http://kurtfrenier.webs.com/ My personal experiences as a (starting) author. Tips & tricks on writing and on how to get published...

1. DNA of a writer by Kurt Frenier Presentation on behalf of the Emirates Literary Group, Dubai, February 2010

3. Why do I write? How do I write? How did I get published? … in a random, rather confusing order. Be gentle. a bit of my brains … and a bit of my tools

4. Once Upon A Time Belgium 1969 Aries Family Expression & Creativity

5. My All-Time Inspiration

6. Maybe I Never Grew Up Children’s stories Young Adults stories/novels Attempts to write an adult novel Poetry, short stories, and more… Two book published in 2009 in The Netherlands, Europe Translated The Enchanted Tree House Translated The Youngest Spy In The World

8. Write it ALL down Scrapbook Every idea counts One day… Write the book cover text handwritten outline for Talese’s Esquire story.

9. Example The Enchanted Tree House A walk in the park Picture of a tree house A back cover > the big idea The first and last page

10. The Movie In My Head “ The pen is the tongue of the mind.” -Miguel de Cervantes

11. Much Easier To Describe… … an apple when you are looking at one! or a small thing like a spider

12. Dramatize!

13. Thinking Is NOT Writing separate your thinking and writing “mode” a relaxing place + “me”-time

14. The $1mm questions according to my publisher 1 st person or 3 rd person Present or past tense

15. Illustrations What do you like? Keep your eyes open Talk to artists you like! Philine van der Vegte my “reference bank” Edie Pijpers

16. Word Count Counts YA 55,000 - 69,999 is a great range Novel 80,000 - 89,999: cool 90,000 - 99,999: safe Below 70,000: too short 110,000 or above: too long

17. Get Started Starting is the hard piece Outline > Mind mapping? Go sit in that 30.000 foot airplane!

18. Mind Mapping Al Activist Twitter Revolution Tourism Action Ecosystem Innovation Networks Alf Joh Juan Maribel Ber Pau Rafa Gersón Jordi Juan Carlos … Followers Communication Open-source Entrepreneurship Consulting raining Distribution … . Projects Campaigns Workshops Sectorial Model Mentality System … . Supply Demand Promotion Distribution Collaboration Integration Flow Network Philosophy Objective Transgression Transformation Workers Workers Liquid Funnel Tourism revolution

19. Characters It’s not a science Visualize > I search a picture for my main characters Consistent behavior is critical Character evolution Twist & Turn

20. Small Steps 5 pages/ day is a good result for me Non sequential writing You need a ritual (daily, weekly,…) Keep going … don’t interrupt your writing

21. Think of The Hourglass Strong start Setting the scene Introduce main character Build first bits of tension Knock reader of course Re-establish the story Twist and turns Give away hints on ending Build up to the climax Strong/surprising ending Building Blocks of a Strong Storyline © Kurt Frenier, 2010

22. Allow yourself to derail The only thing anybody else sees is the end result How you get there is YOUR business

23. Burden of a writer The Word Magician by Kurt Frenier He was hammering on his machine again, in absolute silence, with his fingers bent like little hooks, eyes half staring in thin air, half on the screen. Pearls of sweat were dripping down his face, as if he was in a rage. He'd been in full concentration for the longest of times; to get the hard job done. The electricity between his brain and hands was working overtime. As usual. Sharp as laser blades, the eruption of words manifested itself. Like a passionate and professional maniac he deliberately flushed the energy out of his body; carving out something out of nothing. It HAD to be done. The fight in his mind was ruthless. Gangs of words fighting with other gangs of words, competing for the number one spot: to be transferred out of the mind, into the world of fame and eternity: "word-Valhalla", where words got embraced by their family (sentences), and were there to stay; forever. The thin virgin layer of whitened wood was slowly filling up with words, neatly ordered to make some sort of sense. A story appeared. Word-Valhalla was forming. After a good 30.000 words, and pages and pages of engraved ideas, the book appeared. Victory! The word magician had done it again.

24. Unclogging Start somewhere else Read another book… watch a movie… have a cigar…

25. Editing Kill your darlings 10x reread and rewrite is “ok” Why. do. I. have. to write. this. now.? (re-read this 7 times!) “ Good writing is rewriting.” -Truman Capote

26. Recap

27. Pathway To Getting Published Millions of authors Billions of ideas Hundreds of publishers MY BOOK?

28. The Tipping Point For Me My daughter Julia, born NOV 2006

29. Ingoing Position It’s an uphill battle!

30. Leverage Social Networks Publishers ask for your social knowledge! Be active … every day Meaningful posts! Build content Source : The Economist, January 2010

31. You can’t escape it! This is where the conversation happens! Leverage Social Networks - cont’d word of mouth

32. Leverage Social Networks - cont’d Learn from the master Obama was totally UNKNOWN !

33. My Website

34. Grants, Contests, And the likes Many “free” publishing opportunities Any extra argument for publishers Give it a try !

35. Embrace Rejection 9/10 reactions are negative Part of the deal; live with it Wait for the one “YES”

36. Perseverance Believe in yourself! You have to fall to be able to stand up

37. One Day

38. Sense and nonsense of a contract Full publishing contract Full JV Semi JV Self publishing … &- reflections on combining both

39. 1 What I Learned The Hard Way (Playing) with language is not easy … study… and read ! Personal opinions on good/no-good Don’t fight for everything … until you are JK Rowling

40. 2 What I Learned The Hard Way Selling is difficult The internet seems personal… but it’s not Competition is terrifyingly hard

43. Thank you 4 listening http:// www.facebook.com /kurt.frenier