Kenneth Atchity's Blog, page 52

The Story of My Life! Ken Atchity's My Obit: Daddy Holding Me

 

On Amazon

I’ve lived a lifetime of literary adventures by refusing to be relegated to a niche. In My Obit: Daddy Holding Me, my storytelling passion and family and professional anecdotes provide humor and insight into my hugely self-determined life.

I hope it makes you laugh, spares you some of my grief, and leads you to insist on telling your story to anyone who will listen.

Author and Psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo - Spotlight on Creativity

 

Dennis Palumbo - Member Spotlight - Creativity 

Loglines

The "log line" is a one-line description of the story, very much like the one-liners you would read in TV Guide ("Hollywood makes movies you can advertise on TV," says pro Joe Roth).
It's not necessary for your log line to mention character names. A strong character trait will do - with a dramatic teaser about the story. All log lines go back to that ancient storyteller's formula, "What would happen if a character like x ended up in a situation like y." 
Next add a specific catch word that quickly tell the reader what the story is about. Is it about love, greed, obsession murder, family turmoil? Once you're set on one or two words you can push out from there adding a few more economical adjectives and verbs to make up your logline.
A high concept log line that makes a story out of one of the most universal
human emotions: 
fear, love, hate, envy, etc.
deadly sins: anger, greed, lust, etc.
plot motivators: betrayal, vengeance, discovery, rebirth, survival, etc.
virtues: loyalty, faith, responsibility, etc.
and incarnates that element in characters we can care about, relate to, and root for to shape an "original story" that feels both fresh and relevant to today's global market. If you can do that, and your writing equals your vision, you're only steps away from financial success and recognition on the biggest screen of all.
A woman or family in jeopardy?

"Cape Fear": A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.

An ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances?

"Erin Brockovich": An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.

Men on a mission?

"Saving Private Ryan": US soldiers try to save their comrade who's stationed behind enemy lines.

"American Pie": Four teenage boys make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.

A man against nature?

"Castaway": A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive after a crash landing on a deserted island.

"Cliffhanger": A retired mountain climber must conquer an unclimbable peak to save the survivors of a plane crash from certain death.

Or the system?

"People Vs. Larry Flynt": A pornography publisher becomes the unlikely defender of free speech.

"Class Action": A female attorney finds that her nemesis is her own father, and must choose between her corporate client and justice."

A woman escaping from something or someone she loves.

"Enough": On the run from an abusive husband, a young mother begins to train herself to fight back. 


Iconic Loglines From IFilmThings

Blade Runner 

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space, and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

The Godfather

“The ageing patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.”

The Matrix

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

The Shawshank Redemption 

“Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.”

The Lion King

Lion cub and future king Simba searches for his identity. His eagerness to please others and penchant for testing his boundaries sometimes gets him into trouble.Reservoir Dogs

After a simple jewelry heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

The Hangover

Three buddies wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas, with no memory of the previous night and the bachelor missing. They make their way around the city in order to find their friend before his wedding.

The Terminator

A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity’s future salvation.

The Jungle Book

Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.

Finding Nemo

Nemo, after he ventures into the open sea, despite his father’s constant warnings about many of the ocean’s dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist’s office in Sydney.

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s attractive friend.

The Story of My Life! Ken Atchity's My Obit: Daddy Holding Me

 

On Amazon

Anyone who enjoyed Mircea Eliade’s autobiographical multi-volume Exile’s Odyssey, Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook My Wife for a Hat and Awakenings,or Richard Feynman’s Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman, will find My Obit: Daddy Holding Me a page-turner filled with poignant family experiences, explosive sibling rivalry, literary adventures, ethnic cooking, wide-ranging storytelling, the workings of the brain itself--and what can be learned about life from playing tennis for decades. The jokes and recipes alone are worth the entrance price.

I hope it makes you laugh, spares you some of my grief, and leads you to insist on telling your story to anyone who will listen.

15 Screenwriting Lessons People Learn TOO LATE

In this Film Courage video series, screenwriters share their thoughts on screenwriting lessons most people learn TOO LATE.

1) 0:06 - Work On New Projects

2) 4:24 - What No One Else Can Create 3) 5:44 - Six Scripts 4) 11:08 - Script Comparison 5) 12:30 - Nothing In Return 6) 15:16 - Story or Character 7) 15:56 - Name Of The Game 8) 18:55 - The Great Weakness 9) 21:03 - I’ll Take A Look At It 10 27:04 - How To Build Empathy 11) 31:05 - A Participatory Experience 12) 35:35 - Writer’s Mindset 13) 41:46 - Not Good Enough 14) 47:43 - Value Of An Idea 15) 50:40 - Story Structure Myth Bonus) 56:10 - Never Forget This One
MORE VIDEOS WITH DR. KEN ATCHITYhttps://goo.gl/dRBg3F
BUY THE BOOK - HOW TO QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND LIVE OUT YOUR DREAMS: Do What You Love for Money - https://amzn.to/2LkduUj
BUY THE BOOK - SELL YOUR STORY TO HOLLYWOOD: Writer’s Pocket Guide To The Business Of Show Business - https://amzn.to/2JlWBaC
BUY THE BOOK - WRITING TREATMENTS THAT SELL:  How To Create And Market Your Story Ideas To The Motion Picture and TV Industry - https://amzn.to/2Hakwcl

Mental Health Monday: Night Terrors Featuring Dennis Palumbo

 

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

"Authentic and fast-paced, Night Terrors is a thrilling plunge into the mind of an obsessed killer. This is something you don't want to miss!" —Stephen Jay Schwartz, LA Times bestselling author of Boulevard and Beat

Retired FBI profiler Lyle Barnes is falling apart mentally. Psychologist and trauma expert Daniel Rinaldi thinks he can help Barnes through his terrible night visions. Barnes, however, is also the target of an unknown assassin whose mounting list of victims paralyzes the city and lands Lyle in protective custody. Then Barnes disappears, drawing Daniel and the joint FBI-Pittsburgh PD Task Force into a desperate manhunt.

Meanwhile, the mother of a youthful confessed killer awaiting trial is convinced that her son is innocent and appeals to Daniel for help. Against his better judgment, he becomes involved, and soon suspects that much about the case is not as it appears.

Can Daniel and the law officials find the missing Barnes before the killer does? Are these two seemingly unconnected cases somehow linked?

Ian Bull's The Danger Game Winner of the 2021 NYC Big Book Award in Action, Adventure

The world is playing and the stakes are real.   Julia and Steven are trapped in The Danger Game and making a fortune for their captors while fighting for their lives.

The Danger Game is author Ian Bull’s final installment in The Quintana Adventures trilogy, published by Story Merchant Books, about Army Ranger photographer Steven Quintana and actor Julia Travers. 

On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DVDNW9C

Story Merchant Books Announces its second Zoom Book Launch Party for our title, The Danger Game by Ian Bull, on Wednesday, December 8th 2021!

On the day of the event, click the link below to join everyone virtually! (no password required)

Join Zoom Meeting on December 8th: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5977327777

Story Merchant Books Aannounces its second Zoom Book Launch Party for our title, The Danger Game by Ian Bull, on Wednesday, December 8th 2021!

On the day of the event, click the link below to join everyone virtually! (no password required)

Join Zoom Meeting on December 8th: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5977327777

Dennis Palumbo stops by the Corner to discuss PANIC ATTACK.

LISTEN





AVAILBLE ON AMAZON


Now a licensed psychotherapist specializing in creative issues, Dennis Palumbo is a former Hollywood screenwriter ("My Favorite Year," "Welcome Back, Kotter," etc.). His mystery fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Strand, Mystery Weekly and elsewhere, and is collected in "From Crime to Crime" (Tallfellow Press). His acclaimed debut crime novel, "Mirror Image," was the first in a series featuring psychologist and trauma expert Daniel Rinaldi. It was followed by "Fever Dream," "Night Terrors," "Phantom Limb” and the award-winning “Head Wounds.” Panic Attack is the sixth in the series.

Matt Coyle is the Shamus, Anthony and Lefty Award-winning author of the Rick Cahill crime series.

This podcast is solely owned by the Authors on the Air Global radio Network.