Was reading an interesting article by Lynda Obst which bemoans the loss of audience, and how Hollywood just can’t seem to figure it out.

“Historically, when we want to clean up, we spend zillions and gear the products to teen boys—the most easily distracted audience. Not only are they the ones with the most choices on Friday night, but they also know within a second of our holding a preview anywhere in the world whether a movie stinks or not. These guys cannot be fooled by marketing anymore. The harder we hype them, the harder we fall. By the Net and by BlackBerry transmission, word of mouth rules.”

The problem, as I see it is that few people inside or outside of Hollywood understand marketing and creation as the same thing. It’s the same problem in video games, and in every other medium. The best people to market a product are its creators, but the creators often have zero interest in marketing. As the creator, you know what makes your product sing, why it is cool, and why anyone else would care about it. Hopefully the answer isn’t “Because I made it and I rock!” or “It’s cool, just because I said so.” You especially shouldn’t say, “I spent a lot of time and effort creating it, so other people should enjoy it.”

Nobody cares about you or how much effort you put in. They want to know how your story benefits them. Is it entertaining? Is it interesting? Will it help them pass the time? Will it inspire them? We’re all surrounded by TV, movies, games, and books since we were children. We don’t care if someone thinks their creation is the best thing since sliced bread. We don’t buy the hype.

But creators or publishers often expect us as the audience to buy the hype. It seems the marketing behind a lot of movies, games, and books is that lame. Or any media for that matter. It’s the same problem we had in the band I was in at age fifteen. We didn’t know why we were cool, or how to even begin explaining that to other people.

And that gets to the crux of the problem. You can’t just tell somebody how cool you think your poduct is… it has to be cool in some genuine way. I’m not talking about quality of the product either. That’s a given. Of course general quality has to be there. Here’s an example;

Saw or Final Destination isn’t going to win art awards, but people will talk about them because they’re scary, gorey, have a lot of tension, conflict, twists, and surprises.

In his book Everything Bad for You is Good For You, Steven Johnson talks about the evolution of various mediums. Storylines, whether they be TV, film, or novel plots are becoming increasingly complex. And the audience has evolved alongside such complexity, craving more and more complexity.

In Obst’s article, she mentions how Hollywood was surprised by the success of Flight Plan. There should be no surprise. It features a twisty-plotted “What’s going on?” question throughout the movie. And all the marketing materials for the movie were a cue-in on that hook. The trailer had it. The posters had it. The audience knows there’s a story there–the premise alone leaves people wanting to find out what happens. The same principle behind the series 24.

So it’s a matter of your story having a story. Your story needs lead-in, a headline that pulls people into the story itself. Forget artistic integrity for a second. If you work hard and are worth half of what you think you’re worth, then you’ve got integrity and that’s the end of that subject. Moving on, ok?

We’re talking about a hook. An attention-grabber. People aren’t going to wait til they get to the movie theater, buy their tickets, refreshements, and then finally sit down in their theater seat before they find out what your story is about. Their butts need to be compelled to the theater seat way, way earlier. They need to say to all their friends, “I want to see that movie for X feature. X element looks really interesting!” Engage them with a source shot of buzz, and they will go on creating buzz for you.

Likewise people aren’t going to drive out to the Barnes & Noble, or order your book online, wait to get the book back home, start reading, and only then find out what your story is about.

If you give them that much lead time, you’ve already failed.

You need a reason beyond just artistic merit to get there. Plain old artistry won’t get butts in the theater seats. Plain old artistry won’t get people to buy your book. There has to be the lure. It’s just like fishing. You don’t need the fanciest, flashiest lure to catch a fish. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive. But it needs to get the fish’s attention.

Casting your line without a lure or hook is begging to come home empty handed.

That’s where Hollywood execs, video game developers, and the aspiring novelist often fall short.

The question “Why?” is responsible for more intrigue than creative people want to admit. Likewise the question “Why do I care?” is responsible for more apathy than creative people want to admit.

Is there a ‘Why’ in your work?

Ask, “Why would anyone care about my story?” Most writers are afraid to ask or answer that question. It’s too scary a question to be asked or answered.

You might think that the jaded audience will ask that question. They won’t. They won’t even afford you that luxury. People don’t ask questions about things they don’t know or care about.

Awareness has to exist first, and after the first few seconds of awareness–that’s where you’ve got to have an answer. It takes a sharp hook to cut through the apathy.

What’s your lure or hook?