The Confidence of the Long Distance Writer

If you want to tell people your successes then it is only fair to tell them your failures too. I've had a few recently.

I entered the BBC Sharps scheme a while ago and didn't make the shortlist. It's been over 2months and there has been no feedback so I assume I didn't make the long list. I then entered the TAPS Continuing Drama Scheme. Got the letter a couple of days ago. I didn’t get in on that one either. And as an earlier post said, I didn't get anywhere with the Page Competition.

However my response to these rejections has changed. In the past I'd have been in the dumps. Am I deluding myself? Is my work complete garbage?

This time, though I can't pretend I was happy about it, I didn't melt into a puddle of slurry. This time I was happy with what I'd written. So it wasn't what they were looking for on a particular competition or there were others who ticked more boxes. Bottom line I have something I am happy to add to my portfolio rather than being full of doubt and ready to give up.

But is that a realistic confidence and or am I manically delusional? After all I could be a complete nutter who thinks the back of the cornflakes packet is a literary masterpiece? (Well it's not too bad when you're stuck in a hotel restaurant eating breakfast on your own.) The crunch came when I got the Page feedback. How badly did it do?

Well not too bad really. I needed to score 60% to get through and I made 50%. It could have been worse. The feedback was constructive and helpful and honest. If you're going to enter this competition then I would recommend paying the extra for the feedback.

I got 100% for format but I'd have given myself a good kicking for anything less. How hard is it to check spelling or get your layout sorted?

I did very well on theme, imagery and premise. The reader felt it was a poetic piece rather than narrative, which is fine with a short film. This was what I was going for so I was happy with that.

The tricky part was the amount of information implied and whether it was made clear enough. This was the area that had given the biggest range of feedback from others who'd read the piece. Some got what was going on and others didn't. In this case the reader identified with the confused camp. Lots of questions unanswered that the reader felt many would find confusing or irritating.

There was also the issue of conflict. I was representing an internal conflict without a narrative. Not exactly easy. I felt I'd pulled it off. The reader felt differently. Maybe I will if I read it again in a year's time but currently I'm happy.

The bottom line was that it wasn't the type of thing their production company would look for and a more narrative element would be required.

Now I knew this piece was a high risk. Films with a surreal element (and mine's a big element) or are non-narrative (my one again) will appeal to a smaller audience. Some people love them. Some hate them. The reader recognised that a large part of the audience would not get it. And fewer bums on seats means less money.

So what do I do with this piece? I like films that are surreal and leave things hanging. Always have. Don't know what's in the boot with Repoman or the suitcase in Pulp Fiction but that's fine by me. Sat through 2001 as a kid, front row of the cinema and just went along with the ride. Solaris drove the rest of the family out the room while I sat riveted. Twin Peaks was an unmissible and Sunshine was a nice recent trip.

So I personally have no problem with that nature of my short. If I change it then I may increase the chances of it being made but I won't like the piece as much and will feel I've lost something special.

Should I concentrate on writing only stuff that wins competitions or has more chance of being made because it is low risk? Or should I spend all my time writing experimental, surreal stuff that will make people love or hate it but never ignore it.

I think I'll stick with what I'm doing. Let the story decide what it wants to be. Some of my pieces are standard narrative and very commercial. Some…well…aren't.

I don't mind what they grow up to be as long as they make me proud. But maybe I should pay closer attention to what a competition says it is looking for before packing their little suitcases and sending them on their way.

Oh and I will enter Page again.

Sharps and Flats

At 13.05 I logged on to my email area. Held my breathe. Lots of emails in. Scanned. Scanned again. Bashed the monitor and scanned once more. Nope. Nothing. Nada.

Ever the optomist I tried again at 13.30. Still nothing. I mean I even waited until 18.00. How could they keep a girl waiting that long. Guess I'll just have to accept I've been dumped. No shiny, golden email ticket to the BBC Chocolate Factory for me.

Oh well. I am happy with my script and will pop it into my portfolio. And I guess we are all waiting now to hear if we are one of the 100 who will get feedback.

By the way I'm applying to TAPS Continuing Drama. May get bounced but if you don't try you'll get no-where. If you are in the Nations category then it appears you have a little more time. The deadline has been extended to July 11th. For those in Regions the deadline is 27th June so get your skates on.

Sharps and the half hour drama

Well my script for Sharps is ready. I've done the application form. I've got my email. I've bought new print cartridges. There's a stack of crisp, clean paper waiting. I've sacrificed the black cockerel. I've spun three times winnershins. I've raced up the nearest fell and back. OK not the last one. Me… running. I don't think so.

I'd like to thank the wonderful people who's feedback got me to the point. Bloggers Dave, Lucy, Elinor and Chip. Commenter Caroline and Non-bloggers Paul and John. Yes I know that's more than three but I'm really insecure and covering all demographics is my comfort blanket.

I used at least one point from everyone's feedback and they all said I was too subtle in showing the history of the characters relationships. I think I've sorted that now. Problem with subtlety. When all the background is in your head, how can you be certain you have put enough on the page?

I also got to read some of their submissions and I think they are brilliant so competition will be tough.

There seems to have been a lot of drop-outs on this one. And many people have scrapped ideas and started again, myself included. So what made it so tough?

Some felt it was the topic. The Nation's Health. The first thought was a hospital or health centre. Everyone's going to write that right? But health is a big topic and they were encouraging people to experiment so it shouldn't be hard to move well away from those areas while keeping with the theme.

However I think the problem was that they asked for a half-hour drama. You don't get to see many of those these days. Yes we have sitcoms. But BBC said they weren't looking for a sitcom. (I suspect they won't turn their noses up at one that ticks all the boxes though.)

So if you wanted a lighter route then that left comedy drama or dramedy or whatever you fancy calling it. There are some brilliant ones out there and it is my favourite viewing but they are about an hour long.

And for pure half hour drama you have soaps, sorry continuing drama. I hate it when the names change. I still buy Marathons, not Snickers! Anway hardly self-contained, excluding the odd one-on-one specials. All those threads from other episodes. I suppose the closest to a half hour drama in the past few years was the Bill in its short form.

Those of us of a more mature persuasion will remember Comedy Playhouse but that was…well…comedy. So there isn't a lot of half hour pure drama on TV as an example. Unless I'm just missing some brilliant stuff because it is on during the day or at sprog bedtime. Please let me know if I am. So easy to miss the gems in the gravel.

I've seen some lovely examples in short films by the way so I would recommend watching more of these. See Short Films on the sidebar of here for a list of sites.

I can understand why BBC chose half hour. You want it long enough to be sure the writer can sustain the quality but not so long that you double the reading time and costs. However with few examples of the form it seems to have proved an interesting challenge.

I haven't tried to second-guess the reader. It's pointless because they will all be different. Instead I've written something I'm proud of and would want to watch. Even if I get no-where on Sharps it is something I'm happy to add to my portfolio so no wasted time.

Good luck to everyone who's entered. Let me know how you do.

Hit a milestone

It's half past midnight and I just finished as much of my Sharps script as I think I can do before I pass out for feedback. It's down to 35 pages just. I tweaked a couple of descriptions into a single paragraph to squeeze in Fade Out.

As I wrote the thing I fluctuated between worrying there wasn't enough in there to make a 30min script to panicking that there was too much and I'd have to bin so much it wouldn't make sense.

Now I worry it is going to be confusing to others reading it. Or it is emotionally all one note. Or I've missed some huge holes. Or it's just plain boring. I think I've been working on it too long without a break.

Still I've hit one milestone. Now for humiliation and tears. Ooops I mean feedback. Those that said they were happy to read or swapsy, watch out. It's coming your way. After I've had some sleep that is.

Taking a Break

My Sharps script is progressing but not quite at the speed I'd hoped.

I was travelling again so I thought I'd have time in the hotel room to get some serious writing done. Sadly I had delayed flights, taxi drivers with less sense of direction than me (I can get lost in Tescos) and a hotel room a few inches from a main road. I'm used to country life so street lights, sirens and traffic meant I averaged 3hrs sleep a night.

So back home I had to knuckle down to some serious writing time. I've just finished the 1st draft. Or rather the "spewing it out so you can make sense of it" draft. I'm just taking a break so I can go back and check it with fresh eyes. Not a horror so I'll stick to mine.

I will check that it hasn't rambled off on a tangent, read it as each character to make sure they stay consistent and then make any modifications. It will then go out to those nice victims who have volunteered to read it and rip it to shreds. Then I'll lick my wounds and start at it again.

I had hoped to enter Bruntwood too but I don't think I'm going to make it. I love my idea and it is blocked out well so I'm going to write it anyway but I don't want to kick off a first draft. It might still be ready in time but I'm not going to rush something out that is half baked. And it does fit nicely into the Protect the Human competition so I can submit it there.

Right. Going to potter about for a bit to see what you've all been up to. Read the Sharps script again then off to see Indie. Evening planned.

Cutting Corners

A lot of cutting going on in my posts recently. Anyway the past week taught me a good lesson in getting too cocky.

I've been working on my submission for BBC Sharps. Lateral thinking had brought up some good ideas. Nothing too predictable. Not a hospital or surgery in sight. Good. I'd then got a rough idea of the characters and I'd knocked out a rough story. So I thought I'd just dive right in this time and start writing. Note all those rough bits in the earlier sentence. Well it was no suprise that the result was... rough.

Stop giggling out there. You've never been tempted to just bypass a couple of stages?

My rough characters were actually screaming stereotypes. My rough plot was so badly knitted together it was more fishing net than cashmere sweater. And that's a net a blue whale could have swum through without breathing in.

I'd start writing a scene and I'd grind to a halt, not knowing how to get to the end I'd planned. I wanted high drama, the characters wanted low farce. It was a mess. So I gritted my teeth and binned it. Back to square one. A week wasted but a lesson learned.

I'm now back with three characters deep enough for that blue whale to go diving in and a plot so tight I can make a cashmere sweater out of it. That or my brain is blubbering in the corner and I'm completely delusional. We shall see.

Cutting Scenes and Characters

So what have I been working on recently.

Well I finally got back to where I was when I lost my feature plot structure. It took a while because I decided to work it from scratch rather than try to remember it all.

The theme and basic story have not changed but the way I'm presenting it has, again. I think the result is much tighter than before. The big change was moving one sequence from Act 2 to the start. This allowed me to introduce the tone and a taster of most of the characters within the first couple of pages and I could then bin about 4-5 scenes from Act 1.

I'd been told on a course to consider seriously shuffling scenes as part of the writing process but had only made small changes before. A token effort. I'm going to have to make myself do this more.

However all this change has a sad note because I've lost another two characters in the process. One wasn't too painful but the other has been a core element of the story since its first conception three years ago. In fact it was the first character that appeared, triggering the story in the first place. I was really attached to that alcoholic sheep but he will just be a cameo now.

I've also been working on a piece for Sharps and another for Bruntwood. I got the rough storyline sorted for each then let them germinate for a week. With deadlines looming this was hard to do but I am much happier with the results.

Dave hates this stage. I wonder around with a notepad jotting down any random thoughts. Conversations trail off, I become glazed and then a stream of frantic scribbling. Even worse I do this at night too so lack of sleep makes me grouchy.

Now I've just got to write them. The easy bit. Teee Heee Haaa Haaa. More manic giggling...

BBC College's Cuddly Brother

OK I wanted something beginning with C and so it got cuddly. Anyway, they've announced it. The writer's scheme for those who couldn't apply for the Colleges or didn't make it in. See it here and good luck.

Yes of course I'm going to have a go.