reality that affects all aspects of life, including literature and editors are forced to reject manuscripts with great potential, because budget constraints limit how many books they can publish.

The most important question, however, is whether you’re going to write. Your story idea might result in a bestselling novel, an Oscar winning screenplay, or a Tony (Antoinette Perry Award) winning play. It might be an eBook forgotten in an endless sea of thumbnails, or another screenplay that’s never produced. Is it worth it? Absolutely! What I’ve observed in other writers, and experienced myself, is there’s sense of accomplishment when you finish a writing project, and joy in the process as you let the creative juices flow.

I’m starting a new project. I don’t know whether publishers or producers will think my concept has potential or if they’ll just ignore it. Nevertheless, I will be writing, because I think I have a great story idea.