How do you adapt your storytelling techniques when switching between writing for newspapers, television scripts, and training films?
Until very recently, all of my writing has been as a “hired gun” … or maybe “Hired pencil” might be more appropriate. Working for a newspaper or magazine you have to follow their guidelines and style. Newspapers send you out to write a story about a person or an event and they need it submitted by deadline … which might be 15 minutes away. Magazines give you an assignment to write about a given subject and then you have to do the research to be able to come up with an intelligent and interesting story.
Script writing is a whole different ballgame. You have to KNOW the medium (as well as the subject) and that includes knowing WHICH style of script is needed. Many writers don’t know how to format scripts when they are first starting. Audio-visual script and theatrical script formats are very different.
And then there is no word-count involved in script writing. What is important is that the end production (including visuals) be able to be completed in the required time … whether that is 90 seconds or two hours.
And writing for academia is another world. I’ve had an assignment rejected because it was too entertaining. I was told to re-write it and make it more staid and boring to make it look more like academic research.
What was the most surprising or unexpected lesson you learned during your time teaching at five different colleges and universities?
Remember that my teaching experience was in an entirely different world! Students in the 60’s and 70’s were dealing with the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the Cold War, and other major events. There was no internet, email, GOOGLE, cell phones or other things we take for granted today. Social media consisted of notes on scraps of paper surreptitiously passed in class.
And not having been in a university classroom as a teacher in decades and not having experience with the great AV technology and ZOOM meeting possibilities, I can’t say that I have anything new to offer.
You’ve won awards for film and television—what elements do you believe are critical for creating award-worthy visual storytelling?
You mentioned “visual storytelling.” Remember that “Visual” is only one part of the whole. You also have to have a good “story” supported by a good script using good dialogue. And that dialogue has to be delivered by good performers and controlled by a good director. And of course, the audio track has to be first rate … and the editing can make or break a production. Little things like the graphics in the titles and sound effects are important too.
Yes, today with AI and the tremendous advantages that current A-V tools provide allow some individuals to create entire video productions for their individual Social Media sites. But in my opinion, it’s just not possible for those productions to have the snap and pizazz that an experienced team of production professionals can provide.
And, of course, it all goes back to a good script. Without that, none of the rest counts.
As someone with experience in both finance and the arts, how do these seemingly different worlds inform each other in your work?
I have used modern AV technology to deliver live and recorded webcasts to nationwide audiences to an effect that I would not have dreamed of in the past. But, to my disappointment, even though the presentation technology is excellent, many of the scripts I’ve been asked to give were so poorly written that they would leave the viewer scratching their head trying to figure out what the presentation was really about.
More than once I’ve refused to make a presentation until I’ve had a chance to rewrite the script and order new visuals so that the end result is something that the viewer could understand.
The written word is STILL the most important thing in any presentation!
What inspired you to turn your long-running “Thought for the Day” emails into a book series after more than three decades?
I came across an old copy of Art Linkletters’ great book, Kids Say The Darndest Things, and it gave me the idea. I tried to sell the idea to literary agents for two years with no success when a dear friend who had published a number of books suggested that I take it directly to publishers myself … and THAT worked.
Also, common sense entered the picture. I’d been doing these daily emails for decades just because I enjoyed doing it and never made a penny. It finally dawned on me that I might actually be able to make it pay off.
How do you hope readers will use or interact with these “Thoughts” now that they’re in book form?
I hope that they’ll keep a copy on their coffee table for guests to page through … or keep a copy on their bedside table to read before they drop off to sleep. (It will certainly help them sleep better than watching the news reports these days.)
And a copy can make a GREAT gift for almost anybody. Who do YOU know who doesn’t like to laugh? For anyone else, give them a copy.
What advice would you give aspiring writers trying to break into multiple disciplines like you have?
Don’t try! Pick one and get good at it. Any one of those markets can provide a good living. And keep writing until you DO get good and ONLY THEN try something new. Or, if someone gives you an opportunity to write in a new format, give it a shot. The worst that could happen is that you learn something new.
I didn’t intend to be a writer who could “do it all.” It’s just that opportunities arose to try something else and I took advantage of them.
And look, it’s taken me over a half century to get around to writing my first BOOK.
Which of your many roles—writer, professor, advisor, or producer—do you feel most at home in, and why?
They’re all a part of me. I can’t separate them. I was working as an advisor when I got this request for my answers to these questions … so I started writing. A little bit later today I’ll be on a webinar acting as a professor. They’re all who I am!
How do you approach character development differently in screenwriting versus print writing?
There’s no difference. Who is the character, what does he or she know, and what are YOU trying to get across? What do you have to have the character do to get your idea across in the best way possible?
Then have the character do it!
You’ve written training films — what’s the key to keeping educational content engaging and effective?
The key really is having a good client! A good client really does want the material to be engaging and effective. But, unfortunately, there are educators who feel that learning must be SERIOUS and that if a presentation is entertaining, it can’t be pedagogically correct.
I have had clients with that attitude for whom I’ve refused to write. And in another case, the client made so many bad changes to the end product that I insisted that my name not be shown in the credits.
As a Registered Investment Advisor, have you ever incorporated financial themes into your creative writing?
The short answer to that is, “No!” Not that I have an objection to the subject, but just that the opportunity (or inspiration) has never come up.
How do you stay creatively inspired after decades of working across so many formats and industries?
Many years ago, I’d take almost any project offered … and some of them did make me scratch my head as to how I would pull it off. But the flash of inspiration always eventually came through. (Some of those flashes were weaker than others … some, looking back on them, were so weak as to be almost invisible.) But all flashes of inspiration are good if the client likes them. Just give it time.
What are you working on now, and how does it reflect the culmination of your diverse experiences?
Currently I’m editing the next several volumes of 20 Years of Internet Humor and having a great time doing it. I’m also trying to keep a week ahead of my daily emailings. All this while I’m appearing on a plethora of podcasts and trying to keep my financial planning clients serviced.
When I get a break, I plan to work on a memoir from my 20 years working in Washington, D.C. The working title is Tales from the Swamp.
