AM I TOO OLD?

When I hit middle age I got a tattoo, started working out, took up karate, lost a stone and a half and worried far too much about my future and how little of it there was left. My biggest concern was career progression... would I drop dead before I managed to break into TV?

Oscar winner Julian Fellowes -
Photo copyright of AP

My first thought - Was I too old to have a writing career in TV? My second thought - TV producers are mainly looking for young writers eager to learn and easy to mould, right? My third thought - Why do I have hairs growing out of my ears?

Then I read this quote on one of Bangers's (Lucy Hay - Bang2Write) many informative pages:

It’s never too late!

"Bang2writers tell me all the time they fear they’re “running out of time”. But Julian (Fellowes) has a brilliant SECOND career as a screenwriter and only started in his middle age. As he says of GOSFORD PARK, “I was this fat, bald actor nearly fifty, suddenly writing a Hollywood film!” This could be any one of us, IF we keep going and keep ourselves open. 

Lucy Hay, 2016

He'll be sixty-eight this year and he's still writing. Blimey! Suddenly I didn't feel so old. There was hope for my creaking bones and failing memory. Maybe, just maybe my life experience, maturity (ha!) and wisdom were a valuable commodity in the world of TV production.

Then from the depths of my dodgy memory, I recalled a moment last year when a writer came to me asking me to give him feedback on his TV pilot. He had a couple of TV people interested in reading it and wanted to polish it before he sent it off. He showed a great enthusiasm for his work, a willingness to listen to alternative ideas and was open to constructive criticism... and he was seventy-three years old.

So I guess the lesson I learnt here is not to categorise myself. It doesn't matter who you are. It only matters what you write and how you approach your work. Age, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, are labels. Great writing is great writing and eagerly sought by producers, directors, script editors and development executives alike.

Here's another great link from Bangers... enjoy! - Why It's Never Too Late To Start Writing Your Masterpiece.

Happy writing!

PLANNING YOUR STORY

I've always found story planning a pain, something akin to swimming up river wearing a suit made of concrete. That tricky second act is a bugger and often comes back to haunt me like last night's curry.

The way I approach structuring my writing has changed many times over the years and at the moment I'm using a combination of Blake Snyder's Save The Cat beat sheet and blank index cards.

I would always encourage new writers to follow beats and screenplay templates when they first start out, but once you've used them a few times and learned the rules of formatting and structure, it's then possible to be more flexible in your approach. You have to know the rules in order to mess around with them, to break them and create a unique way of telling your story. Even then templates are still helpful.

A few weeks ago I was approached by a new story planning website and asked if I would promote it. Those of you that know me know I don't just pimp any old thing. I don't have ads on my blog or my website for that very reason, so if I do decide to promote a service, site or book it's because I've checked them out thoroughly and I'm satisfied I would happily use them myself.

So it was with pleasure and a great deal of excitement that I dove right into the wonderful (www.storyplanner.com) and gave it a damn good testing. This new site not only gives you access to structure templates like Save the Cat, Syd Field, The Hero's Journey, the Moral Premise and more, but it also gives you more free form ‘Index Card’ style planning tools so you CAN break those rules. There are even templates for those novelists of you out there. How very handy! In fact, there are more tools to help improve your writing than you can shake a stick at, all on one handy website. Even better than that it's a free resource. Here's the official press release below. 

Story Planner offers the largest collection of writing plans online 

Story Planner aims to be the home for story planning online. The new website offers online tools for every aspect of screenplay preparation, from recording new ideas to crafting story structure, developing character outlines, creating log lines and synopsis, or planning scenes. Story Planner gives writers the opportunity to save their notes in project files, and prepare the groundwork for writing a novel, short story or screenplay.
Writers can choose from a range of popular planning methods including Save the Cat, The Hero's Journey, the Moral Premise, Syd Field’s Paradigm and many more. The site also offers a forum, with a facility to share a writing plan for feedback from other writers. Regular free to enter competitions give writers the chance to practise their story structure skills. 

Joanne Bartley who founded Story Planner said, “I trained as a screenwriter and went from being a writer who wrote entirely instinctively to someone who loved the structure of a writing plan. I think structure plans can guide any writer’s creativity.” 

“I created Story Planner because so many writers use plans from books, character worksheets, or download or create spreadsheet templates, but there was nowhere that offered all of these in one place. So I made the Story Planner site to offer all my favourite plans and give writers the ability to save and edit the plans online.” 

Story Planner has collaborated with many authors and screenwriters to offer their plans online, including Karen Weisner, Graeme Shimmin, Stanley D. Williams (the Moral Premise), Libbie Hawker (Outline your books, for faster, better writing ), Randy Ingermanson (the Snowflake Method), and Save the Cat. 

Joanne said, “I wanted the site to offer a wide range of plans because I know writing methods are personal, so we designed the site so writers can ‘favourite’ their preferred plans ready to use for every project. I intend the site to grow over time, and welcome writers getting in touch with suggestions of new plans to add.”  

Story Planner is free to use, with premium membership offering additional features. 

For full details visit StoryPlanner.com 

Having said that, nothing quite beats the satisfaction of good old fashioned pen and paper.

Happy writing!

TURNING REJECTION INTO OPPORTUNITY

The first rough scene.

Last week I wrote about being rejected and how to shrug it off.

WONDERLAND was written a few years ago. The pilot episode has got me through quite a few doors and given me the possibility to pitch face to face with TV development execs. It's still my favourite TV script. So when the BBC Writersroom opened for drama submissions last year, there was only one screenplay I wanted to enter.

It was fantastic to get into the top 3% and equally disappointing to learn I hadn't made it further. I didn't let the rejection get me down. I could have done, but as someone who makes a living from their writing, I couldn't afford to. Besides, the BBC's feedback was heartening as they clearly liked it. It just wasn't for them. Maybe the next one will be. But it was the following line of their email that really caught my eye, "there are moments where the story feels like it could be a surreal graphic novel."

Mad Frank Hattman.

I've always fancied writing a comic or graphic novel and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. WONDERLAND would make the perfect graphic novel.

And that's where rejection turned into opportunity. I just happen to know a very talent artist. I sent him the screenplay. He loved it! He drew up some rough samples. He sent them to me. I loved them! And a new project was born.

Obviously, there's a long way to go. We're both very busy so this project will have to be worked on in our spare time. The pilot screenplay will have to be rewritten for a new medium. That means I'll have to research how it's done first. Then the other seven episodes will also have to be written. At the moment they're just brief one paragraph outlines. A webpage will have to be created, set up and promoted the hell out of. This is all long before the glorious day the first ten pages are actually released online.

The point is I could have easily deleted the email and forgotten about it. I could have moved on and continued work on my other projects. I didn't! That's how successful writers survive and thrive, they turn disappointment into something positive.

Happy writing!

REJECTION IMPACT

I didn't make the LSWF IMPACT 50... I also wasn't one of the ScreenCraft Fellowship Winners... and my wife won't let me buy a 4K 3D HD TV! You're probably thinking I'm close to taking my own life right about now, eh? WRONG!

Yes, I was disappointed - especially about the TV - but I'm not going to dwell on things. It would be too easy to rage against those who were successful and say, "I hate those smug bastards! I'm gonna hunt them down, find out where they live, wait until they go out, break in their home and do a poop in their cornflakes!" That's one way to deal with things I suppose, but it really is wrong to hate people who achieve what we all work towards. Why?

You have to remember they were us on Monday, fingers crossed in fervent hope, praying the writing gods would be kind, so we shouldn't deny them their success and happiness. After all, they have worked hard, struggled over several years, written and rewritten to get to where they are today... just like us. It was their turn. Think of them as a beacon, proof it is possible, a bloody great big flashing light of hope for all of us. If they can do it, why can't we?

Remember your rejection isn't personal, even if it does feel like it now. They didn't reject you, they just didn't pick your work, and that could have been for any number of practical reasons... it doesn't mean your work is shit. The question you have to ask yourself is, "Was I happy enough with my screenplay to submit it?" If the answer is yes then why are you now questioning its quality?

You might be entering the 'analyzing' stage at this point, asking yourself, "What the hell did I do wrong! What the fuck didn't they like?" Don't go there. The worst thing you can do as a writer is to go through your screenplay and ask yourself what the judges didn't like; what aspect of your screenplay lost you your place? If you start questioning what people don't like about your work, why they rejected it, you can start to loose your creativity. Yes, you need feedback, but blindly trying to guess why you didn't win a competition is only going to screw you up into a tiny little ball of frustration. I've been there. It's not good for you. Or those around you.

Shrug your shoulders, say 'oh well' and move on. There are other competitions, other characters to be created, other screenplays to sweat over. Your life is not over just because you didn't make it this time! There will be other opportunities.

When I learned of my two rejections yesterday I reminded myself I have a new feature commission to get on with. I am not doomed! My writing isn't drivel! I have faced rejection and stared it down. I've pinched the nose of despair, tweaked the nipples of destiny and grabbed my career by the balls. I am 'WRITER', hear me roar! Huzzah!

So if you were disappointed yesterday, shrug it off, dust yourself down and get on with something new. Be fucking awesome!

Oh, and as for that TV... my finger might accidently slip while browsing the Currys website. Just saying..!

Happy writing!

THE CHARACTER JIGSAW

One of the obvious writing mistakes I made when starting out was trying to cram as much of my main character's back story into the first act as I could. Schoolboy error.

Like the vast majority of new writers I wanted to get everything in early, to set it all up as quickly as possible so I could get on with my plot. Consequently my first acts were nearly as long as my second acts.

Over the years I've read many books on how to write screenplays, how to structure, plot and where to put what, but the most fascinating books for me were always the ones that concentrated on character. Here are a few things I learnt reading about and developing my own characters.

• Your main character doesn't need to be good, just interesting.
• Everyone is flawed no matter how perfect they might seem. Even Jesus had a temper.
• Everyone has their own wants and desires that drive them. How far is your character willing to go to achieve them and who are they willing to climb over in the process?
• Look at your plot from every character's point of view. How do they see it? 
• Not every character learns and grows, some will stay the same.
• Occasionally your characters will do something completely out of character, something that will add depth to who they are.

But the most important thing I've learnt is that even though you need to know everything you can about your character before you start writing, you don't have to reveal all of that information to make them work, or do them justice. Take the character of Anton in No Country For Old Men. What do we know about him? Not very much. We don't know why he's a killer, or what childhood trauma drove him to become one. His mysteriousness is part of who he is. Ultimately he's a far more interesting character because we don't know.

Character, unlike plot, doesn't need to be tied up or resolved at the end. Characters don't need to be laid bare, their motivations explained, who they are examined under a microscope. The richest characters for me are the ones who are not fully explained, the ones that have an air of mystery.

It's human nature to seek answers to what we don't know or understand. What caused the teenager with a stable family to sacrifice himself as a suicide bomber? What childhood incident caused a successful businessman to attack a taxi driver when he accidently took him to the wrong address? The media delve into the backgrounds of these people in an attempt to find answers, to justify why these people might do such things, to explain away what would otherwise be just too terrifying to contemplate. If there's an answer, an explanation, it's easier to deal with and accept.

For a writer this can be dangerous. We already know to get into scenes late and get out early, so why do we try and explain every facet of our characters and why they do what they do? Whether you love or hate Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight the Joker Heath Ledger portrayed was exactly the kind of character we all fear. He had no backstory, no motivation for who he was and he was a more terrifying character because of it; "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

So treat your character like a jigsaw. Don't try and complete him/her in the first act. Take your time. Feed the audience a piece here and there. Those little reveals of character throughout the screenplay add new, interesting layers to the characters you create and can add another dimension to the story you are telling.

And remember, with every jigsaw puzzle there's always at least one piece that goes missing, the one that drops down the side of the sofa, gets chewed by the kids or the dog, or the one sucked up in the vacuum cleaner.

Happy writing!

ENCOURAGING CHILDREN TO WRITE

On our last visit to my parents', my mother gave my eldest son Alex a leaflet for a short story competition. The challenge; between 750 and 1000 words on any subject he chose.

My son is very competitive. He loves football, karate and pretty much any sport. He excels at school and is in the top group for everything. However, he isn't very creative and it's a constant battle to tear him away from the games on his tablet. "This will be a challenge," I thought.

So I sat him down and tried to explain about good characterisation, the three act structure, and many other helpful writing tips. Five minutes in he crinkled his nose and looked up at me.

"Daaaaaad!"

"What's up," I said?

"I just want to get on and write it."

So I shut up and let him.

It took him nearly four weeks to write his story, writing and rewriting, asking me what I thought, erasing bits he didn't like and not once did he moan he couldn't do it. His enthusiasm was inspiring. It reminded me of how I feel when I'm in the zone. It was joyous to watch him as he beavered away in the corner of our living room, head down typing away at the laptop, occasionally staring into space while his little grey cells searched for the perfect word to compliment his story. I was so proud.

Alex finally finished his story last night, just before bed. He asked me to read it. I have to admit it was pretty good for an eight-year-old. Of course, now his entry is in I'll probably be asked about forty times a day if he's won it yet, at least until the results are finally published... but that's just Alex.

What's important here is he loved the process, had fun with it and worked hard to get those pesky elusive words down on the page. I hope his story will be the first of many... but that's just me.

Maybe one day he'll be writing his own screenplays.

Happy writing!

DECONSTRUCTING

On rare occasions, despite weeks of preparation, I find a screenplay isn't quite working.

It would be easy to sit there and fiddle with it, changing bits here and there in the hope that it all suddenly came together, but the reality is sometimes you have to take it apart, deconstruct and then rebuild, to discover what's wrong and to move it forward. I have a second draft at the moment which I reread the other day and have since come to the conclusion it would really benefit with being deconstructed. I could have tried to rewrite it like normal, but as it's such a great story I felt the extra effort of deconstructing it is a worthwhile effort.

By deconstruction I don't mean you should completely rewrite a screenplay from scratch, that would be terribly time-consuming and unnecessary. What I suggest is you separate each act, look closely at how it's constructed and rejig it if necessary. Yes, it is a little more work than simply going over and over your screenplay, again and again, rewriting the hell out of it, but it's worth it. So how do you go about it?

As I said above split your screenplay into acts, further splitting Act Two in half. It's far easier looking at a screenplay in smaller sections than it is as a whole.

Start with Act One and take a close look at where the beats occur. Are they in the right place? Are they strong enough? Then look at your characters. Are they appealing? Have you set them up sufficiently? Then look at your scenes. Are you getting in late and getting out early? Is there enough conflict?

The most common mistake I find in the first act, something I'm guilty of too with every single one of my first drafts, is that by spending so much time setting things up the act overruns by five to ten pages. Are there character bits you can use later in the script? Is there too much dialogue and exposition? Once you've looked at these things, rebuilt and rewritten, your first act will be in a much better place.

Then all you have to do is repeat this for the remaining three sections of your screenplay and you'll be laughing.

Sometimes it's necessary to revisit your original thinking, as your view on things will most likely have changed after you've written a few drafts. Deconstructing you screenplay is the best and most effective way to do this.

Happy writing!

THE ETERNAL PLOD

I've been quite lucky as a writer over the last six years.

The first year I went full-time freelance it was website work that kept me going financially, as it wasn't until the beginning of the second year I landed my first feature commission. From then on for the next four years, I was pretty much writing nonstop, going from one commission to the next until May last year. It was scary not to have another commission lined up for when I finished the project I was working on, but at least I had the time to write two of my own spec scripts and I had plenty of reading work to get on with. Still it was a worrying time and it began to play on my mind.

When would my next commission come? Would I ever work again? Was my career over just as it started? These thoughts and many other whizzed around my head, mocking, teasing, gradually eroding away my confidence in my writing ability and my career. Some of my commissioned projects stalled, others morphed, some transferred to different mediums and one almost went into production. But I kept going through all of it. I didn't have a choice.

I spent so many years chasing the Holy Grail of that first commission, I automatically assumed I had made it when I finally landed it and kept going. I was wrong. There's no such thing as 'making it'. During the quiet period last year I realised as a writer I'm only as good as my last successful project. It's not just a matter of being a good writer. My work has to get made and do well. Even then there's no guarantee I'll be working continuously when that happens.

There will be periods when everyone wants a piece of me, when everyone wants me to come in for a chat, when they offer me TV episodes, when they want to work with me. But like all things in life, there will be quiet times when there's not much going on. It's those times I have to work my hardest, keep plodding away even when some days I want to do anything but.

I think of myself as a shark. I have to keep swimming to survive. I can't stop... ever! If I do I'll die. Even when there's nothing around to feed me I have to keep going and going and going and going and going until there is. I can't sit back and wait for things to come to me. There's only one way to go and that's forward. There is no other direction.

I've slowly learned to make the most of the opportunities I'm given and not worry too much when things are quiet. It's not a matter of 'if' something else comes along, it's only a matter of 'when', but if I'm not working towards that it's never going to come.

Happy writing!

WHY FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT - BLOG REWIND

This blog was originally posted 13/06/2012 and has been edited.

My agent read my treatment and then emailed me yesterday to say it was nearly ready, but could I add a couple more bits to clarify a relationship. I've spent just over two months working hard on the treatment, going through several drafts. I could have easily said, "I'm done, it's ready, send it out," but my agent's feedback, like any good feedback, is vital. Working on anything for that length of time and that closely, can blind you to its faults. You need a fresh pair of experienced eyes.

Feedback on your script/treatment/one page pitch is important, it helps you identify faults and give you the tools to correct them. It helps you to rewrite and rewriting is the life blood of all writers. Feedback is something every successful writer craves and actively seeks. Without it they die.


It's all very easy as new writer to spend weeks, maybe even months writing a screenplay and then think it's the bee's balls and as soon as you send it out it's going to be snapped up for bag full of money. I've made that mistake and so have many other writers I know. The truth is the first draft of anything is crap, no matter if you think otherwise. What makes us different is that we recognised our naivety and have worked hard since to make everything we write the best we can possibly make it. It's not been an easy journey, I can promise you that.

There are even new writers who actively avoid feedback, because they can't take criticism even when it's constructive. I've had nasty emails sent to me in the past after giving feedback, telling me I don't know what I'm on about and why can't I recognise the writer's obvious genius. All readers at some point get emails like that, it's unavoidable and very counterproductive for the writer. If the reader thinks your work isn't up to standard it's a sure bet a producer is going to think that too and will just send it back, or bin it. To improve at anything in life it's vitally important that you can take criticism, otherwise you won't advance, learn, or better yourself.

To make your screenplay the best it can be and of a standard that will make production companies sit up and take notice you have to have feedback and the right kind of feedback is important. Friends and writers at the same level as you are helpful for identifying the obvious faults, but for more in depth analysis of your screenplay you need a professional reader and will have to pay for their services.

Why should I use a professional reader?

Most professional readers have been trained to identify what's wrong with a screenplay and offer suggestions on how to fix it. They are not just going by gut instinct. The better ones will have worked as readers for production companies so are well aware of the common faults in scripts submitted to producers and the reasons 99% of them are rejected.

Why should I pay for feedback when I can get my friends to give me feedback for free?

As above. If your friends are at the same level in their career as you their advice, although helpful, won't be at the level you need to help you take a step up. If you want experience and professional insight then a reader is a must, they are the ones to help you really get to the heart of your screenplay's problems and fix them. Even professional writers with long careers in TV and film use the services of readers, just to get another set of eyes to look at their work. You don't have to keep shelling out pound notes for several sets of notes on just one screenplay. Get your friends and fellow writers to feedback on it first, then when you think it might be ready pay a reader to take a look. That way you won't bankrupt yourself and will get the help you need. The benefits far out weigh any cost.

Happy writing!

SACRIFICE

To be a writer requires sacrifice... a lot of sacrifice... and I don't mean chickens, virgins or your fellow writers. What I mean is hard work, dedication, going without the little luxuries in life and generally whatever it takes to build and sustain a successful writing career.

I read this article on Facebook yesterday - WORK ETHIC

It is a brilliant response from a writer to a young woman who complained on social media about how little she was paid by her employer, was then consequently sacked because of the post and later went back on to social media to beg people for money so her standard of living wouldn't drop while she looked for a better paid job. The writer went on to explain all the hard, horrible, humiliating jobs she had worked over the years to feed, clothe and house herself so she could achieve her dream of writing as a career and questioned the young woman's work ethic.

Nothing good comes easy. A career needs to be worked at. No one is going to come to you and offer you employment as a writer if you haven't put the hard graft in before hand, or are willing to continue to do so. You don't get anything for free and no one owes you anything. If you're thinking of someone who's an exception and you're about to counter my argument with their example... then you deserve to fail in your career aspirations. Yes there are exceptions, but you honestly would have better odds of winning the National Lottery than walking into a fully fledged writing career on the back of your first completed screenplay. If you become the exception then good luck to you, but if you're waiting around for it to happen then I want to thank you, as there's now one less writer in the world I have to compete with.

It took me ten years to get my writing career off the ground. Ten years working evenings and nights in an awful job, sometimes coming home in the early hours in tears because I hated it so much, so stressed out I barely slept for weeks in a row. Ten years of sacrifice so I could support my wife and children, which meant no holidays abroad and only the one week away a year somewhere in the UK thanks to the kindness of relatives, turning down friends' invitations and staying in at weekends and at one point selling pretty much all of my belongings - my extensive DVD collection, books, games and anything else that would bring in money - so my family could eat and live in a safe, warm home.

Despite the fact my career took off five years ago I still work several part-time jobs during the evenings and weekends to ensure a steady supply of income, as writing for feature films can pay so sporadically, regular income isn't guaranteed. At one point I was writing full-time during the day and working three part-time jobs during evenings and weekends, which obviously took me away from my family and left me feeling exhausted on the rare occasions I was at home. With five features behind me and work on the sixth about to start soon I have been able to drop one of those part-time jobs and spend a little more time with my family, mostly at weekends which I try to keep clear, but my career progression still requires a huge amount of sacrifice and I'm sure this will never change.

That's why writing is so difficult, so daunting and why so many talented people unfortunately give up and pursue other careers. If you understand what is required of you and you are prepared to put the hours in, then writing can be very rewarding, but it takes a great deal of stubbornness and resilience to get there and stay there. If that's you, then...

Happy writing.

SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

I came across this advert last week.

"Apply to: XXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Type: Screenwriters/Scripts 

Location: London Duration: 

Starts shooting in September, starts ASAP 

Salary: Expenses Paid: This is a unpaid job 

I would like you to write and edit the 500 page teleplay, treatment and synopsis of the limited feel good young adult friendly ensemble drama series 'In Between the Lines' It's a very special project and it's expected to shoot on location in London. The plot goes like this: A group of eight friends – Charlie, Stuart, Derek, Raymond, Frances, Jane, Amanda and Lesley are trying to navigate through life while maintaining their friendships in their young adult lives. 

Title will appear in the beginning and credits will appear in the end of each episode. The film's overall target budget will be medium. 9.00 pm would be suitable for this programme. You have got 8 weeks to write the 500 page television script, treatment and synopsis and this will be done. 

I still need to secure financing for this programme. I'm a writer of story ideas. I didn't produce anything in the past so I'm not a producer. When the script is done you'll send the script to me so that I can read it. Then I'll send it to the producers once I read the script. I haven't got a plot to follow just stay as it is. 

What do you think? 

The expenses will be covered for screenwriter. This is a unpaid job. The expenses cover credits, travel expenses and food. The shooting will take place on 10th September-20th November 2016 in London in the UK. 

Contact me if you are interested."

When you're a new writer without a credit it's very tempting to snatch up the first writing gig offered to you. I'm not saying you should never work for free when you're starting out as a writer, but there's a difference between progressing your career and being taken advantage of. The above is a very clear example of the type of project you should avoid. The reasons..? The clues are in the ad - the publisher admits he has no experience as a producer, there's a large amount of work required by the writer, the time frame for the work is unrealistic, he hasn't raised a single penny towards the production and there's a distinct lack of any offer of deferred remuneration. In other words... AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Sometimes however, things may not be so black and white.

WHEN TO WORK FOR FREE.

Finding directors willing to make short films is easy, identifying the ones that will actually get them made and to a professional enough standard is a little harder. Here are two examples of times I was asked to work for free.

My first short film AGN was written specifically for a group of young filmmakers, who I knew all worked for their local television station. They had access to the equipment they needed and they also informed me the film would be broadcast on TV once it was made. It was the exposure I was looking for and after the film was aired, I was able to use it as proof of a broadcast credit when I came across competitions, courses or schemes that required one to participate in. The film makers benefited too, ending up with a project professional enough to showcase their talents to their bosses and any future employer.

Another director, a student, approached me via email asking me if I would write him a short film screenplay, which he would pay me for. I wrote the screenplay to the brief he gave and emailed it to him. He was delighted. I then invoiced him for my time only to receive a reply informing me he wasn't going to use my screenplay and therefore wasn't going to pay me. I Googled his name and after five minutes of research I discovered he had placed adverts on several websites in the previous week offering to pay other writers under similar circumstances. It was quite clear he never intended to pay all of the writers that applied, maybe not even the one he whose project he eventually used. He was simply trying to get as many screenplays as possible about the subject he wanted to film, so he could choose the best one for his project. I should have checked him out first and never got involved with. Lesson learnt.

It's a good idea before agreeing to any unpaid work to ask yourself, 'what are they aiming to do with the finished screenplay and what, if anything, will they gain from the finished film?' If it's obvious they are going to gain monetarily from the film, or that's their aim, and they insist you'll get a credit and rave on about how it will be great exposure for you without offering you a penny, then alarm bells should already be ringing.

If you're unsure about whether you should work for free or not, it's always wise to do an Internet search on the person asking (beforehand), or politely email a friendly, more established writer you know on the interwebs, and ask for their opinion on what is being proposed. You will make mistakes, as I have, and you will learn from them, to the point where you will be better at differentiating between the con artists and those who are genuinely offering you an opportunity.

CONTRACTS

Always have a contract... ALWAYS! And if you're not sure about the contract get it checked out. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain offer a contract vetting service

MONEY UP FRONT

Every writer, regardless of experience, should be to be paid for their work. Always ask if there is development money. If there is some available try to get most of it up front when you sign your agreement and the rest when you hand in the finished work. If you're told there isn't any ask them if they would be willing to pay you a small amount up front to cover your cost of living expenses while you're writing the screenplay. This is a reasonable request and one most people won't object to. If they do you have to ask yourself why that is?

DEFERRED PAYMENT

Deferred payment is an acceptable solution, but only if the project has an excellent chance of being made. It's no good having a deferred payment if the film is never going to go into production. In this case ask the following questions of the project - Is this project commercial? Does the producer/director have the connections to get this made? Are they experienced? Do they have a track record? Do they have a distribution deal in place? Are they planning to enter the finished project into festivals and competitions? If the answer to all of these questions is no it's a good bet the offer of deferred payment is not worth the paper it's printed on. Politely turn them down and get on with your next spec.

SHARE OF PRODUCER'S PROFITS

This one is also dependent on how commercial your project is, the distribution deal and how likely the film is to make money, if any. This share will be in addition to your deferred payment, so be wary of people offering you this as your only form of payment. Remember if the film doesn't recoup its costs you won't see a penny. It's better for a writer to agree a deferred payment, the bigger the better, with a share of the producer's profits as an additional payment, especially if the film's budget is low, as your deferred payment will usually be a percentage of this and therefore won't be very much.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO SAY NO

If you're not sure about an offer you've been made don't be afraid to say no. I know you may think if you turn this opportunity down you may never get another, but I can assure you, if your writing is good and you network enough, you will. Don't take on an unpaid job just because you are desperate to kickstart your career and it's the only opportunity that has been offered to you. Only take the offer if you are 100% sure it's the right one for you.

If in doubt... ask. There are plenty of writers out there on the interwebs making a living from their words, who would be more than happy to give advice born of their experiences. But again if you are going to follow their advice make sure you check their credentials first.

The simplest way to check if it's a good project to work on is to politely email an agent from a smaller agency (not a large one, because if you're not being paid mega bucks they won't be interested)  and ask them if they wouldn't mind checking over the contract with a mind to representing you on a one off basis. If they agree to and turn you down after they have read the contract, it's a good bet the project isn't one worth getting involved with. After all if they think you're not going to earn any money then they aren't either.

Happy writing!

PROCRASTINATION

I have to be active on social media to promote my business and I also have to actually sit down and write on occasion, or I won't have anything to promote. But when does being active on social media start to become procrastination? If I spend too much time on social media I feel guilty I'm not writing enough and if I ignore it I feel like I'm not making enough of my networking chances. Sometimes my head hurts thinking about it all.

I try and work to a schedule and my latest one looks a little bit like this:

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
09.00 - 09.30 - social media.
09.30 - 12.00 - writing.
12.00 - 12.30 - lunch and social media.
12.30 - 15.00 - writing.
15.00 - 15.45 - pick the boys up from school.
15.45 - 16.30 - writing.
The rest of the day - social media.

Wednesdays
09.00 - 09.30 - social media.
09.30 - 10.30 - weekly (or fortnightly) blog.
10.30 - 12.00 - writing.
12.00 - 12.30 - lunch and social media.
12.30 - 14.00 - writing.
14.00 - 15.00 - maintaining relationships with contacts.
15.00 - 15.45 - pick the boys up from school.
15.45 - 16.30 - writing.
The rest of the day - social media.

Saturdays and Sundays
Spend time with my family and friends... unless I'm behind on a deadline, then it's get my head down time. Even at the weekend I can sneak in an hour or two here or there, thanks to a very understanding wife.

The thing is it's easy to get distracted. This morning for example, instead of starting the blog at 09.30 I actually watched film trailers until 10.00 - Suicide Squad is looking pretty blinkin' awesome! That's half an hour of my writing day wasted... and normally I would beat myself up about it later. I know it's all down to motivation and discipline and I also know pretty much every other writer procrastinates just as badly, but I still feel guilty if I waste even a second of writing time. I guess I wouldn't be motivated if I didn't.

To help me procrastinate less I finally downloaded FREEDOM for Mac a few days ago, something I've been threatening to do for months - yes Mr Stack, it is finally on my hard drive. It's brilliant as it shuts off the internet for programmable lengths of time - my favourite is one hour stints - so I can get on with my work with no distractions. I've written shed loads this week because of it.

But... there's always a 'but'... the occasional procrastination isn't actually bad for me. As a writer I need time away from my work to let my creative brain relax, chill and work problems out unconsciously rather than being forced to do so. I find some of my better solutions have presented themselves this way.

So my advice is this. Don't be too hard on yourself if you find you procrastinate a little when you feel you should be writing. Set yourself daily goals. If you don't meet them one day, make sure you do more the next. Don't punish yourself and equally don't become too complacent. Like the Force, balance is key.

Happy writing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! This is my 500th blog post... yay me... and is the perfect way to ring in the new year.

So how was 2015?

To be honest the first six months was a bit pants, somewhat of a struggle and I didn't get much writing done. However, I soldiered on through adversity and things got better. I had a couple of small commissions in April and by August things were beginning to look pretty awesome again.

Because last year started off so slow I'm determined to hit the ground running this month, make the most of 2016 and get as much writing done as I possibly can.

2016 AIMS:

As you may remember a TV episode was my goal last year. I went to several more TV meetings and again they love my work, but that TV episode still remains elusive. So this year my focus is 100% on getting that first episode of TV. To facilitate this I'm going to write one new pilot episode of a TV drama, three treatments of further TV ideas, all by June, and watch my favourite returning dramas religiously to aid me in my quest.

This doesn't mean however, that I'll be neglecting my feature writing duties. There's a first and second draft of a feature to complete by April and a feature rewrite to complete sometime in February or March. So as you can see the first six months of this year are going to be manically busy... but that's how I respond to a bad year, I get up and work even harder the next. Adversity will never kill me, it will never dampen my spirit and I'll always, always bounce back more determined than ever before.

So tell me, what are your writing goals for 2016?

Happy Writing!

ENTERTAINMENT

Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

First there was the speculation. Then the dissection of the trailers. Then the the film itself. And now the analysis and debate of every single frame. All obsessively shared on social media whether we want it or not.

Sometimes I forget I'm in the entertainment business. It's easy to do so when I go through my latest screenplay with a fine tooth comb, checking each scene, every character arc, every line of dialogue over and over and over and over and over until it's perfect... and then once more for luck. This over critical eye does not just apply to writers, but directors, producers, actors and pretty much everyone involved in making film, TV and other mediums. When did we lose our innocence, that ability to just sit, watch and enjoy a film without pulling it apart afterwards?

Over the last few days I've seen web articles discussing such topics as '20 plot holes in The Force Awakens' and why Rey is a 'Mary Sue'. I skipped over them and will continue to do so when I see others. I enjoyed The Force Awakens, not from a writer's perspective, but from a fan's. For me watching the new film recaptured the excitement I felt when I saw the original back in 1977. It reminded me of why I became a writer, of the love I have for film, story telling and good old fashioned entertainment.

I don't care whether it's perfect or not. I don't care if there are plot holes, or if characters fall short of people's expectations, or what the critics might think. Why can't we just sit back and enjoy the hard work of others and take it at face value, for what it is... entertainment?

I'm determined I'm going to take a regular step back from my writing next year, appreciate it for what for it is, for what I'm trying to do and not analyse the fuck out of it. If I enjoy it then others should too.

Chill!

Relax!

Step back!

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas one and all.

Happy Writing!

SUBTEXT - HOW IT WORKS

Subtext (noun) - a hidden or less obvious meaning.

To use subtext correctly takes a great deal of skill and plenty of practise. It took me several months to learn not only how to use it wisely but also what a valuable tool it is if used correctly. Make it too obvious and you lose its effectiveness. Don't make it obvious enough and your audience will be wondering what the hell your characters have just been talking about.

Here's a scene from one of my commissioned screenplays - COWBOYS CAN FLY. Toby is 14 and lives in an isolated cottage with his mother, Nurse Betty, in the New Forest during the 1960s. They have been discussing Cy, a sickly boy from London, who is staying with them while he recuperates. Nurse Betty has just spotted Dodger, the garden gnome, sat atop a molehill.

Nurse Betty nods at Dodger. 

NURSE BETTY (CONT’D)

I see Dodger’s keeping those moles away. 

Toby stops mowing. 

TOBY

I think he might be planning on escapin’ again. 

NURSE BETTY

Why, doesn’t he like it here? 

TOBY

Of course he does, just... well he’s got to thinkin’ there are more gnomes out there. 

NURSE BETTY

I’m sure he’s got plenty of friends around here. 

TOBY

None of them are gnomes though, are they?  Dodger sometimes thinks he should be with his own kind. 

Toby picks Dodger up, looks him square in the eye. 

TOBY (CONT’D)

Don’t you, mate?

(to Nurse Betty)

Besides, what’s he got to do now all the moles are gone. 

NURSE BETTY

Oh, I’m sure they’ll come back at some point. 

TOBY

Dodger knows this, but he’s not sure it’s enough to stay around.  There’s a ton of other gnomes out there he’s never met, a whole world of adventure to be explored. 

NURSE BETTY

I could bring him home a new companion?  They were selling ladybirds in town the other day. 

TOBY

And he would thank you for it, but it wouldn’t be the same. 

Toby puts Dodger down on top of the molehill, back on watch. 

NURSE BETTY

Aren’t you going to stamp that one down? 

TOBY

No, that’s Dodger’s hill now.  He loves the view. 

Nurse Betty stands and kisses Toby on the top of his head. 

NURSE BETTY

I hope Dodger stays, it wouldn’t be the same without him.  And when Cy gets home take it easy on him for a while.  Don’t go pestering him to go on walks with you. 

Toby nods.  Nurse Betty kisses Toby on the top of the head again, enters the cottage.  Toby goes back to the mowing, going over what he’s done already.

Did you get all of the subtext? Here's what I'm conveying with this scene. 1 - Toby is a very lonely boy and his mother is obviously concerned about this. 2 - Toby is gay and in a time when practising homosexuality was illegal and punishable by a prison sentence, he is unsure exactly how to tell his mother. 3 - Toby thinks he has to move away to be with like minded people. 4 - His mother knows he's gay, is telling him it's OK and that he doesn't have to move away to be who he wants to be, even if he doesn't quite get the message.

The best way to practise subtext is to write a scene as you really mean it to play out and then rewrite it so your meaning is hidden in something else entirely, still keeping the essence of your original scene within the new one. You won't get it first time, or the second, probably not even the third, but you will eventually. It's just down to how much work you put in to it.

Happy writing!

2ND DRAFT IN 4 DAYS

Last week I rewrote a feature screenplay (92 pages) in four days. It was an epic 2nd draft and by the end of it I was exhausted. On Monday Gary Thomas asked me, "Can you do a blog on how you did it? (If you haven't done so already?) Did you not sleep at all?" Yes, Gary, I can and no, not much. But let's start at the beginning.

Ninja fingers of fury.

...lived a lovely Belgian lady called Anne-Marie Caluwaert. She came up with a brilliant idea for a feature, worked on the characters, plotted an outline, and even wrote the initial fifteen pages, but ultimately put the idea in a drawer and went off to work on other things. Then one day she received an email offering her free entry into a screenwriting competition. She didn't have any feature screenplays available at the time so had a quick scan through the drawer and found that old unfinished idea she had been working on.
Anne-Marie refreshed the character backgrounds and reworked the outline, before spending six mad days writing the first draft. Six days..! That really is madness..! My best has been twenty-one days from concept to finished draft, but six days (OK, so she had the characters and outline, but still...), six days is a major achievement. That left seven days to get the screenplay rewritten and entered into the competition.
Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...



Worried that she'd rushed the screenplay and her English might be lacking Anne-Marie asked me to have a look. I read it and instantly fell in love with it. It was a brilliant story of hope from the ashes of loss and I complimented her on a great job. It needed work, the structure was out, a couple of character arcs needed sorting and the antagonist needed to be stronger, but otherwise she had done an excellent job.

Anne-Marie asked if there was too much work to be done to get it rewritten and enter it into the competition by the end of the week. There was. So Anne-Marie made me an offer; rewrite the screenplay, correct her English and I could have a co-credit. I loved the idea so much I said 'HELL YEAH' without thinking.

It wasn't until I realised exactly how much work it would involve, with only five days to do it in, that I knew I might have bitten off more than I could chew. But not being one to let people down I decided I was going to give it a damn good go, or have mental breakdown trying. But to make an already tough task even harder I decided I was going to finish it in three days, not the five I had, as I wanted to spend the weekend with my lovely wife and kids. 

For those of you who don't know I have a little part-time job working at my local arts centre on stage door. I love that job, not only because I get to meet so many wonderful actors and performers, but also because it affords me the occasional bit of time to work on my own stuff while the shows are on stage and things are quiet. During the time I would be working on the 2nd draft not only would I be out for two of the writing days during the day, but I would also be working every evening at the arts centre. What was looking like an impossible task was now looking insane.

So I did what any professional writer would do and got my head down and got on with it. It wasn't easy. There were a lot of interruptions - both at work and from the kids while I was at home - and every time I reached a landmark (say five pages) there was the temptation to say, 'five pages is a good amount, you can relax now.' But I couldn't relax, it had to be done and I had to push past my normal daily page targets, the interruptions, the fatigue and plod on, even when my eyes felt like they were full of grit and all I really wanted to do was put the damn thing down and get some sleep.

On the Thursday night at work we had a company award ceremony. I didn't get into bed until 2.16am the next morning. I was behind drastically on my page count as the first act of the screenplay needed the most work and by the time I got towards the end of the three days I was only on page 48. I knew I would have to work the Saturday as well.

Saturday night was even busier than the Thursday, as we had a charity event in. I knew it was all or bust because I had promised my wife I wasn't going to work Sunday. That left me with 44 pages to do in one day. I managed to get 16 done at home, leaving 28 in the evening. It was really difficult as I had to stop the rewrite numerous times to deal with queries and sort out problems at work, all part of my job. But at just before 2am I reached FADE OUT on the screenplay and gave a great sigh of relief. It was done! Finally! I had made it! I still don't quite know how.

Once I had locked up at work, driven home, I finally dropped into bed at 3.20am. Over the previous three nights I had slept a total of 16 hours. Thankfully my wife let me sleep in until 10am on Sunday morning, but still I was dog tired when I got up. I was really proud I had managed to get the rewrite done, when to be honest I actually doubted I was going to.

So the moral of this story is 'GET IT DONE'. There are no, 'I don't have time to write,' excuses. If you want to write you'll find the time. That's the difference between a professional writer and someone who only wants to be; the professional writer gets it done! If you don't, there are thousands of other writers out there who will get their work done. It's those writers you're competing against. Don't let them beat you.

Happy writing! 

WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS WITH LUCY V HAY

LUCY: "I haven’t seen one (a thriller screenplay) I’ve liked as much as this since JK sent me UNTITLED HITMAN THRILLER (aka REDEMPTION aka ASSASSIN) back in 2008. That’s a loooooong time and I’ve read a loooooot of these scripts in-between!!!"

Once I had regained consciousness and picked myself up off the floor I congratulated myself on a job well done and got on with the second draft. It's not easy to please Lucy so I was pretty ecstatic that she liked my spec thriller ELEVEN. But it wasn't by luck I got this response, or by accident, but by design.

You see in 2013 Lucy wrote a book called WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS, published by Creative Essentials and I reviewed it for my blog just before Christmas (find the review here). So when I sat down to write my first spec screenplay in four years I decided to use the brilliant advice in Lucy's book and write a kick-ass thriller.

OK, so now you might be thinking if I followed her advice in the book of course she's going to like the resulting screenplay. The thing is everyone else who has read it, in its various drafts, has loved it too. This is because Lucy knows her stuff and her knowledge is not only born of watching thousands of hours of film and TV, but from her work as a reader over many years for both established and new writers. She knows what works and what doesn't.

To celebrate the completion of the final draft of ELEVEN, I've managed to get hold of a free ticket to Lucy's two day WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS workshop at Ealing Studios on the 28th and 29th of November, which I'm going to give away to one lucky writer. All you have to do is Tweet me with your thriller longline as illustrated below:

@DomCarver 'Enter Longline Here' #comp

You have until 9 AM on Tuesday 10th November to get them in and the winner will be announced by midday. Any entries received after this time won't be counted, nor will entries not following the template above. My decision is final. So there!!!

Good luck everyone.

Happy writing!

THE UK SCRIPTWRITER'S SURVIVAL HANDBOOK - REVIEWED

Earlier in the year I was asked to read THE UK SCRIPTWRITER'S SURVIVAL HANDBOOK and review it. Actually I lie, I asked to read it... OK, OK, I begged Danny and Tim to let me... and let me read it, they did.

Do you know something... you new writers are very blinkin' lucky. When I started out on my career

there was never anything like this to guide a writer through the perilous waters of the media industry. I had to make it up as I went along and it took several years to perfect my approach. All you lucky people have to do is buy this book, read it and then you'll be armed with all the information you need to create and sustain a successful career. I'm just a tiny weeny bit jealous.

There are thousands of screenwriting books out there which claim to help writers sell their work, but despite an intensive search I have never actually find a book solely dedicated to building and sustaining a writing career. I came across a couple of barely passable US based books, but there was never one focused entirely on the UK industry... until now!

Most new writers think it's only a matter of writing a script and sending it out. I wish it was that easy. In truth you have to spend at least the same amount of time building a reputation, marketing, networking and forming relationships as you do writing, if not more. There is no way of avoiding it if you want to succeed. No one is going to buy your work if they don't buy you. The more work you put in, the more likely it is your career will take off. And this book has all the tools needed to help you do exactly that.

Over the years I've learnt the hard way what works and what doesn't, making mistakes more than once, sometimes so many times it became embarrassing, but always learning and improving. And that's why I'm recommending this book to you, because while reading it I recognised many of the tactics I employ myself. Danny and Tim's advice does work. It really does. And that's the beauty of this book, it's all there for you within those covers; all those insider industry secrets, the hints, tips and routines all successful writers employ on a daily basis. This book is literally priceless to any aspiring writers out there. It will save you years of unnecessary work. This book is the one you CAN'T do without!

And as if that wasn't enough Danny and Tim are launching their handy survival handbook at this year's London Screenwriters' Festival. You would be a fool to miss out. Don't be that fool!

Happy writing!

LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE

When starting out in the industry it's tempting to exaggerate your skills and experience to help get you ahead, especially if you've been turned down for a job because you lack the experience they are looking for. I was once turned down for a sci-fi feature because although the production company loved my writing they were worried I didn't have any experience in writing sci-fi. They were right. It's incredibly frustrating when this happens, but by lying about your previous work you risk stalling your career before it's barely got off the ground. And what did I do? I accepted their decision and moved on, concentrating on what I do best and quickly landed myself another feature.

Over the past few years I've seen various examples of new writers, first time directors and producers beefing up their CV in the false belief industry people won't work with them because they lack experience. This is a bad idea for two very good reasons...

Don't lie, you'll be found out!

1 - You will be caught out. Have you ever watched The Apprentice? Ever seen the grilling candidates get over their CVs, where one of Lord Sugar's trusted people rips holes in the candidate's exaggerations? Your claims will be checked and lies exposed. Don't be foolish to think no one will ever know. They will!

2 - When you are found out your lie will do more damage to your career than if you had been honest about your lack of experience from the start. It will take far more hard work, effort and time to erase your dishonesty than it would have taken to get a career going if you had been honest from the start.

There's no shame in admitting you lack experience. Everyone has to start from somewhere. It's better to admit you lack in experience and show an enthusiasm to learn and progress, as others will not only admire your honesty but also your commitment to improve. Who do you think is more likely to be offered work; the inexperienced writer open about wanting to learn and grow, or the inexperienced writer who hides behind false claims they will never be able to back up?

About ten years ago when I was a member of Trigger Street there was a man who claimed to be a producer who kept popping up on all the forums, dishing out dodgy advice to writers and forcing his view of the industry on them. He kept using the fact he had won an Oscar as a club to beat his ideas into them and to knock down anyone who dared question what he was saying. So one of those writers decided to do a little research. Five minutes later he discovered the producer hadn't won an Oscar at all and had only been mentioned as a thank you in the speech alongside dozens of others. Once confronted with this fact the man disappeared from Trigger Street and was never heard from again. How foolish do you think he felt after being exposed? To all those writers who witnessed it he would forever be known as a liar. And how would the real winners feel about him claiming their Oscar as his, especially after they thanked him in their speech? If I was them I would never have worked with that guy again.

A producer I once worked with lied about my experience on an investors pack and I had to get my agent to respectfully ask him to correct it and stick to the facts. If the investors pack had gone out with a false claim about my experience it could have potentially damaged my career and would have put the film in jeopardy if investors had found out.

If you're tempted to make false claims about your skills and experience just to boost your standing in the industry, my advice is not to do it. It's only going to make you look like an idiot when you're found out and people won't want to work with someone they can't trust. It's better to be honest about your lack of experience and show a genuine enthusiasm to learn and grow as a writer.

Happy Writing!

LSWF 2015 - ARE YOU READY?

Just under forty-four days to go and I'm already very excited.

I didn't go to the screenwriters festival last year and I've regretted it every day since. Not only is it a brilliant place to learn, meet like minded people and network with producers and directors, it's also a fantastic way to recharge those writing batteries. I missed it terribly.

I already have my ticket, my hotel is booked and I'm already preparing my pitches. I'm determined not to miss a second or waste a single opportunity. I've even highlighted a few potential sessions I already want to attend. I am that organised. You have to be if you want to make the most out of the festival.

Here's my annual handy guide of making the most out of your three days at LSWF 2015.

Preparation

1. Buy your ticket if you haven't already. If you delay they'll sell out. They do every year.
2. Sign up for the speed pitching. It's a wonderful chance to get five minutes face-to-face with an agent or producer, and have their undecided attention. It's not an opportunity to be missed.
3. Make sure you have accommodation close to the festival. If you have to travel a fair distance every day you'll miss out on valuable networking time.
4. Practice, practice, and practice your pitches so you know them off by heart. You never know when you'll be asked to pitch and if you're not ready then you'll blow your chance (more on this later).
5. Check the list of speakers every couple of days, research them, choose the ones you want to listen to (or even approach to have a chat) and have a list ready for when the schedules are published. That way you can plan which sessions you want to see in advance.
6. Go on to the Private Delegate Network Page (only accessible when you've bought a ticket), research everyone on it, highlight people of interest you want to talk to and send them a preliminary email and arrange a meeting if possible. Remember though the delegate list will also have people on it from previous years who may not be going to this year’s festival, so it is well worth asking if they are. LSWF will send you a delegate book nearer to the time with a comprehensive list of all those attending, but don't wait for this, get ahead of the game.
7. Choose your projects wisely. I would suggest that you choose no more than three and make sure they're finished, proof read and the best you have.
8. Order at least 250 business cards, you'll need them. Make sure they're blank one side so people you speak to can write notes about you on them.

How To Prepare In More Detail

You've bought your ticket, printed off ten copies of your screenplay and now you're ready for LSWF... right? Wrong!

It's not a matter of just turning up; you really need to plan for the festival to get the most out of it. If you don't then you might as well set fire to your ticket and go down the pub with your mates instead. No producer is going to see the genius of your screenplay, no agent your obvious talent, unless you approach the festival professionally and with at the very least a little forethought. You will only get out of the festival what you put in to it.

Research:

Above I talked about how you need to research your fellow delegates and speakers. This is very important. You’ll have an advantage over most of your fellow writers if you know who is going to be at the festival and what they are currently working on. There’s nothing worse than trying to talk to a well-known producer and not knowing what their last film was.

To give you an example I managed to get work from the 2011 festival simply by scouring the delegate list. I discovered one producer who was looking for a writer for his project so I researched him and his company and then sent him an email to set up a meeting at the festival. To cut a long story short the screenplay is now in Hollywood and the buzz around the project is getting everyone excited. If I hadn’t done my research I would have missed the opportunity.

Pitching:

You should have already decided on the three projects you want to take with you to the festival, remembering to print off one page pitches for these to hand out if requested. Don’t take full screenplays. If a producer is handed twenty screenplays and one, one page pitch, which do you think he’s going to read first? One year I saw a delegate hand a very well known and successful TV writer a full screenplay and a pitch in a large folder. He didn’t take it home with him. Would you want to be weighed down with all that paper for your train journey home? Stick to one-page pitches…trust me! 

Your one pager should be written in the style of your project, so if it's a comedy then it needs to be funny, and remember to make it visual - that doesn't mean draw pretty pictures all over it. If you don't know what I mean pop down to your local book store, pick up a few random novels and read their back covers. Their story is summed up there and you need to sum up your project in a similar manner. Like your screenplays; write, rewrite and rewrite again until they're as perfect as they can be.

USB Memory Sticks - These are very popular at the moment. Here you CAN upload your screenplay and hand them to someone who requests to read it. They're easier to carry than several sheets of paper and relitively cheap to acquire. If you have your email and other contact details inscribed on the stick, even better.

What you also need to do is work out a sixty-second pitch for each project. Why sixty seconds? Anything longer and you risk sending the recipient of your pitch to sleep. Keep it short and then if they're interested they'll ask you questions about your project. If you drone on all they'll want to do is to get away from you as fast as they can.

The pitch should be split up like this:

• Title - relevant to the script.
• Format - film, TV, etc.
• Genre - If you don't know what it is how can they?
• Compare it to something else that has gone before (It's similar to Quantum Leap, but with robot rabbits.)
• Then..."This is a story about... who...'

Once you've worked out your pitches for all three projects go and practice them. Pitch to friends, family, or to a video camera, so you can play it back and see for yourself how it works. Then practice some more, and more, so they eventually become second nature to you and you could even pitch them in your sleep.

Networking:

Business Cards: The most important tool you're going to take with you and the one most frequently overlooked. I took 250 with me two years ago - you can never have too many - and handed out a good proportion of them. I couldn't believe there were delegates at the festival that didn't have business cards and were writing their email addresses and phone numbers down on scraps of paper. It shows a total lack of professionalism not taking any with you. There is absolutely no excuse not to have any. Get them now!

Get at least 250, they don't have to cost much, don't have to be fancy - all they need is your name, what you do, your phone number and email address - and should be blank on one side. Why? Good question and the answer is simple.

When you collect cards from other people and you've finished having a conversation with them, write down the highlights of that conversation on the back of the card. Why write this information down on a separate piece of paper and risk losing it? This information is important for following up your new contact after the festival. You'll hopefully be talking to a lot of people and it will be difficult to remember every conversation. I have one card from 2010’s festival that simply says 'fork man' on the back and is still even now more than enough to jog my memory of who he was, what he did and more importantly what we talked about. Remember to keep the cards you collect safe. Hide them away in your bag so you don't risk losing them.

I made a conscious effort in previous years not to hang around with people I know. I wanted to meet new people and forced myself to go out of my way and talk to as many strangers as I could. This is your best option to make new, and possibly valuable, contacts. I did check in with my friends now and again and I'm glad I did, as one of them introduced me to a producer who offered me paid work at the 2010 festival.

I'm not naturally social so I know how difficult it is to walk up to a complete stranger and start talking to them, but I did it and now I really enjoy it. Push yourself to talk to people and try and remember they are probably just as nervous about talking to you as you are to them.

There are a few simple rules that will help you with this:

• Everyone likes people to show an interest in them. Ask them questions about their work and experience, rather than just barging in and telling them everything about yourself including your last trip to the doctor for that unexpected rash. If you show an interest in them, they'll naturally want to know about you and what you're working on.
• Listen carefully, make eye contact, smile often and make sure you show an interest. There's nothing ruder than answering someone's question only for them to start playing Angry Birds on their phone while you do. I usually walk away at that point, or stop talking until they start paying attention again.
• Always check the body language of the person you've met. If that person looks like they may be getting bored, stop talking about yourself and ask them a question about themselves to get the conversation back on track. If you keep yabbering on about you and your work they'll easily forget about you, or at least do their best to do so.
• Get there early and stay late. Network while you eat. Network at the bar. Network while you're having a quick ciggy. Network in the canteen queue. However, don't try and network in the toilet. Someone who is taking a private moment in a cubicle to empty their bowels might not take too kindly to you popping your head over the cubical wall and saying, 'Alright mate, how's your festival going?' Make the most of your networking time, because if you don't then others will.
• There will be a bar at the festival, but I suggest you don't drink, or if you do then just make it the one. People don't like being cornered by a slurring drunk waffling on about utter bollocks for several hours, giving them a hug and telling them they're their new best friend. Stay sober.
• Buy drinks for others, especially producers and directors. It's OK to get them drunk, as you might find them more open to your 197 page factual TV drama about the woman down the road who looks after stray cats, if they have been well lubricated in advance.

When the festival is over leave it a week before you start following up on those conversations. Send polite emails to everyone you met and talked to. There are no bad contacts so don't leave anyone out, as any single one of them could turn out to the one that helps move your career forwards.

Essential Items You Will Need To Take:

• Your LSWF ticket - DUH!
• Your 250 business cards - remember these are your most important tool.
• An empty business card box - to put all those valuable business cards in which you will collect from other people.
• A copy of the schedule - print one off from the website the day before you go and highlight the sessions you most want to attend. The schedule will most likely change anyway, but at least you'll have a basic one to refer to.
• A map of Regents Collage - you need to know where you are going for each session.
• Several pens - in case one runs out, you lose one, or some thieving little git 'borrows' one.
• A small notebook - for the making of detailed notes about possible collaboration. You should always carry one anyway, to write down any ideas you might have.
• An A4 pad - for the writing of notes while listening to speakers.
• Ten copies only of the one-page pitches of the three projects you are going to take with you, or USB memory sticks.
• Your three sixty-second pitches - do not read these out from your notes, they are only for back up.
• A fully charged spare battery for your mobile phone - you'll be surprised how quickly it will run out.
• Your thoroughly researched speaker and delegate list - with pictures so it's easier to spot people while you're there.
• Mints - no one wants to talk to someone whose breath smells like a camel's bum.
• Money - for the buying of sustenance and plying producers and directors with liquid 'YES' juice.
• A can of Red Bull - for the drinking of to keep your mind sharp should you suddenly find yourself flagging.
• A smile, a cheerful disposition and an eagerness to soak up every ounce of information and milk every networking opportunity.

Summing Up

• Remember your business cards, you'll need them.
• Remember your one-page pitches, but only hand them out if asked for one. Same goes for the memory sticks.
• Don't worry too much about missing a session if networking is going well, as most sessions are filmed and will be available on the delegates network after the festival.
• Don't hang around people you know, go and mingle, talk to as many new people as possible.
• Be brave.
• Ask them about what they do and what they're working on, show an interest in their work and don't rabbit on about yourself.
• Take every opportunity to network.
• Stick to one drink in the evenings at the bar, so you can continue to network and don't come across as a dribbling drunk.
• Buy people drinks; they'll love you for it.
• Turn up early, go home late.
• Make as many notes about what you learn as you can - remember to write these out in longer form as soon as you get home from the festival, as they won't make any sense in a months time.
• Be polite, friendly and professional at all times. You're promoting yourself here.
• Follow up any chats after the festival with an email.
• Listen, learn, absorb.
• There is no such thing as luck, only hard work and persistence pays off.

Start preparing now, you want to be able to be a step ahead of everyone else. Good luck, enjoy your festival and I'll see you there.

Happy Writing!