moment

As writers we collect moments and images - particularly ones that puzzle or which can't easily be explained; moments from our lives, memories of parents or relatives - but most often incidents which seem peripheral or irrelevant at the time. We store these away somewhere in our subconscious. Then sometimes during writing, an image, plucked from some faraway recess, re-emerges in an eureka moment of understanding within a story. The narrative enables the understanding.

I was once in a small group of art students travelling out of Paris on the metro. The train stopped at a station. The carriage doors opened. No one got in and no one got out. Then, just as the doors were about to shut - a man standing on the platform darted into the carriage, picked up a minuscule piece of 'nothing' from the carriage floor and sped out again just as the doors slid shut. The train moved off. All of a sudden, passengers looked round at one another, baffled. Someone quipped; 'Aha le microdot!' and everyone laughed.

I'm throwing this one open. Any clues?

scopes

Those horoscopes (for writers) are now available at TJ MacGregor's own site here.
See how both of August's eclipses will affect you.

punchy

Feedback finally arrived and it's all very do-able. I'm on the right track - just have to punch up the emotional drama even more. So back to work and..

punch up, punch up
punch up...
(c'mon you know you want to join in..)

I had a blogwave in the middle of the night and thought why not do a visitor poll? All writers like filling out forms and answering questions about themselves don't they? - so yes! I'll have a fiddle with blogger over the next while and see... Of course you all must answer it - all eight of you - but it will be totally anonymous...

punch up punch up

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...

modus

Following Lianne's Arvon inspired lead, I'm answering twenty questions about writing methods.

1.Do you outline?
Yes - I never like to start without an outline - the more detailed the better

2. Do you write straight through a script, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
Usually straight through, though I might skip a difficult bit and come back later

3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
PC of course - though I started out always writing with a pen in big notebooks

4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
Third. Though 1st is useful sometimes (eg recent monologue)

5. Do you listen to music while you write?
No.

6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
Sometimes names are there from the word go. If I'm basing a character on someone, I tend to keep their real name (and change it at a later date). In several scripts, my female lead character's name begins with a B - for some reason

7. When you’re writing, do you ever imagine your script as a book/short story?
Yes sometimes.

8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn’t want him/her to do?
Characters should surprise. Recently a character convinced me that, although he'd bludgeoned someone to death, it wasn't murder.

9. Do you know how a script is going to end when you start it?
Sometimes not always - as I said on this blog before - I tend to travel hopefully..

10. Where do you write?
At home at my desk

11. What do you do when you get writer’s block?
I don't believe in it so I don't get it. If I don't want to write, I don't write. Anyway we all write crap sometimes.

12. What size increments do you write in?
Depends. I like to write a lot fast, say at least 10 pages a day then rewrite much slower

13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
My last I'm still working on. I'd say it'll have gone through about 5 major revisions before going out.

14. Have you ever changed a character’s name midway through a draft?
Yes in the last draft - a black character became white and his name changed too

15. Do you let anyone read your script while you’re working on it, or do you wait until you’ve completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I wait until I've finished - although I do like to have feedback or input on outlines or whatever before I get started.

16. What do you do to celebrate when you've finished a draft?
Have a glass of Pinot Grigio

17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
Although I tend to have several on the go, there's usually only one that I'm truly focussed on.

18. Do your scripts grow or shrink in revision?
Shrink.

19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
Yes I have one long-standing critic who I've known for years and some others.
Have had mixed involvements in collaboration - once developing a series - which was fantastic until the money ran out. I also brainstormed a sitcom here once but wasn't enamoured with the process or the project - so I left.

20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
Revising. I think but I like finishing a first draft too

The End

Yee haa! The script is finished. I'm fairly pleased, (I think) though of course there's now a hefty edit awaiting and a few holes that need to be filled.

It has been the most difficult script I've ever written for various reasons. One story thing that emerged is - since the conflict is explored from the POV of the main character - the antagonist becomes (almost) like a figment of his imagination. Hmm. I hope that works. You see this is a story, based on real life events - and while I have free reign with my main character, there is less leniency with the antagonist (he could sue) - so with him I've had to stick more or less to court records and news stuff in the public domain.

Early next week I'll send it off to the producer and a couple of others for quick-turnaround feedback (ha!). Let's see. If there's not too many dramatic adjustments needed, hopefully I can put an application in the post soon.

Onwards.

momentum

My head is starting to spin. Waved off my sister and her hub back to Brum via Blighty from Cape Town International this afternoon after a weekend of 70th birthday celebrations (and a sneaked-in bit of writing here and there). The trouble with being a scriptwriter is that people (who may've flown 5000 miles to see you) never think you're actually doing anything important at your desk and that you're messing around or something (ahem...)

Right now I've just about hit the wall with this script - you know the challenging bit where the writing momentum seems to have flown out the window. What is left is the unappetising graft - an uphill slog, knocking it out. But soon it'll be time for another act print out - to shift everything around, pull it together and add pizzazz. That's much more interesting ..

The back burner script projects will be on the front burner as of next week (with contracts and money all being spoken about in the same call.) I always believe it's best to say yes to everything first (within reason) - because most of the time it'll take forever to actually get off the ground anyway. But first I have to get this one finished. Phew! What else?

I was a bit perturbed after reading the UKFC's new development criteria (which now seem wonderfully writer-friendly as well as pecuniarily enhanced - that no re-submissions are allowed. The old scheme of course allowed re-submissions. As I previously submitted (prematurely and with only a treatment) I despatched an email query to clarify matters. Happily it seems it will be ok.

There you go. Onwards type, type!

beads & beats

Ok so now writing work is piling up on the sidelines while I crack on with the current script. Act one is in the bag. The 'layered time' stuff was rather like threading a multi-coloured beaded necklace, stringing in one colour and then another. Then I trimmed all the VO right back. So that's done.

I've beat sheeted the next two Acts which now should be fairly straight forward to write (ahem).

Looking ahead I can foresee a problem with the ending. I know some folk think you shouldn't bother starting a script without knowing the ending but I tend to be of the opposite opinion - better to travel hopefully than arrive - allow the story to find its conclusion. But maybe that's waffle.

The problem I have with this script is how to end a story based on 'real' events. I think I may have to insert a hefty dose of fiction to tie it all up. Hmmm.

Laters.

feeding back

I quite like the idea of Michael Arndt's script feedback 'form' that Jurgen Wolff mentioned on his blog recently. To read JW's post click here.

'He gives his friends a form to fill out. On it, they are asked to rate from 1 to 10 how well each of the major characters comes across, and how effective they felt each of the major scenes is. He also gives them a list of ten things he thinks might be wrong with the script and asks them to rate to what extent (again, 1 to 10)'

I like the fact that this type of feedback is writer-led - so could be more useful in the early drafts. The questionnaire could be adapted to suit a particular script. It could also help eliminate vague or conflicting PO3 feedback - (for those that go that route)

Hmmm. Might try it.

pages

Pages, pages how many do you write? Of course it depends whether you are working part-time or writing full-time or not. I read somewhere recently that 5 pages a day is reckoned to be a reasonable writing count (for a full time writer). That does seem very doable. At that daily rate you can churn out a feature script in just over 3 weeks.
In the past I've tended more towards manic writing bursts - where I literally write upwards of 20 pages in one day, rather than make steady progress . Usually when I write loads, it is because I've had plenty of time to think through the entire story. Also some stories are more straight forward than others - more easily told.
On the current project, I'm happy doing anything between 0 and 5 pages a day. Yes O pages of writing sometimes(!) But on the 0 days, I'll be planning out what's next and making all kinds of notes. This 'multi-layered time' thing requires pieces of story information to be revealed stealthily - so it has to minutely planned.

Hmm pages, pages - what about you?

..progress

Ok so this is a 'scriptwriting in progress' post - so non-writers or those wanting a more exciting read, turn away now.

This script that I'm writing is based on a true life story - in a way it's an offbeat 'zero to hero', pivoted around some big historical moments.

The other day I realised I had to layer the timing of events and kind of zap back and forth between different places. Why? - mainly because I want the story to link 'moments of revelation' that occur at different points in the protagonist's life. Also I realised that bringing in the antagonist (and the real conflict) at the act one turning point (around 30 pages in) just won't work - it's far too late. People will be thinking - so where's this story going?

I've avoided using the words 'flash back' and 'flash forward' here and I'll avoid pointing them up as such in the script (even though they are there). You see the story is threaded together with a fairly sparse present tense VO. Generally I don't think viewers and audience have a problem with stories that skim back and forth time-wise - so it's getting it down on the page simply - which is the difficult part.

Thinking it out and chopping it up often takes longer than actual writing. So now back to the computer - but at least I know what I'm doing. I think.
Laters

scope

I was wondering if there was something in the stars that might explain why projects that have been dormant for the best part of the year should suddenly spring into action - all at the same time. A quick visit to TJMacgregor's September horoscopes for writers (Aries) here tells me that "After the 7th, when Venus turns direct in Leo, you’re writing at the speed of light. Suddenly, your plot and characters are behaving the way they should and your writing is smooth, even." That sounds good - despite not explaining the shift - so maybe it is down to Saturn's move on the 2nd ...

Anyway, am now around page 20 of the script. A snippet of feedback pointed out - ever so politely - that the antagonist is completely missing in the opening pages. I was planning on bringing him in at the end of the first act but realise (ahem) that this is probably a little late. So a bit of hasty re-jigging went on today to pull him into the story a bit faster.

Laters

headway

Even though I've been blogging now for nearly a year, I don't think I've mapped the entire course of a new script before. The current project was mentioned when it was a mere one pager so I may as well carry on.

This hasn't been a typical way of scriptwriting. The one page contained a word on which most of the story is pivoted - the word 'accident'. Then came the treatment - which was just a chronology of events that didn't really focus on either the character or story direction. More drastically, for some reason the treatment missed out the crucial word 'accident'.* Then a long monologue which told the entire story from the POV of the lead character and finally a flexible one page structural outline.

So now I'm finally writing the script and on page 12 so I'll keep updating on how its going.

Laters

* Hmm - so I suppose what I'm demonstrating here is that it is possible to completely forget the 'raison d'etre' for a story while getting lost in the detail.

pastures green

Well the blog has been getting short shrift these days what with everyone decamping to greener and more voyeuristic cyber pastures. But I've started it and so I'll finish - anyway this space can now be used for more leisurely musings. Blogging is so much more sedate and it doesn't really matter whether only 4 or 5 people read a post - does it? Still I'm bemused to discover that the virtual massive is perfectly happy to parade the entire contents of a life - online.
Hmm. Who was it said 'keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.'

What else? Well the short story or rather monologue is becoming longer and longer by the minute - rather like the type of hand-knitted scarf you'd never wear.

A synopsis for 1 of 2 scripts that I'm supposed to be engaged on very soon came though - containing the priceless phrase 'post pneumatic stress disorder'.
Anyway at last money is being spoken about so - onwards. Write, write, write.

POV

In an exercise designed to solve issues pointed up by recent notes and feedback, I've been working on an extended monologue that tells the film story from the main character's point of view. Thanks to a little blogchat first with Pot I didn't rush into scripting.

The monologue is providing background and family stuff which won't even make the script eventually - but paints in the social backdrop (AIDS/crime). The character is complex and needs to be very engaging, self justifying and persuasive otherwise the audience might not buy into his worldview or morality. Every now and then (in the monologue) he launches into a long rant on some aspect of society. So his emotions and everything are laid bare through a bleak humour.

Being a monologue it is fairly organic - zapping easily back and forth between disparate places, people and incidents over time in a way a script could never do. In my mind I'm already highlighting what's going 'in' and what's 'out'.

Anyway around 9 pages of prose so far and still a long way to go. Think it will end up around 18 pages. Progress has been a bit stymied with my daughter off sick from school this week.

Later

Writing

OK so this post is popping up all over - I'm linking to it here because it is funny.
For advice on your writing career read this.

Right that's enough faffing for today. Back to work

circles and spirals

So on to 'the stories we tell and why we tell them.'

Some people say that we all only really have one story, which we tell over and over again in different forms. Sometimes it’s a circle and sometimes it’s a spiral. *

I read an interview somewhere, ages ago with the Weinstein brothers who spoke about how their Jewish experience informed the stories they wanted to tell ‘We make films about the outsider who comes in and changes things’.

The stories I tell are often about 'the insider who doesn’t fit in and wants to run away.’ A different migrant experience. When I look over vastly different scripts I've written - it is a theme that keeps popping up.

So here's an interesting exercise - try and sum up what you write about in a short phrase or a single sentence...

* sometimes it's simple and sometimes it's a bit more complicated

writer or writer-director?

OK not blogged for a while - so a bit of a rambly one this one. There's been talk elsewhere about the need for scriptwriters to multi-task these days and consider being 'writer-directors' or 'writer-producers'.

Having come into writing more from the filmmaking end in the first place I'm inclined to agree that this is the way forward. In these digitally diverse times, there's a greater need for writers to extend their creative repertoire. Plus directing feeds writing and vice versa. 'Writer-producer' is a more difficult one (in my opinion - since writers and producers tend to exhibit diametrically opposed personality traits) But then again - being industry savvy, personable and business-like in approach can only enhance a career.

A bit of a tangent now: I started off making strange little art films with no recognisable beginning, middle or end - in which people wandered about and said and did odd things. There were (politely) called 'anti-narratives.' I was more interested in telling stories (but this was a bit of no-no then in art filmmaking). So in my early shorts, the stories fought to be recognised.
One day I attended a degree show 'installation' at some big Art College. At the front of the room was a large TV, placed with the screen facing the wall. The audience filed in. The TV was switched on and in the darkened room we were treated to a 20 minute viewing of the 'glow' projected on the wall from the monitor. After 4 minutes I ran to the door and demanded to be let out citing claustrophobia. I think it was actually an early manifestation of 'fear of storyless-ness' - ( if there is such a thing.)

Later - characters from my 'anti-narrative' shorts returned in more conventional stories.

(Some people say that we all only really have one story, which we tell over and over again in a different form. Sometimes it’s a circle and sometimes it’s a spiral. This is starting to sound like a topic for another post.)

Back on topic: There's this mystique about directing and I have no idea why since writing and re-writing is often harder than directing. Of course the two demand different skills. Writers can be self effacing, writer-directors can not. Writing is often solitary, directing is team work. The director involvement is also shorter. Writing can go on endlessly. Directing demands more social/ people skills. It is also stressful, requires meticulous planning and involves a massive amount of crisis management. However directing is also great fun - so long as there is a good, experienced producer and competent crew to back up a 'new' director.

So over to you. Writer only or writer-director (and why)?
Plus if anyone has any queries about writer-directors - then drop a comment. Ta

desk

in the meantime.

Blogwriters

Ever wondered what is the point of blogs for writers?

To read the findings of Miss Cellany's recent analysis click here.

and feedback on a UK Writers' Guild event on 'blogs for writers' is available here.