RECYCLE

"You really should turn this idea into a feature."

Every writer has their favorite story, the one they spend months or even years developing, the one they still get a kick out of every time they read it. It's even better when others read it and fall in love with it too. But it's incredibly frustrating when the screenplay isn't optioned and ends up gathering cyber dust on the hard drive of your computer. Don't despair, no project is ever truly dead.

A screenwriting friend once described projects as roundabouts; eventually, they'll come around again. What he meant by this is that someone somewhere at some time in the future will be interested in that project and option it. It may not be today, tomorrow, or even next month, but at some point, the subject of your screenplay will suddenly be in vogue again. "Have you got anything with happy dancing, pensioner gnomes in it?"

That's why it's always worth revisiting your work now and again and bringing it up to date, so it's ready to go should the market change in its favour.

Then there's recycling your ideas. In a meeting with a TV company last month I was told they loved the sample of work I sent them, a pilot episode of a spec TV crime drama series. When they suggested the idea would make a brilliant feature I initially dismissed the idea. But the more I thought about it the more it actually made sense.

It's not the first time I've changed the medium of one of my projects. One of the features I was commissioned for has changed from British Drama to American Crime Thriller to British TV Crime Drama. The idea has been recycled, turned into something else, giving it more chances of being
made.

So go and take look at your work and see if any of it could translate to another medium, whether that be a feature, a radio play, a piece of theatre or even a novel.

Happy writing!

LONDON, MEETINGS AND POTS OF TEA

Because I live on the busy South Coast of the UK it takes between two and three hours (depending on whether it's the fast or slow train) to travel up to London for meetings, which usually means a whole day away from my desk. So when I do travel up I like to make sure I have a packed day ahead of me.

I arrived at Waterloo at 10.00am yesterday, ready and raring to go. My agent was waiting for me under the clock and we hurried off to find a cafe, desperately dodging rain showers as we negotiated the London traffic. It was just a brief catch up over a latte before heading off for the main meeting of the day, discussing what I planned to write over the next few months and the various stages my current projects were at. And good news, my agent loved my new spec drama pilot episode and the series bible for a new crime drama idea. So after agreeing on a strategy for sending them out, I hopped on the tube for my next meeting.

It was cold and wet, so I was glad the lady emailed me to let me know she was already at the agreed meeting place and waiting for me inside. No standing outside in the rain like a lemon for me.

This was the big one, the reason for my trip, a major TV production company with offices all over the world and they wanted to meet with little old me. No pressure then... HA! In fact, it was a very relaxed chat. I sat down, ordered a pot of tea, she discussed how their company works, what they are looking for and what they are currently working on. Then we discussed my projects and I agreed to send her three of them. A great meeting. But after the latte and the pot of tea (Breakfast tea, three full cups) the pressure was starting to build, so I had to make a pit stop and grab a sandwich to go on the way to my next meeting with the brilliant Phil Mulryne, script editor of Doctor Foster series two.

Our meeting was just a little catch-up, two people with a love of TV and screenwriting chatting about what they were up to and what they were currently loving on the goggle box. It's always good to keep in touch with people and keep abreast of what they're working on. Another pot of tea later (this time lemon and ginger, another three cups) I scurried off to my final meeting of the day with my good friend Tom Kerevan... and he bought me a large latte.

The trains were delayed on the way home. Two people had been hit by trains in separate incidents. A lot of services had been cancelled and were only just getting up and running again. It was chaos. A lot of people were angry and could only see the two suicides as an inconvenience. It saddened me that our race can be so uncaring at times.

As I waited patiently for my train I thought about those two unfortunate souls, who for whatever reason had decided their lives were not worth living. I realised I'm a very lucky person to do what I love, to have others who love what I do and to be surrounded by those who love and support me.

So as I sat on the crowded train home, my bladder full to bursting, I said a little prayer for those two lost souls and promised myself to always be grateful for the opportunities presented to me.

Happy writing.