Fan Fiction Writing Contest

Fan fiction writing contests are a fun way to get your work seen by others and to get a nice boost in the search engines by using popular stories. It’s also a great way to come up with ideas of your own when your faced with the torturous struggle of writers block. Focusing on a short story for someone else helps me when I start to struggle on my own writings. I believe part of it is because it helps to quiet the mind. Some of the decisions are already made for us because of the writing contest rules. Fan fiction has the same allure. We already know about the characters. We are allowed to place our favorite characters into our own fantasy situations.

When I started writing The Bewitching I had several things in mind. First, I wanted it to be a trilogy where each chapter would make a good movie and appeal to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight fans. My second goal was to write it in a way that there would be multiple ways to turn it into a television show. The way The Bewitching is written it can be made into a Buffy the Vampire like series in the modern time. I also had a second idea in mind. What if it was written in a way that made it easy for fan fiction writers to create their own stories of the characters.

When I was younger I was a fan of the television show Sliders and Quantum Leap. These shows were written in a way that the possibilities were endless in where each show could go. In Sliders the characters would jump to different dimensions, worlds that were only limited by the writer’s imagination. Quantum Leap revolved around the lead character taking over bodies of different people in different time periods. For instance, in one episode he found himself as the body-guard of Marilyn Monroe. In another he found himself in the body of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous sex therapist.

I left those possibilities open with The Bewitching in a similar way. There are little bits and pieces of the character’s past lives. While writing about their past lives I researched some of the attire from those periods, what was going on in certain time periods with wars, or the routes people traveled and places they populated. While the first book didn’t go into a lot of detail, the second and third I hope to include more of that research.

I believe there are a lot of possibilities in a fan fiction writing contest for the past lives part of The Bewitching. I’m sure there are ideas I haven’t even thought of with ways to incorporate real history with The Bewitching characters. With some of the stories I’ve seen on Wattpad I’m sure there are those who can come up with some amazing possibilities. So here are the rules for the first ever The Bewitching fan fiction writing contest.

Fan fiction Writing Contest Rules

1. The characters used must either be Dantes, Elyssa, Annette, Alicia, or Tobias in any combination together or by themselves
2. Remember the last time Elyssa and Dantes were together was during the Salem Witch Trials. If your story has both of them after that time period, but before the present, they must not be aware of one another
3. The story must be no shorter than 2,000 words and no longer than 4,000 words.
4. Bonus points if you can incorporate any type of ancient or spiritual symbols that fit your story
5. More bonus points if you can mix the story with an event in history and place the characters in that setting
6. Multiple entries are allowed
7. You can email me your entry on FB at The Bewitching Fan Page or to Martin@TheBewitching.com and put The Bewitching Writing Contest as the subject
8. The contest ends September 30th and fan fiction winners will be posted by October 14th.

You can find an example of one of the past lives in chapter 13 of The Bewitching – Memories of a Lost Love. While that chapter deals with a flashback of a past life, for the writing contest feel free to write the story as if it’s actually happening.

I’ll post the top 5 fan fiction stories on both of my websites at MartinDouglas.info, TheBewitching.com, along with several social networks I have set up on the web. If you’re on Wattpad I’ll give you a shout out there so all my followers can find you. For those who haven’t noticed, in the last week alone my followers have gone from around 13 up to over 250+. I have some things I’m working on that should increase that number even more, along with a feature spot that’s been mentioned by the Wattpad managers. That’s a lot of possible followers that will be able to find your work through me.

If you’re up for a fan fiction writing contest then I’m up for checking out all the great stories you can write. I’ll be posting updates for the fan fiction writing contest on The Facebook Bewitching Fan Page and The Google+ Bewitching Fan Page for those who’d like to follow me there. You can also follow on my personal fan page on Facebook at Martin Douglas or on Google+ at Martin Douglas.

For those who may have missed it, besides the writing contest we still have The Bewitching character contest that is still open for entries posted here!

Fan Fiction Writing Contest

Writers and Wattpad, A Place to Share Your Work

There are things in life I’ve learned that tend to be the complete opposite of what I was taught growing up. What I’ve noticed is it’s not the most talented or skilled people who necessarily find success. Much more often I tend to see that those who find success have a certain level of talent, but their ability to win the popularity contest in life is what puts them in high and respected positions. In many ways life is like high school, but in a larger pond. For writers it is no different.

Whether in film, acting, writing, or any other creative community the same rules of high school popularity apply. You can be the greatest writer that ever lived, and yet you won’t find success off of that alone. A mildly talented writer though, who is known by many, has a greater chance of success. It could even be argued that a lousy writer could find wild success merely because of who they know, or who knows them. That argument has been posed in cases with books like 50 Shades of Grey, and its author who had worked in the television industry and likely had a bit of help from those connections.

If I could do things over again, I’d likely put more effort into the social media or networking parties even though I despise them to a large extent. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘It’s who you know, not what you know.’ The older I get the more I realize and witness the truth in this old quote.

Unlike 10 or 20 years ago, there are more options available to people today than having to dress to impress and attending a stuffy party of suits. With social media we can network from our homes, dressed in our pajama’s, and slurping on a drink we really shouldn’t be having on the job. Although do note that you don’t want to post photos of yourself doing this! There’s now no need to worry about having an expensive suit or dress, or that haircut that you really meant to get a few months back but just couldn’t find the time to do with your busy schedule. With social media we only need to do that once, take the pictures, and present yourself that way on the internet for the work you share with others. There’s nothing more fun than being comfortable at home working versus the feeling of being stressed over appearances in public.

When it comes to sharing your work filmmakers have YouTube, Vimeo, and a host of other options to present what they do. Political activists have their usual array of websites like the Huffington Post, and many are finding success on Facebook. Google Plus also has their niche with what appears to be a bunch of network marketers. But what about writers? Where can they go? You can attempt it on Facebook although it’s not set up properly for writers. The same goes for Google Plus. YouTube and Vimeo, while offering a specific way to maybe market a book (Book trailer anyone!) aren’t fit for writers either. Don’t get me wrong, these are great tools for writers to use to help in promoting their work and building an audience, but they’re not built specifically for writers.

One of the great sites I read about was Wattpad.com. I came across it in an article about someone finding a publisher through sharing their work on that website. Wattpad is nice in that it has a whole variety of writers and readers to share your work with. Several writers there have even found publishers due to the popularity of their work within the community. The nice thing is it’s built specifically with writers in mind. Amanda Hocking, a paranormal romance young-adult fiction writer, who has been in the news for finding success as an indie writer on Amazon also happens to have an account their she posts stories to. It’s a perfect place for writers to gather, share their work, and network in an attempt to find their audience.

I’ve met some really great people there, along with reading some nice stories when I’ve found the time. Lindsey Clarke, who goes by LittleCinnamon as a username for instance, has a nice following there with her Dark Sanctuary vampire series which I’ve found to be a really fun read. She was kind enough recently to give me a mention that helped kick up my own readers list, and she writes like a demon! How she can knock out so much so fast is amazing. Many of her followers are talented in their own rights as well.

There are a good number of other sites I’ve also been looking into recently that lean towards different genres or types of writers. I’ll try to share more as I go through them myself. In the meantime you can find my work on Wattpad.com under Martin Douglas of course, or check out Lindsey’s assortment of books on her profile here.

Writers and Wattpad, A Place to Share Your Work

Behind the Scenes Day 3, Hero

Behind the scenes shooting on our third day of working on the indie film Hero took place in Cugino`s Italian Deli & Pizza Restaurant in Las Vegas. Apparently this place has been quite popular over the years with celebrities as a sort of hidden gem in Las Vegas just next to UNLV. The inside walls are packed with picks of celebrities who have stopped in over the years. The owner was kind enough to allow us to use his deli for the shoot, and the food looked mighty tasty. From what I was told he often lets film students use his place for their projects. Here’s the behind the scenes trailer for what we did:

Michael William Johnson and Louie Coruzzolo were on set for their parts. Michael has experience in the music industry has worked around character similar to the one her portrayed. We had a nice sit down afterward as he told us some of the stories from what he’s seen. All I can say is it was brutal.

I was actually really impressed with Louie behind the scenes. Even without having any acting experience that I know of he was a super great kid. Polite, respectful, professional, much more so than others I’ve met who actually are in the industry. I would love to shoot a short with him sometime. I think he’d make a perfect murder, just because his personality is so far removed from being that type of person with any type of mean streak. What a perfect contrast that would be for a film that would be completely against stereotypes.

While he’s still in school, Louie also runs a cinema website with a friend where they do movie removes. Our director Tim Santoro will be doing a podcast for them soon. Anyone that’s interested in checking out his film review website can find it at ChasingCinema.com.

That’s it for the week. I’ve got another behind the scenes short clip to throw together from a desert scene we shot the other day. The footage looks pretty good with the exception of the noise from the wind I may have to play with since I was using the built-in camera mic instead of my shotgun mic. It also has some nice makeup effects done by Maureen E. Durocher for a head wound. Completely gruesome and amazing if I may say so myself.

Behind the Scenes Day 3, Hero

Hero Film By Terminal CLE

Hero is a new film by Terminal C L E currently in production. Hero is written and stars Tim Santoro and co-stars Maureen E. Durocher, Martin Douglas, and several other up and coming talents. Along with being in front of the camera, several of actors will be helping out behind the scenes.

Maureen E. Durocher will be lending her considerable acting talents, along with her skills in makeup and makeup FX to the film. Martin Douglas will also be helping out with graphic design, and video editing/FX when not working in front of the camera. Tim Santoro, having written the original script, will be pulling double duty directing the actors between his own scenes within the movie. This Indie film is expected to wrap towards the end of the summer, with submissions into several film festivals starting by the fall. More info will be shared as it becomes available. You can also check out Terminal C L E on their website at TerminalCLE.com

Hero Film By Terminal CLE

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 2

At some point it seemed I had written all I could think of in terms of relationships. Maybe I just became bored writing about the problems I saw in those relationships. I wanted to apply it to film, or to the scenes I use to write in classes, with my new understanding of human nature. I wanted a challenge and to see how deeply I could affect someone with what I wrote. I believe it was the famous actress Uta Hagen who once said that it was easy to get applause as an artist. To actually touch or connect with someone when performing in a way that you can bring tears to their eyes was a whole different challenge. When you do, that’s when you know you’re doing something right.

Writing of course has the same challenges. In my eyes it’s what separates a good writer from a great one. It’s what I hope I am, and what I hope to be. I wanted to do it differently though. Most of the scenes I had written for acting classes were sad. I asked myself what would be another indicator of affecting people emotionally. At the same time, what would be a challenge to write? I wanted to do something I’ve never done before.

I thought it’d be interesting to write a short erotic story. I can’t remember exactly why that came to mind. Maybe it was through some of the relationship discussions I had with women that wandered lightly into that territory, and a few of them mentioning having read such stories that they enjoyed. To have an effect on someone in that way, through words alone I thought would be quite a feat. It was also something I hadn’t attempted before. It would be a challenge to write something for women that was erotic and yet not vulgar or offensive. The idea intrigued me as it’s such a difficult balance to find with women.

Several days later I had completed the story. I hesitantly posted it on a blog. I can still remember cringing as I posted it. I was afraid of looking like a deviant in some of my readers eyes even though it wasn’t as graphically descriptive, or pushing the limits, as some similar writers do in their books. I can’t begin to explain how hard it is to think of non-vulgar sounding words that describe human anatomy in a way that’s attractive. Although, my wording was likely tame by todays standards with books such as 50 Shades of Grey.

Even though it was only a few pages long, I actually received a few great comments on it. I also received a few emails that told me the effect I was wondering if I could create through words had actually done just that. Surprisingly, there was no hate mail or mention of being a deviant to my relief. I sometimes wonder if I had started writing it at this point in time with 50 Shades of Grey being so popular, if I would have had the same cringing worries or carefulness in wording with the story. It’s odd how the openness and acceptance of society to such writings changes so quickly over time. Like acting, I would encourage any writer to write about what makes them uncomfortable. It opens so many doors in becoming comfortable in ones own skin and realizing that society isn’t always as harsh as we think it is. With that comfortableness comes confidence and awareness which is one of the most valuable assets to any artist. Between that and the positive responses, I began thinking more about the possibilities of actually writing a longer story.

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 2

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 1

When writing or doing anything creative, one of my odd curiosities with people who are successful has always been to wonder, “How did they get started?,” or “Where did the idea come from?” I think to some extent it might be normal for most of us, but particularly for those of us wanting to be actors and writers, or for any of us interested in the more artistic forms of expression. Maybe we’re wondering how to get started, or we’ve struggled for years and can’t seem to get anywhere so we look to how others began their careers. With the arts, and those who are well-known, their lives are out there for us to read through, and to see how they made a name for themselves. There’s that hope in us that maybe through them, or there experiences, we can discover a path there for ourselves to copy or modify in our own way.

When I started The Bewitching I had already been writing for several years. Originally it was scenes for theatre classes where we were encouraged to write characters different from ourselves. As an actor it helped in seeing the quirks of characters and understanding how our written characters possessed traits we did not. Somehow this lead to some interesting philosophical discussions between myself and others from the class. Later it evolved into spiritual discussions not much different from ideas brought forth in the film The Secret, or even talks about time and space. These were things I had found interesting long before then. Talking to those who had a bit more knowledge only lead to making it all the more intriguing to me.

It wasn’t long after that I fell into what I’d consider my first real relationship. When that relationship ended, as most do, I found myself moving from writing scenes for an acting class to writing blogs. With relationships, particularly ones we hold closely, when they end we begin to question the “why’s”. We ask ourselves the “what ifs,” we begin reading, or find some outlet or way to understand. Life experience opens so many doors into these questions when we care to learn the answers. It’s one thing to read about something, but to live it and begin seeing how these things relate to life is amazing.

You start seeing those relationships in films. If you’re a little crazy like me you start thinking of all the ways it could have played out, or the motivations behind it. Good becomes evil. Evil becomes good. All these layers start materializing in terms of the different reasons people do things. It’s not much different from a painter who will paint the same color over and over to build up a piece of work, or musicians who’ll layer music over and over. You start realizing that as much as each creative work in a particular area is done in a certain way, that almost every area of life is composed of the same elements played out in a different fashion.

More importantly, we may start to see the ripples and effects these thoughts and actions have on others. This is what I wrote about. For each difference I’d see in people, for each discussion I may have overheard that gave me ideas, I also began to see the many similarities. I saw how people were drawn to each other through these experiences. The fun thing about writing blogs was that I began getting readers and people commenting which opened up even more discussions. It wasn’t much different from the high one can get on stage when people began to express what they “felt” while reading your work. That is the most amazing feeling…

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 1