Just Chattin’ with Keith Tyler Hopkins, Author of Red Betty and the Murder Farm

Visit Keith Tyler Hopkins and buy his books and films! http://hexagonmotionpictures.weebly.c… Red Betty and the Murder Farm is available for purchase (as are The Horror Anthology Handbook and films by Hexagon Motion Pictures).

In this video, Keith shares his writing process and the creation of Red Betty and the Murder Farm as well as tips and advice for writers who long to get their words out there, particularly through the use of grants and funding applications. Join Keith in a clever world of horror on the Murder Farm with Red Betty where Keith combines his love of comic books and paranormal and horror storylines.

• Finish
  Keith says that as an independent author, one of the biggest challenges can be the lack of external deadlines. Knowing when a story is complete is difficult, but Keith shares that when “it’s good enough, move on.” He says that if he were to keep writing and keep working on it, nobody would ever get to experience his stories. Instead of chasing perfection, he’s learned to work on it until it feels “close enough” at which point he knows he can be proud of it and release it into the world…and then start work on the next project!

• Focus
  Focus within a story is important. Having one character arc, especially in a shorter story like a novella, brings clarity to the story and doesn’t make things overly complicated for the reader to follow. While Keith wrote several characters into Red Betty and the Murder Farm, he wrote them in such a way that they each contribute to Betty’s character arc storyline.
  
  Keith says that as writers we should start the story as late as possible. This allows the audience to be part of the action immediately. By, “sneaking those little bits” of the world’s history into the story, he says, the characters and details are allowed to build the story, instead of giving too many unimportant details that don’t move the story along. This also helps to focus the story along.

• Funding
  Each of Keith’s film and book projects have been funded by grants. He’s a big advocate for writers seeing themselves as artists who are eligible to apply for funding. Each state in the USA has a state and regional arts commission. For those in the Northland area in Minnesota, this is the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
  
  Grants (as well as international writers associations or competitions and contests) provided front-end funding for the starting and completion of creative work. Having an external deadline from a grant provides additional motivation for completing your project, while providing often much needed financial backing to ease the creation process.
  
  If you’re not sure how you might want to use a grant, check out the application calls to start. They make it clear what types of projects they will be awarding funding to.

• Final Words on Publishing…
  Keith says that publishing has never been more accessible and easy to do these days, particularly with self-publishing platforms though large companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. Because of this, he believes the biggest barrier now is simply in writing a story.
  
  Keith says, “You’re only limited by your imagination and your drive to do it.”

Molly Ovenden is a creative writing coach, professional writer, teacher, and visual artist. Visit https://mollyovenden.com/ where creativity is a habit to find out more.

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