I'm settling into my life here in Reading, Berks. Heading towards the end of my third week it's all ticking along pleasantly. Apart from the fact I slept badly last night because I had things to do.
Things to do.
So, on one of my script writing mailing lists, up pops a fascinating little project: it already has funding, has two major actors attached and no script. They want a character piece. And they're taking submissions (a treatment and sample scene) by the end of May. I shall call it the Bohemian Project henceforth.
As we all know I have a fondness for deadlines. Really. It's all those years I spent generating newsstand magazines every 4 weeks. And I really do mean every 4 weeks, we did 13 issues per year.
Can I write a character piece? I have no idea. However I did not know whether I could write a contemporary rom-com a month ago, and apparently I can. (It may not be brilliant, but I can do it.) We shall see.
But there's still the Blockbuster treatment for the Hollywood director to do and my TV script dialogue.
Tight deadlines. Even more fun.
I spent this evening mapping out a new version of the Blockbuster treatment. My professional readers really hadn't liked it much so I went back to square one and thought it through. I worked up some action plot lines for the four main groups of people. Then mapped them out on my Storylines software, I find it useful for getting things in order.
One of the problems with my treatment had been that it was all action and very little in the way of character. There is a problem with the source material for this adaptation in that there isn't a lot of character anyway. However I've already taken liberties with the plot so there's no reason for not taking liberties with the characters as well. (To a point.)
Screenwriting books will tell you lots of interesting things about External Conflict, Internal Conflict and Fatal Flaws. I'm not going to repeat it in detail here but while I didn't need this particular tool for "Une Nuit a Paris" (because the characters flowed well), it was definitely a tool for this treatment.
I wrote out those three things for each of the eight main characters (including the antagonists) and then thought what would be key scenes to go with these traits. Very interesting. I came up with some quite juicy ones and it turned one of the main bad guys into a potentially fascinating, and even tragic, character even though he gets very few scenes in this film. (He gets more in the sequel.)
Having done that I went back to my Storylines software and inserted the key scenes in the appropriate places so now I have both action and emotion. I can now re-write the Blockbuster treatment and hopefully make something better out of it.
I also realised that some of the interesting stuff with my bad guy would transfer very nicely to one of the principle characters in the Bohemian Project. Nice.
What's on the turntable? "Where Opposites Meet" by Sky from "Sky"
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Scriptfrenzy complete!
I did it, at last.
This is partly the reason I haven't blogged in the past few days. Writing hard.
So I did 10 pages on Wednesday, same on Thursday and as I was travelling back to family on Friday afternoon I found myself an unreserved table seat, plugged in the laptop and wrote like a madman -- 20 pages including the all-action climax. Page rate over 6 per hour.
Deadlines are handy things as I mention in this blog. And I used this one to get the job done in advance. Having no TV in my flat is a definite advantage.
As I have mentioned previously the screenwriter I most admire is Joss Whedon, one of his trademarks is heading directly into a cliche and then taking an unexpected left. A classic example of this in Buffy when she and Giles are talking in a crypt. They leave. Ethan Rayne emerges from the shadows where he's been listening and says something out loud, gloating over having overhead the plan.
This is classic cliche. What does Whedon do? Giles comes back into the crypt saying "I thought I heard someone". And the plot shoots off in another direction completely.
I have tried to do emulate him where it's sensible (and funny). For example, after escaping their chains the hero and girlfriend peek out the door to see what the bad guys are doing. In most films they would then either creep out and escape, or shut the door and formulate a plan of escape. That's cliched and predictable. I do something different but I'm not saying what (hey, this might get made one day, I'm not going to spoil it).
So there we have it, 100 pages of script in a month which is what ScriptFrenzy is all about. It gives you a reason and deadline. You can do it too.
What's on the turntable? "Do the Strand" by Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music from the compilation album "Street Life".
This is partly the reason I haven't blogged in the past few days. Writing hard.
So I did 10 pages on Wednesday, same on Thursday and as I was travelling back to family on Friday afternoon I found myself an unreserved table seat, plugged in the laptop and wrote like a madman -- 20 pages including the all-action climax. Page rate over 6 per hour.
Deadlines are handy things as I mention in this blog. And I used this one to get the job done in advance. Having no TV in my flat is a definite advantage.
As I have mentioned previously the screenwriter I most admire is Joss Whedon, one of his trademarks is heading directly into a cliche and then taking an unexpected left. A classic example of this in Buffy when she and Giles are talking in a crypt. They leave. Ethan Rayne emerges from the shadows where he's been listening and says something out loud, gloating over having overhead the plan.
This is classic cliche. What does Whedon do? Giles comes back into the crypt saying "I thought I heard someone". And the plot shoots off in another direction completely.
I have tried to do emulate him where it's sensible (and funny). For example, after escaping their chains the hero and girlfriend peek out the door to see what the bad guys are doing. In most films they would then either creep out and escape, or shut the door and formulate a plan of escape. That's cliched and predictable. I do something different but I'm not saying what (hey, this might get made one day, I'm not going to spoil it).
So there we have it, 100 pages of script in a month which is what ScriptFrenzy is all about. It gives you a reason and deadline. You can do it too.
What's on the turntable? "Do the Strand" by Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music from the compilation album "Street Life".
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Super-quickie
Just dropping back to say that I've just done another 10 pages, in an hour and a half. So we're up to about 61 now which brings me back to a stage I was at two weeks ago of needing about 5.5 pages per day to finish on time.
Pretty pleased with what I've done today too, it's got a bit of pathos and a really nice bit of humour, plus lots of other emotions floating around. The protagonist hit his barrier and broke through now he's about to make the decision that's going to drive him towards the climax, but there's still the point of no return to come.
I wonder if I can put in the ticking clock as well. I probably can, after all this is Une Nuit in Paris and dawn is going to come at some point. Considering the lack of planning (although I have always had an overall plan in my head) this is going surprisingly well.
What's on the turntable? "I Spy" by Pulp from "Different Class"
Pretty pleased with what I've done today too, it's got a bit of pathos and a really nice bit of humour, plus lots of other emotions floating around. The protagonist hit his barrier and broke through now he's about to make the decision that's going to drive him towards the climax, but there's still the point of no return to come.
I wonder if I can put in the ticking clock as well. I probably can, after all this is Une Nuit in Paris and dawn is going to come at some point. Considering the lack of planning (although I have always had an overall plan in my head) this is going surprisingly well.
What's on the turntable? "I Spy" by Pulp from "Different Class"
I don't do "kvickies"
Spot the quote?
This is going to be a quickie because it's already 9 o'clock and I haven't done any writing this evening.
Last night I got through 11 pages of my script (yay!) and today I've managed to get my laptop in an even more comfortable position so I might get even more done.
Does that make sense? Well, of course it does. I don't have a proper writing desk or chair in this flat, the only chairs are stools that are too low for the table. And I have a sofa. Also the lighting is poor-ish as three of the five spots are dead.
I've been carefully evolving the best position for me and computer so that I can write for long periods without becoming too uncomfortable. What I've achieved is using my bed pillow to allow me to sit forward on the sofa and still have lumbar support while the laptop sits on one of the stools propped up by a jumper to angle the keyboard. And I'm near enough to one of the lights that the keyboard is sufficiently well illuminated, though it could be better.
It works.
The title of this blog comes from the 70s movie "Love at First Bite" starring George Hamilton IV. I love that film, it's incredibly dated but has some great lines and brilliant characters. (Hm, it seems they might be trying "Love at Second Bite", oh well.)
Writing tip: Nothing dates faster than contemporary references.
Who now recognises references to "Roots" in the film except someone as old as me? To quote the film again: "Renfield, you idiot, this book is as dated as ... I am."
Until the morrow, adieu.
What's on the turntable? "Lover Boy" by Queen from "A Day at the Races"
This is going to be a quickie because it's already 9 o'clock and I haven't done any writing this evening.
Last night I got through 11 pages of my script (yay!) and today I've managed to get my laptop in an even more comfortable position so I might get even more done.
Does that make sense? Well, of course it does. I don't have a proper writing desk or chair in this flat, the only chairs are stools that are too low for the table. And I have a sofa. Also the lighting is poor-ish as three of the five spots are dead.
I've been carefully evolving the best position for me and computer so that I can write for long periods without becoming too uncomfortable. What I've achieved is using my bed pillow to allow me to sit forward on the sofa and still have lumbar support while the laptop sits on one of the stools propped up by a jumper to angle the keyboard. And I'm near enough to one of the lights that the keyboard is sufficiently well illuminated, though it could be better.
It works.
The title of this blog comes from the 70s movie "Love at First Bite" starring George Hamilton IV. I love that film, it's incredibly dated but has some great lines and brilliant characters. (Hm, it seems they might be trying "Love at Second Bite", oh well.)
Writing tip: Nothing dates faster than contemporary references.
Who now recognises references to "Roots" in the film except someone as old as me? To quote the film again: "Renfield, you idiot, this book is as dated as ... I am."
Until the morrow, adieu.
What's on the turntable? "Lover Boy" by Queen from "A Day at the Races"
Monday, April 21, 2008
After the weekend
Ah, the ignorance of it!
BBC radio 4 on a weekday evening has a review programme that can be very interesting though I dislike the main presenter, Mark Lawson. One of the reasons I dislike him is his contempt for Science Fiction in any form, so whenever there is a review or feature which has an SF element you can guarantee there'll be some snide comments floating about. And ignorance.
On a little filler feature this evening the most recent episode of Dr Who was mentioned, with its title "Planet of the Ood". A very good episode as it happens, but I digress. Mr Lawson demonstrated his ignorance by saying that it had introduced a new monster; which it didn't, since the Ood appeared in an earlier episode. But there was no reason to even mention it since the feature was about episode titles, and not the subject matter, he was trying to be clever and put it down with "monster" and demonstrated his ignorance instead.
So. Here I am back in Reading having been home for the weekend.
I had such plans for my Scriptfrenzy writing. It's a straight through train from Reading to Manchester during the week and I wanted to take a seat and work on my script for three hours. Unfortunately something got in my way: well, I got in my way. Well, my stomach to be precise. The train seats were too close together and my laptop isn't a little one. I was annoyed at myself, and then doubly annoyed because I hadn't brought a notepad with me. Tsk.
I have a family and it seems a bit wrong to hide in a room writing when they haven't seen me all week, so I didn't write while I was there. But the journey back was better, somewhat. I missed one connection (a train had failed at the platform we were supposed to arrive on) so I ended up on the wrong trains. But one part of the journey I managed to get a seat where the gap was bigger and had a good hour and a half of writing, and knocked out another 8-9 pages which was pretty good going.
As I have mentioned my script is inspired by the 10CC album "The Original Soundtrack" mainly the track "One Night in Paris", but other tracks where I can fit them in. One of which is called "Blackmail" and the protagonist has met the blackmailer. In fact this part of the plot is going to work very similarly to the way it does in the song (click for lyrics).
I've still got a way to go on the script, I'm on 38 pages, so 62 to go. That might seem like a lot but quantity isn't really an issue, it's just another deadline. I have 4 nights this week, 3 next week and 2 train journeys, that's 9 writing sessions so a minimum of 7 per day. But if I aim for 10 per session I'll wrap it up by the end of the weekend, and even if the train journeys turn into nothing I should still be able to complete it by the deadline.
Well that's enough the sums I suppose, I better actually do some writing.
What's on the turntable? "The Caves of Altamira" by Steely Dan from "The Royal Scam"
BBC radio 4 on a weekday evening has a review programme that can be very interesting though I dislike the main presenter, Mark Lawson. One of the reasons I dislike him is his contempt for Science Fiction in any form, so whenever there is a review or feature which has an SF element you can guarantee there'll be some snide comments floating about. And ignorance.
On a little filler feature this evening the most recent episode of Dr Who was mentioned, with its title "Planet of the Ood". A very good episode as it happens, but I digress. Mr Lawson demonstrated his ignorance by saying that it had introduced a new monster; which it didn't, since the Ood appeared in an earlier episode. But there was no reason to even mention it since the feature was about episode titles, and not the subject matter, he was trying to be clever and put it down with "monster" and demonstrated his ignorance instead.
So. Here I am back in Reading having been home for the weekend.
I had such plans for my Scriptfrenzy writing. It's a straight through train from Reading to Manchester during the week and I wanted to take a seat and work on my script for three hours. Unfortunately something got in my way: well, I got in my way. Well, my stomach to be precise. The train seats were too close together and my laptop isn't a little one. I was annoyed at myself, and then doubly annoyed because I hadn't brought a notepad with me. Tsk.
I have a family and it seems a bit wrong to hide in a room writing when they haven't seen me all week, so I didn't write while I was there. But the journey back was better, somewhat. I missed one connection (a train had failed at the platform we were supposed to arrive on) so I ended up on the wrong trains. But one part of the journey I managed to get a seat where the gap was bigger and had a good hour and a half of writing, and knocked out another 8-9 pages which was pretty good going.
As I have mentioned my script is inspired by the 10CC album "The Original Soundtrack" mainly the track "One Night in Paris", but other tracks where I can fit them in. One of which is called "Blackmail" and the protagonist has met the blackmailer. In fact this part of the plot is going to work very similarly to the way it does in the song (click for lyrics).
I've still got a way to go on the script, I'm on 38 pages, so 62 to go. That might seem like a lot but quantity isn't really an issue, it's just another deadline. I have 4 nights this week, 3 next week and 2 train journeys, that's 9 writing sessions so a minimum of 7 per day. But if I aim for 10 per session I'll wrap it up by the end of the weekend, and even if the train journeys turn into nothing I should still be able to complete it by the deadline.
Well that's enough the sums I suppose, I better actually do some writing.
What's on the turntable? "The Caves of Altamira" by Steely Dan from "The Royal Scam"
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