About

If you're curious to know a lick about my writing, the interest began in eleventh grade after I wrote a couple of short fables for an English class which, to my surprise, both received A+. Having never written prior to that, it was a surprise to discover how quickly the craft materialized. That led me to start thinking about writing other stories. But it remained just an aspiration until more than a decade later after completing a graduate degree in international relations, which required a steady stream of research papers. It seemed natural to parlay that effort into the long-held desire to write fiction.

Screenplays seemed to be the best form for my writing because my stories are focused and the scenes come to me very clipped (I personally find it maddening reading stories where scenes have been added that serve no real story purpose). But if I had it to do again, I would have chosen novel writing. My hope is that the screen novella will be a happy medium for my already-written screenplays. All other stories will be written as novels.

If I had to advise a budding screenwriter, I'd say to write the novel. The novelist has room to provide extra detail and create a more visual experience for the reader. This frees the writer to commit all scenes that flow through the creative process onto paper. Screenwriters must toss many moments so that only the thickest remain. This can be more of a task than simply writing it all down because information in some of those tossed scenes must be woven naturally into the remaining story as though they were always meant to be there. On the other hand, screenwriting is focused on story development above all, so it's a great way to learn the craft. Learning that craft, for both screenwriters and novelists, is aided by dedicating thousands of hours to learning about and practicing fiction-focused story development. This is over and above the time spent writing a story. When this hasn't been done, let me tell you, it's easy to spot by those who have put in the long dedication to craft.

Bringing it all Together

Being an author means not just the ability to write well, but also the ability to originate novel material. I put arduous, intense effort into writing characters, interactions, dialogue, situations, and scenes that readers haven’t become acquainted with in some other novel or movie. It takes diligence, but weaves a story web that's more complex and interesting. If readers are surprised by original, unique, and surprising characterizations and interactions that also entertain—especially when the whole leads the reader to introspection—then the goal was achieved and is the critical key to the story's value.

It's a tough and exhausting road for an author to present a novel storyteller's voice. Why go through this? Because I have something to say—a lot to say. I just need to decide if I'll keep talking.

Other Interests

Another keen interest is developing websites that promote human development.

The first site is Wikipothesis.

Wikipothesis is an online, do-it-yourself journal where you can post and receive feedback on your hypotheses. The site is available to anyone who has a burst of insight with the aim that it will rapidly increase knowledge in all fields of study.

What does Wikipothesis mean? Take Mediawiki (as in the name of the software on which Wikipedia is based) and combine it with "hypothesis" to get the shortened "Wikipothesis." The site provides a single forum where hypotheses can be collected, promoted, peer reviewed, and debated.

One key feature is that each main post and subsequent posts off the main post are date/time stamped and then locked to ensure the posts can't be changed or edited. Other users can provide feedback in the post's Support, Refute, and Comment tabs, which also provide a means for online peer review.

Two sister sites, Wikipothesis Jump Nation (JN) and Wikipothesis Jump Product (JP), are links off the main site. Wikipothesis JN's goal is to use collective intelligence, planning, and action to rapidly "jump" nations to more advanced states. It provides a unified forum for people to work together to define a vision for their or any community, city, state, or nation; refine how to achieve that vision; and seek supporters to make it happen. The site welcomes ideas from around the world to outline a plan that will help nations make that leap. Wikipothesis JP's goal is to develop or promote new technology and products that will rapidly improve or “jump” the quality of life for all.

The most recent site is CelluloidPsych (CPSY).

What is the site about?

• Have you heard someone say that a story bothered or affected them deeply, but they didn’t know why?
• Have you noted media bias or attempts to influence points of view?
• Can you explain why people are drawn to fictional stories, why that art or music compelled a social movement, why that video game is addicting, or why that ad made people run out and buy?

Every aspect of psychology in portrayed in the media—and often manipulated by it. CPSY provides psychological analyses of the media with the goal to help expose bias, to explain symbolism and subtext that influences people subconsciously, and to help the public gain deeper understanding of how the media—locally and around the world—influence individual and social psychology.

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Not many people have discovered the sites because I have way too many projects going at once and have not spent enough time marketing what I already created. So it would be great if you could jump over and take a look. And, of course, if you have a great idea for Wikipothesis or an article for CelluloidPsych*, let the world know.