signs

Apologies to anyone who still expects posts about scriptwriting (ha!) but now is think-time until the weekend pow wow when everything gets thrashed out and I stop faffing..

Meanwhile noticed a few strange little signs from the universe - all occurring in a short space of time..

Firstly, this morning at around 5 am I looked out of the window to see a young woman (outside the house across the road) skipping or rather jumping on the spot with a skipping rope. Unusual at that time, (in the half light) but nothing too out of the ordinary. Exercise.

Then about half an hour later, my daughter came running up to tell me that she could see a man lying asleep outside our house, on the stoep. I must have missed him before - but indeed there he was - fast asleep outside. 'Moving people on' is hub's job - so he did that and the man went away. No fuss. All the while, the girl across the road continued to skip.

Then as we all left the house for the school run, my daughter pointed out a loopy 'm' (or 'w' depending where you stood or maybe it was even a number '3' on its side) drawn in yellow chalk on the ground outside, directly opposite the front door. She hadn't drawn it so I guess the man who'd been asleep outside did.

Hmmm.....

that and this and that

Writing is still on hold here until the long summer holiday finally draws to a close at precisely 8 am on Wednesday 16th January - when my daughter and thousands of others start a new school year and I can finally get back to the desk - yippee.

'Write every day' may be the mantra, but an enforced period away from the desk is often just as productive. Time to set ideas sailing and see where they go. Lately I seem to have replaced writing with swimming (with the upshot that I'm now contemplating something set in a pool - ha!) On my writing 'to do' list for 2008 there's:

a fragmented family TV mini-series thing - pivoted round an absent father (have a title but not sure whether I completely like it yet)
a new SA story - for which I have a perfect title and pitch - and which has been percolating gently for several months now, and
WF (a UK/SA thing) which has been in the top drawer for ages but is missing some vital ingredient - probably needs more mulling over
Let's see.

There are also the 2 SA scripting projects from last year still under negotiation but my feeling is that if things are going to happen - then they tend to happen quickly. Hmmm..

Plus there's one (or two) schemes I'm excited about here and there - mainly there ;)

Laters.

PS: regarding the 'script with legs' - am in less of a quandary and have made up my mind to wait...

etc.

Slightly garbled blog as things seem to be speeding along. Awaiting feedback on the script but have already been told that there are 3 beginnings (hmm don't know how I managed that one - but I do see what they mean - still nothing that can't be fixed with a small tweak). Since sending it for reads, have been doing a few more passes on the dialogue - snips here and there.

Yesterday had a long overdue conference call about the next two scripts - a thriller - (have I ever written a thriller? - no but I'll give it a try) and a tug-of-love drama. Both quite meaty. I said initially that I could 'more or less knock out a script in a month' but I've now revised that to 'the more time I have - the better the script is likely to be.' Hmmmm. I also managed to persuade them, that at this stage I should write only the thriller treatment for the same (lowish) amount. 50% will be back end on both - which is not what I like but hey - beggars can't be choosers.

Laters.

thousands

Bit of a meandering rabble-babble about anything and nothing this one - seeing as several of my regular readers are on holiday or out of their country. Plus it seems to be raining torrentially absolutely everywhere on the planet. Plus there's not been too much in the way of opportunities to post about for the last couple of months and no information yet on the re-incarnation of Sithengi this year.

So maybe now is a good time for a word on rejection.

Long ago when I was (we were) green, my producer friend and I were touting my first script. One evening she spied a top, top producer in a pub and (unwilling to waste any opportunity) decided to pitch him then and there.
Before she even launched into her opener, he stopped her in her tracks, asked a few telling questions and then guffawed loudly at her response. 'You think you know about rejection? Well I've had thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of rejections.'

thisandthat

Not too much to report - still awaiting various outcomes from here and there and this and that. One local organisation was pleasant enough to email back and say that their hold up was due to 'language issues.'

Am a bit annoyed that a DVD I posted to a producer in the UK on 28th April did not arrive in time to be included with another submission. Agggh - probably all my fault - should've sent it speed post or courier but it would have been a whopping R497 (nearly 50 quid) Anyway - cross fingers that they'll accept it late.

For those who may be interested, I'm writing up a series of interviews with some of South Africa's jazz legends - which I think I might post here (after they've been published).

98th post - getting there slowly - hope to find something exciting for that all important 100th!

Laters

waiting

could be good, could be bad, could be a dead end, could open doors, could lead to other things, could be a bit of a long shot, could be a wild goose chase, could be an uphill slog, could be brilliant, could be crap, could be unrealistic, could be impractical, could be a legal minefield, could be something they're already doing, could be something they've already done, could be too 'off the wall', could be too much 'on the fence', could be too edgy, could be too safe, could be too gentle, could be a quick response or a slow one, could be no reply at all, could be ..

(on the topic have a look at the brilliant cartoon on Lianne's blog here.)