Dick Pirozzolo will share his recent experience of writing a published work of fiction “Escape from Saigon – a Novel”, Skyhorse Publishing New York.

Dick says, “I discovered a lot about writing and indeed myself in the process. Fiction is a big departure from writing in a journalistic style. It engages a different part of the brain, and you have to suspend ingrained tenets of our profession.The experience made me a better writer and a better PR pro.”

Dick will cover the following points:

1.Overview on the creative and collaborative process of getting from talking about ideas over a beer, to concept, to published novel— especially when both writers are personally invested in the story.

2. In this case I went from journalistic writing to Historical Fiction, a genre that is rooted in a specific time and historical events with real and fictional people— it was like riding a bicycle on a high-wire with fire on both sides of the wire.

3. As PR pros we must be story tellers. The shift to fiction improves that skill by drawing on different life experiences and parts of one’s brain, and the skills are directly transferable to feature articles, news releases and counseling clients on media interview skills. Notably the experience improves the way one describes a client, makes quotes punchier and more powerful and gets rid of the chaff.

4. Book promotion—I’ve promoted a half dozen nonfiction works before— but promoting fiction is like getting a PhD in book promotion— I can offer valuable advice for anyone working on a corporate bio or ghost writing a client’s memoirs. I once turned a client’s 10-page reminiscence of his life in the rug trade into a book published by Rizzoli, the worlds’ leading art book publisher. So a client’s book may be lurking in the shadows, and as a PR pro you may be able to lure it out.

IPN Members register for this fascinating discussion here.

Event Details

Where
Wellesley Free Library
530 Washington St
Wellesley, MA