Category: Writing Page 11 of 24

It Could Be A Hoax, But If So It’s One Involving A Lot Of Work, Akin To The (Signed) Hitler (Grail) Diaries

On 12/03/2009

Shamelessly swiped from John August’s blog, a link to a document which purports to be a 125-page transcript of the discussions between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan which led to the creation of Indiana Jones, and the writing of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It could be fake, but if it is, someone’s gone to a fair amount of trouble – see what you think by having a look at it here.

Oh, and I’d also recommend the analysis by blogger MysteryMan here (he also provides an alternative link to the document, though that may involve pop-ups, which I know some of you are less keen on).

And All Of A Sudden, I Post Something About Writing, Causing Many A Startled Double-Take

By John

On 11/03/2009

In BBC, Link, Personal, Uncategorized, Writing

As I haven’t written anything about writing for a while, that’s what I’m doing, right here right now.

I like to think I’ve been fairly productive recently – I’ve submitted pieces to the following:

– The Quickreads Work Tales competition : not heard yet about this one, but I think an announcement is due around the end of March

– The Tate Modern TH.2058 competition : Didn’t get into the final six, but it was fun to write (you can see my short story here).

– Along with something like 700 other people, I sent some sketches in for the forthcoming BBC 7 on 7 radio show. I didn’t make in into the group who were invited to a workshop on Monday (9 March), but the notification I received said that they’d be getting back to me about submitting more stuff when they’re gearing up for the actual series; I gather that they also said less hope-inspiring e-mails, so this was quite positive.

– And over the weekend, I sent in some vox pops to the BBC Talking And Not Talking radio show. I was quite pleased with some of the lines I sent, so I’m fingers-crossed about this one (not heard anything yet, but it’s only been about 48h since the deadline, after all).

I’ve also managed to rework the structure for my novel The Body Orchard, which I’m happier with now – it should make it more clear to the reader why there’s pre-existing bad blood between the detective and the villain of the piece.

And in my head, I’m working on a really-rather-low-budget UK-based horror film screenplay; I know how it starts, and how it ends, and a lot of the stuff in between, but I’m just working on some of the character stuff, and trying to decide whether I could merge it with another idea which I’ve had knocking around in my head for a while, though that might mean changing the tone a bit.

Oh, and I’ve having to entirely revamp my far-too-long-on-the-hard-drive radio play to send to the BBC Writersroom, as I’ve recently discovered that one of the main characters not only has the same name as someone who actually exists, but that real person is also a noted expert on a subject which is one of the themes of the play; anyway, I don’t think it’ll hurt for me to do another pass through the script generally.

Finally, I’m feeling the urge to send some material in to 2000AD again; I appear to have a semi-tradition of getting stuff published in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic about once a decade (though I’m not fooling myself that the [in]frequency is due to my delicate creative sensitivities requiring some kind of planetary alignment), and I’ve had a couple of ideas recently which might well be Tooth-appropriate, as it were.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something – or some things – but I just, y’know, wanted to make it clear that this blog isn’t the sole extent of my recent writing… oh, hang on, I forgot to mention my modernisation of Cyrano de Bergerac and my far-too-late-to-be-a-spec-script-but-I-wanna-write-it-anyway Frasier episode, didn’t I ? Ah well, I’ll just have to bring those up some other time.

Overall, it’s not so scarily productive as to make you all wonder just when I sleep, I know, but on the other hand, I’m feeling suitably fired up both about the ideas and the actual act of putting words on the screen (or page), and so I can feel things gearing up in a way that I find pretty satisfying (not quite as satisfying as typing ‘FADE TO BLACK’ or ‘THE END’, granted, but let’s face it, very few things are as good as that).

Being Human Does, After All, Involve Questions and Answers

By John

On 25/02/2009

In BBC, Link, London, TV, Uncategorized, Writing

BBC Writersroom are hosting another in their ongoing series of Q&A sessions with TV and radio creators, this time with Toby Whithouse, whose most recent creation is the BBC3 series Being Human. Which is a rather good show, and if you’ve not seen it, you should give it a look.

It takes place at the Soho Theatre here in London Town on Wednesday 4 March, from 5pm, and you can get your name on the guest list by sending an email to writersroom@bbc.co.uk, with the subject line “Toby Whithouse Q&A”.

Full details of the event can be found here.

I plan on attending*, and I gather Steve ‘no relation to Jenny’ Colgan will be there too – what about you?

*Which is to say, I’ve e-mailed asking to be added to the list.

Russell T Davies At BAFTA

By John

On 17/02/2009

In Link, London, TV, Uncategorized, Writing

No, I’m not talking about nominations for awards – on Tuesday 17 March at 6.45pm, he’ll be in conversation.

The talk takes place at the Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly in London, and is going to cover his work in Children’s TV, and his feelings about the audience and future of that section of programming.

It sounds pretty interesting, and he’s a man who knows about TV which appeals to all generations, so I’d say his opinions are worth listening to. If you want to book tickets (which are free for BAFTA members, and £10 for the rest of us), you can do so here.

For One Day, And One Day Only

By John

On 13/02/2009

In Link, Pictures, Uncategorized, Writing

I haven’t watched 24 since a few episodes into Day Two (when Kim got trapped in the bunker with a bloke who said WWIII had started, like that scene in Grease 2, I made my excuses and left), but a thought occurred to me this week.

And that thought became a half-formed pitch, and then my limited MS Paint skills were brought into play.

So, the pitch is this: since each series of 24 takes place during one day, why not pick a day (and a location) which pretty much guarantees that Jack Bauer will have a, let’s say, lively day? One with a cross-over aspect to increase market synergies, yes?

Ladies and gents, I suggest to you :

Friday the 13th Part 24.

Those of you who have Photoshop skills, feel free to design a logo. I’ll mention you in the ‘Special Thanks To’ list of names at the end of the credits.

Admit it, you’d pay to watch it.

Are We Living In A World Where Sex And Horror Are The New Gods?*

By John

On 12/02/2009

In Link, Uncategorized, Writing

I received an e-mail today from Creative Screenwriting magazine, which talked about how the box office for 2009 (so far) was 18% up on 2008.

It then went on to say:

“People Are Flocking To The Movies, Recession and All…

And that means the demand for scripts will grow. This is not really a surprise. Movies and TV tend to be counter-cyclical, in economic terms: When people are out of work, when people feel bad, they escape to the place where they can forget their worries.

It’s Your Job To Help Them Forget Those Worries”

An echo of my comment yesterday, perhaps, but what amused me most was the rallying nature of it: there’s an economic and emotional depression on, and people will need entertainment to smile their way out of it. Only the writers can bring joy to a joyless world!

Thinking about it, I guess entertainment is like the sigh of an oppressed creature, or the heart of a world with no heart – in much the same way as it’s the soul of a soulless situation. In a way, for many people it’s a kind of drug, like opium.

Oh, hang on, that’s religion, isn’t it? Ah well.

Anyway, I must away and write! It’s my duty to help my fellow beings forget their worries!

*Frankie Say: so, in Two Tribes, so maybe we are.

BAFTA Winners 2009 Announced

By John

On 09/02/2009

In Link, TV, Uncategorized, Writing

As you’ve probably seen by now, the BAFTAs were dished out last night – the complete list of winners is available on the BAFTA website.

Although I haven’t seen as many of the films as I’d like to have (yet), it strikes me as a pretty good mix of titles, and I can imagine it’s a particularly cheering night for the folks behind Slumdog Millionaire, as it looked for a while as if it was going to be a straight-to-DVD release; instead of heading immediately for the shelf, it now has a shelfload of awards, which must be even more satisfying for them.

And in what I think is rather unfortunate timing, the Grammy Awards were also handed out last night. These cover the period October 2007 – September 2008, which kind of explains why I was looking at some of the nominations and thinking ‘isn’t that a bit old to be in the running for an award?’

The Reduction Of The Snark

By John

On 07/02/2009

In Pictures, Twins, Uncategorized, Writing

Normally in these posts where I point to items that look or are named in a similar fashion, I make some critical remarks… not this time, though, as I can recommend both of these books for useful tips on the craft of writing (specifically writing novels).

Cripes! To paraphrase the story about Mike and Bernie Winters, “there’s three of them”! (Can’t vouch for this third one, mind).

If I Scribble The Name In A Hurry, It Looks More Like Tate Modem

By John

On 30/01/2009

In Hype, Link, London, Uncategorized, Writing

Thanks to Lianne for pointing out that the Tate Modern art gallery is running a story-writing competition; in conjunction with its current TH.2058 installation, you’re invited to write a 1500 word piece in keeping with the themes. The prize is quite an interesting one – six stories will be selected to be included in a downloadable audiobook, which will be read by Christopher Eccleston.

The competition closes on Sunday, and if you want to read my entry, Brittle, it was posted on the site this morning (they moderate entries to make sure there are no offensive or libellous aspects, which seems sensible), and you can see it by clicking here.

Let me know if you have a go, and if you want to comment on my story, by all means do so.

Art For Art’s Sake (Money, For God’s Sake)

By John

On 28/01/2009

In Hype, Personal, Uncategorized, Writing

This morning I received a remittance advice for a wee bit of writing (a joke I sold, so it’s small in wordcount and audience alike), which makes it the first bit of money I’ve received for my writing in … oh, an alarmingly long time.

The dream, of course, is to make a living from writing and nothing else, but I’m aware that this is a long way off. One step at a time, of course, and I’m fortunate in that the day jobs I’ve had since I started writing (which would be, come to think of it, every job I’ve ever had since the age of 18) have generally left me with enough mental energy remaining to do some writing in my free time, and sometimes to even make a sale.

Anyway, selling the joke (and doing so in the first couple of days of the year) feels like a good start to 2009, though, and I hope it’ll just be the first of many… though of course it’s less a question of hope, and more one of
work, a fact which I’m very much bearing in mind.