Last day of the school holidays today - yeehaaa! Managed to get my treatment in only one day late and since now have to wait for feedback until end of next week, maybe there's time to look at some of those deadlines...
The story I've been working on is a commission and rather a departure for me - being a real rollercoaster, gut wrenching, family drama. Although I am enjoying the writing - the peaks / troughs and emotional 'button pushing' is not something I tend to be drawn to when writing my own specs. I prefer to be more subtly subversive and peel away layers - which maybe doesn't always work in the right way. Perhaps the script will end up needing both.
Writing someone else's story can give you a perspective on the stories you like telling and why you enjoy telling them.
This one is again based on a true story (maybe I'm getting a bit typecast here). After reading the original script (which was all over the place and definitely did not work) and the various news reports etc, I found that I had little sympathy towards one main character - so the biggest battle was warming to her. I found that giving her an affinity for Pinot Grigio helped.
Being holiday time, daughter and hub are around quite a bit so inevitably I've ended up testing bits of the story on them. Hub had tears in his eyes at one point (ha!) and now my daughter keeps asking me to tell her 'the plane bit again'. Someone told me once that if a musician is composing a song - and other people around (usually children) pick up on the tune quickly and start humming it - then bingo - it 'works'. Going by my domestic barometer - maybe I have a result.
Until feedback indicates otherwise (ha!)
Laters.
8 comments:
Sounds pretty good.
so you are doing a rewrite? it sounds great. like someone doing your own first draft for you, but you get to be objective so you can see all the mistakes and then write it how it should be written.
hope your domestic barometer is right!
cor 2 posts in 4 minutes!
Yes Pot - but it bears no ressemblance to the original script at all (ha!)
& don't think the domestic barometers will be that reliable somehow..
Unsympathetic main characters - I've often wondered how playwrights/screenwriters approach this. I've taught a number of plays in my classes lately with unsympathetic protagonists - very challenging for my students to sort out theme etc when they are not sympathetically drawn to the protagonist, or other main characters - I'm finding.
. . . just the thoughts that come to mind from your post. Best of luck with your project.
Hi Anna - yes it is an interesting issue. In my script I think the character is supposed to be sympathetic but I don't find her so morally(!) I wonder - with unsympathetic characters - how much of their 'bad side' is actually down to the writer's intent and how much is audience's subjectivity/opinion...
I just saw Into The Wild on the plane and the main character really irritated me. I just didn't care.
I was underwhelmed by the trailer - but maybe if you're under 25 and a bloke..
Hope the domestic barometer is accurate. The "affinity for Pinot Grigio" idea made me smile, anyway!
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