Category: Film

The Hero’s Journey – MCU Captain America

Leave a comment

Well, didn’t we get all excited? Well, I did, obviously.

This is the news that hit Thursday:

Yay, screamed I. Then awwwww as Chris Evans tweeted this:

(Bonus Jamie Lee Curtis content though)

So, possibly not then. I know some people think it would cheapen the beautiful ending of Endgame, but I think there are two more standalone stories to tell with Evans as Steve Rogers (with him having handed the shield onto Sam to be Captain America), neither of which impact on his hero’s journey, as broken down below.

Firstly, we left Agent Carter with unfinished business, so either series 3, with Steve backing up Peggy as she solves the mystery and then goes on to found S.H.I.E.L.D. (or a feature film version). Think of all the internal conflict Steve will have, unable to change the future, unable to stop Hydra growing inside S.H.I.E.L.D. How much could he, should he, tell her? Delicious.

Secondly, a prequel (as they’ve done with Black Widow) on what he and Sam (and hopefully Nat – maybe a quick visit to Bucky, too?) got up to in between Civil War and Infinity War, with Steve as Nomad. Rough, dirty, long haired, bearded Cap … where was I? 

Wishful thinking on my part, I suspect, until I saw this:

… and got all excited again! Keep everything crossed, I beg you.

Now, as you can see from the title of this post, this was going to be about my favourite screenwriting structure, The Hero’s Journey, and how it completely fits the arc of Steve Rogers in the MCU. So that news breaking at this time seems a bit spooky, doesn’t it?

I don’t do graphs or charts as I was rubbish at maths and they remind me of maths. It’s words all the way for me. Lists I get. And the Hero’s Journey Structure is just that. (You can make it into a pretty circle if you want.)

Here we go:

An Ordinary World: The world is at war, and Steve wants to do his bit, alongside BFF Bucky. He shows his determination and courage.

The Call To Adventure: Steve applies to the army. A lot.

The Refusal of the Call: The army rejects him due to his obvious deficiencies (the refusal doesn’t always have to be the MC refusing a quest e.g. Luke, Frodo.)

Meeting the Mentor(s): Dr. Erskine earwigs on Steve and Bucky and knows he’s found his good guy. I would also include Peggy as a Mentor figure, she was so much more than a love interest, as proven with her appearances throughout the franchise in her own right.

Crossing the Threshold: Puny Steve is transformed into Captain America.

Tests, Allies and Enemies: The First Avenger; The Avengers; Winter Soldier; Age of Ultron.

Approaching the Innermost Cave: Civil War and the Sokovia Accords. 

Ordeal: The fight with Tony.

Reward: Bucky is saved.

The Road Back: Infinity War brings him home to the Avengers. 

Resurrection: Endgame – apart from The Avengers literally resurrecting everyone, Cap is back in the fold, and will lead the Avengers once more – until …

Return with the Elixir: Steve gets to go home. Home being Peggy; his compass points the way, and his compass is a picture of Peggy. Anyone who thinks Steve’s arc should or could have been different doesn’t understand story. Stucky fans will point to the “I’m with you to the end of the line” quote without understanding that Endgame was the end of the line for them. Steve saved Bucky three times, he deserved to go home.

I don’t know if Marvel planned this, or whether it only came about when they knew they were introducing time travel, but since Markus and McFeely were the showrunners of Agent Carter, as well as writing all the Cap films, Infinity War and Endgame, I’d like to think they did.

You have to find a way of telling your stories that suit you, and this structure just makes sense to me. It even works with a short documentary I’m working on, an eye opener that came out of a seminar with Dr. Steve Evanson, co-creator of the BBC’s Coast. Remember the snakes v iguana on Planet Earth? Yep, it’s a hero’s journey structure. And no, the name Steve Evanson is not lost on me *ghost emoji*

Making the most of the lockdown

Leave a comment

Additional success since my last blog post!

It’s a shame the rest of 2020 has turned to shit, but there you go. This is actual footage of my hair at the moment:

straw-1674951_1280

Photo: Gerhard Gillinger

Following placing in the top 15 of Clive’s opportunity, I made the shortlist (Top 8) for the 26th Euroscript Screen Story Competition 2020, so yay me! Happy with that for two reasons A) the obvious but b) Umbilical (then known as The Bond) was the first script I ever wrote.

It was at my first London Screenwriters’ Festival (2017 – there’s an online version at the moment, check it out) that I had a script surgery with Euroscript’s Ian Long. He loved the logline and tagline – all I had at that moment – and so, encouraged, I went away and wrote it within one month.  Rewriting followed and it’s also now under consideration with three producers.

I’m still learning though – particularly thanks to seminars at the latest festival – so I’m going to rewrite again and elevate it further.

For another WIP – my comedy-thriller called ‘Snitch’ – I’ve been chosen as one of the scriptwriters to work with an NFTS script development student, as part of their coursework.  It’s so important to get fresh eyes on your work and this is a whole other level since it involves six months of feedback and discussion with the same person – I’m a big fan of consistency.

I’ve also submitted Snitch to another opportunity from the wonderful WFTV, who run writers table reads, with six writers for a six week stint (via Zoom, of course). The three writers we’ve read so far seem very happy, so I can’t wait for my turn.

I completed the Raindance courses – with the final three sessions taking place online because of you-know-what. But the Net Community Hub, for which the courses were being undertaken in order to produce a short film, has had to close its doors for the foreseeable future.  With our clientele being elderly and vulnerable, we’ll be the last place to open up again 😦

hub

Having said that, I’ve the time to research and write the film , plus look for funding – for the film, for the loss of income, for the match funding for next year but also – always looking on the bright side – to get a new kitchen fitted. It’s something we’d never be able to do without closing for a week so that’s my priority for the moment, work wise. There’s a link to the hub above – if you want to donate towards our kitchen and reopening, please do and I’ll love you forever 🙂

That was a lot of news in one go. I shall try to cultivate some consistency with regard to my blogging.

Stay safe and well x

Another new idea, goddamit

Leave a comment

Supernatural horror

Because I don’t have enough to work on already!

I do love an opportunity and the generosity of screenwriter, script consultant and producer, Clive Frayne, provided just that.

Clive put out a call for his 2020 Script Development programme and I was one of over a hundred screenwriters who responded (considering what was on offer it should have been more).

Tasked with providing Clive with an idea (not a logline) I was able to use what was literally a one line scrawl in a notebook while on holiday last year, which was: ‘Great location for a murder’.

That’s because it would be an ‘impossible’ murder, as I was on a tiny ferry with three crew and twelve passengers, all strapped into their own, individual seats that no-one could have left without being seen.

This idea grew and I was delighted to make it into Clive’s shortlist of 15 writers. From there, he gave us additional assignments, one of which was to make a Pinterest board with images that gave a sense of the story and characters (that’s a snapshot above). And what an inspiration that turned out to be – I’m doing one for all my stories now!

I’ve now gone from that one line idea to an almost fully-fleshed out supernatural horror story that explores the psychological and emotional cost of family betrayal, and I’m really excited by it.

My involvement in Clive’s scheme ended there, as Clive had the tough task of whittling down to just two writers. So I’m breaking my rule of buying no more how-to books to apply more of Clive’s process to my scripts. You can find it here.

What a difference a year makes!

1 Comment

Yes, it’s time for my annual “I’m going to start blogging again” post.

Ok, I’m probably not, because my priority is to write scripts, and by and large, throughout 2019, that’s what I’ve been doing.

I wanted to keep myself accountable, so to that end, I took a screenshot of my projects on 5/1/19, and just remembered to do it again today to compare and check my progress.

And I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve done. On 5/1/19, I had six projects on the go: Eleri Evans  (YA feature opening two pages – I have an outline elsewhere); Aunt Cookie’s (tv pilot) The Deal (feature) The Bond (feature) Alien: Evolution (competition short) and Sally (feature).

 

January5th2019

It looks more than six due to needing excerpts for submissions, or where I was debating which way to take the script (e.g. The Deal has two different endings).

To say I’m pleased with how re-writing has gone is an understatement. This is today’s screenshot.

9JAN20

  • Goodbye Girl is a short, rewritten from a script I did from my Uni of Kent Writing for Stage and Screen course.
  • Serena – previously Sally – is now a long short which I hope to shoot myself.
  • Aunt Cookie’s was rewritten and has been submitted to various competitions and gigs.
  • Alien: Evolution is a short written for a competition, and is now being rewritten.
  • Snitch – previously The Deal – is now a first draft feature with a definitive ending.
  • Umbilical – previously The Bond – was rewritten and has been submitted to various competitions and gigs.
  • No Exceptions and Brave Face are shorts that came out of Talent Campus, and received Special Commendations from the Four Minute Screenplay Competition. Brave Face is another I’m hoping to shoot myself (along with Goodbye Girl).
  • Marrowfat 241 is a speed draft sci-fi feature adapted from a short story  I wrote years ago, and is awaiting rewrites.
  • And Eleri Evans is still hanging in there, awaiting her turn!

It’s already gearing up to be a busy opening couple of months, as I was lucky enough to be awarded a bursary from the Oppenheim-Downes Foundation, which is paying for two courses with Raindance.

Across ten weeks from the end of January to the end of March, I’ll be taking a Filmmaker’s Foundation Course and a Producer’s Foundation Course, which I hope will equip me with the skills to make a short film for my charity, The Net Community Hub.

Our aims are to reduce social isolation and put an end to loneliness, and the short film will hopefully raise awareness of these issues, as well as publicise the good work the hub is doing, supported by its volunteering partners, Walderslade Together.

The bonus is that these will also equip me with the skills to make my own films. So I’m raising a glass to 2020 – of gin and tonic, probably (seriously, I was given sooooo much gin for Christmas) – and making this year the big one.

5-4-3-2-1 Talent Campers are GO!

Leave a comment

Like most writers, I’ve done my fair share of courses – short and long, online and offline – to help improve my writing. I’ve attended events and seminars to glean nuggets of info from those who’ve been there and done it, and signed up to numerous writing websites’ newsletters .

And now, I’ve finally taken myself by the scruff of the neck and gone for the Big One: Talent Campus, the London Screenwriters’ Festival’s rocket-fuelled 7 day, 4 week intensive workout.

I’ll openly admit, I thought it was too soon for me to take full advantage of it. But then I thought, what the hell? I’ve either got talent or I haven’t and it’s probably best to find out sooner rather than later, right?

I was still unconvinced though, and my application contained 10 pages of an incomplete script which was pretty much a raw first draft, where I teed up ideas to explore further along. I figured, if they accept that, I know I’m on the right track.

So here I am. The intense activity away at Ealing Studios starts on June 26, but we’re in the Pre-Ignition phase and they’ve already set a first homework assignment, a 2 page script for their Impact 50 project.

It’s something I looked at briefly before, but couldn’t come up with a good idea, mainly I think, because I was concentrating on my TV pilot for a competition. So I let it go – and then slightly panicked when the assignment came through.

Don’t settle on your first idea, it said, and eventually the snippets I’d been jotting down previously formed themselves into a workable plot: An elderly lady decides to protect her canine best friend from suffering the impact.

I decided to give her a cantankerous husband to play off, then decided to give him dementia – we lost my dad to the condition, and I’m involved in the local dementia action alliance, so I’m confident including it in my stories.

But then a funny thing happened. Having only two pages to play with, I ran out of room for the dog. So the story became: A woman whose husband lives with dementia shields him from the present by recreating a date from their past. Which hadn’t been in my notes at all!

The Ballad of Steve and Peggy *Endgame Spoilers Ahead*

Leave a comment

As promised, a more detailed look at one element of Endgame that’s got people’s knickers in a twist.

Again, spoilers coming up – for Agent Carter, too – so look away now.

Steggy

First of all, let’s touch on the problem that the writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) and the directors (Joe and Anthony Russo) both have a different viewpoint on how the time travel in Endgame actually works, and specifically, where Steve went at the end.

I’m favouring the writers, but the previously mentioned anomalies do come into play and it seems there is a method to Marvel’s madness, which I’ve picked up from an excellent and insightful interview with Markus & McFeely – you can see it in full here. They also drop the very exciting bombshell that they have a studio with the Russos and are working on other projects! (Not Marvel, don’t start. *dreams*).

The Russo brothers have stated* that Steve went into an alternative timeline, and there is evidence of this. Specifically, the new shield. Since his original shield was destroyed in the fight with Thanos, it makes sense that it comes from another timeline. Steve tells Sam “it doesn’t” (belong to anyone else), so it appears that in the other timeline, he’s handed it over to Sam before. *They also stated that Loki escape with the Time stone, so y’know, they’re a bit confused too.

Suffice to say, Steve creating a whole new timeline means anything goes – he could go back to before Bucky fell from the train, since his past isn’t the future in that timeline. Marrying Peggy, having kids, saving Bucky and the Starks, it can all happen without him affecting the original MCU timeline.

The anomalies here are that a) he doesn’t appear back through the portal, and if he was using the GPS tracker and the Pym particles then surely he would have? Unless, in the alternative timeline, Howard and/or Tony and/or Hank Pym have created another. Now, you could call that convenient – I call it exciting!

And b) the rules created for Endgame state that creating an alternate timeline can only happen if an Infinity Stone is not replaced, and since Steve replaced them all, he can’t have created an alternative timeline.

The case for the original timeline:

As I said, I’m with the writers, because a) it’s more romantic and b) they’ve written all the Captain America films, plus Avengers 3 and 4 and they created Agent Carter. Their intention was that he went back to Peggy in the original timeline, and the evidence in Winter Soldier and Endgame supports that. As they say in the video:

“Things need to add up emotionally more than they do logically …”

For clarification, M & M confirmed that two particles can exist in the same timeline (their quantum scientists told them about experiments done in the CERN Hadron Collider). Therefore, frozen Steve and future Steve co-exist and future Steve ensures their paths don’t cross once his younger self is defrosted.

IMG_2322

M & M confirm in the video that Steve returned to Peggy in 1948 – at the end of Agent Carter Series 2, so all of that happened. They reckon she had a falling out with Sousa. You can imagine the conversation:

INT. SOUSA’S OFFICE – DAY

Peggy and Daniel snog with abandon. A flash of light glints in their eyes as a god-like man appears.

Peggy

Steve?

Steve

Peggy!

Peggy

You’re late!

Steve

My ride hadn’t been invented!

Peggy

Er, Daniel. This is Steve.

Daniel

Aw, fuck it.

Steve

You got any oranges? I really fancy an orange.

Actually, Steve, being the considerate man he is, wouldn’t just turn up like that. He’d go to Howard first, someone whose shock would soon be overtaken by excitement and who could hide him effectively, then break it to Peggy gently. Or set her up for an enormous shock just for the fun of it. Either way works.

My (mundane) theory was that Steve went back in the early fifties after Peggy got a divorce. Steve, having visited Peggy from his defrosting in 2012 to her passing in 2016 would know her life story and when this happened. Therefore, having seen his photo on her desk in 1970, he had no qualms about going back to her.

M & M say Steve was always Peggy’s husband and father of the children seen in the photos in Winter Soldier (no husband in them, remember?). When I first heard there might be time travel in Endgame, this is totally what I wanted it to be (probably why I’m so happy with Endgame!).

The interview Peggy gave doesn’t have her mention her husband naturally “.. including the man who would eventually become my husband, as it turned out” – why not “including my husband…” if she were still married?

It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that the possible husband resented even the memory of Steve and if he was a bit of a manbaby, she’d only have to say “Why can’t you be more like Steve?” and boom, marriage over. Like I said, I’m a romantic.

IMG_2323

Before you start with the whatabout Sharon? she was a great-niece by marriage, not a blood relative, and defrosted Cap saw her as the closest thing he could have to Peggy. He’d no idea then he’d be able to go back. Anyway, it was only one, not-so-passionate snog – we got over Luke and Leia, we can get over that.

So there you go, Steve is now living a quiet life with Peggy, knowing that he cannot change anything in that timeline. There’s no social media and publicly, he usually wore a cowl, so it’s unlikely he’s ever going to get recognised in real life. How many times have you bumped into someone from the telly and not been able to place them? And there must be thousands of Steve Rogers in America – it’s not like he’s called Benylin Cumberband or something.

Personally, I love the idea of toddler Tony being babysat by Steve and no-one is ever going to take that away from me. This might have been exactly what they had in mind for AC S3. Disney+, come on!

When we see Old Cap, he’s simply made his own way to the portal site on the right date, waited for himself to go back in time and then sat on the bench. The only anomaly for me is handing off the shield, which he didn’t have – unless he stopped in Wakanda on the way back, and asked Shuri nicely to make him a new one.

*Update* Due to some snotty nosed little cretin arguing with me on Youtube (and completely undermining himself by stating that two Steves couldn’t be in the same place at the same time. Did I imagine Cap V Cap #Americasass?) my mind wandered enough to find another explanation for the shield.

And I decided that Howard Stark had kept some vibranium back, and was able to make Steve a new one. The more I thought about this, the more convinced I became. Why would you use this incredible material to make just one item (and leave it under your desk)? Knowing Howard, genius inventor, it’s completely in character that he’d have retained some to play with.

Steve’s words to Sam, equally, could be interpreted differently: It doesn’t belong to anyone else because he made the decision to pass it onto Sam. *Update* After seeing Endgame for only the fourth time, Steve tells him it’s his after Sam says he’ll do his best: “I know, that’s why it’s yours.” So, no anomaly there.

Just because you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!

In conclusion, there is evidence and anomalies that support and undermine both versions, although there is nothing the Russo’s interpreted visually that isn’t in line with the writers’ intentions. But Markus and McFeely came up with the perfect reasoning as to why that is:

“It kind of depends on what Marvel wants to do going forward. We watched the Spiderman Far From Home trailer like everyone else and they mention branched realities and alternate multiverse … we didn’t know they were going to do that. So they may have a different need (to our version) going forward.”

Basically, Marvel left their options open.

And I’m left with the smuggest feeling of being on the same wavelength as the writers of five of the MCU’s best films.

I’m going to explode if I don’t talk about Avengers: Endgame **SPOILERS**

Leave a comment

Avengers

I’ve seen it three times but I’ve friends who’ve still yet to see it, because they’re simply too busy. Consequently, I’ve had to resort to Facebook.

There are some real idiots on Facebook, aren’t there? I have to question if they even watched the same film or in fact, any of the previous MCU films, or whether their attention span has fled them entirely, since they clearly missed some of the major plot points. And that’s just the writers of online “news” platforms putting shit out there.

*It’s not a plot hole or an unanswered question just because YOU didn’t understand it!*

Ok, so now you’ve gathered I will be referring to said plot of Avengers: Endgame and if you don’t want to know – why are you still here?

So, the main issue: Time Travel. Specifically, the MCU’s version of time travel which is not like Back to the Future and sundry others mentioned.

Now, I should state that, as someone who couldn’t even pass CSE Maths and Physics (think GCSE failure and double it), I’m no expert in the quantum realm. So this is just what I think. But what I think is at least grounded in what I’ve seen and heard in the films. I guess I’m lucky they explained it in plain English and not algebra!

To preserve the timeline of the whole 22 film MCU, clearly they had to come up with something different from the usual Back to the Future type time travel. Hence:

“You cannot change the future from the past!”

Yes, it’s that simple a premise. Everything that happened in the earlier films has still happened regardless of any time travel shenanigans in Endgame. Because them’s the rules. They got a science adviser in about it an’ everything. This will be referred to as the original timeline.

Banner told the Avengers the rules. He and the Ancient One even drew a fucking diagram showing what would happen if the stones weren’t replaced. Seriously. The original timeline cannot be changed but if the stones aren’t replaced, they can cause an additional, alternative timeline.

But whataboutery …

But Loki took the Tesseract and disappeared! Therefore the space stone didn’t get replaced and surely an alternative timeline came into being? Yes and no. Loki took the space stone from 2012 and disappeared into a new timeline (Disney+). The space stone the Avengers took was from 1970 and it was replaced. So, original timeline intact. *Update* I saw an brilliant theory on Youtube that reckons Loki had learned to create a physical copy of himself, which he could have teleported back with the Tesseract to the point he stole it, to prevent a timeline anomaly!

But surely Steve would’ve told S.H.I.E.L.D everything about Hydra? Well, he could – wouldn’t have made any difference to events. Sure, he knew about Pierce, Sitwell and Rumlow and could stop them being hired but – cut off one head, and two more will take their place. And unless he was going to murder Zola in cold blood, the algorithm will still be created.

catws

Steve couldn’t save or rescue Bucky or save the Starks – everything that happened, happened. Even though he went back in time, those events are all in his past so he cannot change them. The best he could do would be to warn. There’s a reason Fury was suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D – why else would he hire hijackers to attack the Lemurian Star? And know to always keep his light sabre with him? See? SEE?

But Gamora, how can Gamora still be alive? And Thanos? They were both killed in the original timeline. Indeed they were, but thanks to your traditional time travel, they came to 2023 from 2014, and all the events between 2014-2023 still happened.

But then, why can’t we just bring Natasha and Tony back? Because that’s not the story the creators wanted to tell. Tony was on a crisscross arc with Steve, and Natasha’s mission was to clear the red from her ledger. And you can’t just tear them away from their life in a different time because you miss them. Gamora knew exactly what was happening, and why, and it was a natural part of the story.

Natasha was clearly at her wits end and suffering, the only thing that mattered to her was getting everyone back, whatever it takes. I’m gutted too, I loved Natasha. I’ve more to say on Nat, the other female Avengers and how, if Marvel really want to, they could bring her back. In another blog post, hopefully soon.

But, but, but … Steve and Peggy – he went back and deleted her husband and children and their children and he kissed his own granddaughter. No, just no. Stop it right now. This is a whole other blog post too, otherwise I’ll be here all night.

Let’s just be happy for Steve that, post 2023, he’s content running a dog rescue home, with a nice sideline in gentleman’s knitwear.

There are some anomalies, of course there are – it’s a time travel story, so there are going to be, aren’t there?! And if we can’t suspend our disbelief and just accept an epic, rollicking great, adventure superhero film for what it is, then why are we watching?

Cap lifting Mjolnir, Tony’s final “I am … Iron Man” “AVENGERS. Assemble.” The portals. “On your left!” So many epic moments.

Don’t cry that it’s over; smile because it happened.

Do we have the right to tell true stories?

Leave a comment

This was the question posed by filmmaker Vincent Lambe to justify his Oscar nominated film Detainment.

Subsequently, the overriding sentiment from most people was: Yes – provided you have permission from the victim’s family.

Detainment was made using the archived transcripts of interviews with the killers of James Bulger. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were just 10 years old at the time they kidnapped the two year old from a shopping centre and terrorised him before killing him. The transcripts are in the public domain so permission isn’t needed.

However, as many pointed out, common courtesy dictates that you’d at least contact the family and ask for their blessing before you went ahead. This Lambe did not do – and therein lies the main issue for most people.

As the mother of a two year old at the time, my sympathies lie entirely with Denise Bulger and what she went through then, and what she is going through again now.

Another Twitter user took umbrage that I’d dared to express my opinion on the matter and after a long conversation, pointed out that I’m a screenwriter and they hoped karma would get me, by way of a project I’d spent hundreds of hours on being withdrawn.

I pointed out that it wouldn’t happen* – because I would never even begin to write a screenplay about such a sensitive subject without having got the relevant parties on board.

I guess for those who don’t remember this case – too young, outside of the UK, perhaps – it’s hard to understand why there is such a backlash against this film. But I do. I can remember the atrocities that small innocent boy suffered without needing to look it up.

For me, this is the side of a true story that simply didn’t need telling again.

*Sadly, the nature of the film and TV  industry means there are many projects whose collaborators put in hundreds of hours of work for them never to appear. It doesn’t have to be controversial.

Writing daze

Leave a comment

The Coffee Break Screenwriter by Pilar Alessandra

You know I said I’d be writing at least 3 pages a day? I actually have!

Therefore, as we near the end of January, I can look back on the month and be really proud that I’ve now two complete project drafts. And it’s thanks in part to the excellent book (see above) by Pilar Alessandra: The Coffee Break Screenwriter.

I was stuck at a rough 12 pages for the pilot episode of my TV series, so, since it was Pilar’s weekend TV writing course that set me on the journey with it last year, I revisited her book to jump start me again.

Going into the weekend last year with just the basic concept, I came away with the full template for all the elements of a mini series bible, which subsequently turned into a 5 page document that set a strong framework for me to work from.

But knowing my characters and where I want them to go turned out to be the easy bit. So using Pilar’s book, I’ve begun to work through the 10 minute exercises and concentrate on one part of the script at a time. Before I knew it, I’d hit 45 pages. And I’m still only at the beginnings of the rewrite processes!

Having already completed the vomit draft (as I’ve charmingly seen it called) of my feature – Pilar refers to it as the speed draft (as in you write it quickly, not while you’re high) – I’ve started the rewriting process on that and already it’s gained another 4 pages.

It helps that I’ve finally made the effort to make more, dedicated, time. I’d let too many distractions keep me away from the writing but a new approach has proven worthwhile. This is essentially not writing just on the computer – printing the drafts off and going through with a red pen (like in the olden days) clearly works for me. Pen and paper, you can’t beat it.

Yesterday I was at the second Rochester Write Then Socialise and basically sat quietly for 3 whole hours working through the script, with Pilar’s book becoming more and more thumbed as the day wore on. The beauty of this was that once I felt a break was in order, I could reward myself by chatting to fellow writers over a coffee, the importance of which can’t be underestimated.

Writing is a lonely, solitary business and it’s easy to become isolated. While we were all concentrating on our own projects, the sounds of low chatter, tapping on keyboards and the scratching of pens reminded me I’m not on my own.

It’s been almost two years (I thought it was longer)

Leave a comment

2019

Yep, almost two years since I last blogged. Outrageous isn’t it? Or would be if I hadn’t been busy with all sorts of things that, sadly, were just more important.

But here I am, having guilt tripped myself into it, mainly to get back in the habit of just writing freely – even if it’s a load of nonsense (which it quite likely will be).

I’ve been concentrating on screenwriting, which includes reading and watching lots of stuff too, and also organising the first Murderous Medway which – even if I say it myself – was bloody good. Quote of the day? “The quality of the panel discussions was as good as any I’ve heard at Harrogate” – from a regular Theakston’s Old Peculiar attendee.

So it’ll be happening again this year – details will come in due course. My personal aim for 2019? To write at least 3 pages per day. I’ve still a few hours left today …

First up though (and the guilt comes from having had this a while) from one of the Litfest’s lovely volunteer’s Christina, who did some work experience at a television production company earlier this year and shared her thoughts on how disabled creatives can break into the industry. Stay tuned!