All Done!
That's it. Done. The lot. For this year... I handed in my last assignment yesterday. I'm quite proud of both scripts, but I suspect they won't get especially great marks. The subject matter o each is less than conventional.
But what this really means is that until 11th October I have nothing to do but work towards my personal writing goals. To start with that means more short stories. I've got no end of ideas for those and I'm also considering starting a novel. My anthology piece is a 2500 word (dare I say) fragment of a larger piece that doesn't exist yet. Anyway it'll be an interesting learning experience. The first thing to do is make a list of all my ideas, pick one and then just go for it!
This is going to be a good summer!
Onward!
Script Progress
I forget to post. I mean this blog completely slipped my mind. Good job no one reads it anyway!
So I'm pretty much done with the 10 minute script and I've written maybe 12 minutes of my 30 minute script. I really want to get them both to the point where I'm just editing and considering the finer points before the end of this weekend. That'll give me a week to tweak them and make them half-decent. I'm fairly sure my plots are okay but I need to be careful of on-the-nose dialogue in my expositions.
Ugh. So tired. Anyway this is all going be a non-issue a week on Monday when I meet my final deadline. Yayness.
Making Progress
Time it be ticking away. We're now less than three weeks from our big script deadline and also the end of term. I've just booked three extra days off work to get my stuff done (one this week, one next week and one the week after). That means one three day week, another three day week and then one four day week, followed by yet another four day week! Yay! Of course all these days off are going to be spent working on writerly thing but still yay!
As far script progress goes I've been pretty much ignoring the 30 minute script for now. I know I need to throw myself into it and get the damned thing written but I'm also much more confident that I can make my 10 minute script good. I really want to get that one into a better position and focus on one thing at a time. That's what a little positive feedback will do for you. I've got all my on paper edits done now. I'm now in the progress of copying them up into my CeltX project and then go through the comments and feedback from other people. After that it needs a big old proof read and we'll see how the dialogue works out. Dialogue is hard, much harder than I expected. But still... three day week! Yay! Onward!
Also Hay this weekend! Big yay!
Script Feedback
We haven't written a script since the winter. In just over three weeks I have to hand in a 10 minute script and a 30 minute script. I've spent the last few months working on an outline for the 30 minute but have had rather a lot of problems getting my story good enough to move onto the script writing stage. We wrote the 10 minute scripts back at christmas time and haven't looked at them since. I'd been sd lacking in confidence and focused on the 30 minute that I'd almost blocked out the possibility of improving it. That was then.
Yesterday I had a tutorial with Michael Eaton. I'd sent him the 10 minute film since it was the only script I'd completed and he'd asked to see up to 10 pages of script. It was awesome. He's a great bloke and his enthusiasm for writing really blew away my negativity and totally energised me. Not only did he give me some great ideas on how to improve the 10 minute script, he also gave me some positive feedback on my writing. So now I've got a plan I just need to get my arse in gear and get it done. Onward!
On Poetry
Sam: I can't help but think poets take themselves WAY too seriously. The lecture last night was completely inaccessible.
David: That's what makes them poets.
Sam: Yes but they also complain that shops won't stock their books and that people don't know about them or enjoy reading their stuff.
David: Cause it's tedious and boring.
The above extract pretty much covers my thoughts on poetry. But regardless of whether I agree with David or not, I honestly think poetry is self-defeating in terms of commercial potential. An open, friendly and (let's be honest) less aloof approach could open up the idea of poetry to a lot more people.
Anthology
I just got a copy of the cover and proofs for our course anthology! It's quite exciting! The idea that in a few weeks I'll have a copy of a book with my name somewhere in it is pretty awesome. I know we all got to submit something and it's not like being published properly but we've done more for this project than is ever needed to send something off for consideration. We've built it pretty much from scratch and for me that's a lot more satisfying.
The launch is on Friday 6th of June at 7pm at Waterstones in Nottingham. If anyone happens to read this blog any more you're welcome to attend! Tickets are free and there will be a small amount of wine and nibbles too!
Colours!
So I made a plot diagram today. It was quite fun. I like making colourful things. It's easier than actually writing things! I think it came out okay. The sub-plots seem kind of balance and four is probably quite enough for now.
Starting Over
The sound of an oncoming storm. The dense, cardiac beat of the double kick. The epic chords. The music crashes over me. It soothes. But it doesn't dampen. I need this, this freak out. I need it to work, to rant to get my goddamned arse in gear. And the music helps. I ride with it.
Okay. Melodrama done. I've got six weeks till my script deadline. My idea is dead. I've not had any passion for it for at least a month and it really shows. The characters are empty and we've only now been shown what a good treatment should actually look like... So. Starting over. A new idea, that isn't really new. It's been bubbling away in my mind for a while now. But the thing is it isn't a story. It's a character, which is where all good stories really need to start.
Six weeks. 30 minutes. One resurrected undead overlord with a sharp suit. Let's do this thing.
Character/Script
I still feel as I'm still stuck on this whole script thing. I've got an idea of what I want to achieve but my story idea has changed to the point that my main character may no longer be my main character. He seems to be the only one who doesn't grow or change in my head any more. I guess that may be because I never really liked him very much... and if I don't like him then there's no reason for anyone else to. I'm tempted to steal personalities from my friend's at work. I think cue cards may be the answer... We shall see tomorrow. I need to take a break from being sociable and get my head down... Ugh... /ends.
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Treading Water
It's been just over two weeks since I handed in my last assignment. In this time I've been getting the odd job done here and there, sorting out my flat and generally relaxing. The one thing I haven't done a whole lot of is writing. I had such grand plans for this summer and now they're seeming less like plans and more like good intentions. And as I'm sure you'll agree, good intentions are a waste of time without the determination to back them up.
So here's the new plan. I'm going to write every day for an hour. I don't care about what or for what project, specifics can come later. The important thing is the actual writing. It starts today.