Having trouble fleshing out your characters? Try going cinematic and casting your story with familiar people.

This trick worked for Jeff Rivera when he was writing his urban novel, Forever My Lady. (Check out Jeff�s July 2006 show here.) Jeff was having trouble writing the character of a female kitchen worker in the protagonist�s prison boot camp. But when he lit on the idea of modeling her after someone he knew, he could hear her talk and see her mannerisms, and the character came to life.

I�m working this way with my untitled political thriller inspired by the TV show �24.� As soon as I came up with my female politician character, the face of actor Joan Allen magically appeared in my head. (I guess I had �The Contender,� a film in which Allen plays a pol, on the brain.) One of my villains, a Russian terrorist, presented himself to me unbidden as the image of Gary Oldman playing the bad guy in �Air Force One.�

Of course, you don�t want to write a character who�s exactly the same as someone else. But picturing the familiar can give you something to build on. This technique isn�t new. Even the most famous artists learn by copying the masters before developing their own styles.

The more you can visualize your story, the more compelling your writing will be. So go ahead�give Aunt Bessie, your best friend Joe, or James Gandolfini a screen test and see what happens.

Paul J. Krupin at Direct Contact PR offers the best advice on writing a news release I�ve ever seen:

�Tell me a story, give me a local news angle, and then touch my heart (make me laugh or cry), make my stomach churn (with horror or fear), hit me in my pocketbook, or grab my gonads.�

Source: Trashproof News Releases: The Surefire Way to Get Publicity by Paul J. Krupin. You can get the free ebook here.

I don�t know Paul Krupin, but I think he�s a genius. I was having a terrible time coming up with compelling news releases for our reality shows. Once I read his advice and realized that I needed to touch both editors and consumers in a personal way, I was able to write:

Title: Novelist Pursues Her Dream in the First Podcast-Based Reality Show

Lead sentence: Jean Tennant wants to be published, and she�s willing to risk public rejection to make that happen.

Title: Horror Writer Exposes Himself on Podcast-Based Reality Show

Lead sentence: Ever wondered what goes on inside the mind of a horror writer?

With the release for Jean�s show, I was trying to evoke every writer�s dream (and fear). With Mark�s release, I was going for voyeurism and a touch of humor.

How'd I do?

Part 2 of this mini-article will appear next month.

According to Publishers Weekly on January 8, 2007, �More books found their way onto the 2006 U.S. weekly charts than ever before�495 new titles, compared with the previous record of 452 set in 2005.� However, nearly 70% of them stayed there for four weeks or less, while more than 20% hung around for only one week.

With almost 200,000 titles published per year in the U.S., it was easier to get onto the charts last year, but harder staying there. And of course, fewer than 1% of books published got anywhere near them.

Just in case you�re wondering, here are the top sellers:

• Hardcover fiction: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown�21 weeks on the list
• Mass market fiction: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown�36 weeks on the list
• Hardcover nonfiction: Marley & Me by John Grogan�50 weeks on the list
• Trade books: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini�50 weeks on the list.

The authors with the most books on the charts were:

• James Patterson
• Nora Roberts
• Dan Brown.

Finding time to write is such a common challenge for writers that Books in Print bulges with titles on the topic.

That's why we've come up with our Writing Show writing weekends, where it�s all about making the time to actually do it. To participate, all you have to do is spend three hours (not even consecutively!) over the two-day period writing, planning, researching, or brainstorming.

That�s it! You don�t have to show your work to anyone, although if you'd like to share your progress with us, we'd love to hear about it.

I'll be working on the aforementioned untitled political thriller, and this time I'm going to stop planning and start writing. I'll let you know how it goes.

Please join me!

--Paula B.

Upcoming shows:

• January 15, 2007: Police Procedure for Crime Novelists, with Undersheriff Tony Spurlock.
• January 22, 2007: Travel Writing and Publishing, with Harry S. Pariser.
• January 29, 2007: Of Editing, Book Design, and Children's Books, with freelance editor and book designer Jill Ronsley.

Coming in February:

Who is the bestselling author of all time?

Answer next month.