Seminar: Everything That You've Always Wanted to Know...

Ian O’Neill

O’Neill’s first, as he calls it, “paying gig,” was in high school. “I wrote an essay for a friend and got paid in beer.”

Writing has always been a part of his life in one form or another. He landed in advertising as a copywriter in the early eighties with several prominent agencies. From there O’Neill headed client-side and spent eight years honing his writing skills on everything from newspaper ads and radio commercials to press releases and newsletters.

For a new challenge O’Neill switched gears and headed out on the freelance trail. Along the way he met dozens of incredible personalities in fields ranging from quantum mechanics, bats, glaciers, rattle snakes, car racing and many more. He’s written for The Globe and Mail, The Ottawa Sun and The Toronto Star newspapers, as well as magazines such as Seasons, Canadian Wildlife, Equinox, Canadian Geographic and Canadian Sports Collector. He was honoured to receive a 2002 National Magazine Award for his work with Seasons magazine.

In the midst of all this work came a year of well deserved play. He trained in the art of improvisation at the famed Second City in Toronto. “Not only did I hone my presentation skills but improv has helped my writing tremendously.”

With encouragement from his wife, O’Neill then ventured into the realm of fiction. “I’d purchased a book in the mid eighties by Syd Field called The Screenwriter’s Workbook and tried to write a script a dozen times. My wife urged me on and I haven’t looked back.”

In 2004 he made the top 300 of over 6,000 scripts entered into the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition. And, this year he won Best Screenplay at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival.

Short stories and novels were the next writing challenge and O’Neill found himself in a unique situation. A manuscript was getting good response from agents but all said the same thing, they couldn’t sell it. So, O’Neill researched self publishing for months before taking the leap.

“It always puzzles me that an independent film can be applauded while the self published fight for recognition. It’s my goal to change that way of thinking, one reader at a time.”

Currently O’Neill gives seminars and one-on-one self publishing consultations. If he’s not selling you a book, appearing at conventions or writing, he’s walking his dog.

Contact Information

Phone: 905.815.9577
Email
Website

Email these listings