On a second note, there are early confirmations about Batman: Dead End coming into movie form. Yes!  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can see it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCnYSQDSawg. It was a project many years ago, but now it appears it will be a full feature movie set for a 2014 release.  More details to come.  But be prepared for something unprecedented.

1. The Hobbit: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbit/

You enjoyed the trilogy — now you can witness how it all started.  If you didn’t have the privilege to read the books, no problems.  The movie will serve well to follow the books, much like the trilogy did before it.  This movie is only part one of the two part epic series.

2. Prometheus: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/prometheus/

Some say this is an Alien prequel.  Judging by the trailers it appears to be; however, Ridley Scott has said that the interpretation of that is left wide open.  You judge for yourself by the trailer.

3. GI Joe: Retaliation: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/gijoeretaliation/

The sequel to the hit, GI Joe will follow a sneak attack from Cobra forces decimating the Joe squad.  This looks to be more action packed than the first one.  There will be several characters not returning from the original.

4. The Dark Knight Rises: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thedarkknightrises/

Had to save the best for last.  The Dark Knight trilogy ends with this epic movie.  Christopher Nolan has stated there will be no more Batman movies — at least coming from him.  Nolan perhaps created the best Batman series to hit the big screen.

1) Break up your dialog.  Breaking up dialog is always a good idea (because it’s the right way to do it).  Each person or thing’s dialog will have their own paragraph.  If there is an interchange between the two, that’s okay. It’s natural to be long. Keep this in mind. Having two pages worth of dialog is not only tacky, but it’s a sign of terrible writing.  You can narrate a lot of dialog spots, especially if it gets too long.  If you’re trying to make a point that’s profound within the dialog, break it up, half dialog, half narration.

2) Punctuation.  You will have to punctuate correctly!  Here is an example of what’s right:

“Last night was the worst night of my life,” Antwan said.

Porter quipped, “I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I do before I die.”

There wasn’t anything we couldn’t do. “We were a team.” That’s what Crier always said to us to give us confidence.

Notice that the punctuation preceding or following the first two are commas inside the quotation. The third is someone else speaking, not within the stream of dialog.

This is simply the very, very basics as far as dialog is concerned.  This will get any novice started — and it’s a good refresher for a seasoned writer.

Please, let me know if you have any questions. I would be more than happy to answer them.

As a former publisher and former writer of science fiction, I know how difficult it can be for people to get published. In fact, in the world of publishing and publications, scifi, in particular, is the hardest, if not the most overlooked.  In 2007 (the last year I worked as an editor) of the 3,000 submissions for the year, only seventeen scifi books were accepted for publication.  Buyer beware.  Here is what you need to consider: 1) the genre is loaded, 2) scifi has become more gore than science fiction, and 3) good scifi is hard to come by.  There are plenty of reasons that this genre is going by the wayside — because everyone thinks they can write it.  Why am I writing this post? Three reasons: to help you get noticed as a potential author, to help you craft a good cover letter, and tips on what to write and what not to write.

1) Get Noticed — Authors often think their first book is going to get published and make millions of dollar.  Then they get discouraged when it doesn’t happen and they stop writing.  Like any job opportunity, you need some kind of experience.  What I mean by this is start up blogs (plenty are free), build your writing profile, and don’t be afraid to take a job as a writer even if it is a journalistic job. This is an important step for later.  Many publishers don’t like fresh authors.  It’s a reality that stinks, but it’s true.  Any writing experienced helps and if your blog has notoriety, you’re in better shape than a fresh author.

2) Good Cover Letter — Yes, you need to write a good letter.  In the cover letter, like writing one for a job, you want to load it up with everything you think will promote yourself.  This is where the writing experience comes in.  You don’t want to take this part for granted.  A cover letter is your opportunity to brag and brag hard about yourself so you might as well stack it.  Along with your cover letter, write something about your book that makes your book feel and look better than your counterparts.  If you have a vampire type book, that’s fine.  But consider where yours is different (even if you have to stretch it a little bit).  You will be glad you did.

3) What to Write and what not to Write — Don’t write stuff that resembles stuff that happens in other books.  You notice that on the Syfy Channel they have movies that are essentially spinoffs of blockbusters.  There’s a reason they’re relegated to that channel.  If you have a scene or plot that resembles a scene or plot from Twilight, change it.  Second, write something that is character and reason driven.  This is where a good editor comes in play.  If there are holes and inconsistency, your would-be publisher will discard it fast.  Don’t believe me?  In my experience, the first thing I look for is consistent characters because they make the book.  Life changing experiences that change them are good, but you have to pay particular attention to the way they are in a scene.  Picture that character in a movie.  That will help.

Hopefully this will help.  I wish you luck. Also, if you have any questions or concerns, or need help with a book idea, or need an editor, let me know.  I’d be glad to help.