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Latest Writing News, Headlines and Blogs from Writers Write:

The Art of Frankenbiting
From: www.writerswrite.com

"Verne Gay of Newsday explores frankenbiting. The word is "frankenbiting," and it's one of those delicious terms of art in the reality TV trade that means exactly what it implies: A producer on a show decides he or she doesn't like the way a particular taped interview went with a contestant, so "improvements" are made. A snip here, a snip there, a little highly selective editing, and -- presto! -- the "frankenbite" (as in "sound bite"), in which the contestant is made to say something that he didn't actually say. This is sneaky, sure, but is frankenbiting a form of writing? Until recently, the question was mostly academic, in large part because most civilians didn't even know such a practice was commonplace on many reality shows. But two weeks ago, the Writers Guild of America/West filed a class action against four TV networks and four producers on behalf of a dozen aggrieved reality TV show "writers." The WGA claimed they were stiffed on overtime and benefits by big-time producers like Mike Fleiss, the man behind "The Bachelor" and gems like "Are You Hot?" Now, frankenbiting and other tricks of the trade are about to come under the microscope. If the WGA case goes to trial, we'll all hear quite a bit more about what frankenbiting entails -- and whether it qualifies as "writing." ....shows like "The Bachelor" are indeed "scripted," and about the only thing that isn't piped is the dialogue -- although, he adds, "if you want a conversation to happen, and it's not happening, we might stop the camera and say, ', we need you to talk about something ... '" ....Sharp recalls an incident during a show he worked on called "The Dating Experiment," in which a female contestant despised a male contestant, whom she was supposed to like for purposes of the story. On camera, she was asked, "Who do you love?" and the answer was Adam Sandler. In the frankenbite, Sandler's name was dropped, and the hated contestant's name spliced in. Sounds to us like they are writing dialogue. "

Elizabeth Kostova Says No Sequel to The Historian
From: www.writerswrite.com

"Elizabeth Kostova, author of The Historian, talks to Patricia Corrigan of the St. Louis Post Dispatch about her road to success and how she juggled her day job with the lengthy process of writing her first novel. "For seven of those [ten] years, I taught writing and English as a second language. Before that, I had 2 million odd jobs. I mowed lawns, worked as a companion, edited and proofread manuscripts - anything I could find to support my writing habit." "Every day, I worked with whatever time I had. I would look at my schedule and say, 'Tomorrow I have 20 minutes to write' or 'Wow, I have three open hours tomorrow, so I'll write as close to a full chapter as I can.' One summer when I was really busy, I wrote from 5 to 7:30 a.m., and sometimes I wrote late at night - but I always wrote every day. Because I was juggling four timelines, and because of the mystery, I had the book mapped out before I started." Now, here's the horrifying part: she says she's not writing a sequel, saying "I am planning not to write a sequel. I like the idea of leaving something to the imagination." We'll see what her agent has to say about that. "

The Editor Who Passed on Harry Potter
From: www.writerswrite.com

"So, what's it like to be known as the editor that turned down the first Harry Potter manuscript? John Kenney describes how he said no to J.K. Rowling, and swears he doesn't regret it. I remember the day I read it....the office was empty. On my desk I saw a manila envelope. The cover letter was from an agent I'd never heard of. British. Said the enclosed manuscript was "the next great children's book, a Goodnight Moon for preteens." I laughed. My father, who had also been a book editor before turning to taxidermy, had passed on Goodnight Moon, and he and I often laughed at that. I read the first few chapters of this so-called manuscript and, frankly, thought it drivel. February, perhaps March of the next year, I received a call from J.K. Rowling herself. She asked if I had had a chance to read her manuscript. I'm always embarrassed when fledgling writers get me on the phone. Most are sad, lonely people with no real means of income. I said I enjoyed her work a great deal, but that it didn't meet our needs at this time - the standard industry brushoff. There was a pause and I thought the line had gone dead when I heard laughing. "Mr. Wortham," she said with a light British accent. "I was calling as a courtesy, actually. To tell you that I sold the book. To Scholastic. For..." The line went dead. Or perhaps I passed out. I forget which. At lunch some time later I overheard our chief executive talking about the success of the Rowling book. So I happened to mention, with a chuckle, that we'd had a chance to buy it. Why is it that one remembers a long pause? "Chief?" I said, though to this day I don't know why, as no one called him that. "You what?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. "May I speak with you in my office?" Mr. Kenney says that he is no longer an editor; he is writing his first novel. "

J.K. Rowling Ponders a Pen Name
From: www.writerswrite.com

"So what will J.K. Rowling do after the last Harry Potter book is published? She might use a pen name for future books. In her only British interview (with 14 year-old Owen Jones for ITV), J.K. Rowling discussed her sadness at the thought of the end of the Harry Potter series, and why she might have to use a pen name for subsequent books. She said she had mixed feelings about ending the saga of the boy wizard. "I am dreading it in some ways. I do love writing the books and it is going to be a shock, a profound shock to me," she said. "Even though I have known it is coming for the past 15 years, I have known that the series would end, I think it will still be a shock." Before she sits down to start the seventh book, Rowling said she would take time off to spend with her 6-month-old daughter Mackenzie Jean. "I have already done some work on it and I am still doing little bits and pieces, but realistically I have still got a very young baby, so I think probably next year I will do the proper writing of book seven." As for writing non-Harry Potter fiction, she hinted she might consider a pen name. "A fake name is very attractive," Rowling said. "I'll have less pressure and I can write any old thing I want and people won't be clamoring for it and that might be nice." "

P. Diddy Settles With Random House Over Memoir Dispute
From: www.writerswrite.com

"AllHipHop.com reports that Random House has settled its beef with rap impresario Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. The dispute stems from the $300,000 advance Random House gave to P for him to write his memoirs. The company filed the lawsuit against the mogul on February 14, claiming that Combs never repaid an advance issued in 1998 for his autobiography, which was to be delivered the following year. The memoirs were to be written for Random House's Ballentine imprint with contributing Rolling Stone writer Mikal Gilmore, but the book never materialized. Shortly after the lawsuit was announced, Combs' publicist Rob Shuter said the lawsuit was a simple misunderstanding between Combs and Random House. "We anticipate that this will be resolved quickly," Shuter said in February. Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum told Reuters that Random House will not be publishing Combs' memoirs. So, no memoir from P. Why in the world didn't he just hire a ghostwriter like a normal celebrity? "


Latest Writing News, Headlines and Blogs from Yahoo:

Writing scores mixed (Jacksonville Daily News)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"State writing scores for Onslow County students aren't easy to read. The county's fourth-graders, for example, continue to improve their scores on the North Carolina Writing Assessment. In fact, they rate noticeably higher than the state average."

Spring into Technical Writing (Slashdot)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"Simon P. Chappell writes "There is a school of thought that if you cannot explain what you've done, then what you did was worthless. Perhaps that attitude is a little extreme, but in this highly networked world of emails, instant messages, wikis, blogs and webpages, the art of explaining oneself well is important. While there are many books that teach written skills, there have been few"

Pipeline Pact: County: Put it in writing (Elko Daily)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"MIDAS - Put it in writing was the message Elko County Commissioners had in response Wednesday to a proposal from the Southern Nevada Water Authority to refrain from piping water from Elko County."

Free Writing Workshops Offered Saturday (The Chattanoogan)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"The Chattanooga Writers Guild will offer free writing workshops this Saturday, July 23, from 9 a.m. to noon in the auditorium of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, Downtown Branch (1001 Broad Street)."

Reading, writing, now arithmetic (Orange Leader)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"For more than 20 years, Rebecca Flickinger wrote news stories. Today, she's writing a new chapter in her life. "At an age when all my friends are readying to retire I'm starting my third career," she said."

Blue Earth teen charged with writing bad checks (Fairmont Sentinel)
From: us.rd.yahoo.com

"FAIRMONT -- A 17-year-old Blue Earth girl is charged with felony counts of issuing bad checks and theft by check, after allegedly writing more than $3,000 worth of insufficient checks in February."


Latest Writing News, Headlines and Blogs from The Writiing Life:

UpdateStill cannot pub
From: cdeemer.blogspot.com

" UpdateStill cannot publish on my end unless I ftp and change the index.html file manually. When changes actually appear and the blog looks normal, it's because it has been published on the Blogger end by someone trying to help me."

The nightmare continues
From: cdeemer.blogspot.com

" The nightmare continuesWell, 2 folks who tried to help me so far haven't been able to. Is the 3rd time the charm?"


Latest Writing News, Headlines and Blogs from The Write News:

Lifestyle Magazine for Veterinarians Launches
From: www.writenews.com

"Vetz Magazine is a new lifestyle magazine for the veterinary profession. Formerly Veterinaryindustry.com Magazine, Vetz Magazine launches with its May "Practice Management" issue with a focus on lifestyle and practice. The magazine's main point of difference is summed up in their vision statement: Your life. Your practice. The magazine's mission is to discuss forward-thinking issues and the challenges facing veterinarians today at work as well as at home. "

The IWJ Interviews James Rollins
From: www.writenews.com

"The latest issue of The Internet Writing Journal includes an exclusive interview with bestselling author James Rollins. Rollins recently had two books debut on the New York Times bestseller list: Sandstorm (now out in paperback) and Map of Bones (William Morrow). Map of Bones is a spine-tingling thriller that mixes science, ancient mysteries, the Vatican and exotic locations."


 

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