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?