It's pretty easy to walk out of a course like Screen Lab feeling that you're mere weeks away from your first Oscar-nominated original screenplay. That enthusiasm wears off pretty quickly. I find it's usually gone by the time I get home and log into Facebook. So what effect has Screen Lab actually had.
Well, the sitcom I'm doing for my uni project is feeling much more in hand. Turning the original idea into a one-page pitch has shown up some weaknesses which I've been able to address. I also realised that I putting too much plot and not enough story into a 30-minute script, so I've now stripped it down to basics and I'm layering the detail back on.
(If you're interested in the one-page pitch approach, you should buy Adrian's book. The proceeds all go to Childline. Basically, if you don't buy it, you're a bad writer who hates kids.)
While walking home yesterday, I had a random idea about letting agents. I did a bit of work on it last night, writing another one-page pitch. I was able to nail down the idea far quicker than I ever have before, quickly identifying my main character and the type of story I wanted to tell. That's gone in a drawer to be further developed when I have free time, but it's also spun off into another idea for a short story which I need to write (again for Uni) before March 19th.
I've critiqued about four other pieces for other writers, researched some local groups that are supportive to screenwriters, read some scripts and generally been a hyper-productive monkey. I love it. Being busy is actually more relaxing than being bored. I make a to-do list at the start of each night and tick things off one by one, then go to bed happy.
So still buzzing and positive about the course. Hooray.
In other news, I need to put more stories out to market. I've got one about teachers which I need to find a home for and I've finally accepted that the magazine which accepted "Don't Let Go" is now defunct, so I'll have to try and rehouse that. Still really want to do a new version of the Indiana Jones story, which I think could be great with some tweaking. And there's a new On The Premises competition coming up at the end of the month, so I'll be having a crack at that.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
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I'd be interested in hearing your definitions of 'plot' and 'story', based on the above.
ReplyDeleteUrgh, I hate the "plot V story" conversation. Peolpe much smarter than me have given some fine definitions and I'll leave it to them.
ReplyDeleteIn the precise example stated above, I originally focused too much on "we'll have this scene, then this scene, then something like this will have to happen so the characters can move here and do the next bit". It produced a nice three-act structure but it didn't produce a story that would engage people or a character that people would be interested in. I've stood back a bit now and I'm trying to develop this character's world a bit. That'll be my story. Once I've got that, I'll start thinking how much of that I can capture in a 30-minute screenplay. That'll be my plot.