FORTY KEY SCENES - REVISITED

When I finished the rough draft of my current feature I posted a picture on Facebook and Twitter of my index cards all crossed off. Some of you asked what they were and what I used them for, and even though I've talked about this subject before, I really think it's worth mentioning again. It basically works like this.

Go buy a pack of index card, doesn't really matter what colour, unless of course you want to use a different colour for a different act. Count out 40 of them and start writing short paragraphs of each scene you would like in your script, one to each card. You probably won't have 40 scenes in your head yet so plenty of those cards will be blank. Not to worry you're about to fill those in next.

The index cards should be split like this: 10 for the 1st act, 20 for the 2nd and 10 for the 3rd. Card 5 should be the inciting incident, card 10 the end of the first act, card 20 the midpoint, card 30 the end of act 2 and card 40 the end of your screenplay.

Now you fill the rest of those cards in and pin them up on a wall somewhere, a nice big wall so you can spread the cards out. Don't worry if you change some of your ideas as you go along, that's why you bought lots of cards, because your plot will change as you discover gaping holes in it and areas that need more work. It really helps to visualise your plot and where its faults lie. When the 40 are full, get writing that screenplay.

Cross off each card as you go and if you get a little stuck move on to another card and come back later to the one that was giving you trouble. When they're all crossed off that's your first draft complete.

Of course these are not hard and fast rules of how you should plot, but this is how I do it. Things change fast as I write and I often find scenes will change, new scenes will be added and some will be removed altogether. The index cards are only a guideline to help me focus on my characters. Of course you could go a little over board and write each characters appearance on those cards in a different colour, so it all looks very pretty, but that's up to you.

Happy writing!

LIFE

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction and can often provide a writer with a rich source of crazy shit to write about.

Take the news story of the three kidnapped woman in Ohio who finally escaped their captor this week, after one was held captive for ten years. Relocate the story to inner city London and you have a very intense, low budget, psychological horror. Brilliant!

Then what about the singer who hired a cop to kill his wife? Could that work as a low budget UK film?Or what about the story of three people dead after a ship crashes into a port? Could something more sinister be at play that caused the crash? Aliens perhaps? OK, maybe that one's a bit silly, but I think you get my drift.

There was a news story a few weeks ago, I'm not going to tell you which one, that grabbed my imagination by the dangly bits and gave a sharp tug. Now I can't get the idea out of my head even though I'm supposed to be working on other things. And it's constantly growing and developing into a living breathing thing. It's alive I tell you....ALIVVVVVVEEEEEE!!!

So watch the news. Read newspapers. Search the web. Your next script idea is out there waiting for you.

BOOKING TIME FOR YOURSELF

I was catching up on Danny & Tim's internationally renowned UK Scriptwriters' Podcast (LINK), while I was walking the dog the other day, and they were talking about making time for yourself.

Tim mentioned he had booked some time off in February, writing it in his diary as he would any other appointment or deadline, to focus on his own work. He did this because he found when he was busy with commissioned projects he had little or no time to work on his own spec screenplays and by setting aside time for himself he was able to do just that.

I was chatting to Daniel Martin Eckhart at LSWF last October and he was also talking about taking a year out from his commissioned work to focus on his own ideas. He had been working non stop for years on other people's projects since he was handed his first commission and felt it was time to concentrate on his own specs.

I have the same problem. Back in December 2011 I planned to write a second draft of my comedy heist feature A FIST FULL OF EUROS, then in January 2012 I landed my first commissioned feature screenplay. I've been working steadily ever since and I still haven't found time to get back to the script. And I probably won't do for some while yet, as after I've finished my latest commission I'll immediately start a new one.

It's the same kind of problem I had when I worked full-time and struggled to find the time to write. But I made myself find the time, made myself sit down and write, even when I didn't feel like it.

It's great being busy but I do miss working on my own stuff when I'm working for other people. So I've decided to book myself in my diary for some me time, one day a week until A FIST FULL OF EUROS is done. But which day to choose?

REWRITTEN

The producer and director of my first commissioned feature have moved on from my polished draft and rewritten it themselves. I have to admit I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this at first.

It was a very tough first commissioned feature to write as the producer and director were very precise about what they wanted, even to the point of spending four hours on Skype with me going through the final draft of the script line by line. It was incredibly difficult to put my own mark on the script and at times I became frustrated, especially when I didn't agree with what they were asking of me. I worked very hard on the script to give them what they wanted while also making sure it was the best it could be. Now they have informed me they have moved on from my draft.

I haven't seen the new draft so obviously I'm a little nervous because I know some of their suggestions for changes wouldn't have worked. It's hard to accept that things are now out of my control as my name will still be on the credits. I keep thinking, 'What if the changes they made don't work? What if they've made the screenplay worse? What if the screenplay is now utter rubbish and everyone is going to think I can't write?' Of course that's just my writers' paranoia popping out to say hello and I really shouldn't be listening to it.

The fact is there are always going to be changes to a screenplay, even during production, and as a writer I have to trust the vision of the producer and director. It doesn't matter what I think. It's their film. What matters is the producer and director get what they want. My doubts and fears don't come into it.

So I've decided I shouldn't fear being rewritten as it's just part of a process. I did my job. I did it well. A new draft is not a bad reflection on me. I've given them a great base from which to move forward and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished film.

JOHN YORKE - INTO THE WOODS

On April 4th 2013 the legendary John Yorke will launch his book INTO THE WOODS, a detailed study of the five act structure.

To celebrate this epic event I have been lucky enough to grab a place for one very lucky reader of my blog, for his online course starting in September 2013. Yep you read that right, a place on his sixteen week online course starting September 2013. And yes it is as great an opportunity as it sounds. You can't afford to miss an opportunity like this!

So as of today until the 4th April I will be holding a logline competition for the best TV series logline posted here in the comments section (and only in the comments section, not on Twiter or anywhere else) by your good selves. I will then choose one worthy winner who will be offered to opportunity of a place on the course. How utterly wicked is that? Find out further details about the course HERE.

So start posting those loglines and keep an eye out on the 4th April to see if you've won. Here's an example logline from one of my TV ideas to aid you in thinking up one of your own:

"A career criminal is discovered by police lying injured next to the bloody corpse of a woman. To prove his innocence he is forced to escape and wade through Manchester’s criminal underbelly to find the person responsible."

INTO THE WOODS: A FIVE ACT JOURNEY INTO STORY is an invaluable guide to writing by John Yorke, the Managing Director of Company Pictures and founder of the BBC Writer's Academy. Yorke takes us on a journey into the heart of storytelling, revealing that there truly is a unifying shape to narrative forms - one that echoes the great fairytale journey into the woods and, like any great art, comes from within.

'Even for a convinced sceptic, John Yorke¹s book, with its massive field of reference from Aristotle to Glee, and from Shakespeare to Spooks, is a highly persuasive and hugely enjoyable read. It would be hard to beat for information and wisdom about how and why stories are told.'

Dominic Dromgoole
Artistic Director, The Globe Theatre

Good luck everyone, I'm looking forward to reading your loglines.

*EMERGENCY UPDATE*
The prize has changed. No longer will the winner be given a place on John Yorke's 16 week online course. Instead you will spend a day face to face with the man himself. Yes...I did just say face to face with the man himself. I know, I just came in my pants too.

Whoever the winner is, is one lucky so and so and had better make sure they make the most of the opportunity, because even I don't get the chance to meet the great man himself. So get those loglines in QUICK!!!!!

BIG TALK

So this evening at 6.30pm I will be talking to a gathering of Bournemouth University scriptwriting students (I think they are collectively known as a 'Piss Up'). I will be divulging all the knowledge I have accumulated over the years on how to carve out a successful writing career. That should take all of five minutes then....at least I'll be home early.

When I was asked to give a talk at the university I jumped at the chance. So many people have given me advice over the years, whether they knew it or not, it's good to be able to pass on that knowledge to a new generation of emerging writers. I only wish there had been more people willing to give up their time and their advice when I was on the scriptwriting degree in 1998-2001.

The scriptwriting degree was great but fell short I think because it only taught me about the writing side of a career. Hardly anything at all was mentioned about how to go about getting work and networking. Indeed it took me four years after leaving university to realise I actually knew nothing about the business and another six years to learn all I could while networking like crazy. And I still don't know a lot.

Since I escaped university with my degree, giant leaps have been made on the internet, with things like Skype, Blogger, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, aiding writers to put themselves out there and connect with other like minded individuals. Technology has leapt forward too with phones that can now do all the above where ever the writer might be. No longer is a writer tied to their desk. I never had any of that when I started out....or 'Back In The Day' as I call it.

That's why I'm glad the opportunity arose to give this talk. Emerging writers have it so much better these days with people like myself, Danny Stack, Tim Clague and Lucy Hay giving up our time to pass on our knowledge. You don't know how lucky you are.

Christ, I sound like my dad!

YOU NEVER KNOW

A few weeks ago a friend phoned me up and asked me to read a short novel he had bought the rights to, with the aim of me writing the screenplay later in the year.

I was told it was an erotic gay novel about a 14-year-old boy and his first love and I knew it wasn't something that really appealed to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not homophobic, far from it in fact, it's just not a subject matter I have an interest in writing. I've never even attempted a rom-com for goodness sake. Anyone who is familiar with my writing knows I like to write dark character based drama, the dark side of human nature and what we do to others because of our own selfish needs and desires. A romantic story of love and friendship couldn't be further from my comfort zone. But as I'm as good as my word I read the novel so I could at least give my friend my thoughts on it.

The book surprised me! In fact it knocked me for six. So when I'd read about halfway I phoned my friend up and told him I was writing the screenplay. That was all it took, just half the novel, to get me hooked.

What appealed to me was the growth of the relationship and how both boys learnt from each other and grew into men. It wasn't pornographic, it wasn't overly erotic, it was just a wonderful love story of two friends. It reminded me a lot of growing up in the Leicestershire countryside, staying out all day during the summer, exploring, adventuring and climbing trees, days that my parents didn't have to worry about where I was, or what I was up to. Those were the days of true freedom modern children, in our overprotective society, will never know. And reading that novel took me back to a time I long thought I had lost.

I finished the novel yesterday and I still know I've made the right choice to write the screenplay. You might be offered something that isn't your cup of tea at some point in your career. Don't turn it down. Explore the story and see if there is something in it that surprises you, something that grabs your attention and resonates with you so strongly you have no choice but to follow it through. You just never know.

If you are wondering what the book was that grabbed my imagination so, then you should hunt it down and read it. The book is called Cowboys Can Fly by Ken Smith.