2. “If you decide to become a professional writer, you
must, broadly speaking, decide whether you wish to
write for fame, for pleasure, or for money.”
Ian Fleming
How to Write a Thriller
4. Establishing an Online Presence
• Review of weeks one through four
– Why write – writing skills in general
– Writing for and selling for publication
– Writing and selling non-fiction
– Writing and selling novels
• Nurturing Your original Idea
• Establishing an Online Presence
– What makes your online material unique?
– Beating the competition for “eyes”
– Balancing content and entertainment
– Doing-it-yourself…or…?
8. Dissection 101 - Quickly
• Do what most successful novelists do:
– Study those who have been successful
– Find the kind of books you want to write
– Break these books down and analyze them
– Spend time understanding what worked for you
– Spend time understanding what didn’t work for you
• You should have a posse of novelists to emulate
• That said, you must bring your own uniqueness
9. Dissection 101 - Quickly
• You’ll ultimately discover that “your” idea has been
done before
• That is good news, it means your kind of story
appeals to readers
• Now, deep dive into your posse’s novels and do a
story breakdown, focusing on the narrative
• Next, deep dive into your posse’s novels and do a
scene breakdown, focusing on purpose
• Pay particular attention on how everything in your
posse’s novels moves the story forward
10. ….now that you all are budding forensic
pathologists, let’s move on to inspiration
11. Developing a Book’s Plot and Narrative:
From Dissection to Inspiration
• Start with your original idea
• You must have a protagonist and an antagonist
• Something must happen to make you turn pages
• What happens must matter
• Most readers like a satisfying resolution
12. Only You Are the Steward of Your Original Idea
• It is your idea and your idea alone
• You have to nurture it, don’t share it yet
• It is the foundation of your book
• Above all else, it is the spark of inspiration for you
• Don’t do too much, let it germinate
• Come up with another idea, is the first still the best?
13. Developing a Book’s Plot and Narrative:
From Dissection to Inspiration
• Start with your original idea
• You must have a protagonist and an antagonist
• Something must happen to make you turn pages
• What happens must matter
• Most readers like a satisfying resolution
14. You Must Have a
Protagonist and An Antagonist
• The Protagonist must have a goal
• The Protagonist must have a conflict
• The Antagonist must have a goal
• The Antagonist must have a conflict:
– You must give your antagonist believable motivation
– The reader must understand the antagonist’s goal
– Your antagonist must have a good plan
– The stronger the antagonist, the stronger the protagonist
• Their conflict lock makes the story move forward
15. Developing a Book’s Plot and Narrative:
From Dissection to Inspiration
• Start with your original idea
• You must have a protagonist and an antagonist
• Something must happen to make you turn pages
• What happens must matter
• Most readers like a satisfying resolution
16. Something Must Happen
To Make You Turn Pages
• Good stories typically start with an inciting action
• The protagonist usually gets introduced early
• The protagonist has to solve a problem
• The story involves a protagonist solving the problem
• The antagonist is hell-bent to stop the protagonist
17. Developing a Book’s Plot and Narrative:
From Dissection to Inspiration
• Start with your original idea
• You must have a protagonist and an antagonist
• Something must happen to make you turn pages
• What happens must matter
• Most readers like a satisfying resolution
18. What Happens Must Matter
• Character
• Conflict
• Complications
• Climax
• Conclusion
19. Developing a Book’s Plot and Narrative:
From Dissection to Inspiration
• Start with your original idea
• You must have a protagonist and an antagonist
• Something must happen to make you turn pages
• What happens must matter
• Most readers like a satisfying resolution
20. Most Readers Like a Satisfying Resolution
• The protagonist solves the problem or crisis
• The protagonist must change along the way (1.0-2.0)
• You don’t have to kill the antagonist
• But there must be a reason the antagonist loses
22. “Social media is not just a spoke on the wheel of
marketing. It's becoming the way entire bicycles are
built”
Ryan Lilly
Write Like No One is Reading
23. Social Media-Challenges and Opportunities
• Everyone is doing it
• Vote early and often
• Building a following
• Sustaining momentum
24. What This Evening Is – and Isn’t - About
• What it isn’t:
– A primer on how to use social media – I suspect you all
know how to do that already
• What it is:
– Thoughts on how to use social media to support and
promote what you publish
25. “Over the past 60 years, marketing has moved from being
product-centric (Marketing 1.0) to being consumer-centric
(Marketing 2.0). Today we see marketing as transforming once
again in response to the new dynamics in the environment. We
see companies expanding their focus from products to
consumers to humankind issues. Marketing 3.0 is the stage when
companies shift from consumer-centricity to human-centricity
and where profitability is balanced with corporate
responsibility.”
Philip Kotler
27. Social–and Other–Media: Your Vehicle for
Engagement and Visibility
• Engagement
• E-mail mailing list
• Blog
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Visibility (typically after your book is published)
• Publicity
• Advertising
• Events
• Guest posts
• Give aways
• Interviews/podcasts
28. Everyone is Doing It
• 74% of online adults use social networking sites
• 71% of online adults use Facebook
• 23% of online adults use Twitter
• 26% use Instagram
• 28% use Pinterest
• 28% use LinkedIn
29. Vote Early and Often
• There are no limits to how much you can use social
media
• This goes to the number of sites you use as well as to
how often you are on those sites
• However, as with your online presence (website) it
comes down to how you invest your time
• Most practitioners advise a Zen approach: “If you
don’t do it excellently, don’t do it at all”
30. Building a Following
• There are many ways to build a following – find the
one that’s right for you
• You can even “buy” a following on media like Twitter
– if this is really what you want to do
• Most people find that letting a following build
naturally conveys the best long-term benefits
• Remember that social media following is a very
ephemeral thing (Un-friending, Tweepie, etc.)
31. Sustaining Momentum
• Building a following on social media carries an
implicit obligation – to stay with it!
• As one indication, Twitter tells you when a person’s
last Tweet
• You want to make social media your servant not your
master
• Recognize that there are dangers that come with this
http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/who-likes-you
34. “A fixation with connecting with 'friends' online
comes with the risk of disconnection with
friends waiting for you to be present in the
offline world.”
Craig Hodges
35. Do You Really Want To Do This?
• It can be time consuming – or all-consuming
• It can be boring
• It can be distracting – to the detriment of your work
• It can be expensive in terms of missed opportunities
• Doesn’t have a definable return on investment
• At the end of the day it is ephemeral
37. Benefits of Social Media
• You can reach a global audience
• Social media is accessible to everyone
• Most social media tools are easily learned
• You control your content and periodicity
• If you have no Web presence, agents, reviewers and
readers are a lot less likely to take you seriously
• Publishers will ask: “What platforms are you on and
how many followers do you have?”
39. A Slice of Social Media
• E-mail
• Blogging
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Text Messaging
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Instagram
40. A Slice of Social Media
• E-mail
• Blogging
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Text Messaging
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Instagram
41. “Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas
roulette machine. You know, you just check it
and check it, and every once in a while there's
some juicy little tidbit of reward, like the three
quarters that pop down on a one-armed bandit.
And that keeps you coming back for more.”
Douglas Rushkoff
42. E-mail
• E-mail remains the most “personal” of all types of
media we use – except perhaps the phone
• Since it is asynchronous in time, it lends itself to you
just launching something at any time
• You can also create multiple “lists” for various
communities of interest
• Many people you e-mail expect a reply when they e-
mail you – and the clock is ticking
• Know the “rules of the road”
• Learn how to handle your in-box
43. “Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on
producing a blog that’s great for your readers.”
Brian Clark
44. Blogging
• Your blog is typically your “stream of consciousness”
of content you want to share with the world
• It’s not just about getting people to look at your blog
once, it’s about getting them to come back to it
• Use the “Goldilocks” approach to blogging – not too
much, not too little by remembering what you like
• It always helps to periodically build on material
you’ve blogged on before
45. “In modern politics, even the leader of the free
world needs help from the sultan of
Facebookistan.”
Rebecca MacKinnon
46. Facebook
• Having at least a decent Facebook page is an
expected attribute for any professional
• In much the same way as your website, your
Facebook page should balance content and sizzle
• Be judicious regarding who you follow – it can
overwhelm your e-mail inbox
• Facebook is a great opportunity to engage both your
left and your right brain
47. “Twitter is my bar. I sit at the counter and listen
to the conversations, starting others, feeling the
atmosphere.”
Paulo Coelho
48. Twitter
• In some ways, Twitter is today’s news “ribbon” in
Times Square
• Twitter enables you to redistribute content that you
find and want to share
• Twitter provides a great opportunity to drive people
to your website
• Exercise caution and don’t “over-market” on Twitter
– people can easily see through this
49. “The real challenge is for each of us to determine
where we feel we can make the most impact.”
Jay Samit
50. Like Many Things in Life Using Social Media
to Enhance Your Writing Reach Involves
• Organization and planning
• Knowing your target market
• Getting creative
• Staying consistent
• Picking some – but not likely all – types of SM
• Setting realistic goals–especially the time you invest
52. One Way to Learn More About How Social
Media Can Help Your Writing Promotion
• Fauzia Burke
www.fauiziaburke.com
• Tracy Petrucci
www.tracypetrucci.com
• San Diego Writer’s Ink
http://www.sandiegowriters.org
53. “Being a comparatively successful writer is a good life.
You don’t have to work at it all the time and you carry
your office around in your head. And you are far more
aware of the world around you. Writing makes you
more alive to your surroundings and, since the main
ingredient of living, though you might not think so to
look at most human beings is to be alive, this is quite a
worthwhile by-product, even if you only write thrillers.”
Ian Fleming
How to Write a Thriller
56. Course Recap
• Why Write?
• First - and Essential - Steps
• Non-fiction - The Hungry Market
• “The Great American Novel”
• Establishing an Online Presence
• Social Media - Challenges and Opportunities
58. Seminar One: Why Write?
• History is what writers say it is
• Picking your medium
• A building block approach
• Due diligence the easy way
59. Seminar Two: First - and Essential - Steps
• Content-hungry media
• Recycling and building content
• Building relationships with editors – a win-win for
both parties
• Solo or with a wingman? The pros and cons of
collaboration
60. Seminar Three:
Non-Fiction - The Hungry Market
• Being - or becoming - the expert?
• Pursuing a subject - or letting life happen?
• Scratching itches - or entertaining?
• How much to tell and what’s next?
61. Seminar Four:
“The Great American Novel”
• Great or not-so-great? What you need to know
getting started
• Mainstream or genre? Which way should you go?
• Defining your audience and picking a “voice” and
point of view
• Getting the sale
62. Seminar Five:
Establishing an Online Presence
• What makes yours unique?
• Beating the competition for “eyes”
• Balancing content and entertainment
• Doing-it-yourself…or…?
63. Seminar Six:
Social Media-Challenges and Opportunities
• Everyone is doing it
• Vote early and often
• Building a following
• Sustaining momentum
64. …and please don’t forget the writing
resources from the previous seminars….
66. A Final Thought
Writing vs. Other “Artistic” Outlets
• Screenwriting
• Acting
• Music
• Dance
• Sculpture
• Stand-up Comedy
• ….
67. A Word About Surveys:
Comments Typically Come in Three Types
• You rocked my world and my life is now changed forever
for the better – I’m a completely new person
• I’d rather have a root canal than have to sit through this
again – and I think you should pay for it
• I got something (a lot, a little) out of this workshop, but if
the instructor does this again, he should:
– Do more of….
– Do less of….
– Go faster….
– Go slower….
– ????
