Screenwriting: Like-minded people

When I was at uni I did a short course on writing short films. It was a four day course spread over a month. One of the things I learnt on the course was that if you had a ‘Hollywood meeting’ about your work, you should also have something up your sleeve, in case the powers that be like your work and want to see what else you’ve written.

This is something I’ve always remembered and going into 2016 one of my aims was to join a screenwriting group. During my 29 challenge, I wrote a fair bit and as a result had ‘something up my sleeve’ to show people. So armed with this I went about joining a group where I could a) learn about the industry and b) more importantly meet people who could help, collaborate or point me in the right direction of somebody that could get my screenplays made (that being the ultimate aim.)

At the start of the new year I discovered Industrial Scripts which I have mentioned before on this blog. Industrial Scripts put on Insider Interviews once a month in London. These are interviews with a variety of people in the film industry; screenwriters, producers and directors. Networking then follows after.

Armed with my Vista Print made business cards I went to my first event and it couldn’t have gone any better. I ended up getting a reputation for being a powerhouse after explaining how much I’d written in 18 months (which apparently was not normal.) Give or take a couple of months I’ve been to most of these this year and I’ve learnt something everytime and met other people who screen write. People that have got something made, or are at the same stage as me, or have yet to start writing.

I also attend a monthly group called the Creative Meat in Hitchin. This group was recommended by my old boss as she knew I did screenwriting as a hobby and thought this could help. The first ‘meat’ I went to everyone was friendly and it was a great atmosphere. The format was pretty similar to Industrial Scripts, except the focus is on creative people in general and not just screenwriters. In fact, I didn’t meet anyone who did screenwriting until the start of December.

At one of the ‘meats’ there was an exercise we all were asked to do. During the weeks between that ‘meat’ and the next we had to pick a name out of a hat and meet for a drink with that person to see how we could help each other out creatively.

As a result, I got to know Frankie who is a Jack of all trades and Pete who is a freelance photographer. Meeting anyone creative instantly gets me motivated. Pete was and is really enthusiastic about my work. He in fact encouraged a passing idea I had years ago which I mentioned in our initial catch up and got me to write it as a short film. And following this I entered my first competition with it in September.

The screenwriter I met at the start of the month, Nigel was a great person to meet. Upon chatting we realised that we’re both at the same point and realised that we could help each other out. We could be a sounding board for potential ideas, and a new pair of eyes for any drafts we have that need reading and feedback to be given.

At the last Industrial Scripts event I went to I met two others who have offered to read my screenplays. Although some would broach with caution people who want to read my work, in the fear that they would nick my ideas for their own; I think you have to get to know the person beforehand. The people I’ve spoken to are writing in completely different genres, so if I can get someone who isn’t a fan of the genre I’ve written in, to respect and even like my work, then I maybe onto a winner.
With Pete and Nigel, I’m going to meet up with each individually on a monthly basis going forward and I think this will be incredibly beneficial. I already feel inspired and motivated after every creative event I go to. Meeting up with like-minded people will mean I’m constantly motivated.

Both Pete and Nigel will tell me if what I’m writing is rubbish. I’ve yet to receive feedback from Nigel on my work, but Pete was the only one I sent my short film to before sending it off for competition and his feedback was amazing. Although I didn’t win the competition, his feedback gave me a real boost. The short film was about M and James Bond and he said he could imagine the characters saying the lines and said he was laughing halfway through the first page. You can’t really get much better feedback than that.

Going into next year I look forward to getting a good set of contacts to help me on my way in screenwriting. One person I met at Industrial Scripts in December called Shell said I had an infectious enthusiasm and I inspired her to start writing. So even though I haven’t had any of my screenplays made, the fact I got someone else to start writing is something I didn’t expect to do. I write because I don’t want to be one of those people that say I’m going to write someday. I want to be the person that writes and gets on with it. I want to continue this into 2017.

Thoughtful presents: Festive treats

Nothing says Christmas like festive sweet treats. Although I’d done Secret Santa twice at work, there were a few people at work that I wanted to give little presents to.

At my work I know most people like it when I bake, so I baked some millionaire shortbread. And I put the shortbread in cute little festive paper bags I brought from Not on the High Street years ago, but didn’t know what presents to use them for.

Again another present not costing the earth, but the recipients seemed to like it as much as a really expensive gift.

Thoughtful presents: Chris Pratt for Christmas

Tis the season for gifts and I thought I’d share what I made for one of my work colleagues. My workmate Faith is a big fan of Chris Pratt and he’s currently promoting one of his films. Now alas I haven’t got the power to give Chris Pratt to Faith for Christmas, but he is on the cover of the latest GQ magazine.

So I got the magazine and decided to personalise it with speech bubbles of Chris Pratt saying things to do with things that Faith likes or things she jokes about at work.

Here are some of the personalised pages and Faith loved the present and found it hilarious.

An unusual present which didn’t cost the earth but was funnier than any present I could’ve bought in a shop.

Screenwriting: Voice memos

A while ago I blogged about how I used a long car journey to give me time to think about how to think about certain parts of my second feature film. What I also have a tendency to do is think about the dialogue the characters would say. More often than not, I’d think of something great, but then when I get to my destination, I never can write it down exactly what I said.

Then my flatmate Rachel had a suggestion; that I should use voice memos. This was an app on my phone and you can just talk for as long as you want and then play it back later. So I set my phone up to record before I set off (safety first of course), put it on the passenger seat (obviously I couldn’t hold onto the phone when driving) and just started talking as I drove to one of my friend’s house for a catch up.

In the days afterwards I’ve been spending time listening back to what I wrote and writing it up. Although it was for a few different scenes, it’s good to have a bases for upcoming scenes which I can flesh out if need be.

I was worried the recording quality wouldn’t be able to capture what I was saying, and sometimes outside traffic was too overbearing and drowned out my voice. But for the most part it was a great app to use, and I’ll definitely use it again in the future on car journeys when I’m on my own.

Screenwriting: Festive brainstormng

The other week I was round my mum and dad’s and we ended up watching one of those Channel 5 Sunday afternoon Christmas films. You know the ones that are continuously played on the Christmas 24 channel. The one that you can probably figure out how it’s going to end within 2 minutes. We sat there listing all the traits that the films had, and if it was a drinking game looking out for all these traits, we all would’ve been drunk very quickly!

I don’t who suggested but the idea of me writing one of these films came up. They are my guilty pleasure and I’ll say that already I’ve watched my favourite one Matchmaker Santa twice this Christmas season already (there was nothing else on TV!) My mum and I have seen a fair few of these and I’m sure my dad has seen his fair share as well. Together we all worked on a basic plot and I thought this might actually work.

Then a few days later I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours. So I thought I’d listen to some Christmas music and figure out the plot in detail. But I was focused more on trying to get back to sleep and thought my amazing brain would remember the plot I got sussed. Wrong! I woke up the next day only remembering the start and the end.

I saw on a Screen Craft post on Facebook about using note cards to write out plot points and spreading them all out to help figure out the structure of the screenplay.

So I thought I’d give this a go. I didn’t strictly have plot points written. I’d started brainstorming character development and ideas for things to include in the screenplay. So I wrote those down first and then explained the plot to my parents. Then we all came up with different ideas of how we could get from the start to the finish. How different characters could be developed, the traits in those films and how they could be featured. We managed to come up with two great names for the male and female leads (for some reason my dad was adamant that the male lead had an Italian sounding surname!) It was a lot of fun working on ideas with my parents, and at times I struggled to keep up with writing down all they were coming up with.

We didn’t entirely figure out the whole plot; there’s a part about halfway through that I need to figure out in its entirety but armed with my index note pointers I managed to write a pretty detailed synopsis for the screenplay and even wrote 3 pages straight away.

Now being in the festive season, I’m hoping that the dialogue flows easily. Who knows maybe I’ll get it written by Christmas.

Thoughtful presents: A DVD Christmas

Since the end of September I’ve been living with my friend Rachel and she’s not really one for  presents but I thought as she’s now my flatmate I should get her something for Christmas.

The flat mainly consists of eating good food and trying to watch good films (some of the Rocky films have been shocking though!) So I thought a present about film would be a good option, but what?

I don’t know how I came up with the idea, but I thought a DVD advent calendar might be the way to go. So everyday Rachel could unwrap a DVD. My favourite shop is CEX and so I took a trip there and decided to spend 50p per film. I thought they’d sell at 50p would be pretty bad films, but I was pleasantly surprised as there were quite a few Oscar winning ones I could choose from.

I picked some classics and some random ones to give a real mixture. Time will tell what Rachel thinks of the choices!

 

Thoughtful presents: Work kindness

Work is a place that sometimes you can take help and kindness for granted. You’re all working at the same company with hopefully the same vision as your company and would automatically help people out to be on the same page of achieving the vision (in theory.)

Back in September I went on holiday for two weeks and I needed a couple of people to help cover my role while I was away. However it was near impossible to get anyone to cover for me. In the end I found one person, and while I was away two others helped out as well. With a fast paced office, the role that I have along with 60 odd others is pretty demanding, so I appreciated the cover even more.

Upon returning from holiday I found there were a few people that helped out while I was away, and it took me a while to figure out a way to say thank you. One person was based at another site so I needed to find a gift I could send in the internal mail. I settled on a set of thank you teabags from ‘Not on the High Street’ and a jar I bought from Home Bargains for a whopping 10p I filled up with chocolates as another way to say thank you.

Both presents were gratefully received and touched that I even got them a present in the first place.

Thoughtful presents: Social media helps

I’ve read several articles recently about how with social media can make some people feel more alone. For me using Facebook for me only enhances friendships. I have a Facebook group for myself and 7 of my school friends and it’s great for arranging catch ups as we can get answers really quickly on when we’re free. Things like Instagram can help you see what your friends are up to that you may not have seen in a while. And while I’ve got a Twitter account but rarely tweet, it’s fun to look at from time to time.

When it comes to thoughtful presents I  get clues from social media as to what and when to give someone a thoughtful present. You see the odd status update or tweet from time to time of when friends are stressed and not going their way. My trick is to remember those times but then act on it weeks, or even months after they’ve said something, and when people least expect it.

I love giving gifts when it’s not a special occasion; I find they are more thoughtful and appreciated that way. I’ve sent two gifts out in the past few weeks.

The first gift I got was for my friend Paula who I haven’t seen her in over a year. A few months ago she was saying how stressed she was and when somebody says something like that I immediately think what can I do? She loves shoes; I am in awe of her shoe collection, particularly as its spread over two locations! I wasn’t going to buy her a pair of shoes but I did find a book on shoes which I knew she’d love. I sent a little typed note saying life is always better when there are shoes and to look at it when she got stressed. I didn’t put my name on the note, and a few days after I sent it she put something on Facebook thanking the anonymous donor of the book. I still haven’t said it was me, so surprise Paula if you’re reading this!

The second gift I got was for Kas who I haven’t seen since uni (still can’t believe I graduated 8 years ago.) Like me Kas has been through the job hunt a lot and it was a random tweet she put out that got me thinking there’s something I can do.

As you know this year I’ve read a lot of books and my friend Linsey bought me #GIRLBOSS for Christmas last year. I read it in January and it’s now one of my favourite books. It’s a non candy coated autobiography about how Sophia Amoruso started running how own business and I thought it’s a book I thought Kas needed in her life. It inspired and motivated me no end and it’s a book I could talk non-stop about.

Kas knew she was getting something in the post as I asked for her address but she had no idea what. She sent me the kindest message thanking me and I was glad I could give a bit of a boost when she needed it.

Giving thoughtful presents isn’t rock science; all it takes is a bit of listening, reading and asking yourself the simple question: what can I do to help?

Challenge within a challenge: A novel idea take two

Way back in April my friend Hayley and I decided to try and wrote a novel in a month. With Hayley getting married and life getting in the way for me, we both didn’t complete our novels.

November is the National Novel Writing Month and the month has been running since 1999. I’d heard of it before but it was only through one of Hayley’s friends putting it on Facebook that I was reminded of it again.

With a quite-ish November I thought I’d give the novel another go. The site says that you should have a fresh idea, but you can work on existing ideas as well. So I’m picking up with Mr Hunter and I. As I’ve said before the novel is based on my job hunting days as and as they are still happening it’s good to write what is happening to me into the characters’ story.

Like screenwriting the first draft is always the worst; it’s just an achievement to get something down in writing. At the moment my first draft is pretty patchy, doting around all over the place and the constant struggle of writing he said and she said all the time. I’ll be looking at different books for ideas of how to vary it up. Giovanna Fletcher and Cecelia Ahearn books will be a good place to start.

So here’s to a second try at the novel. Hopefully I’ll write more than the first attempt.

Thoughtful present: A long drive home survival kit

Last week my friend Jenny came back to visit the area. She now lives in the Cornwall area and a few weeks ago I went to stay with her and husband and baby boy Sam. The only time she was free to catch up with myself and the other school friends was on Saturday but I’d already had other plans. I said I was free Sunday and she said she was going to be driving back to Cornwall at 3.30am, as she could drive when Sam was asleep. So as much as she wanted to catch up, she thought 3.30 in the morning was a bit too early for a catch up.

With such a long drive ahead at the crack dawn didn’t seem like my sort of fun, so I thought what could I do to help make things a bit bearable? And the main idea that came to mind was an audiobook.

So I went to the local Waterstones and there was a great selection; I was on the lookout for one that a) the voice wouldn’t be too abrupt and spikey as I didn’t want Sam to get wake up, and b) it should be something that would interest Jenny. I ended up ticking both of these boxes with Clare Balding's ‘My Animals and Other Family’ audiobook. She has a quite a soft smooth voice and with Jenny being a vet and having a lifelong interest in animals I knew she’d like it.

I also got her a couple of treats from Graze to keep her going energy wise. With all surprise gifts, I leave them on the doorstep to be discovered the next day, and Jenny loved it saying it was perfect way to get her home.

Thoughtful presents: No reply present

A few weeks ago I went on holiday with my friend Mel. The first week of our holiday we went on a road trip, with Exmoor being the final destination. We stopped at Bath, Wells, Stourhead, Weymouth, and Looe on the trip.

At Weymouth I had plans to meet up with my friend Emma. I’d known Emma since uni as we lived together throughout; living in halls and then a student house after. Pretty much every year since graduation we’ve had uni meet ups in Portland (the island off Weymouth where she lives.)

Towards the day we were supposed to be meeting up Emma got very quiet (which isn’t the Emma I knew) and didn’t reply to my texts about confirming plans. The day after I got a text from Emma explaining that she’d been super stressed with work and mortgage stuff so didn't want to catch up.

Whenever a friends says something like that I immediately think what I can do to help. Not solve the problems they have, but just make things a little easier or do something to cheer them up. With not being at home I didn’t have my own things for inspiration so I looked around the Weymouth shops for something to buy.

As you may know I love a good quote and a bit of positivity and I thought Emma might like a little reminder that things were going to get better. So I found a card shop that sold that sort of thing and got a few pieces that might put a smile on her face.

With any unexpected presents I always leave them on a friend’s doorstep. For some reason I want them to fully be surprised (also if I’m not there, then they can’t give the present back, lol.) A few hours after I dropped off her present I got a text saying thanks and that it had made her week.
So even on holiday there are still opportunities to be thoughtful.

Challenge within a challenge: No cinema update

How is it October already? Just like every year it seems this year has gone by really fast. And apart from the movie marathon I went to back in May for my friend Rachel’s birthday, I haven’t been to the cinema!

A couple of weeks ago I came close to going to the cinema as the group I was with on the National Trust holiday went to see Bridget Jones’s Baby and it was the second time somebody had asked me to go and see that film. But I stayed strong and didn’t go.

With every film I’ve wanted to see at the cinema, I’ve read an autobiography instead. I have got a little bit behind in this and got 12 books left to read, which is roughly one book a week till the end of the year. People have asked me why I’ve decided to read autobiographies instead. I just thought it would be good to read about different people’s lives and experience different narratives, which is what you would experience in the cinema anyway.

Thankfully with the weather getting colder and getting a new corner sofa courtesy of my neighbours, I’ll be able to read the remaining books in comfort.

Screenwriting: 2nd draft complete!

In mid June my friend Coops gave me feedback on my screenplay ‘If We Aren’t Married’ and gave me a deadline of his birthday to have second draft written by. His birthday is the 8th September (happy birthday Coops) and I finished the screenplay yesterday and dropped it off at his today.
Getting the second draft done has been quite a challenge. At the time of Coops setting me the deadline of the 8th September I was doing 2 jobs at work. I thought this would last a month or so but in fact it turned into 3 months, and everyday I was coming home shattered. Add to this prepping for job interviews and other things cropping up, time was really an issue with this draft. But I did it.

I’ve blogged along the way about different things that proved interesting to deal with. Firstly, I reduced the number of main characters from 6 to 4, and changing one of the original 6 into a secondary character.

In the first draft there was barely any backstory and furthermore only a fleeting mention of the whole premise of the film. With the second draft the back story takes about 20 minutes of the film; 10 minutes a piece for each pair of friends. Is this too much backstory?

There was also one plot point which I think is viable but I won’t know until I’ve had another opinion as to whether it is. If it isn’t, then I’m going to have to rethink one of the key plot parts of the Ed and Jen narrative.

I rewrote the ending completely, as the first draft focused on the one of the couples that are no longer in the piece. What I wrote instead was 3 sets of outcomes for the different characters. I’m hoping they aren’t too convenient as that was the main feedback of the original ending. I like to feel that I’ve created a sense of closure but also a sense that life goes on for these characters and the ending gives the audience the opportunity to figure out how life will pan out for the characters.

With the rewriting process I thought it would be tough to edit bits out as you grow attached to your screenplay because you’ve worked on it so much. But throughout the process it was getting easier to cut bits out and move things around.

One issue that has lingered since finishing the 2nd draft is timing. I feel this could be improved or at least the passing of time displayed better. From the offset it looks like at times things happened in a rush, some scenes which should be shown over a period of weeks might be interpreted as a period of days. Switching between the two sets of narratives also proved challenging as I liked having a third strand originally to make every narrative have an equal amount of screen time.

So what now? Well I’m going to let this screenplay rest for a bit until Coops and my friend Lizi have read it. I’ve got a short film screenplay competition and another TV show that I’d like to write as well. Both of which I want to write by the end of the year; so I better get my writing skates on!

Screenwriting: Backstory baking

I’ve got around 2 weeks left to get the second draft of If We Aren’t Married completed before my friend Coops’ birthday. It’s the first rewrite I’ve done of any piece of work I’ve written and it’s not as hard as I thought it would be. Writing new scenes has given me a chance to improve the plot, give more depth to the characters and the overall structure of the screenplay.

One challenge I have come up against in the past few days is balance and getting the right quantities of backstory and present story in the screenplay. In the first draft for some reason I thought that everyone knew my head. So the reader would instantly know the backstory of each character. In the first draft Ed had a discussion with one of Jen's brothers, however this was the first appearance of her family in the screenplay and I assumed that everybody knew the backstory and why they were estranged. So I ended up writing a strong scene explaining what had gone on before.

The problem I’ve got now is making sure that there is a limit of how much backstory there is, before it overtakes the present day story. And also how you display it, which has proved tricky. For me there seems to be only one way that backstory can be shown and that’s through a flashback. (If anyone has any other ways please let me know.)

With Coops’ initial feedback (of getting rid of the Halla and Olly plotline) I reduced the number of main characters from 6 to 4, and this has proved a little troublesome sometimes when it comes to balancing each couples’ plots, and making sure there is equal distribution of each couple’s plot so it doesn’t side with one couple. This factor in particular is a continuing problem. However maybe once I’ve written all the scenes, it might be easier to play around with the order. When there were 3 couples in the screenplay, I’d always use the third couple as a way of balancing the distribution of the other 2 couples plots.

When it comes to character development, with adding extra backstory scenes, the characters have developed in different ways. With Jake and Sydney, their struggles are from the offset physical and happen around halfway through the film (currently) and with Ed and Jen, their struggles are more emotional and are established at the start of the film. I like the contrast in how each couple have different types of struggles, and when I started writing the screenplay this wasn’t initially how each couple would be. So I like how each character is growing and developing from what I first came up with.

In summary what I’ve found this rewrite is it reminds me a lot of baking and getting the right quantity of ingredients in the mix. You need just enough backstory to make the story rise, but put too little and the screenplay falls to flat. And it’s the same vice versa, put too little present day story and too much backstory and then your screenplay just wrote rise as it’s just not moving anywhere.

Over the next few days I’ve got one more important scene to write and then it’s just a case of seeing what scenes are still a decent standard from the first draft to include in the second draft, and make sure both plotlines with each couple are fully developed. I don’t want anything ending up half baked!

Screenwriting: Mistakes and opportunities, journeys and destinations

Last week I made a couple of really long round trips, and both involved mistakes. I made a minor mistake at work and this resulted in me driving to Bristol to do damage control (but because of where I work and having signed the secret service act, I can’t say what it was.) I’m someone that makes mistakes, not a lot but a fair few. I seem to make more mistakes then most but I learn from them and I’m hopefully constantly improving.

The main thing you get from mistakes is that you won’t make the same mistake again, but on these two occasions I actually got more from them; a chance to be creative.

As I said in my previous post I’ve started doing the rewrite for ‘If We Aren’t Married’ and the writing I’ve done so far has gone well. The journey to Bristol gave me an opportunity to think over a few key points that Coops had said in his notes; these were the back stories for the premise of the film, showing how one of the character’s new girlfriend is good for him and how the ending could be changed after getting rid of two characters.

So on the way to Bristol I thought through how one of the backstories could extended into the present day of the plot and how other parts of one couple’s narratives could be improved because upon reading through the first draft there are parts that are two dimensional.

With the way back from Bristol I thought about the other couple in the story and how the new girlfriend had an effect on things, and instead of thinking of ways she was good to the guy, I ultimately thought of how things would finish between them.

On Friday I went to my friend Hayley aka Rock’s hen do in Chester. I left at 2.30 and my phone said it would take 3 hours, but because it was a Friday and Google maps deciding to take me on and off the M6 toll road I ended up arriving at 7.30. The main part of Rock’s hen do was a party boat and guess what time the boat set off at…yep 7pm! I literally missed the boat! The mistake there was not thinking about Friday rush hour traffic (which Charlotte informs me starts early afternoon.)

                                            Rock and I at her Hen Party

With the trip to Chester after realising I had missed the boat the big question of ‘what if’ came into my mind. What if there were two people that missed the same party boat? And so with the Chester journeys I started to think of the funny things that could happen and how it could work in a film.

I didn’t think at the start of last week I’d end with a lot of miles driven, a new screenplay idea and different things to add to a second draft, but it just proves that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

Screenwriting: Hanging out with your characters

At the start of August I’m going to start the second draft of my film ‘If We Aren’t Married’, which gives me just over a month till my deadline of the 8th September.

One of the comments that Coops made when giving feedback was that you need to give the audience a chance to get to know the characters and get some form of attachment to them.
So before I start the rewrite I thought it would be good to see how other films do this, and as my film is a chick flick, I’ve got a good resource of them.

However, after watching a few this evening; watching only the parts the female and male leads are hanging out together it seems that all they do in this time is talk relationships! Even the ones where the characters have been friends for a long time. All the conversations are as I thought to carry the plot forward.

I’ve got a big collection to work through, but at a glance I think the only film that does show the two leads just hanging out for the sake of hanging out are ‘When Harry Met Sally and One Day.’ (If you can think of anymore films that show female and male leads hanging out for the sake of hanging out, let me know.)

This got me thinking about my own friendships with guys. I think every time I hang out with my guy mates I would briefly mention relationship updates but not dwell on it. On Thursday I went bowling with a group of guys from work and I was the only girl. We went out for food and drink afterwards and chatted about a wide range of subjects; films, politics, even Pokemon!

Tom, Chris and John to name a few of my uni mates I’ve known for over 10 years. I’ve been to cricket matches with Chris, lots of nights out with all of them and many road trips to uni meet ups.
My mate Dan and I try to celebrate pancake day with each other each year. Ando and I try to meet up at Nandos because it rhymes!

When I was at uni my friend Tom whose mum worked with my mum was the friend that back in the day when I had a monthly pay as you go package and you had to use all your minutes or lose them, I’d call him at the end of every month to use all my minutes.

Audrey Hepburn once said; ‘Everything I learned, I learned from the movies.’ Well I’m afraid the icon that you are Audrey, you maybe wrong on this occasion. Time to look back on friendships old and new for inspiration.

Random Acts of Kindness: When ideas don’t work out

As you are probably aware I’m an ideas person, but just because I think of lots of ideas it doesn’t mean they’re always guaranteed to work. It would be great if they all did, but then it wouldn’t be real life if they all worked.

So last week I met a guy who was pretty nice, actually met him naturally for a change and we got on well. We’d already had each other’s numbers but hadn’t met until now. He mentioned that he liked chocolate brownies and obviously testing the waters and seeing if they could be potential for something more I made some, as a way of impressing him. I sent him a text message to say I had made some for a 'work colleague' and there were some spare if he wanted any. But alas, no reply at all, not even if he was to say he was busy to accept them. And that’s fine, a little disappointed but as I learnt at the age of 3, you can’t force people to like you.

But there was a dilemma…..I had made chocolate brownies, what was I to do with them? I was working in London, and most if not all my colleagues were out and I wasn’t going to be eating brownies all day. So I wanted to do something I always wanted to, give some food to the homeless. However with a heavy workload I couldn’t go out at lunch in the end and find someone to give them to. Some of my colleagues were in after all and had a few, and a couple of guys at volunteering had some, but I still had a layer of brownies in the box.

I was walking to the tube and just as you entered Piccadilly Circus tube station sat a homeless man with a sign simply saying he was very hungry. I walked past him and then decided to walk back and ask him if he liked chocolate brownies. He said they were his favourite and so I gave him the bottom layer of brownies in the box which totalled around 6-7. His eyes lit up and I could tell he really appreciated the gesture.

Who knows how long those brownies may last him. Could be one meal, he could graze on them all day. It made me really happy knowing that the little brownies I made which took 5 minutes to cook might have made a longer impact. I’m going to try and make more cakes in the future and give them to homeless people.

And as for the guy? Well life is too short to have people in your life that don’t appreciate a good chocolate brownie!

Challenge within a challenge: Short films

This year as you know I’ve been going to a screenwriting and creative networking events on a regular basis which are really beneficial. I really enjoy talking to other screenwriters and creative people in general as it you always leave feeling motivated and full of ideas.

There’s one thing that’s been suggested to me a couple of times in these events, which I was also thinking of as well that is the natural next step in my screenwriting, and that’s to write and eventually make a short film. The reason is firstly they are a great way of profiling your work and writing style, but it could perhaps be easier to be made on my own steam.

In terms of short film knowledge, mine is very limited. A few months ago with Coops and Fran we watched 4 short films as part of a film festival in a box set I got years ago from an old boyfriend. But I’d only just got round to watching them. The concept is simple with the set; you watch 4 films which all had the theme of love and be like a judge at a film festival and decide which one is the best. The films in the box were all completely different and made in different styles and they ranged in length; from 2 minutes to 12.

I’ve already got ideas for 2 short films and at first thought I think with short films you can be more expressive in completely different ways.

With a limited knowledge I definitely need to watch more short films to see exactly what can be done in 15 minutes or under. So for 30 days in July starting today I’m going to watch a short film a day.
Not knowing where to start I asked the creative group I go to for their suggestions. I put something on their Facebook group and within minutes I got quite a few recommendations, so I’m going to work through them and see what other ones come up.

I’m looking forward to seeing what short films I’ll see and what ideas I’ll come up with as a result. And if anyone has any suggestions for short films to watch let me know.

Challenge within a challenge: Getting back on the radar

For any regular readers, you would have noticed I’ve gone a bit quiet recently. I checked and the last time I blogged about any new challenges was back in April! Now when I go off the radar, usually my family thinks it’s because I’ve got a new boyfriend, which isn’t the case here. At the moment dating wise I seem to be going on dates with lots of frogs, but have yet to find a prince yet. But for some reason life seems to have got in the way of my challenges.

I’m still on the never ending job hunt, and then I got a secondment at work, which has meant for the short term I am doing 2 full time jobs at the same time until they find a new me for my old job. Speaking to other colleagues who have been in a similar boat, this arrangement could last for up to 4 months! As a result I come home shattered without much energy for anything else.

With the new role and me being a social butterfly, it seems that the challenges have taken a back seat, and ultimately I haven’t completed them, meaning I’ve failed them.

I think from memory there are 3 challenges I started but haven’t completed: Health awareness, bible reading and writing a book in a month. Not completing these challenges is a good thing, it shows I’m human for one. Nobody is perfect and not every goal you reach for is met. I remember my cousin Miriam asking where do I find the time for all these things and over the past few months time has escaped me.

I will go back and try and complete these challenges as I feel I will get something out of them, but for now with my current work situation I’m going to downsize the challenges I set for the time being.

The next few weeks I’ll use as a catch up to reflect on some challenges I’ve done in previous months that I haven’t shown the outcome of. With July and August I’ll be setting myself one (yes ONE) challenge for each month, both which will be beneficial for my screenwriting.

Now from the outset, these challenges I set myself aren’t life defining in the grand scheme of things. The failure of these haven’t had an impact on my life; I haven’t lost any money, my health hasn’t been effected and it hasn’t impacted any of my friends or family. But I haven’t achieved what I set out to do.

As you may know I love a good quote and I was trying to find ones about failure, but they all seem a bit grand. I did find one which I don’t seem to high and mighty. ‘No human ever became interesting by not failing. The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you are as a person. Ever meet someone who’s always had everything work out for them with zero struggle? They usually have the depth of a puddle. Or they don’t exist.’ Chris Hardwick.

So onto the next challenges!

Screenwriting: First lot of feedback!

This evening my friend Coops came round with feedback on my film ‘If We Aren’t Married.’ I was pretty nervous about it and even managed to muck up making mug cakes in the process (I forgot to add the flour.)

But once he started giving feedback it wasn’t that bad and there were even some positives that came from it.

So what are the main areas that I need to improve on? Well for one I need to brush up on writing a synopsis. I gave a paragraph explaining what the screenplay was about and that was it. When I did Journalism at uni I was so used to writing the basic details in as few words as possible, then writing in more detail takes some practice.   

The other area is parenthetical description and it’s an area I was pretty clueless about to begin with, so I still need practice.

With regards to the plot itself there were a few points that were covered. The first one being that the whole idea of the plan of if a couple of friends aren’t married by a certain age then they should marry each other doesn’t really get covered, and Coops points out it’s a concept that hasn’t really been covered before. So I need to explore that in more detail and I’ve got an idea of how already.

I knew from the get go that having three strands of narrative would be tough to write, and ultimately one would be weaker than the rest. And so it was suggested that the Halla and Olly plot would be lifted. I can see where Coops is coming from on that front as the character of Olly, although developed in character development, on the page it just doesn’t show through.

There are pros and cons with dropping a narrative strand, it means that it free’s up more time to develop the other characters and create scenes where you can start to like the characters and see their personalities. I think when you reading screenwriting books, there’s so much focus on the plot and moving it forward with every line that you forget that you need time to grow to actually like the characters.

But then I do like the character of Halla and her backstory. The point was made that she could still be in the screenplay, just as a soundboard character instead of one of the main characters. And although Coops said one of factors as to how the film ends was a bit convenient, I do like how emotional I got writing it, so I’ll take that as a positive even if I go with changing it slightly.

So what happens now? Well Coops really wants to read a second draft and with doing 2 jobs at the moment at work it doesn’t leave me much time for much else at the moment. So he’s given me a deadline of his birthday which is the 8^th September for a second draft to be completed by.

In the meantime I want to get one more viewpoint on the screenplay before starting the rewrite. Any takers?

Challenge within a challenge: Nice day for a white wedding

As I said in my previous post the weekend was a busy one, and on Saturday I went to my friends Kate and Dan’s wedding!

I have to say it was one of the best weddings I’ve ever been to and I think that’s due to the people. Quite a few weddings I’d know maybe 2 or 3 people other than the bride and groom. But this wedding I knew way more, so there were lots of people to hang around with.

I’ve known Kate and Dan for many years as myself, my friend Rachel, Alice and Kate and Dan used to go for nights out together. We also went on a great camping trip together last year as well.

With no boyfriend at the moment I took my friend Ro as my +1 and we had a great time. I can’t remember the last time I danced nonstop. I’d finally found the perfect footwear for a wedding; some nice navy blue wedges that didn’t make my feet achy and I could dance freely in.

But add to the dancing an evening buffet which I ate very quickly meant I was dancing with a food baby. By the time I got back home, after an epic Disney singalong in the car, I was shattered with an achy belly.

When it came to my dress, I got it from Dave’s (as always) for the grand price of £3. The jacket I got on the morning of the wedding!

I asked Kate which charity is hers and Dan’s favourite and they said Cancer Research and RSPCA, so I’ve made small donations to both charities as I wore a dress.

Challenge within a challenge: Reuniting over a good book

With the summer months upon us, and hopefully normal summer temperatures, this means I’ll get to wear some nice dresses. And this means that it will count towards my dress challenge and I’ll donate some more money to charity in the process.

This weekend has been a very busy one, I’m shattered! I went to a wedding which I’ll blog about tomorrow. Today I went to a book signing to meet the great Giovanna Fletcher!

I’m a big fan of her books, well the ones I’ve read. I’ve read Dream a Little Dream, which I thought she wrote about me as the main character Sarah had lots in common with me. Her book You’re The One That I Want I read while queuing up for rides at Disneyland. And on the last few pages my sisters were chanting; ‘Read it, read it’ as I finished the book.

Upon hearing about the book signing on one of Giovanna’s (or Gi as she’s known) YouTube videos I immediately thought of an old school friend called Carly. We follow each other on Instagram and when I posted about reading Gi’s books, Carly commented saying she was a fan of Gi as well because of the YouTube videos.

I sent a message to Carly asking if she wanted to go and we hadn’t seen each other since school, so well over 10 years. And she thought it was a great idea. So we went to Milton Keynes today and had a lovely catch up.

When we met Gi she asked if we were sisters and we explained that we were old school friends and hadn’t seen each since then and that her book signing was our little reunion and she loved that. I also gave her a recipe as she’s a big Nutella fan and I have a great recipe for oaty banana and Nutella muffins.

I wore a little pink dress today, which I bought from New Look years ago, no doubt in the sale. Gi recently did a video about Wrigley’s Extra’s ‘Extra Smile Back Project and the money raised from that will go their chosen charity partner; Action for Children. So I’ve made a little donation to that.

Screenwriting: A kick up the backside

Last Monday I went to another screenwriting networking event run by Industrial Scripts. The talk this month was given by Nisha Parti who discussed her career and discovering Harry Potter and running her own production company and working with Dev Patel.

Afterwards there was networking and having arrived late I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone before the talk started. Also there wasn’t anybody that attended the previous month, so I had a blank canvas.

There were quite a few people in groups and I find it awkward to begin with standing with a group, and I spotted a guy in a corner of his own and I went over and introduced myself. His name was Fred and was actually a friend of Nisha’s, but had also directed and written short films.

What I’m starting to learn with networking, well screenwriting networking is there are different people you’ll meet who each have a different purpose. The 3 people I met at the first event I went to were supportive, and keen to read my work and knowledge. And Fred’s purpose? To give me a kick up the backside!

With my screenwriting for a long time, since graduation I’ve been saying I want to screen write, but job hunting has also got in the way. But thanks to the 29 challenge it got me writing on a regular basis. Because I’ve been in theory about screenwriting for so long, my goals have been relatively short term. To finish writing a screenplay, to get somebody to read it and so on. Very small term goals.

Fred on the other hand had bigger ideas. I said that my aim was to enter one screenwriting competition. He asked why one? Why not more? He also suggested I’d write and make a short film, and that idea had been on my mind for a short time. And he mentioned the London Screenwriting Festival which I hadn’t heard of before. It’s a place where hundreds of writers, directors and producers are there, and Fred said because I have written several pieces I should go and see if anybody would be interested in them.

I think having people who will give you a kick up the backside is something that we don’t see too often. Or at least I haven’t seen it in a long while personally. I think when you’re job hunting you’re used to hearing either a yes or a no, and no encouragement. And if like me you’re on a contract at work you not really encouraged as you’re there for only a set time and not given the opportunity to develop and grow. I guess above all it’s refreshing to find people that believe in you and your abilities, even if you may never meet them again, that little kick up the backside maybe enough to take things to the next level. Who knows how many levels I’ll go up this year???

Thoughtful presents: Laugh your troubles away

I read that on average a child laughs between 300-500 times a day, and for an adult its only 15 times a day on average. And with doing a laughter journal a couple of months ago, it helped me be aware of what I find funny and what I laugh at on a daily basis.

A little while ago I mentioned on the blog about my friend Charmaine aka Meryl. Her dad was in hospital and she was by his bedside every day. Because of this I got her a hug in a bag which was supplies to keep her going. Unfortunately, her dad passed away, and then sadly on his funeral her mother in law passed away as well.

We met up a few weeks ago and she said that she just wants to start laughing again, because of there being so much sadness. It was a fleeting comment that she forgot about, but I remembered it and it got me thinking of whether there was something I could do.

And this is what I came up with; I created a laughter jar. I got a mason jar and some coloured paper and filled it with suggestions of things that would make Charmaine laugh. Everyone’s sense of humour is completely different and so I asked friends, family, work colleagues and even the local barman the simple question of what made them laugh. So their suggestions were put in the jar as well.

I lent her some comedy DVDs as well in case Charmaine needed to watch something a little longer. She loved the laughter jar and it was so easy to put together. Give it a go if you’ve got a friend going through a tough time, it may put a smile on their face again.

Screenwriting: Getting out there

When I was at uni I did a 4 day intensive short film screenwriting course. By the end of the course everybody had written a short film. The course was great and really sparked my interest in screenwriting.

The tutors gave some great advice and one piece was that if you got to the of stage of meeting with people from big studios or other important figures, always have another piece of work up your sleeve, in case the like one piece of your work and want to read more. So I’ve always kept that in mind, and I wanted to go to a networking event when I had a body of work.

Last week I went to a screenwriting networking event organised by Industrial Scripts. There was a talk given by Alexandra Rossi who used to be a producer at Paramount Pictures. The talk was interesting as I always like finding out how people have got to where they are.
The networking didn’t start off great as I ended up at the wrong networking event. It was in the same place and a guy bought me a drink and then there was an announcement saying welcome to the songwriting networking event. I was at the right venue but the screenwriting was taking place in a smaller room!

Once the talk was over I got talking to a woman next to me called Lucy. We were talking about what we had both done writing wise. And I said what I had written in 18 months….which I honestly thought was the norm. But apparently writing 2 full length films, a 6 part TV series and a one off piece for TV in 18 months isn’t normal. At this point a guy turned around and asked me to repeat myself. And he was very impressed. His name was Uzo and I also got talking to a guy called Clive and another guy who had won a screenwriting competition. Uzo also gave me the nickname of powerhouse which seems to have stuck.

It was a great evening and I really enjoyed talking to people about screenwriting, and finding people that were on the same wavelength, and people who were generally interested in my writing. The people I met and swapped details with really wanted to stay in contact with me which is great, and who knows where that might lead.

Challenge within a challenge: Exam success!

Just over a month ago I took my Life skills Maths Level 2 exam. I was pretty worried about the result as I was answering questions right until the end, and I didn’t have time to thoroughly check my answers.

But good news….I passed! I got 33/48 which is 69%. So I’m pretty pleased with that. The hard work paid off.

So what happens now? Well passing the level 2 exam means I’m now at the right level for retaking my GCSE Maths, which I assume will start in September.

Then the real hard work begins. It might be that being in the maths frame of mind means I find classes easier. And unlike my maths GCSE there isn’t a prom as a distraction this time round.

Challenge within a challenge: A novel idea

For the past few months I've been in reading mode, and with my screenwriting stepping up a gear last month I thought I’d combine both of these things and…..write a novel in 30 days!!!

As you can see I've always been into books!

Believe it or not there is already a ‘National Novel Writing Month’ that takes place every year, so there’s a lot of like-minded people out there.

My friend Hayley and I couldn’t wait till November so we’re both motivating each other to write a novel. I think with a challenge like this it’s great to have someone else on board.

There are 50,000 words to write in 30 days which is roughly 1,666 words a day. I will admit that I’m a little behind, however with screenwriting in the past, some days I surpass my targets considerably. And if I’m in writing mode then sometimes there’s no stopping me.

So what is my book about? Well I’m not going to say as the idea is in the very early stages. It’s semi-autobiographical but with a different way of looking at an important element of my life. I will however tell you the title and it’s ‘Mr Hunter and I.’

I'm enjoying the challenge so far, and Hayley has had to stop and rethink her plot and spend a few days drafting ideas, but she’s enjoyed what she’s written so far.

Here’s hoping for some April showers so I can stay indoors more and the book can get written faster.

Challenge within a challenge: A good start to retirement

On the 23rd March my mum retired from teaching. Her birthday was also on the 14th March, so as a belated birthday present I took her to see Cecelia Ahern give a talk at Kensington Waterstones. My mum and I have read most of Cecelia’s books, although some of them do blur into each other, so we’re not sure of which ones we've read. However her second book Where Rainbows End is one of my all time favourite books.

The talk was really interesting and it started off well as there were free cupcakes and drink. The cupcake had a fair bit of icing on so it was quite filling. We were two rows from the front and there was only around 20 people there, so it was nice and cosy.

Cecelia was talking about her new book called Flawed and it was her first young adult book she had written. So we got to hear an extract and then she discussed it as well as answering questions. Now last time I went to an author Q&A I missed my chance to ask a question as I was too nervous, so I wasn't going to let that happen again. I asked her the same question as I asked David Nicholls when I did eventually ask him a question at his book signing. I asked if she gets writers block and how she deals with it. She asked me if I wrote, and I said that I screen write and she said wow and I also said in April that my friend Hayley and I were trying to each write a book in a month and she seemed impressed by that. Her advice was great and similar to what I’d been doing with my latest screenplay. She also wished me and my friend luck in our challenge!

I wore a dress for the occasion and it was a Dorothy Perkins one I got a few years ago. I wore it when I was a Wedding Coordinator and at one wedding a guest turned up in the same dress! With any dress I wear I donate to charity and I donated to the National Literacy Trust which among other things gives books to disadvantaged children.

Screenwriting: Getting back on the starting blocks

As I have said previously I first thought of ‘If We Aren’t Married’ around 5 years ago. The dialogue I originally wrote then was clunky and two dimensional and I shelved it. It was a real struggle to write.

So why did I go back to an idea that I shelved? The idea itself wasn't the reason I didn't continue with it, it was my writing style that needed improving. For me there are two parts to writing dialogue; obviously the words, but also the emotion behind them. Since thinking of the idea I've written a fair bit. Regardless of what standard my screenplays are at, I've had a lot more practice of actually writing dialogue. And without realising it also I needed to go through highs and lows before I could start writing as well.

I hadn't thrown out any of the notes or pictures I had for ‘If We Aren't Married’, so I started looking through what I’d worked on and I thought the characters were still pretty strong and I still had something to work with.

The first thing I did was figure out the plot. It was a multi strand narrative, with three couples (each couple being a strand of narrative) and the first big challenge wasn't getting their plots all on paper (this had been done some time ago) but actually combining them into one mega plot. So this involved a lot of chopping and changing in order, so the film didn't have a preference to anyone couple; although some people may feel there is a favourite couple and to others there isn't. Just this exercise alone got me thinking about how it could all work.

Now originally I did want to start writing the screenplay again last summer; although I found this too tough as I was going through a break up and surprisingly some of the things I was going through had actually happened to my characters….which I had created 5 years previously! Because of the coincidences and things still being too raw and emotional, it was too hard to start writing. However come September/October time I started to slowly start rewriting.

And then I stopped. After writing a 120 page screenplay in Marathon Money, I needed a break. When my dad said to finish a screenplay, I looked at what I had already written, which was 32 pages and it was a good foundation to work on. Being in a much better place emotionally meant I could write in a regular routine, and add depth and emotion to my characters that I hadn't been able to before. Also because of some of my life experience had happened to the characters, it gave me a chance to think of the ‘what if’s’ in my life. What if I had said this? What if I had said that? Those missed opportunities at last I had a use for. I put some of them in the screenplay for the characters, as they like I said they were going through similar things and it helped me look back on things that had happened in the past year as well, and in a way give some closure.

So my main tip for restarting a screenplay that you struggled to get off the ground….give it time. Live a little, listen a lot as people you meet in your life and experiences you get may inspire characters in your head.

Screenwriting: Song inspiration

I’m not an expert in screenwriting; far from it I haven’t even reached the second draft of any of my scripts yet, and I haven’t even sent any off for submission. But through reading books about screenwriting I can tell there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to listening to music while writing.

I am all for it as I find it can be a great inspiration, especially if there’s a part you’re struggling to write. There are different songs I associate with different screenplays; for Stuck on You it was about a holiday in Europe and so I played quite bright songs while writing. With Hea-Van the 6 part series I wrote; although I didn't have one key song, I listened to the Glee version of Pure Imagination repeatedly when writing a particularly emotional episode about reunions and that helped quite a bit.
When thinking of how the plot would develop for If We Aren’t Married, For The First Time by The Script was my go to song. It helped me visualise one of the key scenes towards the end of the film and as a result made me think about how each characters plot would develop from that point going on and leading up to it as well.

When I restarted writing the screenplay the song was still useful, even though I’d grown and matured in my thinking towards the characters. It took me back to the scenarios I had created for the characters while listening to that song.

Around about the halfway stage of writing I discovered another song which captured the ending perfectly. Now in daydream land if this film gets made, I’d love to have this song on the final scene of the film as the lyrics match exactly what is happening. Or rather what’s happening to a few characters and ultimately what turns out not to happen to another character. The song is Army by Ellie Goulding and I’d listen to it on the way home to work, while figuring out dialogue for the all-important final scene. I actually put in a curveball right towards the end which I didn't plan on when I first thought of the idea. It’s quite emotional and a couple of times driving home I did start crying with the dialogue I was saying and the song that was playing. I really did look like a crazy person!

I think the key to listening to music while writing however is shuffle. Put your ipod, spotify playlist or whatever you’re listening to onto shuffle. Bringing up a song you haven’t heard in ages might give you a random idea that could work in your screenplay that you didn't think of before. Another thing you could try which I haven’t done, but am thinking of doing in the future is creating playlists for characters. That would be another way of developing the characters emotionally, and you can create reasons why certain songs meant certain things in the characters’ lives.

Do you find it easier to write with music on or without?

Screenwriting: Unfinished business

A couple of weeks ago my dad set me a challenge to complete another screenplay I had been writing by the end of the month. On Tuesday, two days ahead of schedule I completed my second film. After putting about my achievement on Facebook, an old work colleague said about how she needed inspiration to restart what she had been writing. So in a three part blog posting, today’s post will be about character development.

The film I wrote is called ‘If We Aren’t Married’ and is about 3 women who each have a best guy mate. I don't want to go into much further detail in case someone uses my idea, lol.

So how did I develop the 6 main characters? Well I literally did it by the book- Screenwriting for Dummies to be precise. I thought of the idea back in 2010/2011 and it was one of my first ideas. My only screenwriting experience prior to having the idea was a 4 day intensive short film screenwriting course I took in my final year of uni. Yes I had plenty of experience of reading plays as I went to drama club for 15 years, but writing a screenplay I had zero experience.

Now some people struggle to think of names for their characters, and if that’s you I strongly recommend you get a baby name book. It sounds crazy but it’s a good resource, particularly if you want a name with a specific meaning. I got my baby name book when doing research for a two week work placement at Mother & Baby magazine at uni. So that’s a good place for first names. As for surnames I just look at my bookshelves and find one that sticks.

I used my Screenwriting for Dummies book to get thinking about the basic details of my characters. The book suggests detailing the geographical background, family, past relationships, occupation, and successes and failures of your characters. As I hadn’t written before this was a great thing to do; although with all the rest of my screenplays I haven’t followed suit. This maybe a good exercise for me to do before the second draft stage. As I maybe able to give even more depth to the characters I've created.

What I also did with ‘If We Aren’t Married’ which I haven’t done before is visualise my characters with actual pictures. I love magazines, and I used to have a big collection, until it looked like I had a hoarding problem. For years I have been keeping articles that I found interesting and kept them in several folders. While looking through magazines in general if there was anybody that stuck out, for whatever reason I kept that page. I’d see pictures of real life people and in the photo shoots and think; that’s what I think Sydney James would look like, or that’s who I think Ed Dean would be like. I’ve kept these pictures and although your plot should aid what your characters look like in your mind, I've found the pictures I kept to be a great help; especially when trying to restart the whole writing process.

Everyone has different methods as to how they develop characters, so if anyone has any other ways of developing characters, it would be great to hear them.