gerard butler Archives - Addicted to Writing

Cheating on Non-Fiction with Fiction, Going AWOL on the Blog & Writers Being Sued by Celebrities

Posted on November 11, 2013 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Forgive me, readers for I’ve sinned. And it’s not my first time. I haven’t posted in a long time. I got a bit lost in competition deadlines and the frustrating efforts to write compelling loglines and synopses and researching what kinds of real life celebrity-related information can/can’t be used in fiction. I’ll get to it in a bit. Again, I apologize for my absence and I’ll try not to be a repeat offender.

Writers Being Sued by Celebrities: Scarlett Johansson Sues French Writer

How long can you go during a day without mentioning a famous person’s name? Or something they were involved in? Without referring to a favorite song or a musician?

It’s only natural conversational flow to mention the name of someone popular that you admire/dislike/respect. So it’s again natural when you mention celebrity names in your stories, given that it’s relevant.

It makes the jokes funnier, too. Some of my favorite lines from TV shows include references or topics about famous works.

Love this line form Friends, from TV show Friends:

Joey: Why do you call him Gandalf?

Ross: Gandalf, the Wizard.

(Joey stares at him blankly)

Ross: Hello, didn’t you read Lord of the Rings in high school?

Joey: No, I had sex in high school. (Season 4, Episode 9)

Omit all the celebrity mentions from the sitcom Will and Grace, and you’ll likely remain with 4 seasons instead of 8. Hell, some celebrities are so comfortable in their own skin, they play a funnier, more exaggerated versions of themselves in films and series. The Kevin Bacon episode of Will and Grace is one of my favorites:

Will: I loved you in Footloose.

Kevin Bacon: You saw that? (Season 5, Episode 2)

With Supernatural, I wouldn’t know where to start. Their banter often includes rockers and sometimes actors. Surely if Mel Gibson can handle the “He’s possessed. Think about it,” joke, it’s no big deal?

I mean no one is suing Ricky Gervais for his Golden Globes jokes, right? Or wait- maybe they don’t want to risk it because Gervais might be richer than the plaintiff?

I have book examples too, but hey I’m scared of mentioning them here. What if those actors want to pull a Scarlett Johansson and sue the authors?

In case you haven’t heard, French author Gregoire Delacourt got sued by Johansson because he described his character as looking like Scarlett. Scarlett is pissed because he didn’t ask her permission first. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know there was a celebrity phone line where I could reach any celebrity of my choice and ask whether or not I could use their name in a certain fictional context.

Freaked out, I did a lot of research and found out it basically comes down to your luck, and the personality of the celebrity whose name you dropped. I’d think comparing a character’s beauty to a living person would get you a basket of muffins, if anything. Definitely not a lawsuit. You live, you learn.

So I decided to try my chance with Gerard Butler. I tweeted him, asking if he would be OK if I were to mention his name in my novel. I even managed to squeeze in my greetings and the context in 140 characters. He hasn’t gotten back to me. Yes, I really tweeted Butler. And no, I wasn’t expecting a tweet back. With all the attention from fans and his busy life, where on earth would he find the time to read my tweet and tweet me back? But from what I saw in his overall reaction to his fans and his attitude in interviews, he is a sweet guy who probably wouldn’t try to take me to court if my book got published.

How did I mention him? A famous, gorgeous actress (fictional) is assumed to have dated a lot of hot men, including Gerard Butler.

It’s not fair or logical to expect actors to lead their lives according to our expectations. We can protest all we want, but in the end, if we tried to protest every actor/celebrity for every behavior we don’t approve of, we’d be left with only a handful of actors and movies.

That said, it’s hard not to be taken aback when a celebrity goes and does something like this. And frankly, I can live without Johansson’s movies. And she doesn’t need me as a fan.

Worry not on my behalf. I never have and never will mention her in any of my stories. But I do have a movie blog where I – drum roll- review movies. Will she try to sue bloggers too? Should I take those posts down? Or as long as it is not a book, and it is real life, we’re fine?

So my dear readers and fellow writers, think twice before writing about a celebrity in your stories. And if you do have a way you use to reach celebrities to ask for their permission, do share.:)

How Mads Mikkelsen and Gerard Butler Can Motivate Writers Like Hell: The Ultimate Gerard Butler and Mads Mikkelsen Guide to Freelance Success

Posted on October 31, 2012 Written by Pinar Tarhan

What can two popular actors possibly have to do with us writers, our careers and motivation levels? First let’s take a look at who and where they are:

Mads Mikkelsen played the James Bond villain in Casino Royale, won Best Actor at Cannes this year, and he’ll also be starring as Hannibal Lecter. Yep, the very one played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Oh, and did I mention he’s Danish?

Gerard Butler is probably the one you are more familiar with. After all he’s that actor who shouted “This is Sparta” before kicking a cocky Persian right into the bottom of an endless well in the movie 300. He’s known for his dedication to his parts (that Spartan body was really his!), diversity (the guy played the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera), and ability to tackle accents. Why else directors would cast him as American or Irish instead of hiring equally or more popular American or Irish actors?

But whether you like them or their movies isn’t the point. The point is what they accomplished, how they accomplished it and what you can learn from it.

Writers are prone to depression, lack of motivation, bouts of self-doubt, fear of ruts and writer blocks. They also worry about their age, nationality, talent, the competition, rejection, income…and that’s why I like to look at Mikkelsen and Butler when I experience any of those.

1 ) Nationality:

Mads Mikkelsen is from Denmark. Gerard Butler is Scottish. None of them grew up in L.A. Now, if they can make it to Hollywood, you should definitely not be discouraged about your nationality when it comes to your writing.

While your location or citizenship can prevent you from submitting to some magazines (for instance some Canadian publications only work with Canadian writers, or some contests require you to be a legal resident of the country the publication is based in), there are tons of other contests and markets that don’t really care about where you are from. They just want good work.

2) Age:

Butler was 25 when he decided to really pursue acting, instead of just wanting it. He was 28 in his first onscreen appearance.

Mikkelsen studied acting, but his first onscreen appearance was in 1996, in a short film. He was 31.

Granted, late 20s and early 30s can seem very young, or young enough, depending on how old you are (or how you look at things), but remember that they didn’t start a writing career-they started an acting career, from other countries and competed against people who had been building industry connections since they were pre-teens, whose family members were in the business and so on.

Your queries and manuscripts don’t give a damn about your age. Neither do your editors.

Even if you are trying to write for a magazine whose target audience is way older or younger than you are, it is still all about getting the tone of the publication, understanding what the editors need and coming up with an attractive idea.

Your age doesn’t matter. Not that this is an excuse to delay your career efforts for decades. Make your move now-just don’t obsess over your birth date.

3) Industry connections

Like I mentioned above, Butler and Mikkelsen weren’t born into Hollywood families. I’m not saying the good actors who knew the right people don’t deserve to be where they are. But let’s face it: all things equal, the guy who knows people will be one step ahead of you. He doesn’t even need to be getting favors-he’ll know how things work, he’ll know who to talk to. More studios will know his name. And there is a big chance he has started before you. More experience, better CV and all that.

Imagine you started your writing career without knowing much, if anything, about writing queries, markets, genres, networking….Most of us did. We had to familiarize with ourselves with the process, jargon and fight against people who thought we were dreamers…

The point is that it can be done, whether you initially know someone or not. But once you get started, you have to start building that network of yours. Gerard’s first connection came from a theater backstage gig he got after deciding not to be a lawyer.

4) Background

Not all dancers win Best Actor at Cannes, nor do they get to play Bond villains. And I’m not sure there are many Danish dancers, if any, that got worldwide critical acclaim for their acting, leading and supporting roles in many different countries (not just Denmark, or the States.)

Butler has a law degree from Glasgow University. He just hated his job the moment he started working as an intern.

This is not to say their careers didn’t benefit from those backgrounds. Mikkelsen always has a certain amount of grace he carries around him, and he is not camera shy when it comes to interviews.

Butler always seems like he is chatting with his best friends and having the time of his life during interviews. And the fact that he knew a bit about persuasion and body language didn’t exactly work against him. And hey, knowing what contracts are about can’t have hurt either. Oh, and one of the reasons he was chosen to play the phantom in The Phantom of the Opera was that he had a rock’n’roll voice? Complements of singing in a rock band.

Whatever your day job is/was, there is always something you can use about it to come up with ideas, build relationships, form an audience, etc. You may want to check out Carol Tice’s “How My Crappy Day Jobs Made Me a High-Earning Freelancer” post on Freelance Switch for tips.

Of course your day job doesn’t have to be crappy to help you. John Grisham is a lawyer, in addition to being one of the most famous bestselling authors, who comes up with brilliant legal thrillers and dramas. Needless to say, he doesn’t ever have to worry about using the correct words, seeming off with his descriptions or doing that much research. He also created his first book, second bestseller, A Time to Kill, based on a real life court case he witnessed. A bestseller that went on to become a movie starring A-List actors.

Not that my success is anywhere near his, but I did get published on Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing with my article “One Freelance Writer’s Surprising Strategy for a Revved-Up Career”,detailing how my part-time job (one that I still have) helped my writing career in so many ways. Just thought this example might be a tad more relatable than John’s.

5) Persistence, dedication, hard work

If there is any other job that comes with the risk of rejection at least as much as writing, it has to be acting. It’s audition after audition, trying to persuade the director and/or the casting people or the starring actor that you are the best person for the job. It is not easy to pick up your courage and motivation after hearing no, but you do it anyway because the award awaiting for you will make you so much happier than the rejection made you miserable.

Butler’s director in the movie One More Kiss Vadim Jean was quoted to say that he never knew anyone that worked so hard to make his career happen.

That’s the attitude that got him where he is today: sought-after, successful and easy to work with. You are easy and fun to work with if you really want to be where you are, and put in the work where you are. And editors, as well as other clients, love easy and fun to work with.

P.S. John Grisham could only get A Time to Kill published after he finished and found a publisher for The Firm. A Time to Kill wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t put himself out there again and fight back with another manuscript.

6) Going from fighting for gigs to gigs being offered to you

Gerard Butler played Attila The Hun in the mini-series Attila in 2001. The producers originally wanted someone more famous. And maybe someone with less of a Scottish accent. But they couldn’t find someone they liked better than Butler, and he showed them he could change his accent. 2001 was way before 300, The Phantom of The Opera or P.S. I love You. Before nobody really knew who he was.

People joke that any Danish director casts Mikkelsen whenever they want to secure box office success or awards or both.

More familiar names are not always the best choice. More established writers may not always provide the better ideas.

Or you can improve your blog, establish yourself in the areas you are writing about and have them come to you with offers. Look at Bamidele Onibalusi (of YoungPrePro)’s post to see how he does it.

7) Room for self-improvement, fun and other important things in your life

Mads Mikkelsen speaks Swedish because he lived in Sweden for a while and they couldn’t understand his Danish so he learned Swedish. He speaks German because a German director wanted him as the German lead. He speaks French and Russian because he played Igor Stravinsky in the French film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. He is obviously fluent in English, having had roles in American movies and constantly giving interviews. And his favorite method for learning languages? Watching movies.

He is also married and raising 2 kids with his wife.

You were saying you couldn’t find the time for…what?

So you are working hard. It doesn’t mean you can’t take time for hobbies, learning, family and friends. Living a full life will make you happier, more full of ideas and more equipped.

8) Proving talents in more areas than one.

Mikkelsen has done drama, romantic drama, period movie, comedy, action, adventure and fantasy, horror, romantic comedy…

Butler has done musical, action, adventure, thriller, horror, drama, romance, romantic comedy, fantasy…

You don’t have to choose between business writing and article writing. Between fiction and non-fiction. You don’t have to pick topic to write about. Go out there, show your best work and keep trying until you get the gigs that make you happy. I don’t know about you, but variety makes me happy.

9) International success

Well, you all have a pretty good idea what these two actors accomplished so far. Why not set your sights on writing for the most established magazines worldwide, writing a best-selling book or being sought-after by well-paying clients worldwide?

You know what it takes. You know it is all about how much (and well) you work, improve and motivate yourself. And you know it doesn’t mean you are not going to have time for other things. In fact, it is all about benefiting from all areas of your life, even things that initially seem like obstacles or motivation-busters so you need to live a life outside of your office too.

So go ahead. Work. Live. Have fun. Make it happen. Gerard Butler and Mads Mikkelsen made it happen, and they are only few examples in a very, very long list. Why shouldn’t you?

And don’t worry, I’m a big fan of practicing what I preach. I’m taking my own advice as I keep pitching to publications, running various blogs, having a busy social life and working on my fiction.

3 SEO-Related Activities To Do for Your Readers (and Not for Google!)

Posted on May 31, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

New to SEO? Read from here.

Blogging is a lot of fun, but in order to be able to blog successfully, you need to be able to do more than just write. You need to learn the basics of SEO (search engine optimization), for instance. And SEO is a very tricky concept.

Simply put, we use SEO so that search engines can find our blogs and websites more easily. We also know that people aren’t inclined to go through tens of result pages when they are looking for information. They go through the first page, and maybe the second. After that, your chances of meeting that reader become pretty slim. But it is not always easy to end up on the first couple of pages, especially for keywords that thousands, or millions of people are competing for.

So SEO experts advise you to go after long-tail keywords (phrases that consist of 3 or more words). They recommend targeting keywords that have some competition (so that you know people actually want that information), but not so much that you will get buried under too many other sites).

For instance, what are my chances of ranking very high if I am writing an article on the actor Gerard Butler, called Gerard Butler? Just today, 1,554 people have searched for him (a result I got by using free keyword research tools). So, I have an audience. But how many results does his name generate on a search engine? Guess what: 10.100.000 results! Crazy, right?

Practicing SEO already? Try reading from here.

But I am not going to not include Gerard Butler in my keywords, just because there is so much competition. And I am not going to give up on a topic I like because the search engines say so. Instead, I will write the article for me and for my readers. Here’s how and why:

Keywords Selection and Tagging

The most popular keyword can also be the most relevant one. For instance, when I am writing about an actor (I have an entertainment website, so I cover actors and movies a lot), I get over a thousand daily searches, if not more. It is very difficult, if not virtually impossible for me to rank all that high with this main keyword. But I always include it. It is for me and my readers: Most websites (my blog included) have their own search engines. So when you arrive at my blog and type this name, you get all the posts about that actor.

You may have found me through other keywords. Maybe, you didn’t find me through search engines at all. But now that you are on my page, you will find a lot of relevant information. This is to satisfy readers. But also it makes my job easier, because I can track how many different bodies of work I have written on a given topic.

Search engines are your friends, but they are not your only friends. You get your audience from other sources as well, such as Twitter, Facebook, Stumble Upon, blog links on other blogs, blog communities, forums…etc.

– The Headlines:

We have been writers for a long time but we have been readers for even longer. So we have always known the importance of headlines and titles. Readers like the headlines to be exciting and clever. But they also need to give the readers a good idea on what the writing is going to be about.

So I try to include SEO keywords in the title. But sometimes I have an idea for a writing series and just don’t want to give up on creativity completely. One of the headlines I chose for an article series I was writing was more topic-related than SEO rich. Still, it managed to be one of my popular posts. You don’t always have to please Google. And sometimes pleasing yourself also ends up pleasing your readers, which will make Google love you even more in the end.

– The Number of Keywords

There isn’t a certain limit to this but of course the search engines aren’t going to take you seriously if you tag each post with 100 keywords. However, some sites come with limitations or limitation suggestions on how many keywords a post should ideally be tagged with.

Now, in generally, sticking to about 10-15 keywords might be ideal. But imagine writing a list post including 10 names. You will need to tag these names separately, and a lot more.

And exactly because of the reasons stated above (for your keywords and SEO actions), you will also need to add more specific, SEO-friendly and low-competition keywords. I try not to use more than 20 keywords for any given post, but I don’t mind going overboard on my own blogs.

So while it is great to stick to some basic guidelines, ignoring them when necessary might end up pleasing you and your readers. It is just a perk that happy readers will end up making you even more popular everywhere, including Google (and other search engines).

The Writing Gig Checklist: What Makes a Writing Job Worth Taking?

Posted on April 19, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl at the The Ugly Truth premiere — Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl at the The Ugly Truth movie premiere. Image via accesshollywood.com

If you have seen the movie The Ugly Truth, you might remember that Gerard Butler’s Mike accuses Katherine Heigl’s Abby of having a checklist when it comes to men. We all have our requirements when it comes to the type of people we want to date. And it only makes sense that as writers we have our checklist for the type of writing jobs we are willing to take.

Maybe Mike wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer. Maybe he did try to appear a lot cruder than he actually was. But in essence, he was nice, fun-loving, handsome, and romantic- and these are qualifications many women aren’t willing to stop searching for.

As writers, we may sometimes settle for less pay because we like the exposure potential or the topic. Or we might be willing to write something that is less exciting because of the prestige. But in general, there are some jobs that put a smile on our faces more than other gigs.

Here’s my checklist when it comes to accepting a gig:

1. The topic is fun for me. I hate writing about stuff that doesn’t interest me.

Technical writing, for instance, might pay the good bucks, but it does bore the hell out of me. And the main reason I became a writer is that I love writing- if I am writing about something that makes me feel good.

Being picky about the topics might make it hard to make more money, but in the long run, it will make you happier. And remember the great writing tip – if you like what you are writing about, it is a lot easier to write something great and enjoyable for the readers.

2. Pays via Paypal. I’m sorry, but this is the 21st century. Why use checks, when PayPal makes it easier for both the sender and the receiver?

3. Pays in accordance to the work it requires. There is no one specific flat fee that will please writers. $15/article may sound outrageously low, but if it takes 15 minutes to write that article, it just might feel better than taking a $100/article gig that takes several hours of research, several hours to write and more hours to edit it. Maybe it is just me, but I value my time. If it is going to take that long, and that much effort, maybe that job should pay $500/article.

4. The editor is helpful: The good thing about being a freelancer is that you don’t have a boss. The bad thing is that sometimes you feel like you have multiple bosses. They are called editors. I appreciate an editor who tries to get the best writing out of me. I don’t mind editing, just as long as my editor acts like a helpful mentor, rather than a merciless critic who acts like they don’t know what it is like to be the writer at the mercy of the editor.

5. Allows a byline/bio: Promotion is a writer’s best friend. It is beneficial to have a gig that will not only give you credit, but also some crucial information about you and your background- hopefully with a link to your website.

There we go. These are the 5 things I look for in a writing gig. What are your requirements?