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Keep your ass in the chair

 Oceania  No Responses »
Oct 272011
 
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discipline keeps the course when all else seems impossible.

Have you seen the movie Limitless with that sexy Bradley Cooper? in the opening scene you see him walking across the street he is unkempt, (unkempt such a lovely word), and then we hear him say “You see that guy? That was me not so long ago. What kind of guy without a drug or alcohol problem looks this way? Only a writer.”

In the opening Eddie, played by Bradley Cooper, joins friends for a drink he attempts to tell them about his book but as he puts it not even his friends can believe he has a book deal.  So he decides that today is the day he is going to conquer his demons and own that book but he has writers block….

It seems that I am always talking about road blocks to the story.  Unlike M Christian, Thomas Roche, Sascha Illyvich, Jean Marie Stine, Deborah Riley Magnus and the other very great names that contribute here that offer great advice on how to succeed – I am here to tell you that YES it takes talent, YES it takes a bit of luck! YES it takes all these great writers have to tell you and more to succeed. But many do succeed and you can too if you just stay in the room and write.

So today I sit in front of my computer  like I do every day  creating websites, creating stories.. getting carried away by the moment that leads to the next burst of creativity. But somehow this Thursday is different, after a long hiatus, I am back… but I don’t feel like I belong. What do I have to offer other than the recurring theme of perseverance? What can I say that is will impart knowledge. How do I fit in with this site’s company of such articulate, informative, talented writers….

I know many of you must face that feeling of not being good enough, not having anything to say worth writing. Your stories feel insignificant and the plots stale and yet there is still an ember that burns inside that keeps you from working at the mall or some fast food restaurant.

Eddie in Limitless knew that he needed a the bones of  good work ethic to put this ideas on paper but he couldn’t keep his ass in the chair.

Because it was a movie he took drugs that helped him do all the things he wanted to do with a clear head and no self doubt. But that is real. In the real world drugs and alcohol dim our lights and handicap us.

In my world, when I feel this way I look at the quote by Robert Huges that I keep close by…  “The Greater the artist, the greater the doubt. perfect confidence is given to the less talented as a consolation prize.”

it reminds me that I will have doubts but that I can work through them…

As writers, artists we will always have doubts. It has been a constant struggle through the centuries. Even Monet who was known to visit the Louve in his painters smock  would fix his painting with brushes he had hidden in that smock.

So today if the words are not coming, don’t give up. Just keep your ass in the chair and type.

With love
Oceania

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 Posted by admin at 4:25 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

this week I am talking about personal lives in our stories

 Oceania  No Responses »
May 192011
 
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This is oceania for Writesex.net
this week i am talking about personal lives in our stories

as writers
we have been told to write what we know about
we may weave stories in distant lands
with fairies and were-wolfs and zombies running amuck
with drama so thick it can be cut with a chainsaw
but when we work we work in details of our own lives
dont we
our own dramas
the love
hurt
the pain
the betrayals and conquests
the only way to be a better than good writer is to live a full life
a full life gives voice to your stories
makes them a place where in the words others can connect
if you as a writer are not willing to share
to expose yourself then you have no business being a writer
certainly not one for romance or eroticism

i have all but stopped writing
i came to a place in my life was too painful to relive
even in disguise
i did not want to retell my story
i didnt want to put my finger in the hole of deep bloody pain
i couldnt
until today
today the pain grew too great to ignore
and i realized that writing was my psychoanalysis
my therapy
it kept me sane
through
the sickness
the divorce
the hospitals
the betrayals
the wrong choices
and the mountain of work

so i found the courage and a title for my new story
it is called Without Shame

it will be about wrong choices i made
through it i hope to embrace my lost self

so that’s my story
what will you do today
to move your words forward

tell me about it
email me at [email protected]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Posted by admin at 4:00 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Do you have a digital media strategy?

 Oceania  2 Responses »
Apr 072011
 
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by oceania

I was reading a radio newsletter and they asked if stations had a digital strategy… seems the old saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it was being mainlined and hard by the radio industry! Unfortunately they aren’t the only ones! Except for a few most authors feel that if they write it readers will come (oh my – and orgasm too perhaps)

If you subscribe to the idea of 1000 true fans, (anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living),  a creative needs to  reach out on all levels to potential readers and make them fans. Most authors know in their heart of hearts that they need to be focused more on digital media because that’s where a significant portion of their true fans will come from. So what is your strategy?

Do you have a website?
Is it mobile compliant?
Do you have video book teasers?
Do you have both a facebook and twitter account?
Do you make time to voice an opinion, write a weekly blog?
Have you gotten yourself interviewed?

Think outside the wordpressor!

There is no excuse for not having a website. Free sites can be had on wordpress and blogspot and even on some publishing houses servers. A writer cant even use the I dont know html excuse now that wordpress has made life simple with themes that just require one to type and post.

The same goes for twitter and facebook… many writers have them but most are gathering dust. Social media requires a daily commitment! Hence the name SOCIAL MEDIA – not recluse or anti-social

Radio Interviews should be an essential part of any publicity campaign a writer embarks on… Podcasters and online radiostations, like Radio Dentata offer great packages for authors from interviews to books read out loud, places like that offer more than the standard banner or video teaser display.  Plus radio offers more bang for your buck in the way of connecting with a fan base… Market rearch has shown that “… online radio listeners are more than one-and-one-half times more likely to have a profile on a social networking site as compared to average Americans and that they tend to be power-users, with one-third of online radio listeners logging on to their social networking site nearly every day or even multiple times per day.” <<<<tapping into that market can make it easier to make those sales!

Why not comment and let me know how you’re maximizing your visibility!

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 Posted by admin at 1:29 pm  Tagged with: , ,

That Dead from the Neck Up Feeling

 Oceania  No Responses »
Feb 172011
 
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by oceania monroe

this is my week to contribute to Writesex.net
and even though i am writing this on valentine’s day
there isn’t a sexy anywhere in my tired old body

it is 2 1/2months since i had running water in my kitchen
over 4 weeks with limited electricity

do you know what running extension cords from all over the house just to make a cup of coffee
or washing dishes in the bathroom sink

but editors
publishers
agents
they dont want to hear it
really! i meant hear it in my case (audio you know)

and more importantly Sascha Illyvich
doesnt want to hear it
… put away the bullwhip Sascha
i ambeing a good girl really

this weeks installment presents 10 tricks to getting past that i am dead from the neck up feeling

if you are a writer
you write
not for the money
we all hope we can make a living off our words
but you write because you have to
you jones if you dont
and the withdrawal isnt pretty

still deadlines and quotas still need to be met
and if you’re running on empty and you just cant find another sentence in you what do you…

here are some of my favorites
1. cut up a bag of onions- it gives you a reason to cry and a good cry will release up the pent up feelings of frustration
2. take along walk and talk to your characters you may look odd talking to yourself walking down the street but hey who cares it’s not like your taking a california sanity test for a gun permit
3. write a list of dirty words then shout them out loud.This is best done in the shower
4. pull out your favorite sex toys and have some fun
5. call up your favorite sex “toy” and tell him or her what you’d like to do to them
6. stack up a bunch of pillows and beat the hell out of them
7. pull out a copy of vogue and draw double chins, thick fat thighs and love handles on all the skinny models
8. rent a silent movie and make up captions- cant find one – watch an old movie with the sound off and make up a new story line.Doing this with a friend can be fun
9. write gibberish – yep- fill a page with pure gibberish I DARE YOU it’s harder than you think!
10. go soak in the tub – while you’re neck deep in hot water call a friend and play word association games

All this may seem silly but really what you’re doing is giving your tired brain a little down time.

So what tricks do you use to get back on track and meet a deadline? I would love to hear yours! Just email me at [email protected]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Posted by admin at 11:36 am

audio erotica is?

 Oceania  5 Responses »
Oct 282010
 
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Todays post is exceedingly short
frankly i forgot this was my week
i have been busy  with narrators
and reviewing the back log of audio i have on my desktop

but that doesnt help you any does it?

Todays topic is audio erotica

the one thing i find as a repeated theme is this
even narrators aren’t really sure what audio erotica is

and authors arent sure how to write for it

so here is a little question for you
if the spoken word is story telling
then audio erotica is ________________go ahead fill in the blank

when polling people i got a lot of different answers
there are a few

  • some said it was porn for your ears
  • orgasms and words
  • several said it was sex stories
  • soft core sex stories as if making a difference
  • some took it seriously and said its just for women or gay men (a few even went so far as to say that straight men dont like, listen to or buy audio erotic stories)

that last part made me laugh because most of my clients are straight men with some pretty heavy audio erotic fantasies

but even if you jumbled them up and put them all together none of these answers actually is right
because audio erotica  like the spoken word is ALSO story telling

i know
it makes life easier to take if we put things into specific little cubicles
if we take something we dont know very much about and stick it somewhere were we dont have to be challenged by it then it is easier to forget or discount
but then if i let you do that then i wouldnt be doing my job
see i truly believe i am here to help you break down those compartmental walls

consider this
a well told story
can be told in pictures, audio and text
a well told story holds the reader/listener/viewer and makes them experience emotion

it doesnt matter if it is history, romance, erotica, fiction or non-fiction a well told story transcends

i know a great many of you will NEVER EVER record your work or even consider it
but maybe you might consider this

when i was in art school
one of my favorite professors remarked that a well made piece of art could be turned upside down or sideways and still be a well made and appreciated

now apply that to your story
if it is read with the eyes and captures the reader
how well will it stand up to being read aloud
is it still as powerful
if you answered yes
then you’re one of the fortunate few

so go ahead try it – and let me know how it reads – text and audio

links are appreciated!

this has been oceania for writesex.net

you can find more of me, oceania on radioactivesex.com; sensualwords.com and the new up and coming pureobsessions.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Posted by admin at 7:31 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Oh Come on IT’S AUDIO for Crying out loud!

 Oceania  17 Responses »
Sep 172010
 
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by oceania

click here for the audio podcast

I am going to give you a tidbit….

I received a submission recently from a woman looking for help.
She wanted to narrate erotic stories.
Her voice was unusual,
but pleasing.
So i sent her a sample to read
and that is exactly what she did.
She read every single word

My first reaction was
It’s audio!
It’s for the ears!
Don’t you realize …
and that is when i stopped in mid-thought
No, she didn’t realize!
And the majority of narrators don’t realize

This isnt grade school. We don’t read every word – We project emotion
see, As a voice talent you have some artistic license in the erotic/romance realm.
For example if you had to read the following line
“I hate you!” Clare cried.

Should you read the line word for word?
HELL NO!

Remember you are not a text reader when you record an audio story. If Clare cried you bring the water works on. If she yelled and screamed then you yell, scream and throw a temper-tantrum when you deliver the lines!

It’s fairly simple!
People want to feel the words and they wont feel them if you just read it! You have to be the words, be the story and the characters and feel the emotions!

I mean really feel it and then telegraphic them to the audience in a clear voice.

Now that is harder than it sounds and does take practice!
So if Clare cried I HATE YOU! it doesn’t make one damn bit of good if the words are muffled between sobs, or if the crying is louder than the words and requires the listener to replay the scene just to know what you said.

Keep in mind that real life may be stranger than fiction, but fiction has to be believable! Well audio has to be even more so!

Here is an example from the movies:
The room is dimly lit and sparely furnished. The drapes are open and there is a sheen on the wood floors. A woman walks across the room. She is wearing high heels. You expect to hear the click clack of those heels as she crosses the room but the sound guy, as hard as he might, cant give you the sound you want to hear. It is up to the foley expert to reproduce that sound.

You’re the foley guy!
This is performance art and should be written and then performed as such!
You have to make it believable!
There are no crutches to lean on – no pictures, no video – just your voice and the imagination of the listener.

With that kind of power you flood an stadium with orgasms.

So ready for the test?
I would like you to record the line:

“Shut up and Fuck me!”, she(or he) said whispering low.
add a link to it in the comment area below!
I look forward to your read!
Oceania

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Posted by admin at 10:47 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Tease me – the challenge

 Oceania, Write Sex  7 Responses »
Jul 292010
 
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Write sex the tease by oceania
Last week Thomas Roche wrote about the tease and waiting too long for the money shot
this week i want to follow with
more on the tease!

have you ever listen to a writer tell you about the story they are writing?

Did you notice the levels of enthusiasm
that nervousness
that heady thrill that only comes from a powerful idea or really good sex!

But when it came to writing it out
You found it
staler than week old bread

Yes they hit all the plot points they told you about

Yes they described it in minute details
but it just died!

Not a pleasant experience was it

Well now imagine that the words flew off the page….

It was exciting
Sexy
And It Delivered
But when it was spoken
It died
and not just died but died and was left to rot
and it smelt bad!

Words on a page
will lay flatter than a transsexual before hormone injections
but spoken words flat without emotions will kill even the best words

so here’s the skinny
the reader has to go beyond reading
they have to go to the next level
they have to be a teller

Hence the name story teller

And as a story teller
They have an active role in
enunciation
and inflection
they have to keep in mind that when telling a story
reading a story out loud
regardless if it for a group or to record for distribution
is 2 parts writing
1 part performance art

I know many actors feed off an audience
I must admit it can be helpful
I mean if youre reading to an in tune group
Or just to 1 special person
It adds to the emotions you put behind the words

but what if there is no audience
what if it is just you and the microphone

that my darlings is when you read to the microphone
that inanimate object becomes your lover
and it helps that it is shaped like a large bulbous cock
lol
just the right shape to get you in the mood

I know you’re not sure you can read your work out loud
well you better get used to it
because one form of publicity is book readings
they have been going on since the beginning of time
and they are an excellent way to build a following of the 10000 fans you should be shooting for

still not sure
talk to Beth Wydle
this past weekend i went to an authors reading organized by this author of lesbian romance
it was great fun
several authors i have been following were there
they were battle ready
in costume
books and excerpts ready

they understood that reading out loud wasn’t just reading the words on the page
they knew in order to draw you into the characters and have you really grasp the story line
they had to put themselves
wholly in ever utterance

and they did
so here’s the challenge
now it’s your turn
why don’t you send me oceania @radiodentata your excerpts
I promise to be kind but fair in my critics

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Posted by admin at 5:53 am  Tagged with: , ,

Audio Books – Break on Through to the Other Side

 Oceania  1 Response »
Jun 172010
 
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Audio book publishers are popping up all over the place.
Jean Marie’s Renaissance E Books has an audio section, as do several other publishing houses.
I too
after 15 years of producing audio erotic stories
have thrown my hat into the ring with a new audio publishing house.
It is topic many authors are considering. After all expanding the outlets, expands the brand.
But unlike podcast stories written specifically for audio, many written for readers stories sound awful when spoken out loud.

Why?

Because sound is a visual medium
and not all words translate the emotional impact when they are taken from page to ear
Think of it this way a book is made into a movie
but
not every scene or ever character is put into the movie
there are adaptations made in order to keep the audience’s attention.

Think about it what will have more impact
someone reading “and Sally screamed”
or actually hearing Sally Scream

So what are the steps to getting this write stuff right?
well the answer to that is easy…
Picture your story being read by a sight impair person.
So how will this blind person see your words?
A dull voice or an awkward sentence is as jarring as a misplaced semicolon to a grammatician.
But where a editor will redline you manuscript
a listener will just turn you off.
POOF
your gone!

and the word of mouth
the buzz that creates your 10000 strong followers disappears
Books are a brand.
it so important to give a brand not only a visual image but also a sound identity?

When thinking about writing for sound
decide is this unabridged or an adaption
My written work is always written with the ears of the reader in mind
I apply the keep it simple approach
but that may not work for everyone
so then you must decided
who is your narrator
(not everyone has a voice that is easy to listen to..
Don’t hate me Sascha but when you read your excerpts on the Unnamed Romance Show you read it too fast and you lose the emotions but when your assistant reads it it is much more full bodied and it allows the listener to get involved with the words…)

Will your story have
1 voice or many
how much dramatization will you allow or expect
will there be sound effects
music????
will it read like a good book
or performance art
Writing for the page and writing for the ear can be two different approaches. If you intended to allow your stories to be available in both mediums then you must take time to answer the above questions, if you;re nto recording your stories but allowing a publishing house to do this, then listen to the stories they have recorded ask questions and set up parameters otherwise you’ll be setting yourself up for failure.

oceania monroe
publisher for the new audio book house Pure Obsessions

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 Posted by admin at 8:38 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Bless me Father I must have sinned because my muse has left me. As pence I have brought out the hair shirt and the floggers.

 Oceania  5 Responses »
May 062010
 
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You would think that self-torture and supreme penance would be something out of the dark ages. But I see it all the time, the guilt and suffering, the excuses and condemnation.

Writers do it all the time, they hit this wall where they swear they will never create another piece again. Then as an offering of proof they halfheartedly try or they try with every once of determination to write something worth reading. The results are usually awful.

That usually sets off curses to the heavens, self inflicted tortures and resignation that usually ends with tears for a lost muse.

Poor Muse she is often lost!

I encountered this from a writer I work with. I gave him an assignment and he didn’t make deadline. We pushed it back and again he didn’t have anything to show me. Finally I received a lengthy email on how awful his circumstances were, how he couldn’t find the words, how his muse was gone and how i should give up on him… but if i didn’t give up on him if I truly believed it was just a phase he vowed that he would work harder and produce what was needed. He only ask that I give him time. Time to find his muse.

At first I felt sorry for his circumstances but as each sentence droned on I realized that no matter how much I sympathized he felt sorrier for himself and with this sorrow came great guilt and with this guilt an even greater need to punish himself…. but lastly there was a need for him to feel justified for not writing because he felt this remorse.

It was rather twisted and well, boring.

So I took the bulls by the horn and wrote back.
“I am not your friend. I am your editor and publisher and you were given an assignment. I don’t care if the house burnt down or if your wife ran away with the mail main. I don’t care if you have to work 2 jobs. Do the assignment and keep the sympathy stories for your mother.

Then I told him as I would tell any creative, that the only way to get through a writers block is to WRITE!
You’ve heard the quote attributed to Oliver Stone “Writing = ass in chair”.

It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad or in between, just write.

So put away the hairshirt. You want to beat something up hit the keyboard hard. Create a war scene or a fight between lovers. Take a stake and drive through your boss’ heart.

Then after you get all that self loathing, frustration, envy out on the screen… you’ll find your muse.

Like the little lost sheep she will be waging her tail behind her.

~Oceania

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