Spring Cleaning before the freeze sets in

So having found out that I didn’t shortlist in the LSWF shorts I decided to have a little spring clean of my writing head.

I’ve spent the last day or so pulling out all my old scripts, completed and partial scripts dating back to around 2003. My first baby steps in the world of scriptwriting are there from when I begrudgingly had to write a script as one of my modules on my MA in Creative Writing. Then about a year after I completed my MA and reviewed the start of the novel I had begun for the MA I had an epiphany. As I looked at the dialogue heavy pages I thought, maybe just maybe I was a scriptwriter. Damn it, I’d done the wrong course and should've done the scriptwriting MA.

So for the next few years I wrote scripts.

Looking at the scripts now, a couple of TV plays, several radio plays, a feature film , two theatre plays - I know one thing for definite, I have written a lot of CRAP over the years.

Even glancing at the scripts I can see too much dialogue, scripts with huge structural holes, two dimensional characters everywhere, exposition, exposition and more exposition, paragraphs of action that go on for pages, plots that don’t make any sense. Mistakes everywhere. It wasn't that I was a bad writer. I just didn't have a clue.

But to take something positive from it, because I am a glass half-full person after all, I have found the following
I’ve got better (couldn’t get any worse)
I’m a better script reader (I can tell that they’re crap)
I’ve had a lot of good ideas (just didn’t know what to do with them)

So okay to move on from this whole experience and get back to my plan. The plan. The plan that started this whole blogging thing in the first place. I still don’t have a set of scripts that I’d be happy to show someone as an example of my work.

I keep getting distracted by deadlines, writing half baked ideas up into scripts that have not been given enough attention. Chasing dreams of some miraculous moment when I get plucked from nothingness and recognised as a WRITER. I have to stop doing that. I know better. This is a dream that will only be achieved by hard slog. I am going to focus on the scripts and then once they're completed I will decide what to do with them.

I hate the word serendipity but I like when I can justify using it in life, plots and blogs

I spend a lot of time resenting the 40 hours of the week that I have to spend working in, what I like to term, my non-real job. 40 hours that effectively slice away my writing time to left-overs and stolen moments. But it has to be done, the mortgage needs to be paid and I have addictions to fund (red wine and US TV Boxsets being in the forefront).

A while ago I listened to a local crime novelist, at the launch of her latest book, talk about the work she did as a creative writing tutor and merrily announce she would never want to write full-time even though her writing career would sustain it. I thought she was insane. Why on earth would anyone choose not to write full-time if they could?

I don’t like to talk too much here about my non-real job, well actually I don’t really like to talk anywhere about my non-real job (I have far better things to talk about) but it has to be said I can’t really complain, the non-real job is enjoyable about 70% of the time, requires about 50% usage of my brain (allowing stories to develop in the murky mire of the remaining 50%), offers me a certain amount of flexibility and access to print facilities. As a job , whilst attempting to make that leap to being able to put ‘writer’ in the occupation box of a form, it is far better than most and I’ve done a lot of other jobs at various points in my life (call-centre, bar-maid, chambermaid, secretary, arts marketing – a few examples).

In the last few weeks though I’ve had a few moments of feeling quite delirious with happiness that I do my job. Why? Because the non-real job has provided several vital story ideas.

I’m currently writing a short film for the London Screenwriters Festival competition. Two weeks ago I tried to come up with an idea for the competition. Nothing. Blank. And then even more blank.

I’ve only written one short film because I always thought a short script was not a good fit to me as a writer. I like expansive, complex story lines and even at feature length or one hour I struggle to reign in my developing ideas. My features want to be trilogies. My hour long TV plays become pilots for 6 hour series.

Earlier this year though I wanted to make myself try so I sat down to develop an idea. The core idea was literally a single image. I wrote probably an hours worth of script literally getting it all out. I let the conversations ramble on, I wrote all the scenes back and forth and from every direction. Then I went back and forced myself to find ways to express the things I’d written in dialogue as single visual images. I looked at pages and pages of dialogue and asked myself what words were really needed. I cut out all the peripheral dialogue and honed the whole thing down to minimal images and dialogue. This resulted in a 15 minute script which a friend recently read and fed back the comment, “expand some of the dialogue, I want to hear more of the conversations”!

The script is still waiting for re-draft but I found it a really useful exercise in thinking visually and thinking in essential dialogue only.

Anyhow, bearing all this in mind and the fact that September was my - write a radio play month - and October was my - write a theatre play month - I decided not to bother with the short film competition. Then I thought, “what the hell, I work in a university, and a number of the ideas I’m working on are set in universities surely I can come up with a thread from something around me.”

That was when it happened. A serendipitous day of my non-real job dropping a plot into my lap as I experienced magical moments of light-bulbs popping over my head.

First a political issue that I could see worsening and as I sat writing dull emails and reports for a briefing document the first light bulb flashed. I had my protagonist, my antagonist and my central idea. All shadowy and needing to be fleshed out but there, waiting.

Then visitors to my office for a seemingly dull exchange about logistics and the light bulb flashed again to drop one of the secondary characters into the mix.

An email arrived, at the bottom was a little jokey comment. The third light bulb flashed to bring the next secondary character.

A week on and those initial light bulbs have led to a story that is developing nicely into a short film. There is a nagging voice in my head that is telling me I’m trying to achieve too much in 10 minutes. I’m also slightly doubtful that my protagonist’s journey is believeable. She has one hell of an arc to achieve in 10 minutes.

The very next day, after the serendipitous day, an average looking email floated in my direction informing me of some church bells currently on display in Swansea that were to be returned to Chile. Slightly intrigued I dug a little further to find that the bells once hung in a church in Chile where 2,500 people died. I dug a little more fervently and uncovered a harrowing story that made the creative part of my inactive brain do little loop the loops of excitement. A recurring theme of many of my stories is how inanimate objects become infused with the stories around them. I’m not sure yet how I will use this idea but I look forward to telling the story of 200 year old bells.

So that’s not one but two stories that would not be in my head if it were not for my non-real job. If I dig a little deeper though and really think about the stories I’m working on at the moment. The radio play Witches and Eggs along with the feature film The List: Kill husband; Kill Boss all would not be floating in my head were it not for my non-real job. The Book of Lost Causes, the television play that just finished a first draft, that would not be in my head were it not for the non-real job I had before this one.

So there you have it my new philosophy about why I no longer resent the 40 hours of the week that I have to spend working in my non-real job.

Mind you it’s all well and good getting the ideas, the problem is finding the time to write them which would be so much easier if I didn’t have to spend 40 hours a week in my non-real job!

The Book of Lost Causes, an ongoing journey or traffic jam?

So the good news, I have finished a draft of a television play. The bad news, it is far from finished. Unfortunately I need to get on with a few other projects before I can work on the re-draft but hopefully I can get my head around the major points and then let it swirl around in the background for a few weeks. Then ideally I will sit down to attempt the next draft and it will emerge fully formed into the beautiful creature I know it is capable of being. As if!

One thing I have to make sure is that I go back and re-draft because one of my biggest failings is my ability to toss a project into a drawer, from which it never emerges. My mind is consumed at the moment by the next projects, a new radio play, an old idea for a film that I want to re-visit and two ideas for theatre plays. I’m determined in the next few weeks to get a draft of a theatre play completed. I’m heading to Ty Newydd in November, for my annual treat to myself, and I want to make sure that my theatre writing head is firmly in place before I go. But I have promised myself I will go back and finish Book of Lost Causes.

To do that I need to make sure I don’t lose my grasp on it and that’s what I want to do here. I need to get my thoughts on how to move forward clarified and documented.

I decided in the run up to the call for second round scripts to send it to Lucy Hay for a read. I had lost my way with it and was struggling to see the faults. I knew they were there but I just couldn’t work it out for myself, I needed help. Lesson one (of many) learned on the process is to start the whole thing a lot sooner. Six months from now with several drafts completed Book of Lost Causes will be a great television play. Now it’s not. Lesson two (of many) learned is to always send my work to Lucy Hay, everything, absolutely everything. The cost of a script read equates to a night out drinking and if I can't afford to go out then I don't have a hangover the next day which means I spend the day writing in stead of lying on the sofa watching Buffy.

It’s great to have an expert, outsider view on it. A straight forward, no-nonsense, cut to the cuticle, point of view that allowed me to very quickly know what was working and what wasn’t.

After re-reading Lucy’s notes many times and re-reading the play myself many times, what have I come up with?

What’s working? I certainly know that the idea is worth pursuing. The idea has been floating around for a while (started as a novel for my MA in Creative Writing and then developed into an abandoned radio play) so it’s nice to have validation that it is a good concept.

However my execution of the concept fails because I haven’t got to grips with the story and how it should be executed as a television play. Amongst the many things that I have got wrong are the following:-

The big one – Structure - how many acts, what is the story of the episode, what is the serial element of the episode.

Characters – Keira’s background confuses, who is she, why hasn’t she done anything about the book for 3 years, why does she choose to do something about the book now, who is Alan, do we really care about edie.

Character arcs – why does it take so long for Keira to act on the events unfolding around her, why does Danny keep trying to get her to do something, why does Virginia involve herself getting in Keira to act.

Story – why don’t I have something much bigger happening on page 1, why do I not have my characters and central concept established by page 10, why are so many key moments of the story happening so far into the script,

There are lots of mistakes that I make repeatedly in my writing. I hold onto a scene, and how it plays out rather than experimenting, I convince myself that how I originally saw the scene is the way to go even when I know it’s not working, I over-write, I complicate, I get distracted by detail, I forget the detail, I try to be clever and end up being obvious.

The annoying thing is that I knew all the problems. I knew the start was wrong. I knew that it didn’t make any sense for Keira to be chasing down the person in the book 3 years after it had happened. I knew Danny as a catalyst to Keira’s actions was really weak. I knew that Iwan was a an inexcusable deux-ex-machina. I knew that I shouldn’t have a teaser. I knew that I should have started from Keira’s POV. I knew that my premise was not established enough.

I’ve also realised that I watch too many US shows and not enough UK ones, and that I study too many US writers. My structure is based on David Chase’s technique for writing Sopranos after all and well, I’m not David Chase and I’m not writing Soprano’s.

http://lucyvee.blogspot.com/2008/05/plot-construction-2-dangling.html

So lots of work to do but I think, I think I know how to pull the whole thing to pieces and start again and build it up to make it better and brighter and the star I believe it truly could be. I think.

In the few days after I sent the play to Lucy, once I’d stopped thinking about it, I had loads of ideas for changes. I decided to change Edie so that instead of being an abused wife, she was a violent wife, which then pushed all the subsequent scenes to play out in hugely more interesting scenarios.

Mind you the biggest decision I have to make is between the Edie and Alan storylines. I need to choose one and lose one. Which should it be? Edie. No, Alan. Alan. No, Edie. Or maybe another one altogether?

But at the moment there is that voice in the back of my head that is telling me, move on, leave it in the drawer, there’s no point resolving the issues, if Red Planet didn’t want it then why bother sorting it out. You have lots of other ideas. Start afresh. Run away, spend time with your fresh faced film, (1) Kill Husband (2) Kill Boss, and your sexy little radio play, Witches and Eggs. But no, the only way I’m going to get better at drafting is if I get better at finishing. The point of my plan was to have spec scripts, calling card scripts, examples of my work that I could pull from a drawer and confidently hand over as examples of my work.

I do keep thinking that Book of Lost Causes would also make a nice little radio serial and funnily enough that’s just what Radio 4 are looking to commission, well this year anyway, who knows what they’ll be looking for next year.

But that comes later, first it has to be finished.

Pitching to the bloody squirrels: twitter not witter

My head hurts at the moment. Why? It’s that bloody world wide web and more specifically bloody, BLOODY social media.

I started this blog back in February as a way to give myself a bit of a kick in taking myself seriously as a writer, after all why should anyone else take me seriously if I don't recognise myself as a writer worthy of a blog and a url. I’m also not very good at talking about myself as a writer. I go on writing courses and hit the introductory moment, “tell us a little about yourself and your writing and what you would like to get from this course”. I hate talking in public let along talking about writing! So I usually witter on senselessly, expressing nothing about myself or my writing. So I thought blogging would be good for me, a chance to think it all through.

A couple of months ago I thought that really I should engage with my twitter account properly as a means to feed readers to my blog and attempt to raise my profile a little more effectively. Otherwise I’m just talking to myself and frankly I do enough of that anyway. At least in the morning walking the dogs, when I wander through the woods, talking to myself or practicing pitching my ideas, I know that the squirrels are listening.

So anyway, decision made that I should talk to the twitterverse as opposed to the squirrels.

I didn't consider myself to be particularly lacking in information before, I checked BBC Writersroom, visited a few blogs on a regular basis (Danny Stack, James Moran), I thought myself to be well versed on the world of script writing. PLEASE! The squirrels were more knowledgeable than me. In the space of a few short months I have found myself hitting complete and total overload of information on writing. Every time I open tweetdeck I find myself going on a little journey of writing knowledge. Which is good because stories are always about journeys, and overcoming obstacles, and conflicts and change. Now where did I see that again? Oh yes, every-bloody-where.

My desktop is littered every night with shortcuts that I've dropped to read later; to blogs, websites, article, that have been highlighted. There is just so much information out there, there is just no excuse, none for anything other than success. Admittedly it takes perseverance, bloody hard work and more hard work but there is advice out there telling you how to develop ideas, how to structure, the format to write in, where to send your scripts, what to do if your script is rejected, how to re-draft, and on and on and on. Pick a topic, look it up. The answer is there.

But it isn’t just the information that is out there it is the support too. I also quite regularly end up feeling like I've been given a group hug by the writers community and given little pep types on not giving up. In fact one writer this week (James Moran) did offer and give a virtual hug. Bloody hell that was lovely.

There are so many writers out there who happily share, FOR FREE, every bit of knowledge they have on writing scripts and how to succeed as writers. To me these people are like Gods. The ones who live the dream. They don't have day jobs, they fill forms in and put WRITER in the occupation box, they get commissions, they have agents, they have premieres of films.

Beyond that though is also the world of people like me who want to be able to put WRITER in that box, the people who enter the same competitons as me, who send their scripts to the same script reading services as me, and they too are happy to share anything they know, have learned or are in the process of learning.

This blog has ended up being much longer than I expected but that’s simply because I’m being fed so much to say. But to put it as simply as possible here are a few of the endless stream of things I’ve learned in the last week or so from twitter.

1. No swearing. Watersheds have to be considered. So what if the character would swear? Watershed won’t allow it. Take the swear words and put them elsewhere. (Write Here Write Now)

2. Script sprinting. Pick a project. Decide on timings. 30 minutes, 45 mins, 60 mins. Set a time to start and a time to finish. Then write, just write. No distractions. Just write. (Jane Espenson)

3. It isn’t just a myth, aimed to sell writing courses and writing books, that writers spec scripts can be picked up by producers. It really does happen that a writer without an agent can sell that script. (Kevin Lehane)

4. Script competitions with big cash prizes can be won by a good script (Andrew Carter) It was genuinely heart warming to see his tweet saying that he had won Scriptalooza

5. Writers work bloody hard. They write all the time. In the mornings, in the day, in the evenings, at night-time, in the early hours of the morning. If they’re working on something they write all the time. (Everywhere on twitter)

6. Writers work bloody hard getting writing work. They don’t sit around waiting for a phone call signing them up for the next big drama. They are pitching, meeting, scouring, developing, networking, whatever they need to do to get the next jobs lined up. If one idea is successful it isn’t enough you have to keep moving forward, marketing yourself, working the room. (Everywhere on twitter)

7. Rejection doesn’t end because you can put writer in the box on the form. Ideas will still be rejected, scripts will still be passed on. But writers get on with it, push another idea forward, re-work the idea. They don’t sulk for a few months and go on on-line forums complaining about why their script was rejected. (Everywhere on twitter)

8. How to make Swedish meatballs just like IKEA sells. Not strictly about writing but a very valid argument for engagement with twitter. (Lisa Holdsworth)

There is no doubting that the main advice to which any writer should adhere – if you want to be a writer then get writing, then write some more, then write some more. But there is also a very good argument for spending a little bit of your time each day checking out the world of writing on blogs, facebook, youtube, twitter and so on.

As for this over long blog, I promise from this point onwards twitter not witter.

Further blogs coming here soon
Why am I so scared of direct messaging?
Is twittering making me write more?
How can I be funnier, on twitter and in my scripts?
What the bloody hell is a #hashtag?

Writer in Search of Deadlines

Serious Screenwriting
2 page outline and 1st 10 pages for full length feature film
Tuesday 31st August

BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales, Radio plays Commissioning round
Proposals for radio plays
Before September 2010

Royal Exchange Theatre
Full length play for reading and feedback during the Script Window
October 1st - October 31st 2010

Pentabus Theatre: We are here
Call for full length plays for consideration for 2012 season
29th October 2010

Sherman Cymru, Script Slam
10 minute play to be performed script in hand at the Spring Script Slam
Deadline January 31st

Bruntwood Playwriting Competition
Full length play (1hr or more)
Will be launched on February 16th 2011

BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales, radio plays Commissioning Round
Proposals for radio plays
February 2011

Coming Up Channel 4
2 page treatment of idea for 25 - 30 min script, with a completed script of 10 - 60 mins
No more than 5 characters. Must be shot in 4 days on limited budget
Blog about last years workshops
Deadline tbc

Red Planet 2011
First 10 minutes of 60 minute TV screenplay either one off play or with potential for series
Deadline tbc

What am I doing at midnight on a Saturday night, in an infamous dogging car park in Llangurig

Yesterday did not have the best of starts nor did it have the best of ends either.

It started with the inevitable rejection letter, a concise yet polite notification that I had not been selected for the National Theatre, Ty Newydd, Venue Cymru playwriting course, "I am writing to let you know that unfortunately this time you have been unsuccessful in your application to be a part of this course. I am writing to you later in the day than expected because we had so many submissions. They were all very interesting to read and it has been a very exciting job looking through them all. It is really wonderful to know that so many people are out there writing plays."

On the return journey from NTW06 The Persians the no-fuel light flashed on at 40 miles, approximately 10 miles short of the journey end. The perils of journeys through Wales are the lack of petrol stations open after 7pm and the lack of signal through most of the journey which means if you get stranded you would not simply be able to phone a friend.

In fact lack of phone signal is quite often a feature in my scripts as an element to heighten the danger surrounding a character.

We pulled into a car park in Llangurig the last reliable signal point and phoned a friend who agreed to drive out to pick us up. I was reliably informed that we were in an infamous dogging car park.

However taking a step back even the bad was good really, the rejection letter was for a piece of writing that I had barely a week to pull together due to clashes with the red planet prize. But the work I did on it was enough to give me an idea to develop further. I created characters that I really liked and want to re-visit.

Even the breaking down was positive because I am so grateful that I have such lovely friends in my life that are willing to get out of bed at midnight on a Saturday night and drive to pick me up.

So putting it all in perspective it was actually quite a lovely day.

On to the next deadline

I've had my head down focusing on the Red Planet Prize, popping it up occasionally to try to think, "what the bloody hell am I going to write about for the National Theatre Playwrighting course?"

After a bit of dithering I've decided to pull from the deep recesses of my mind a very old idea about conversations between people involved in a motorway pile-up. Unfortunately my dithering just leaves me about 5 days to write 10 minutes.

I also want to explore the idea of the way, faced with extreme emotional situations, we actually leave out the most important words and dance about the things we actually want to say.

One of these days I should really try to make things easy for myself. Still what would be the fun in that?