Result!

Blimey! Someone has updated this blog. Oh, yes that's right- it's me...need to confess to mucho crapness on the blogging front. I seem to have spent most of the summer sucked into the black hole that is my life (you know- that other existence that isn't made up of imaginary characters in your head). Writing, blogging and focusing in general seems hard to keep up to in the summer- autumn and winter seem much more productive seasons-wonder what the general consensus on that would be? Maybe it would be 50/50 depending on your personality, a bit like being a morning or evening person...Mmm food for thought.

One of the things I did manage whilst in the black hole was to sit my AS Level Eng Lit paper. I didn't think I had done particularly well and in the immediate aftermath decided that my paper was probably a B/C effort, the coursework being of a higher standard would probably pull it up to an overall B grade so I was fairly surprised to open the envelope last Friday to find out I got an A and not only that, I scored 120/120 in the exam. Obviously I am pretty chuffed at the result but there is a part of me that agrees with the predictable media furore that always accompanies A Level results. I didn't feel that my paper was outstanding quality and I knew I could have done better so why did the examiners disagree? Am I doing myself a disservice or is there something else going on? Whatever the answer might be many of my fellow students worked very hard regardless- so well done to everyone celebrating this weekend.

The biggest disappointment this summer was having to postpone my application to the Screenwriting MA at Leeds Met. Sadly the sums don't add up and like many other families the recession has affected our income. All is not lost though, the plan is to return to some form of paid employment and hopefully to save enough to go next September. In the meantime I am starting to look forward to the autumn writers class at the LBT- the spring/summer term involved a collaboration between the writing and the acting class, whilst this was a lot of fun and we produced a great 40min play the writing element didn't really stretch me enough.

Enough blabber for now, here's looking forward to a hugely productive end to 2009.

I shall leave you with my thought for today- isn't 'festooned' a funny word? Go on, say it quickly a few times and you will see what I mean. I am going to add it to my list of favourite unintentionally funny words, it will nestle nicely between 'trowel' and 'wonga'.

Please let the sun shine

Easter hols are almost upon us. Two weeks of unstructured time and marauding, lawless children to contend with.

Please let there be sun.

Mummy wants you to play outside so she can do some writing.

Odds of this happening-very low.

For this reason alone I am resisting the urge to join Script Frenzy for there is clearly no surer path to disappointment than mixing four children, no school and a pressing deadline. Ooh spooky, think I just glimpsed my future as a writer...

Just how bad was it?

Answer: Not very, actually.

Hurrah! Finally got round to blogging about the performance of my plays. A strange experience but all in all -fun and exciting. Much kudos is due to the actors who had less than 3 weeks to rehearse 18 scripts, all of varied length and genre- they all did a super job.
Both my plays were performed pretty much as I had envisaged them even down to the comic timing. Thankfully the audience was appreciative and they even laughed in the right places so to say I am well chuffed is an understatement.

Tonight is the final writing session this term and we will be doing a review of our performed work. It's going to be interesting to hear what my fellow writers felt about the experience and of course their critique too.

I have got my application form for the Leeds Met Screenwriting MA and have been encouraged to apply by some of those who attended the Writers Festival. Just need to get round to completing it now- they require an example of work plus and essay about my favourite film. Which leads nicely to the next dilemma- what is my favourite film....?

Oops...

...just realised I forgot to blog about seeing Lenny Henry in Othello at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

He was good. Not incredible but from his biog in the program this was his first serious stage role and this was only the second night so well done Lenny. The supporting cast were very good as is usually the case with Northern Broadsides, Matt Connor (who I have seen in 2 productions in the last year) deserves a mention as a brilliant Roderigo- someone to watch out for methinks. Conrad Nelson as Iago has had very good reviews and he was good...but...ever since I saw the film version with Kenneth Branagh I struggle to imagine an Iago not played as he did him- with a subtle, understated evil.

The production itself was fairly slick and used a black backdrop with a few props. Can't help but feel they borrowed a little from the style of last years Hamlet at the RSC (which I was also lucky enough to see). It wasn't in the same league as the RSC but still well worth seeing and not just for the play, the WYPH is a lovely venue and we all got to see Lenny in the bar afterwards doing the rounds and chatting to theatre goers, seems like a very genuine and unaffected man.

I believe it has sold out now but if you do have or get hold of a ticket you shouldn't be disappointed.

Rehearsals

Just back from seeing the rehearsal of one of my plays- From Bodrum with Love. Unfortunately I couldn't make the one last week so missed seeing the run through of Dinner for Five.

Initial thoughts? Good, surprisingly so!

Often when you see your work performed or read it doesn't sound quite the way it did in your head when you wrote it- no fault of the actors of course, just individual interpretation of the script. At tonight's run through though they pretty much had it nailed, especially the two main characters. I like to think this is because my writing has become tighter and more fluent and my characters more well rounded.

Really excited about Saturday now, I got to see a couple of fellow writers work in rehearsal too and there's going to be some good stuff performed

Showtime!

Rather excited today. Just had an email confirming that two of my scripts are being showcased as part of the Huddersfield Literature Festival ( Lawrence Batley Theatre, Sat 14th March, 4-6pm, Attic Venue). This is the first time anything I have written has been performed in a venue, I can't wait to see how they are interpreted by the actors. I have been invited to attend rehearsals but don't know whether to go along or not, it might be better to experience the plays on the day along with the rest of the audience...

On a less happy note I have been reading the latest media reports about the cuts being made in TV production, particularly ITV. It seems that a lot of continuing drama ( and presumably one off and two- parters) are facing the chop in favour of cheaper (reading between the lines) reality and game show formats, I guess revenue generated by phone-ins is also a key factor here. This is bad news for both established and aspiring screenwriters I would think. I wonder how much harder it will become over the next few years to get that first commission, will the powers that be prefer to stick to 'safe' well known writers or will us newbies get more of a chance because we are cheap (in the nicest possible way!)?

Makes me think my chosen path may be rockier than I first thought.

AWOL

OK. So not quite absent without leave - more absent minded really. Back now though, having spent most of January and February wading from one domestic disaster to another and furiously trying to write in between.

Finally managed to complete my radio play for the ABBA. How many other writers have to lock themselves in the toilet to write whilst ignoring the Lord of the Flies scenario that prevails elsewhere in the house? Not that many? A lot? Would be quite interested to know the answer actually.

Also, does writing under extreme pressure mean I achieve more or less output than my contemporaries? Thus far I have never suffered from writers block as I am not afforded that luxury- if I get a spare half hour I just have to get on and write (regardless of the rubbish I may churn out).

Anyway, fingers crossed that my play is half decent enough for someone to read beyond the first page. Having spent so long writing and rewriting it I have lost sight of whether it was actually any good in the first place.

Time will tell.

A new 'my first time'

My first official rejection arrived today in the form of an email from Radio 4 RFTP (see earlier blog posts). Quite exciting really! I'm sure however that they become less exciting as they mount up, at the moment it's just nice to have a visual reminder that I had completed and entered something. Good on R4 too for sending them out to everyone, it's horrible to be stuck in the maybe-wondering whether anyone of influence has recognised your true genius. In this case clearly not but then I had already worked this out after reading Jason Arnopp's post last week.

First Draft

It's been a productive week on the work front (productive by my standards- probably not by anyone else's). Tuesday saw the start of my script writing class for this year. The task set over Christmas was to write a 10-15 page theatre script based on the outlines we all did last year. So I that's what I did, sort of!

Actually, what really happened was this; I either procrastinated/was genuinely too busy/or plain ignored the pressing task right through Christmas and New Year. With hindsight I like to think that this was because of nagging doubts about the original story and outline. Finally on Tuesday- the day of the class, I sat down at 9.30am and wrote all 10 pages. Not the original outline but something completely different, an idea that seeded in my brain some months ago which I now realise had been growing without me realising it- hence being able to bang it straight out onto the screen, funny how writing happens like that sometimes. It's the first draft so it needs more work (obviously) but I am hoping it might develop into something submit worthy. I still have my abandoned outline to make something of too- if I can. I think it was too Christmassy in tone, I don't mean the plot was anything Christmas related but it was written mid- December and has that feel about it, now post- Christmas I just can't get into it. Weird.

Annoyance of the week is not being able to get ScriptSmart to download. I had it on my old PC but now have a laptop with Vista/ Office 2007 which doesn't appear compatible. If anyone reads this and has any ideas they will be gratefully received. Of course what I really want to do is buy a copy of Final Draft but sadly that's just not financially viable at the moment. Although... maybe if I sold one of the children...Hmm tempting.

Back to normal, well almost...

Happy New Year one and all.

Christmas is over and despite best intentions I am way behind with my two plays and my Eng Lit work. Thought I would be able to catch up this week unfortunately hubby is ill and and the childminder is on holiday ( a very bad combination on the getting anything done front).

Highlights of the last month include;

Doctor Who - I enjoyed this years Xmas special much more than the previous 2007, I never quite got to grips with Kylie's character although I'm not sure why. A new doctor on the horizon too, everyone seems to have an opinion, personally I think he looks fab and I can't wait to see the Smith/Moffatt episodes.

Wicked- the musical. Went to see it with my daughter for her birthday, I'm not generally a fan of musicals but this was pretty good. Amazing stage and costume design and the cast are excellent.

Othello- the subject of my next essay so I have booked tickets for the Lenny Henry production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Feb. Northern Broadsides shows are usually pretty good so I can't wait.

Anyway back to work... I will not procrastinate this year, repeat after me, I will not...