Midnight as I write...
10 pages of Tec completed. I need to insert a scene between two others just to break them up, otherwise it's corny. There's been lots of muttering about writing sequences in the scribosphere of late - someone released a book about it I think.
Doesn't work so well for TV, at least not for me, I cut back and forth a lot. I write two or more sequences together. Helps maintain the pace and interest I think.
Tomorrow the Boy does the next stage of the audition process to get on CBBC's Bamzooki show.
Oh, just remembered what I wanted to say: writing resource idea #87643 - I needed to write a little bit about Styal Women's Prison, having decided that was where my protagonist was incarcerated.
I did lots of reading on the HM Prison's website but I wanted to see what it looked like. In particular I wanted to see what the entrance looked like. I realised that I could do it on Multimap using its "Bird's Eye" option. I searched for Styal and then switched to Ordnance Survey view to find the prison. Then zoomed in and switched to Bird's Eye and got this. (I'm not sure this takes you exactly to the right place but one has to try.)
What's on the turntable? "Here Comes the Rain Again" by Annie Lennox - singing live on Jools as I write, yummy
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
That "Once Upon A Time" Moment #2
A funny thing happened today.
I was at lunch, mulling over the plans and outline I'd sketched out for Tec when someone came up and hit me over the back of the head. And I realised that I had THREE (count them 1 ... 2 ... 3) coincidences in the set-up for the first episode.
Horrible.
Luckily the handling for it was quite simple, make them conscious decisions (based on previous activities not seen in the show) on the part of the protagonist. Then suddenly they aren't coincidences any more.
It isn't a coincidence that Mara (the protag) gets a job with a detective - she's already got it planned and applied for the job before she's out of prison. Entirely reasonable. It also means I can probably dump a character - namely her parole officer who was going to provide the links for the coincidences.
There's still one coincidence but one is allowed to get the party started, and even that is mitigated by the protagonist being more causative. (The protags real name is "Tammy" [not even "Tamara"] because her mother loved "Tammy Wynette" - she hates it, of course, so calls herself "Mara".)
Anyway the upshot of this revelation was that I became fired up, on the walk home, with the characters coalescing in my head (finally realised who the real antagonist is) and the time had come for that "Once Upon a Time" moment, otherwise known as the Linehan Poo.
I have written 6 pages this evening (10% of the script), and I like 'em.
What's on the turntable? "Heads We're Dancing" by Kate Bush from "Sensual World"
I was at lunch, mulling over the plans and outline I'd sketched out for Tec when someone came up and hit me over the back of the head. And I realised that I had THREE (count them 1 ... 2 ... 3) coincidences in the set-up for the first episode.
Horrible.
Luckily the handling for it was quite simple, make them conscious decisions (based on previous activities not seen in the show) on the part of the protagonist. Then suddenly they aren't coincidences any more.
It isn't a coincidence that Mara (the protag) gets a job with a detective - she's already got it planned and applied for the job before she's out of prison. Entirely reasonable. It also means I can probably dump a character - namely her parole officer who was going to provide the links for the coincidences.
There's still one coincidence but one is allowed to get the party started, and even that is mitigated by the protagonist being more causative. (The protags real name is "Tammy" [not even "Tamara"] because her mother loved "Tammy Wynette" - she hates it, of course, so calls herself "Mara".)
Anyway the upshot of this revelation was that I became fired up, on the walk home, with the characters coalescing in my head (finally realised who the real antagonist is) and the time had come for that "Once Upon a Time" moment, otherwise known as the Linehan Poo.
I have written 6 pages this evening (10% of the script), and I like 'em.
What's on the turntable? "Heads We're Dancing" by Kate Bush from "Sensual World"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Oh. My. God. #5
Yes indeedy. Things have been quiet on the OMG front recently but Monsters has done it again.
I made it through to the Screenwriters Festival Scriptmarket 2009 based on tagline and synopsis for Monsters alone. Yes! (Punches air.) You may recall the trouble I had getting the synopsis done, if not you can read about it here, here, here and here (that's in date order).
The next thing is a meeting on June 11th in That London.
Better make sure that I've got Tec and Running wrapped up by then (to go with Air) so when they say "what else have you got" I've got a good answer.
Oooh. It just occurred to me that you might like to read the tagline and synopsis. Would you? (I'm not sure I want to tell you - I just read it again - it's a bit boring.)
Props, guys and gals, to Dave Turner for making it to the Top of Twit Parade - I agree with his sentiment completely (including defending their right to talk garbage - not that they'd offer me the same freedom) though I don't Twitter.
What's on the turntable? "King of the Mountain" by Kate Bush from "Aerial CD1: A Sea of Honey"
I made it through to the Screenwriters Festival Scriptmarket 2009 based on tagline and synopsis for Monsters alone. Yes! (Punches air.) You may recall the trouble I had getting the synopsis done, if not you can read about it here, here, here and here (that's in date order).
The next thing is a meeting on June 11th in That London.
Better make sure that I've got Tec and Running wrapped up by then (to go with Air) so when they say "what else have you got" I've got a good answer.
Oooh. It just occurred to me that you might like to read the tagline and synopsis. Would you? (I'm not sure I want to tell you - I just read it again - it's a bit boring.)
Manchester 2065AD. After terrible epidemics fifteen years earlier, Britain has been left in "post-war" poverty. The country is run by the Purity trying to eradicate "S.I.D", a retro-virus that turns people into monsters that die insane and in agony.The tagline was something like: The coming-of-age story of a girl who’s turning into a monster - literally.
Chloe Dark, 16, wants to make life better, defeats the school bully using Jujitsu. She works with Miss Kepple, the school Purity teacher, so she can join the Purity herself. Then her friend Melinda disappears, like two other teenagers before her.
People around Chloe tell her she can't do anything; she should leave it to the Police and the Purity. But she can't, though she doesn't know what to do. The Police interview Chloe and she admits Melinda was pre-occupied: if only she'd realised!
Fighting the bully inflamed Chloe's back trouble; she goes to her chiropractor, Ali. He scans her back but, after she's gone, discovers she's growing wings: she's an S.I.D infectee. He's scared; he should report her but the Purity kills freaks publicly.
Ali deletes the scan in panic but it's too late. Someone monitoring the medical network has noticed and knows Chloe is a freak. Her kidnap is ordered, and Ali's death.
Ali decides to tell Chloe's parents but when he meets them her father is violent and won't believe him. On his way home Ali is run down by a lorry and killed. Meanwhile Chloe is attacked by the men who took Melinda; she manages to escape, but only just.
Props, guys and gals, to Dave Turner for making it to the Top of Twit Parade - I agree with his sentiment completely (including defending their right to talk garbage - not that they'd offer me the same freedom) though I don't Twitter.
What's on the turntable? "King of the Mountain" by Kate Bush from "Aerial CD1: A Sea of Honey"
Monday, May 11, 2009
Future blogging
I've spent most of this evening composing the blog that will appear next Tuesday (19th). It's an important one for me but I shall leave you in mystery as to its contents.
I have been working on my outline for Tec and I have a feeling that 60 minutes is not going to be enough. I shall just have to write it and see how it turns out. If it's only a little bit over I can cut it back, otherwise it might have to be 90 minutes instead. (Although it would be better to make it 60 otherwise it may look as if I can't write to length which would be unprofessional.)
Working on the outline has also given me pause for thought on why some of my scripts (like Air) have flowed easily and been given the thumbs up after just two drafts, whereas Unit X failed so miserably - well, it's okay but needs a lot of work.
And I'm pretty sure it comes down to how well I know the characters. With Unit X I wanted the female army doctor to be the protagonist, and yet the base commander came out as more like the protagonist. But in Air the protagonist was never in question. I believe a major reason is down to how well I knew the character. The doctor was not sufficiently real to me therefore it was impossible to write the story from her perspective - I didn't really know what her perspective was.
On the other hand the setting was also an influence. Since she, the doctor, is not in charge she is not the one making the decisions. She can only go where she is told to go, and do what she is told to do. Which is why Unit X needs a lot more work, more than I can afford to give it. This is, perhaps, the reason for the ever-recurring "maverick" cop - if he's not a maverick then he'll just do as he's told, and not be the actual protagonist. So I'd have to make her a maverick for it to work - there you go, a writing revelation on the fly.
Luckily the setting issue does not arise in Tec though I have to be sure I know the character well enough before I write (although it's an iterative process - develop some - write some - develop some more - write some more and so on).
Went to see Star Trek at the Manchester IMAX yesterday: Very good. Only one sequence felt wrong/unnecessary/too coincidental, but even that was handled boldly, so who cares. Enjoyed by the whole family. I like J. J. Abrams.
Watched Ashes to Ashes this evening. Superb. 'Nuff said.
Did some catch-up on Robin Hood last week. The writing and storylines are better. But still doing stupid things, watched three episodes. Gave up. It feels like a similar problem to Demons which is to say that the production team think fantasy is a joke and don't take it seriously. This show lost 1.3 million viewers in one week.
Primeval, on the other hand, is getting very good indeed. They've really managed to get it together for season three. Like very much.
What's on the turntable? "Almost seems (Too Late to Turn)" by Clannad from "Pastpresent"
I have been working on my outline for Tec and I have a feeling that 60 minutes is not going to be enough. I shall just have to write it and see how it turns out. If it's only a little bit over I can cut it back, otherwise it might have to be 90 minutes instead. (Although it would be better to make it 60 otherwise it may look as if I can't write to length which would be unprofessional.)
Working on the outline has also given me pause for thought on why some of my scripts (like Air) have flowed easily and been given the thumbs up after just two drafts, whereas Unit X failed so miserably - well, it's okay but needs a lot of work.
And I'm pretty sure it comes down to how well I know the characters. With Unit X I wanted the female army doctor to be the protagonist, and yet the base commander came out as more like the protagonist. But in Air the protagonist was never in question. I believe a major reason is down to how well I knew the character. The doctor was not sufficiently real to me therefore it was impossible to write the story from her perspective - I didn't really know what her perspective was.
On the other hand the setting was also an influence. Since she, the doctor, is not in charge she is not the one making the decisions. She can only go where she is told to go, and do what she is told to do. Which is why Unit X needs a lot more work, more than I can afford to give it. This is, perhaps, the reason for the ever-recurring "maverick" cop - if he's not a maverick then he'll just do as he's told, and not be the actual protagonist. So I'd have to make her a maverick for it to work - there you go, a writing revelation on the fly.
Luckily the setting issue does not arise in Tec though I have to be sure I know the character well enough before I write (although it's an iterative process - develop some - write some - develop some more - write some more and so on).
Went to see Star Trek at the Manchester IMAX yesterday: Very good. Only one sequence felt wrong/unnecessary/too coincidental, but even that was handled boldly, so who cares. Enjoyed by the whole family. I like J. J. Abrams.
Watched Ashes to Ashes this evening. Superb. 'Nuff said.
Did some catch-up on Robin Hood last week. The writing and storylines are better. But still doing stupid things, watched three episodes. Gave up. It feels like a similar problem to Demons which is to say that the production team think fantasy is a joke and don't take it seriously. This show lost 1.3 million viewers in one week.
Primeval, on the other hand, is getting very good indeed. They've really managed to get it together for season three. Like very much.
What's on the turntable? "Almost seems (Too Late to Turn)" by Clannad from "Pastpresent"
Pig sick
While I do actually understand the potential concerns in regard to Swine Flu, I revolt heavily against the ridiculous fuss and deliberate terrorist activities of the Media. (Am I being a little extreme calling the media "terrorists"? They are deliberately terrifying people. What else would you call it?)
The facts are that pretty much anybody who is healthy will get this flu (which has symptoms no worse than any other type of flu) and recover from it without any medical intervention. (New strains of flu do have the problem that people with very strong immune systems are most at risk - because they cause an overreaction that causes the body to attack itself.)
The main (genuine) concern is that, later this year, this strain will return when the weather is colder, people are more prone to getting ill and then cause rather more trouble. Having a fast spreading flu to which most people are not immune would be inconvenient - might cause problems with transport, policing, health service, etc etc.
This I understand and it is a legitimate concern.
Which is why I'm not sure I understand the purpose of trying to contain it now. Surely having people getting it and building up their immunity would be sensible? It would reduce the spread and impact later on.
Didn't they used to have chicken pox parties so that children were guaranteed to catch it young, because catching it when you're older is a bad thing?
What's on the turntable? Nuffink.
The facts are that pretty much anybody who is healthy will get this flu (which has symptoms no worse than any other type of flu) and recover from it without any medical intervention. (New strains of flu do have the problem that people with very strong immune systems are most at risk - because they cause an overreaction that causes the body to attack itself.)
The main (genuine) concern is that, later this year, this strain will return when the weather is colder, people are more prone to getting ill and then cause rather more trouble. Having a fast spreading flu to which most people are not immune would be inconvenient - might cause problems with transport, policing, health service, etc etc.
This I understand and it is a legitimate concern.
Which is why I'm not sure I understand the purpose of trying to contain it now. Surely having people getting it and building up their immunity would be sensible? It would reduce the spread and impact later on.
Didn't they used to have chicken pox parties so that children were guaranteed to catch it young, because catching it when you're older is a bad thing?
What's on the turntable? Nuffink.
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