Collins shares writing with library visitors
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By Jody Ferres | Sunday, October 22, 2006 |
He can enthrall those who love comics, enchant moviegoers and spin a web of murder, mystery and details of a crime scene investigation.
There’s not much Max Allan Collins can’t put to words.
Collins, the author of “Road to Perdition,” a long string of “CSI” novels and the novel “Scorpion King,” based on the screenplay of the same name, visited the Davenport Public Library’s newest branch on Fairmount Street on Saturday to give readers insight to writing across the media genre.
About 20 patrons got the opportunity to have an intimate hourlong conversation with the Muscatine-based author.
“You have to have an open mind and analyze whatever you’re writing to,” said Collins, who first got his start writing the internationally syndicated comic strip Dick Tracy in 1977. “Storytelling really is an elaborate lie.”
Since many of the audience members, both young and old, were interested in writing, Collins explained how writing for the big screen and for print are two totally different styles.
“In a book, the reader takes the active role as director, prop manager, stage director, everything. A reader takes clues from the author,” he said. “Movies are more exterior. You want to see something happen rather then a character telling you what happens, and you have to picture it in your mind.”
Other novels based on screenplays Collins has written include, “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Mummy Returns” and “Road to Purgatory,” the sequel to “Road to Perdition,” which starred Tom Hanks. He’s even branched out to write scripts for five “CSI” video games and a couple jigsaw puzzles.
“You wouldn’t believe how many pages of script have to be written for a video game,” Collins said. “People spend $50 on a game, and they don’t want to be able to beat it in two hours.”
The Davenport Library brought in Collins to discuss his writing career and techniques in conjunction for National Teen Reading Week. Every year, the libraries offer special activities to encourage teens to read more.
According to program coordinator Angela Campbell, the Davenport libraries wanted to branch out a little more and try some new things.
“We put bookmarks in random books in the teen section so when the teens would be looking at the books, they’d have a little surprise,” Campbell said. “Teens are a hard demographic to capture at the library. When you’re younger, your parents dictate when you go to the library, and after you’re 18, you have a lot of years to come. When you’re a teen, you want to be more independent.”
To keep with the time and to entice teenagers, the Davenport Library has started additional programming like E-game nights, book discussion groups, a teen volunteer board and a teen newsletter on behalf of the library.
“It’s really an on-going thing. We aren’t just the stereotypical library setting anymore,” said Campbell.
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit» More Local Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
