Making Mistakes

Everyone makes them, but can they stall, or even end, your career?

OK ending your career is a bit of an exaggeration, but mistakes could potentially harm it. What do I mean by mistakes? I mean anything that is not professional, like using Twitter when you've had a few too many beers and asking someone you hardly know if they want to meet up for a chat about nothing in particular. Not professional at all especially if that person is an agent.

Agents talk to each other, as does everyone in media, and you don't want to be known as the bloke who Tweets drunk. That's why it's important to keep up a professional front online all the time, one mistake can hang around for quite a while.

So the point is... be mindful of everything you write, or upload, on the Internet. Someone somewhere is always watching.

Him & Her Part 3

'I didn't laugh once,' so said the wife.

But it was funny, especially Paul having a mental in his Postman Pat outfit....oh, how I laughed!!!

Rewrite Workshop - Mead Kerr

REWRITE - Working with Script Editors and Producers. Getting
someone interested in your writing is only the start of the
process. This one day event is your chance to learn from
successful Writers, Script Editors and Producers about what
happens next and offers you a chance to get the insider
knowledge you need to build your career.

For more info please follow this link:

http://rewrite.eventbrite.com/

Book up quickly.

Him & Her Part 2 - I am Steve's tissue covered foreskin.

The wife and I have spent the last week discussing why we didn't like the first episode. No, (didn't like) are the wrong words. (Didn't find funny), that's more like it. Anyway the reason for me was summed up in a few words from my wife, "I live with that 24/7." How very dare she, I thought, how very....then it hit me....I am Steven.

The things Russell Tovey's character Steven did, or encountered during the first episode could have been lifted straight from my life. I have a great dislike to crumbs in the bed, they make it uncomfortable. I could go on, but I'd only bore you/embarrass myself. It was too much of a revelation on how difficult it is to live with me sometimes, for me to laugh at Steven/Me in the first episode.

Episode Two: I'm sold, and no, not because Russell Tovey tweeted me and asked me to stick with it. I think he's a great actor, but I do have my own opinion and I'm no suck up. But once I understood I was watching what I, and every other bloke has gone through during their twenties, up there on the screen, I got the humour and laughed my bloody bollocks off. It's very well written, with such superb observational comedy that I had to check my house for hidden cameras.

So yes, Mr. Russell Tovey, you did say it would get under my skin and indeed it is doing its best to do so. Can't wait for the next episode.

Him & Her - Comedy Is Subjective

So the new Russell Tovey comedy Him & Her made is debut on BBC Three on Monday night...but it wasn't funny...or more to the point, the wife and I didn't find it funny.

Smutty humor was a big hit in the nineties, not now. Smutty humor now is just childish.

Things I didn't find funny:

- Opening discussion about blow jobs.
- The constant mention of sex.
- The word FUCK.
- Toilet paper under the foreskin.
- Sniffing said bit of toilet paper.
- Women doing stinky bowl movements on the toilet.
- Women leaving stinky bowl movements in toilet and not flushing.
- Jumping around like a girl when coming across a spider.
- Eating pubes on toast.
- Eating toast in bed and dropping crumbs.
- Pissing in a hand basin.

The only thing the show had going for it was the uncomfortably annoying neighbour and Russell. I love Russell Tovey, he's brilliant in everything he does, but even he can't save something so unfunny as Him & Her, or can he?

If you want to know how to do smut well, then see Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps. It just goes to show comedy is subjective.

I have erased it off my Sky+ recording schedule (on the recommendation of Russell himself I have now reinstated it).

The Ups And Downs Of Writing

So the Red Planet Prize said no to me yesterday. I was disappointed I must admit, as I felt the script was my best work to date. But with every down comes an up to keep you going.

A well know script reader (who shall remain nameless as they know who they are) emailed me and asked to read my Red Planet ten pages, after reading of my disappointment on twitter. They gave a lot of positive feedback and said they thought I was just unlucky not to get through to the next round, which was very encouraging to me.

Then today I got an email from the BBC Writersroom with some feedback on a script I sent them. Even though they thought the characters could have done with a little more work, and the narrative was a little slow, there were plenty of flattering comments about dialogue, characters, comedy and originality. So despite my rejection yesterday my writing is improving by leaps and bounds. All that hard work certainly pays off.

Don't forget, just because you get rejected doesn't mean you're a bad writer. A script that is one person's Oscar, is another person's loo paper. Keep writing, have faith, work hard and you'll get there.

How I Became A Writer

I've been memed thanks to Michelle Goode, who nominated me for this on her blog, even though I have already written the comedy version a few weeks ago. The reality is less entertaining I assure you.

I was twenty-three when I wrote my first screenplay, basically out of sheer boredom. I had been unemployed for something close to six months (which ended up being nearly nine, mind numbing, soul sapping, months) and was running out of things to keep me occupied. I had just finished reading John Wagner's Button Man and decided I would have a go at writing my own screenplay version of it. I had always been in love with TV and the movies ever since I saw the film Dirty Harry when I was thirteen. For some reason I found myself identifying with Harry, bad as he is, which all good film and TV characters should make you do. So I sat down at my computer and started to write.

I didn't plan, didn't work on the characters, didn't have any notes, I just wrote it from the heart. It took me something like six weeks to complete. I had a screenplay, a shit screenplay, but one I had written none the less. I felt a sense of achievement I had never felt before.

Looking back the script was bloody awful, but it did have some promising points. For a start I appeared to have a natural talent for plotting and pace, but on the other hand it was obvious my characters, dialogue and story had to be worked hard on if I was ever going to be any good. It was then I bought my first how to write a screenplay book, can't remember who's it was, as I don't have it anymore....but I think it might have been How To Teach Yourself Scriptwriting.

I sent the script out to a few production companies and got a few nice comments back in return, but I eventually put the script away in a draw as I was employed again. At that time writing was a distraction from being unemployed, it didn't even occur to me it could be more than a hobby.

A few years later I found myself stuck at home still living with the parents and in a dead end job. I wanted out, to find something that was me, to change my life. Recently a friend of mine had moved to Bournemouth so as I had decided to go back into education I looked up Bournemouth in the UCAS book and came across the only scriptwriting degree in the country at the time. Fate was calling me so I signed up for the course, and, as they say, the rest is history.

If I hadn't have found the Scriptwriting for Film & TV BA (Hons) degree in the UCAS book my life would be a whole lot different now. I'd probably have more money for a start, and I certainly wouldn't have this obsession with writing that I do. I'm glad I opened that book when I did.

Back To The Drawing Board

Friday the 13th....EEK! It could have been so much worse.

First of on a personal note, my lovely wife had her twelve week scan today. We were very nervous because earlier in the year she had a miscarriage at seven weeks and although we were very grateful to get to twelve weeks, there was still a chance things might not be right. And what idiot gave us a scan date on Friday the 13th anyway? Someone who thinks they have a sense of humour no doubt. Well done you.

Luckily things were OK. The baby was asleep (like child, like father), but we could see the heart clearly and it was going ten to the dozen. We were relieved. So it's now official I will be a dad for the second time on February the 26th 2011. GET IN!!!

And then came my notes for my Red Planet submission. The sixty pages were done, but I knew something wasn't sitting right, couldn't put my finger on it, so I sent it out to the lovely Bang2Write.....she gave it to me straight like she always does...ooh, err!

'Get rid of the police,' she said. I stared blankly at her...or I would have done if she hadn't have said that in an email. So I stared blankly at the email instead. Get rid of the police? What, all of them? Yep, all of them, not just in this episode but in all the others too. Holy crap! Bangers (as I never call her) is most often than not spot on with her judgement and I trust her above all others. But get rid of the police? In a crime drama? But she's right! Fecking cow!

So I have roughly two weeks to write another draft, with changes of roughly 50%, surgically removing the fuzz, focusing more on the protagonist Mad Frank Hattman. The police will be there, not in the foreground, but in the background, a presence rarely seen, a threat implied not forced into your face like an unwelcome dildo. It's going to be tough...it's actually going to be very tough. Two weeks is pushing it even if it does need to be done.

So today could have been much worse, but all in all I'm satisfied with what I've got.

Best get on.

Writing With The Wife

When my fellow script writers started following my wife, even though she isn't a writer herself, it got her to thinking. This led to her starting her own blog and she freely admits she really enjoys the writing.

Last night we were watching a recorded episode of Misfits while shouting out what we thought people's powers were. We were both spot on. Then my wife piped up, "I should be a writer." That somehow led me to offering her the opportunity to help me write one of my scripts.

Normally I would be daunted by the prospect of my wife trying to help me with anything I do, mainly because I'm such a control freak and I like things done just so. On more than one occasion my wife has hoovered up and I've then gone and done it again just because she missed a bit. I'm not saying my wife doesn't do a fantastic job when she hoovers, I'm just saying I'm anal about making sure all the dog hairs, including the ones that congregate in the corners of the room are hoovered up.

But I'm not in the least worried about writing with my wife, as she reads all of my scripts and offers me her insight which is always very helpful. She has even read and advised Bang2Write - Lucy. So I have decided to take the plunge and let my wife have a go. It might just be the step I need to take to get my career up to the next level.

Red Plaent Prize Problem

My ten pages are in and I'm up to page thirty on the rest of the script only to find I've come to a shuddering halt. I think I have a problem with pace.

The first ten pages has a man suffering amnesia arrested when he's found with the body of a dead woman. He escapes the police car he was being transported in when it is hit but a van and goes on the run. In an effort to clear his name he has gone to a jewelers to get some information on a necklace, only to find the place being robbed. He is now a hostage and must play the robbers and their victim to get the information he needs and get out alive....

....I've never written a hostage scene before. There is a danger, especially after the action of the first ten pages, the rest of the script will be very static by comparison. How can I avoid this?

Does anyone have any advice?

Identity

I normally don't moan about TV programs, if I don't like them I just don't watch them, but on this occasion I feel I have to say something. Identity really makes my blood boil.

I wish to state for the record that I have nothing against the writer Ed Whitmore, after all he's written for Silent Witness and Waking the Dead, so it's not as if he doesn't have a good pedigree. So why has Identity fallen so short?

I've only watched three episodes and I had to force myself to watch the last of those. The series didn't improve, so it's goodbye from me, I'll spend my TV time watching something else on a Monday. Why? Let me enlighten you.

For me Identity only has one workable character, only one character who appears to have had any work done on him, and that's John Bloom. Undercover for fifteen years he's finally back working as a Detective Inspector, and appears to be the only one in the new Identity Unit who has any idea how criminals tick. The rest of the unit couldn't work out a game of Cluedo with out John's uninvited insights. The others sit there waiting for some bright insight from John, when they then jump into one dimensional action. So here are the list of characters and their one characteristic:-

• DSI Martha Lawson - Argues every episode on John's behalf. She is the only one who thinks he's a good copper. WHY?
  
• Tessa Stein - Computer genius, who constantly reminds everyone else how good she is.
• DS Anthony Wareing - Slopes around not doing much except trying to get John into trouble, just because he doesn't like him. Or is he pissed he's now got work to do thanks to John?
  
• DC Jose Rodriguez - Young, brash and still wet behind the ears, hasn't learned to be subtle yet.

The only character with any discernible background is John. We know nothing personal about any of the other characters, they are just bit parts who have been dropped into the script to pad it out. Remove them and replace them any other characters from any other cop show and you'd have an instant improvement. You need more than one character to make a series workable. Where is the characterisation in Identity?

What do you think? Hate it? Like it? Let me know.

South West Voices Update July

And the final eight are revealed.

South West Screen helps local drama writers pitch to BBC

South West Screen and BBC Writersroom have teamed up with BBC Independent Drama Commissioning to fast track eight of the region’s most talented writers into television drama.

The eight recently took part in a two-day workshop near Corsham in the latest stage of South West Voices, a professional development scheme run by BBC Writersroom to give both experienced and emerging writers the chance to receive industry and peer group support and help develop their projects. Previous writers found and nurtured by BBC Writersroom have gone on to work on dramas including Eastenders, Doctor Who, and Waking the Dead.

The collaboration has arisen from the Bristol-BBC-Anchor partnership, which was signed last year between the BBC and Bristol City Council, South West Screen, the South West RDA and other key media enablers in the region.

It follows on from a visit to the region from Ben Stephenson, the Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning last year. Ben outlined his vision of the future of BBC drama during the visit and this week saw the latest steps to bring these ideas to fruition.

Writers were originally asked to submit a pitch for an original series, serial or single drama idea for television, along with a full-length sample script. From 120 submissions, 18 shortlisted writers were then invited to a workshop day in Bristol to meet BBC Writersroom, BBC Independent Drama Commissioning and South West Screen, and from those, eight writers were selected for the two-day residential workshop. The eight have each been paired with a mentor from the Commissioning team and now have three months to develop their ideas before formally pitching them to the BBC in September.

The eight writers come from across the South West region, including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Bristol.
BBC Writersroom previously ran the ‘Breakers’ competition in the South West in 2004 with the support of South West Screen, but this is the first time BBC Independent Drama Commissioning has been involved in such a programme in the region.

The programme demonstrates the BBC’s ongoing commitment to original drama production in the region, following the announcement of loss from the region of popular BBC dramas, Casualty and Being Human, to Cardiff, the BBC’s designated centre for excellence for drama production, last year.

The eight writers who took part in the workshop were:
• Dom Rowe (Bristol)
• Miles Chambers (Bristol)
• Rachel Joyce (Stroud)
• Carol Noble (Exeter)
• Tom Wainwright (Bristol)
• Sean Grundy (Weston-Super Mare)
• Peter Jordi - Wood (Truro)
• Bryony Ive (Bournemouth)

Congratulations to the final eight and special congratulations to Bryony, a fellow Bournemouth resident.

It was great ego boost to be included in the final eighteen who met at BBC Bristol, especially considering the amount of quality, talented writers there, with good solid writing credits. It's nice to know that my writing attracted attention from the people at the BBC Writersroom and BBC Commissioning, despite not having the credits others had. I'm certainly not resting on my laurels having already formed a writing partnership with another writer invited to Bristol, working on a brand new TV drama series we're planning to pitch to the BBC Commissioning team.

If you see another scheme like this then go for it, because you never know what doors it might open up for you.

Writing Is Easy

Right now you are probably saying something like, 'what the bleedin' 'ell are you on about?' Writing is easy. It sounds somewhat foolish to say that, but it's true. What you have to remember is the actual act of writing is only a small percentage of the work you do, that fun time getting the words of the first draft down on the page,letting your mind wander, exploring your created world, before you start the painful task of rewriting.

And what of the work you have to do before you can write? Outlining your idea, character biographies, series bibles, plot, structure and a million other things that go into making your first draft. That's right...your first draft. Then comes weeks, months and sometimes years of editing and rewriting, bringing everything together to arrive at the point where you have that final polished draft ready to send out.

This is where most beginners fail. They think all they have to do is write a screenplay, change a few bits and it's ready to be shown to the world. Wrong! If other writers are spending months on their script making it as perfect as they can, they are already way ahead of you. The script you spent a month writing is at the bottom of the pile and the more time you spend on it, working through every aspect of your screenplay over and over again, the better chance your screenplay has of getting noticed. The less time and effort you put into your work the more obvious it is you're not really committed to being a writer. For you, it's just a hobby.

Writing is easy....it's the preparation and the constant rewriting that is hard work.

Hopalong Dom

Had a foot op last Friday so will be off my feet for up to six weeks. No excuse not to sit down and write loads then. I had better get on.

Another scintillating post later this week.

My Writing Day Updated

I have now left my previous job and I've gone self employed publishing the WimbornePeople.co.uk website and working on my own scripts, a scary situation indeed, but one I am loving. My working day has changed and I have a lot more time to write, approach agents and pitch my work to production companies. This is how my day works now:

7.30am: Up and out of bed, not necessarily awake.

9.00 - midday: (Mon + Wed) The boy goes to nursery so I write solidly between these time with no interruption. This includes working on the website and my own writing.

9.00 - midday: (Tues, Thurs + Fri) Work on the website (I try and get this out of the way in the mornings) and try and do some of my own writing, while keeping the boy occupied.

Midday - 5pm: It's a case of juggling my son, the housework, and my writing. Some days are easier, but most require compromise, having to play with the boy now and again so he doesn't kick up a fuss when I sit down to write. And the house work has to be done, don't want to live in a stinky house after all.

Evenings: Some evenings if I haven't had a particularly productive day, either because the boy has been playing up or my brain just hasn't been working, then I'll pop upstairs for a couple of hours and do as much on my scripts as I can while the boy is sound asleep in the next room.

So that's my new daily routine. It's changed quite a bit allowing me more time to write, so if I'm not successful now then there is only one person to blame....ME!

A Good Writing Session

I wrote another five pages of a screenplay today, which I'm quite pleased with as I've also been doing other things as well. And it's also not bad considering I have a two and a half year old running around my feet for most of the day, wanting to be picked up so he can sit on my lap and see what his daddy is up to. Five pages was a good day.

It made me wonder what other writers would consider a GOOD WRITING DAY?

How many pages makes you happy?

How Not To Be A Writer Part 1

A possibly true (ish) story.

Bob (let's call him that to protect the stupid) has been unemployed for nearly eight months, he doesn't have a girlfriend, all his friends have moved away and, even though he never thought he'd admit to this, wanking is losing its allure... basically he's bored... suicide is beginning to look like a realistic option.

But after watching Dirty Harry he has an idea. He decides to write a script, can't be that hard after all, it's just a few words on a page...yeah, piece of piss - fame and fortune await.

So Bob sits at a computer and types like a man possessed, which is partly true because he has been drinking spirits for the best part of the day, and the words pour out. Two weeks later he has a 115 page thriller. He shows his mum, she thinks it's brilliant, so he puts it in a draw and forgets about it for five years...

...to be continued.

London Screenwriters' Festival

£299 for three days of ramming my head full of lovely screenwriting knowledge. I am so going! But how to afford it? I've just gone self employed so money is tighter than a duck's bum hole in winter.

Steal? Potential for an instantly large gain, but also a big risk of finding myself at Her Majesty's pleasure at the time of the festival. VERDICT - DON'T BEND DOWN FOR THE SOAP TYPE LOSE

Sell everything I own? I don't own anything of significant value that I can sell, except the wife and child, but I'm sure human trafficking is illegal. VERDICT - LOSE

Beg? I'm old and my knees hurt. If I got down on them I'm not sure I'd get back up again. VERDICT - LOSE & POSSIBLE PERMANENT INJURY

Borrow? My bank manager laughed at me when I asked, and my parents left the country the next day. VERDICT - LOSER!!!

Sell Vital Organs? I'm already in trouble for having three kidneys and two livers on eBay. VERDICT - DEAD

Actually Sell Some Work? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. VERDICT - YEAH RIGHT

Charity? www.FundDomToGoToLondonScreenwritersFestival.com VERDICT - ASKING SCRIPTWRITERS FOR MONEY...NO CHANCE

My only choice seems to be to sneak over the wall on the day.

Who's with me?

Sprint Or Marathon

My writing as of late has been phenomenal, like my fingers are on fire. I just can't stop writing, but I'm also painfully aware that this isn't the case all the time, so I'm making the most of it.

I find writing usually comes to me in two ways.

Bits & Bobs

I write most days, but only half and hour, to an hour at most. Not much gets done, but what is written is good because I stop writing when I switch off.

The Blur

I write loads. Pages of the stuff, some good, some bad, but a good high word count. Not every day though, sometimes I write as much as I can for two or three in a row and then I leave it for a few days to give my brain a rest.

But which is best? Are there any other ways of writing? Tell me, how do you write?

Jazz Me Up.

I'm bored with the header on my blog, it's just too plain. It needs jazzing up a little. I'm in a new phase of my life and it just doesn't fit any more. Out with the old and in with the new as it goes.

Are there any technologists out there who could whip me up a special header for my blog, with a picture maybe, to make it look pretty? I would be ever so grateful. There may even be a snog in it for you.*

Please get in touch if you can help, or know someone who can.

Cheers my blog buddies.

*I have the right to withdrawn snogs at any time with out notice.

Coming Up Gone

My Channel 4 Coming Up entry is in the post, a little late but better that than not at all.

I've been very bold with this year's entry really, delivering a very dark haunting drama of suicide and why sometimes there are no answer to your questions. It's very different from anything I've entered before and we'll see if it makes a mark this time.

Good luck to everyone else who has entered.

On to my Red Planet submission now.

Flash Forward

So the series has ended and the second will not be going ahead. To be honest I don't blame the studio for dropping the show because the last few episodes were a big disappointment, and there were too many loop holes in the plot.

The series started off really well but tried to be too clever towards the end, concentrating too much on how people's flash forwards changed, rather than sticking with the original concept of how people would cope knowing, or not knowing, what they were going to be doing six months down the line.

And the plot suffered from some terrible loop holes. The biggest was why the instigators of the incident wanted to make it World wide? After all if they had been using it for years to see all the possible futures, to make money, to better their own lives, why all of a sudden did they want to share that with the whole World? To me it didn't make sense. What was the point of giving everyone a flash forward?

I also thought the idea of having a flash forward was that it was personal. Then why, and how, could Gabriel see other people's futures, and how did Dyson Frost know Demetri would watch his video tape in the future if he wasn't there to see Demetri find it? It all got more than a little confusing.

And the ending was very underwhelming. The only flash forward we got to see was Charlie's, when she was grown up saying, 'They found him'. We invested time in those characters and what we deserved was a decent pay-off. I personally wanted to see the main characters' new flash forwards so if there had been a second series you would be wondering right from the start how things were going to play out.

Overall I found it very disappointing and I won't be buying it on DVD. Give it a miss.

Red Planet Prize 2010 Part 3

It's here at last. The Red Planet Prize 2010 has been announced. Get writing, people, and good luck.

The Plunge

I've taken the plunge and become a self-employed writer at last.....EEEEKKKK!!!!

I have a lovely part-time job writing for a website which will keep the money rolling in to pay the mortgage. But now it means I can devote so much more time to writing my novel, scripts, entering competitions, and getting that all important first British TV credit. Let me in, damn you!

Now all you lovely people have to do is send me your scripts so I can read them and charge you for the privilege. My son needs a new pair of shoes and the wife a new handbag (beg, beg). Me? I'm just happy to be writing full-time. Fantastico!!!

I'm not crapping myself....honest!

New Script Reading Service

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LAUNCH OFFERS

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Please note the below prices are based on a 100 page script - please add 0.25p for every page over this.

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A brief outline of suggested improvements, a list of what works and what doesn't.

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South West Voices

Earlier in the year I applied to the South West Voices initiative, in partnership with the BBC Writersroom, when they asked South West writers to submit drama pitches.

110 people applied and out of those 18 were invited to a workshop at BBC Bristol. I was one of the lucky ones. So off I set via train to find out what it was all about.

The workshop was hosted by Paul Ashton (Writersroom), Beverley Booker (BBC Commissioning), Chris Moll (South West Screen) and Hannah Rodger (Writersroom). The first thing that Paul made clear to us all was that if we didn't make it through to the final 8 it wasn't the end. We had been invited to the workshop because they wanted to form relationships with South West writers, to have ongoing dialogue with us and to find out what we are passionate about.

I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed when I got to Bristol, because I'd looked up the other writers attending on the Internet and found that I was probably the least experienced one there. But then I thought if I had been chosen to be in the 18 with all those other writers, then the BBC Writersroom and South West Screen obviously saw something in my writing they liked. So I shoved my nerves aside and threw myself in at the deep end.

I really enjoyed myself, meeting other writers, learning more about the BBC commissioning process, making new friends and actually getting the opportunity to practice my face to face pitching. Let's just say I need more practice.

Unfortunately I didn't make it through to the final 8. A bit gutting, but as Paul said it wasn't the end for any of us. The BBC Writersroom have their eye on me and at least one BBC Commissioner knows who I am. Now all I have to do is keep those relationships alive and maybe it'll help me somewhere in the future.

The Mockers

Should I say something, or should I keep quiet? Thing is I don't want to put the mockers on it.

It seems that every time I do say something before things actually happen, these things eventually come to nothing. But I want to tell everyone, because I'm proud and excited. But if I do say something and then, as it has done before, it all goes tits up, I'll have cursed myself again.

No, this time I'm going to keep my mouth shut until things are sorted, then I will tell...but not before.

Podcast

I went out for a beer or two with a mate this week and he convinced me I should start a weekly podcast on my website and link it to this blog. Actually I think he bludgeoned me over the head repeatedly to make sure the idea staid put, judging by the way my head was throbbing the next day.

I have a few ideas of what I think would make good podcasts, the first being the long awaited "How Not To Be A Writer', post I was going to do. But I was wondering if there were any subjects other writers out there would like to hear about?

I don't know when the first podcast will be because I have to figure out how to do it in the first place and them upload it. I'm not a fantastic techie, but I will get the hang of it eventually. So send those ideas in and I'll get cracking.

Feedback

I've been having a very cordial email conversation with a writer who's script I read a week ago, about what constitutes good feedback. We agreed to disagree, but I have to admit that both ways discussed have their merits.

As a result of that conversation I thought I would post part of one of those emails below to show my attitude to script feedback.

"I've seen script notes given in loads of different ways. The reason I give the bad news first and the good last is because I like the writer to go away with a positive thought fresh in their mind, not a negative one.

I also don't like to suggest to the writer how they should improve their script, rather I prefer to raise questions and allow the writer to come up with their own solutions, after all it's their script and they're the author of it, not me. Who am I to tell the writer what they should write?

Everyone has a different opinion on how honest you should be with notes. The Head Of Department on my BA Scriptwriting course upset a lot of students with his direct and honest approach, some very nearly quit the course because of it. But as he said if he told people their script was good, or tried to soften the blow, when the writer had actually fallen well short, they would be in for a real shock when they went out into the real world. Script editors and producers can't afford to be nice. If they're not honest from the start they're not going to get the script how they want it, which will cost them more rewrites, more money and more time.

However, what isn't acceptable in my book is rudeness, a complete slagging off of the writer and their work. A personal attack on the writer and their script isn't professional, and isn't welcome. Politeness doesn't cost a penny.

I know a writer who worked on a well know show just when a new script editor was hired. The editor went as far as telling the writer how to change individual lines of dialogue, rather than relying on the skill of the writer. No wonder he hated that script editor.

If a writer can't take honest, constructive criticism then as harsh as it sounds they are better off choosing a new career. Some of the feedback I receive still gets me down on occasion, even after all these years.

But at the end of the day criticism is subjective and the writer isn't under any obligation to listen to, or indeed act upon, any of it. However, they have to realise it will severely restrict the length of their career if they don't. Script editors and producers don't want to work with opinionated, stubborn writers only ones that do as they are told and can deliver what they want quickly and professionally."

Discuss.

Ashes To Ashes

WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS


DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HATE SPOILERS


YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, SO IF YOU READ FURTHER THEN IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT.


SO THERE!!!


I think I've sussed what's going on in the final series of Ashes To Ashes. There were certain things I spotted during the second episode that could be carefully laid clues. Then again I might be totally wrong. I'll list my ideas here and we'll see how close I was at the end of the series.

I think Jim Keats is the Devil. The reasons for this:-

(1) His office was in the basement - A metaphor for Hell.
(2) His office was scorching hot - As hot as Hell.
(3) Someone commented his office was fetid, meaning rotten or decaying.
(4) He wears horn-rimmed glasses - the Devil's horns.

Jim is also using his charm to try and get Alex on to his side, telling her he can help her, something the Devil would do. And does he really know where she is from?

If you remember in the first series Gene Hunt saved Alex as a child from the exploding car, so it's a good possibility that he is her guardian angel, which is why he gets up Jim Keats' nose so much. That would mean that the world they inhabit is purgatory, a halfway house between life and death, Heaven and Hell.

Again this is only a theory of mine and I could have got it all horribly wrong, but as I said let's see at the end of the series.

And as for Sam Tyler, I think he's very much alive and Gene Hunt is covering up for his friend (acting the guardian angel), but why? In Life On Mars Sam Tyler discovered his father was a crook and I think the bank robbery that supposedly got Sam killed was carried out by his father and Sam let him escape once again, but this time he followed his father to get to know him better. Well, that idea is a little dodgier than the Devil/guardian angel one above, but again we'll see.

What do you think?

Mid-Life-Crisis

I'm 41 today....is that too old to still be pursuing a writing career?

Scriptfrenzy

Enjoying Scriptfrenzy, although and unscheduled cold is playing havoc with my writing plans. I should be on fifteen pages by now, but I'm still on ten. Got to get my finger out and crack on. Ten pages today, whether I like it or not.

Red Planet Prize 2010 Part 2

So what has happened to the Red Planet Prize?

"Hi Dom.
Yes the prize will be going again this year. We are currently finalizing all
the details and they will be announced on our refurbished website in about 4
weeks or so. So hopefully it will start around early Summer time. Good luck
if you're thinking of entering and we look forward to your entry.
All the best.
Regards, Red Planet."

So now you know.

How Not To Be A Writer

Part One coming soon. Watch this space.

Angry Writer

After the post below on how I won't advertise on my site, I have decided to share this with you.

Angry Writer

I've not succumbed to commercialism, I just came across this site and it made me laugh, so I'm very happy to give it a recommendation.

Check it out and have a guess which one I ordered?

Advertising

I was recently approached by an Internet advertising company offering to pay me to put text ads on my official web page. At first I was dubious, but after a bit of investigating I decided they were a legitimate company, so I asked my fellow writers whether I should go for it or not. Most said yes.

However, while I was still waiting to hear back from the company after I had sent them an email of questions, I received and email from my good friend and webmaster Dan Thomas of Moov2.com. He sent me two articles, one about the company who had approached me, and the other about the risks of Internet advertising on professional websites.

The company was legit, but mostly advertised gambling sites. The downside to this company was that they were very secretive, wouldn't answer questions, and would react with threats of legal action if even a hint of anything bad was written on the web about them. I know a company has to protect its image, but this automatically put me off.

The second article was more informative and discussed the pros and cons of advertising on your professional website. If you're a writer would it look good to advertise gambling websites? After all, it's all about protecting your brand. Your brand is your career after all.

I've decided that the lure of a quick buck is not for me and I'll be keeping my professional work website free of ads. My Bank Manager is probably crying now.

Have you had any experience with this kind of service - good or bad - please let me know?

Leon

I recently bought the Director's Cut of Leon as my wife had said she'd never seen the original film. So Saturday night we settled down on the sofa together to watch it.

The Director's Cut illustrated to me how the introduction of two or three scenes can alter the feel of a whole movie. The original cinema release was a sweet movie of love and revenge, with two loners finding comfort and friendship in each other's company. Jean Reno's shy Leon learns to open himself up to his feelings with the help of Natalie Portman's Matilda. His journey from an emotionally closed hermit to the father figure and protector Matilda has never had, is slowly and expertly built, and watching Leon get over his initial awkwardness to finally give up his life in the ultimate sacrifice for the girl he loves is nothing short of superb.

However, the Director's Cut turned that sweet tale of love into something much more sexual, a much darker story of obsession, with a higher degree of sexual tension between Leon and Matilda. While he sees her as a daughter his feelings grow in a way he can't and won't allow himself to give into, and Matilda is always more of a temptress than in the original cut. Her obsession and crush on Leon, make you feel awkward while watching this burgeoning love affair which is doomed before it starts, because you know that it can never be, and will only end badly.

Is it a better film? I have to admit I prefer the original, but the Director's cut does bring that extra sense of darkness and infatuation to the proceedings which left me wondering if I had seen this version originally would I have loved the film so much? Both versions have equal merit, but I feel that the original was the sweeter love story, the more of a love born from loneliness and friendship than sexual feelings of consenting adults. I personally think it's a step too far for the character of Matilda, even if they both do end up offering everything to each other in the name of love.

Anyway, don't take my word for it go and buy the Director's Cut and make your own mind up.

The Long Haul

Four months ago I was approached by a foreign production company and asked to submit episode ideas for a TV series they were developing. It's my first experience with working for TV and I have to admit I thought things would move a lot faster. But they aren't, and my impatient self is chomping at the bit to get going.

However, I'm learning a valuable lesson; not all things in TV land move quickly. Some projects stall for various reasons, and some stop all together. There's a lot of work that goes into coordinating several writers at the same time, making sure their script ideas match that of the show, and blend seamlessly in with those episodes of the other writers. So I have to sit back and be patient, enjoy the process and not let the occasional lack of movement get to me. The collaborative process is meant to be fun after all.

Hopefully when things get sorted I'll have three episodes, or maybe just two if my idea for the series finale isn't suitable. It's great to be writing again and even greater to be involved with something that will actually be made. I'll keep you all posted.

Red Planet Prize 2010?

So where has the Red Planet Prize gone, does anyone know? Nothing at all last year, so is there going to be one this year?

Come on, Mr. Jordan, sort it out!!!!

Time To Write

"I love to write, but I just can't find the time."

Sound familiar? This is an all too common problem for those starting out in writing, or those with a full time job and family responsibilities. I'll be blunt... a writer writes, a non writer talks about it. If you're not writing then you're not a writer....end of! Take up knitting or something, just stop wasting everyone's time, especially your own, with this writing talk if you're not going to do any.

Last year I was a non writer, because what I wrote hardly filled five pages. I have the depression to thank for that. Now I'm better this year is already different. Every spare moment I can find I write, mostly in the wee small hours of the morning when I really should be asleep. But I'm committed so I push myself even when I'd rather be on my Xbox, or in bed snuggled up to my wife. To be honest I could push myself more, and that is always my aim. All writers, without question, suffer from procrastination. Your success is entirely dependant on how much effort you put in to your work. A writing career won't come to you, you have to hunt it down, pin it in a head lock and tweak its nipples until you get what you want.

Let's take a look at a typical day for me. Hello Monday, you're a bastard and you know it.

8.30 am: Up to look after the boy while Mummy goes to work. I don't have to do this, but I love it and wouldn't give it up for anything. My boy is important to me and I've so enjoyed watching him grow up. I couldn't be one of those work-all-day dads who only gets to see their children at weekends, that's not me. It's important to me to spend time with him, play with him, teach him things.

1 pm: An after lunch nap for both the boy and me. I could write here, but sleep is needed due to the hours I work, as you will see later on.

4 pm: Dinner time. Mummy is home and we sit down to eat together. Quality family time.

5 pm: Off to work I go to spend eight hours in a physically demanding job.

1 am: Home. Knackered. Brain dead. All I want to do is sleep. Can't though, as writing must be done. I try and work on one thing at a time which doesn't always work out. As my writing time is so precious if it's not working then I move on to another piece of work and come back to original later. I try to write for at least an hour, two if things are flowing well.

2 - 3 am: Bed at last....zzzzzz.

8.30 am: Is it that time again already? Hello Tuesday, you're a bastard too.

So you may think you don't have much, or even any, time to write, but trust me, even an hour a day makes a huge difference. Find that hour, make it yours, make it a quiet time, and write like the wind.

Anyone can find the time if they really want to write. Do you?

Total Film's 600 Blogs

Alright regular readers, and hello to all you lovely new ones. Yes, that means you. Yes, you!!! A very warm welcome to you. Now please sit down and enjoy.

If you didn't already know Total Film has publish a list of 600-movie-blogs-you-might-have-missed on their website, and yours truly is listed on page 8. Thank you so very much you smashing movie magazine type people, I do love you so.

Of course I was totally stunned to find out people actually read my blog!!! Blimey, I'll have to start writing something substantial then and not my usual drivel. And no I haven't forgotten I'd said I'd write some blog episodes on how not to become a writer. It will come, soon, you'll just have to be patient until then.

For now I shall go and bask in my new found celebrity status. "Do you know who I am?"

Short Film Scripts

Calling all film makers, budding or professional. I have a catalogue of ten minute scripts I am offering for free with the intention of having them filmed this year.

What I want:

The main Writer's credit.
A copy of the finished film on DVD
A written promise that the film will be entered into every short film festival going.

What I can give you:

A free polished ten minute script.
As many rewrites as you require to see the project through.

What I'm looking to gain from collaboration:

More exposure as a writer and a competition, or festival, win to add to my CV.

If you're interested then please contact me via my website.

Hope to hear from many eager film makers.

Happy

The depression has gone and I'm very nearly off my happy pills. I am almost back to normal ("You were never normal," says my wife). 'MOO COW', I Say!!!!

I am really looking forward to this year. I know things are going to go my way and I will be writing for TV (Canadian most likely), so I can't wait to get started. I still have my children's novel I'm working on, and it will be finished this year. Oh yes it will :-)

I'm also thinking of writing, 'The Hard Way To Become A Screenwriter', a blog book based on my experiences as a new writer, and the pitfalls I've encountered so you don't have to make the same mistakes. I'm so kind to you, aren't I???

See you soon.

Happy New Year, Folks!!!!

PS. If anyone is thinking of making a short film this year my scripts are available and free. All I ask is that they are entered into every short film competition going and I get a DVD copy of the finished article. Please contact me if you are interested.

The Big 2010 Push

2009 was a huge disappointment mainly due to my lack of activity at the keyboard and my six month experience with depression. Hardly anything was written and only a couple of scripts were sent out. However, December wasn't a bad month with one very likely commission on the horizon for the New Year.

Other years I've had the same big push and usually after a few months I've slacked off. Each year has been a progression on the last, but this time I am determined to carry the momentum onwards...all year. This will start with me sending out one page pitches for current, or planned, projects, to see what interest there is in my work. Then there will be the competitions; I'm going to enter everyone I can.

Push on fellow writers.

All I Want For Christmas

Another Christmas, another long list of wishes.

• An agent.
• A commission.
• An option.
• A series deal for TV.
• To have the no 1 bestselling children's book.
• A fucking chance to show what I can do.
  

Not much to ask, is it?

In Your Face

Sometimes I wonder if you're an argumentative person, or someone who questions things that go on around them, does this hinder you as a writer and in life? Do the 'YES' men and women of this world achieve more success in their careers and home life?

In my experience the 'YES' men and women seem to progress further than the argumentative ones, and I'm quite convinced if you get a bad name from from questioning things you're basically stuffed from then on.

What do you think?

Is it better to question life or be a 'YES' man or woman?

Busy Man

Hadn't written anything in ages and then when I try and start a novel or two, all hell breaks loose. Everyone wanted a portion of my writing greatness. Somethings worked out, others didn't. No biggy.

Gone quiet again now though, so I'm able to work on my own stuff again....and I can't wait.

Rubbish

Writing like a maniac. Just finished a 4 page romantic comedy outline for a director. I hope she likes it.

Novel is coming on :-)

Novel Progress Part 2

Bit of a slow week, the total is now 2788 words. The urge to go back and rewrite as I'm going along is proving too much much of a draw which is why my number count is so low. I have to stop myself, I know, but that's easier said than done.

The Over Sensetive.

I made a comment on someones facebook page. They have now band me and erased me from their Facebook friend's list and also twitter.

Some people don't deserve my friendship. The comment I made was not derogatory in any way. In fact here it is to the best of my memory. "I'm single." My response, "Thank god there's not two of you." Not exactly rude is it? Funny? What's your opinion?

Being depressed I know about being over sensitive, but then there's being sensitive and over sensitive. You have to find the right balance, this person obviously hasn't.

Some people need to take a deep breath and not take things so seriously.

Dom

A Tale Of Two Novels

For months...nothing, not an idea, not a word, not even a single letter. Then I start a novel and a week later I have another fantastic idea ambush my head while I'm laid low with the flu, and I start a second one. Two novels being written simultaneously. That's what I said....written. Not thought about, not hoped for, not imagined, but actual fingers to keys typing. We have a double word count going on, people.

I think there is light at the end of my tunnel of darkness and its name is SIX!

Writing.

Started my novel. 1664 words down and a lot more to go. It's nice to be writing again.

Hello?

I really should write something new, but the darkness is still upon me.

Hopefully soon ;-)

Guest Post: Adrian Mead

The ever lovely and helpful Adrian Mead sent me this email, so I thought I'd print it in full as it's so good and extremely helpful.

"Sounds like you have taken all the right steps to address your situation and there isn’t much I can offer you other than saying well done for being so open and taking action. Known lots of very happy and successful folk who have learned to manage these sort of episodes.

Depression gets used as a term for many things. Perhaps others reading this may have experienced some of the feelings you have talked about.

If you or someone you know is feeling down and de-motivated it’s important to recognize those feelings are real and valid because that is what they are experiencing. The following is worth considering.

Ask yourself these questions -

MOTIVATION

Why do I want to be a writer?

What exactly do I expect to gain from this activity?

If you are not enjoying the process it may be because your motivation is out of balance and skewed towards a transient or often unquantifiable goal – such as validation from others or fame.

AVOIDING THE SLIP INTO SELF DOUBT

All humans experience self doubt – with writers it’s easy to focus it on your writing and career.

It’s hugely important that you quickly stop the slide into self doubt or feeling down. Having a positive feedback file at hand with reviews, clippings and emails that praise your work is an extremely powerful tool."

(I'd agree with that. I do indeed have such a folder and it's good to read those comments now and again.)

"ARE THINGS REALLY THAT BAD?

Your feelings are real and valid because that is what you are experiencing. However, and I know this is an oft quoted one but it’s true, go volunteer to help others. There are people with way greater challenges than you and I. Works for me."

(Again, good advice. I like to help those less fortunate than myself so last Saturday I was tea/coffee/food bitch for Lucy, at her first ever Script Reading seminar.)

"TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR DIET

Cut out all junk food, dairy and all booze for three months. You’ll be shocked at the difference this can make. Don’t believe me? Try it and prove me wrong."

( I quit the booze for two weeks, and even that little amount of time made a huge difference.)

"YOU MUST EXERCISE!

Commit to exercise every day -

Hit stuff!!! Join a martial arts class.

Got a family and reckon you haven’t got time to exercise? Then take the baby buggy and a back pack filled with books on a 20 mins very brisk walk in the morning!"

(I take my son and dog for a walk at least once a day, twice if I have the energy to keep up with them.)

"Try Dancing/crawling/singing with your kids in between writing breaks or to their favourite DVD. You will feel good, they will have a great time.

Every time you think of raiding the fridge between writing breaks do 10 press ups, 10 sit ups, 10 squats instead.

Buy a punch bag or stand up target. Great for dealing with rejections and stress

Commit to doing something every day!

HATE EXERCISE?

Join a choir – lots of folk find this hugely beneficial.

Join a dance class. Your wife/girlfriend will most likely love the new man in you.

Or if you are single it will be a great chance to meet the opposite sex!

TOP UP THE CREATIVE TANK

Take yourself on a weekly date to art galleries, movies – even a read of the papers and a coffee in the garden – but do it every week.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is a great manual for ideas like this.

MANAGE YOUR TIME: DON’T SPEND TIME, INVEST IT

Make a plan.

Whenever you approach the computer, TV, etc ask yourself “What return am I going to get “. Don’t spend time. Invest it.

“What return am I going to get “.

See the brilliant Jim Lawless book Taming Tigers for lots of great strategies on time management and inspiration.

SET GOALS

Most powerful motivator there is. Achieving a goal gives positive feedback and helps you maintain your motivation."

(I set daily goals, cleaning the house, doing the washing, or anything like that and if I've completed at least half of my list I feel I've had a productive day.)

"YOU MUST DO THIS and stick to them.

Set daily goals in your diary. Ring fence time and stick to it.

For your career and personal life set -

Short term.
Mid term
Long term goals.

Set deadlines for each. Stick them up where you can see them!

SURVIVAL KIT

Go download the E book MAKING IT AS A SCREENWRITER. www.meadkerr.com"

(If you don't have it already, get it. It's an invaluable thing to have.)

"PRINT IT OUT and keep it next to your computer. You can feel good about supporting Childline and taking control of your future at the same time

Positive feedback file. Start building it now. Keep it next to your computer at all times. Soon as doubt creeps in reach for this.

Stick your list of goals with deadlines up on the wall next to the computer.

FINALLY

If all this talk of goals and time management seems like too much hard work, well the truth is that you probably enjoy writing as a hobby. That’s great, but don’t confuse an enjoyable hobby with the goal to become a professional writer. It requires a massive, daily commitment to your craft and a well honed and highly active career strategy to become a professional writer.

It’s easy to fall short in your efforts and assume that your lack of success is due to a lack of talent. Enjoy your hobby and stop worrying about “making it” or get seriously committed.

None of the above is meant to trivialise the illness of depression or the feelings of others. As I said earlier, your feelings are real and valid because that is what you are experiencing. If you stick to the suggestions above and still feel down and unmotivated you should seek professional help – as Dom has done. It’s important to talk to people."

Cheers, Adrian.

Write Some More

While I've been suffering from the depression, and even though I haven't been writing, my brain has still been ticking over.

Second Skin, my entry to this year's Red Planet Prize, has been floating around in my head ever since I didn't get through to the second read. It's changed a lot since then, so tonight I started work again on the series bible. I've added a new character who will feature heavily in the first season and will bow out at the end of the series.

Still loads more ideas floating around in my head to change things so I'll try and work on this as much as I can during the week.

Write

I did write the other night, only a few words, but my first for months. Progress!!!

The Blackness

So what have I been doing for the last month or so?

I've been in a very difficult place, most commonly known as depression.

I'm not looking for any sympathy writing this, I just want to tell my story and help anyone else out there in writer land who might be suffering, but may not know it.

Mental illness affects one in four people. I have twenty three followers of this blog, which means five of them could potentially be suffering from mental problems. Don't let the words 'mental illness' scare you, although depression is classed as a mental illness it is treatable, you just need to admit you need help and ask for it.

Not so long ago I found myself sleeping a lot, and when I was awake I didn't have any energy. I lost interest in my writing (I've written nothing since the CBBC drama competition), going out, socialising, or doing anything other than sitting on the sofa in front of the TV. I also found myself analysing everything about my life in the minutest detail. I felt I was a failure as a writer because after eight years of trying I've still not had a commission here in the UK. I was also very short tempered and would get angry over the littlest things. Life was, in short,...crap!!!

But I decided to go and do something about it. I got my doctor to refer me for some counseling and I've just started cognitive therapy (reordering the way you think about things and look at the world). Even after only one session I feel better. I know I still have a long way to go, but I know I'm doing something about it now, so one day very soon those dark clouds are going to lift.

I even feel a little interest in my writing coming back, so I may even write a few little words on a treatment, or something, just to get me started.

Asking for help is a hard thing to do, but I promise you there is no shame in it. If you're feeling down I urge you to go and talk to your doctor and tell him how you feel. He/She will listen to you, and more importantly, he/she will be able to help.

Where Have I Been?

Update soon!!!!

James Moran

Good, intelligent, thought provoking television that stays with you weeks after transmission, that's the mark of good TV. So why do people feel it necessary to be nasty about things.

James has been nothing but open about his work from day one, offering a rarely seen insight into the television creative process. He didn't need to do that, he could have just kept quiet, but he was generous enough to share his experiences with us. Now others have gone and spoilt it by sending hateful messages and rude comments. If you don't like what he writes then don't watch it.

James is taking a rest from the blog-o-sphere for a while, so leave him be: http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html

A Happy Writer

I found it, that feeling you get when you absolutely love something, when it's all you think about, when it just comes naturally, and when everything you touch turns to pure, solid gold.

My CBBC entry was so much fun, more fun than I've had for ages. It was just a joy to type words, one after the other, and not to care what anyone else might think of it. It just flowed, and flowed, and flowed. And when I reached the end I hardly had anything I needed to change. It was just perfect. Maybe it was the fact the story has been in my head for three years now, and is being written as a novel, or maybe it was working to a deadline that did it? Whatever it was I now want to write the second episode, and the third, and the fourth, and so on. Pure writing joy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I now have my writing mojo back...yeah, baby, yeah!!!

The CBBC Rush

18 pages written, 12 to do.... 6 days and 10 minutes till the deadline.

Will I make it?

Read the comments to find out.

CBBC

Frantically working on my CBBC entry, trying to get it finished by the deadline. But a thought occurs to me, what if it's too scary?

A drama aimed at the 6-12 year old viewers, so exactly HOW scary can I make it? Do I avoid scenes with characters suffering nightmares, in dark places being chased by creatures they cannot see, or do I go,"BOLLOCKS" and just write it how I want to and risk a nation of six year olds weeing their pants in terror?

Mind you, if I do that, those children will remember the program for the rest of their lives, which is what good TV drama is all about.

Oh dear, what should a writer do?

Bastard Pooter

Bastard pooter crashed because of bastard Mac update.

Bastard reinstall went bastard wrong and I lost ten years of bastard photos.

And I haven't been able to write a word of the bastard CBBC thing for three bastard days because of it!!!!

Nine bastard days to go and still only three bastard pages. Better get a bastard move on then.

BASTARD!!!!!

Apology

Last night I posted something I had noticed about James Moran which I thought was funny. On reflection it wasn't and may have been interpreted as a criticism of his work.

The one comment I received called me unprofessional and quite rightly so.

I would just like to state that James Moran deserves the success he is experiencing, because he is very talented and works extremely hard, and at no time have I thought, or intended to apply, the opposite.

So if anyone was offended by my post, please accept my humble apologies.

Dom

The Sound Of Silence

I've been a bit quiet of late, tis coz I have my head down trying to do this CBBC thing.

I will surface soon enough, and there had better be plenty of comments on my posts when I do....or there will be trouble :-P

A Writer Shall Be Rewritten

I've just started the third rewrite on Second Skin, my supernatural comedy drama, thanks to some pretty honest notes from some very lovely people. And it's a biggy, almost a complete overhaul of character, plot and original idea. The thing I don't like about rewrites, and it's a big thing, is my enthusiasm for the project evaporates slightly with every new version. To me writing then becomes mechanical and loses the joy and excitement which first attracts me to a project. With a loss of enthusiasm comes a loss of motivation. I'd rather Facebook or Twitter.

How to combat it? One suggestion is to put the script away for a few months until it starts to interest you again. After all should you really work on something you've lost your enthusiasm for? Wouldn't this weaken the effectiveness of any rewrite?

Another suggestion is just to plow on through with it despite a dwindling enthusiasm. Get the rewrite done, leave it for a while and then come back to it. Then you can see if the rewrite worked and go back and change what didn't. This is significantly harder work than the above and can lead to a lot of indecision, but is still my preferred way of working. I don't like to give up and for me putting aside a script until my enthusiasm returns is doing exactly that.

Another problem I have with excessive rewriting is the diluting of the original idea. The idea is to make your script better, improve on characters, sharpen dialogue and tighten structure. Your script maybe much improved at the end, but does all that rewriting dilute your original voice? After all we are continuously told an original voice is what producers are looking for.

I think as a new writer you're under pressure to make your scripts perfect and I for one know that in the search of that perfection I lose some of that initial sparkle, that rawness which makes the script a Dominic Carver original. Maybe more considered rewrites are the way to go, getting as much feed back as possible before attempting one. This way less time is spent on actual rewrites, enthusiasm is less likely to be lost, and less of the original voice is consigned to the scrap pile.

By the way, the term 'New Writer' annoys me too. I've been writing for years now, just because I haven't had a major commission, option or success so far doesn't mean I'm a 'New Writer'. 'New Writer' is a dirty word in my house and will no longer be used to describe the current stage of my career. I am a writer... end of!

The Gardening Scriptwriter

Sunday I was gardening, mainly because it was sunny, but also because the weeds had taken advantage of my week's holiday in Norway. It looked like they had had a party, a few friends round, even though they denied it. You know the sort of thing. Cheeky little buggers! While I was yanking out a rather stubborn dandelion root a sudden thought struck me, right between the eyes, made my eyes water I can tell you. My revelation? Scriptwriting is like gardening.

In the spring your garden is a mess, weeds everywhere, with the occasional shoot of a plant trying to battle through. This is your script at its conception. You have a mess of ideas floating around in your cranium with one or two showing promise. So you weed out those bad ideas, giving the good idea room to breath and grow. Then it blooms and you have your story and your garden is looking delightful. Now you can relax and enjoy it, right?

Wrong! Those weeds come back, becoming underdeveloped characters, clunky dialogue, threatening to choke the life out of your beautiful garden. Time to weed all over again. The more you weed the more weeds you notice hiding away waiting to shoot up when your back is turned. It's no good relaxingly, you have to keep on the boil, constantly going back to the garden, pruning, weeding and turning the soil to maintain the garden the way you want it.

But it doesn't matter how many weeds you dig up, when you have visitors over they'll always spot those one or two persistent weeds you failed to find. And there's always some bastard who kicks the heads off all your daffodils on their way home from the pub!!!!!

Vacation

I'm on holiday as of tomorrow, the first proper one in two years. Oh the joy!!!

I'll see you all when I get back kiddies, behave yourselves while I'm gone.

The First Chapter

So here it is as I promised, the first chapter of my children's novel, Guardians.

The novel is about five children with elemental powers who protect the Earth from the Groonmaig, demons intent on enslaving humans and using them as food source.

Please try and remember that the following chapter is a very, very, very rough first draft, completely unedited. What you read is what I typed without it being altered...well except for the spell check, but I think that is allowed. Enjoy :-)

PROLOGUE

A bitter wind drove the rain down hard on the Haskin’s Estate, swirling it into every corner, under ledges, into sheltered walkways, drenching ever inch of concrete, glass and tarmac, leaving no place to escape the storm’s vicious onslaught. None of the residents dared to venture out of their warm flats into such weather. Even the desperate and foolish staid dry tonight.

On the roof of the tallest building the wind rattled a TV aerial, hanging loose where the holding bolt had come away from the wall, causing the metal to screech eerily, a soft cry of a wounded animal, in-between the distant claps of thunder. The wind caught a discard, weathered, piece of newspaper, flipping it into the air, forcing it into a contorted dance, fighting the rain trying to dump it into the growing puddle of water on the roof.

A clap of thunder reverberated around the estate, and then a louder, more horrendous crack, much closer, right there on the roof. But it wasn’t the TV aerial come free at last, but a slither of the blackest darkness shattering into the air a foot off the ground. A fissure had opened within the air, continuing to grow wider as a terrible, heart wrenching screech of sheer desperation ripped the air. And then a foot, scaled and green, forcibly squeezed through the tiny gap that had formed.

Gabrinal slid through the gap and fell to the floor, and lay in the puddle, bloodied, scratched, bruised, out of breath and exhausted. He had made it, escaped the Groonmaig’s prison and returned to world of man, only the second demon to achieve this. He lay on the ground letting the rain wash over him, washing away the dirt, grime and blood from his scaled and hairy body. How many centuries had it been since he had last felt rain upon his tortured skin?

Gabrinal breathed in deeply. He could smell the stench of humanity that infested this world. He licked the razor sharp fangs that protruded over his lower lip. Soon the humans would know their masters once more.

Gabrinal calmed himself, emptied his mind of all thoughts of pain and exhaustion, and finally let it free to search out his brother. It didn’t take long before he felt that familiar presence.
“I am through, brother,” pulsed Gabrinal.

“Welcome home,” the words formed in his mind, the familiar voice sweet in his memory.

“Do you have what I need?”

“I have the list of children,” the words brought a shiver of excitement to Gabrinal’s spine.

“Good, then I wish to start immediately.”

“No, brother, you must rest first, recover from your wounds. You will need your strength”

“I am eager to begin. The quicker we achieve what we have set out to do the quicker the rest of the Groonmaig will be free,” pulsed Gabrinal rather too insistent. Gabrinal knew he had overstepped the mark, maybe even angered his brother. He remained silent waiting for his brother to reply.

“Patience, brother, I need you at full strength.” Gabrinal sensed his brother’s concern.

“What is it?”

“They are here.”

Gabrinal shivered once more this time not of pleasure but of fear. He hoped he was wrong.

"They are here?”

“They are.”

The Groonmaig’s old enemy, the Guardians, were close. Of all the places Gabrinal and his brother could have broken through the veil between worlds and they had landed right where the Guardians were. Coincidence, or had the Guardians predicted they would break through her?

“Do they know we are here, brother,” asked Gabrinal fearing the answer.

“I have already fought them and survived. Better still I slew their leader.”

Gabrinal breathed easier. “They are four again?”

“They are, and I have tracked down their replacement, a boy.”

“When will he be dealt with,” Gabrinal hissed with venom.

“No harm will come to him yet.”

Gabrinal could not believe what he was hearing. Had his brother gone mad?

“You must kill him, brother.”

“I have another way.”

“But if he becomes their leader...”

“Trust me, brother, I have it all in hand. Go now and rest, we begin soon,” the voice in Gabrinal’s head said soothingly.

“Can I feed, I am hungry?”

“Only one human, brother, no more. Leave nothing. We do not want to draw attention to ourselves before our task is done. I will contact you again soon.”

Gabrinal, too tired to argue, set off to hunt for a victim, then he would find a place to lay low and recover before the real work began.

Your Choice

Finally started the children's novel after three years of planning, and as I promised I will post some of the first words here, raw an unedited. But what to post?

Basically there are two choices.

1) The first paragraph only.
2) The first chapter (not very long).

So which would you like to see? I'll leave the vote open for the rest of the week and post the most popular suggestion next week.

Vote away :-)