Fictional Skies

I look at my read/write/watch routine on a weekly basis and often identify a common thread: I write more than I watch and watch more than I read.  Writing overshadows them both by some way which I think it should. But have felt that reading less than watching could be a weakness and imbalance in my routine. Should we be reading more than we watch?  Balanced Reading  I often read a script on my day off which is two days a week, but note, I do say 'often' because other things can get in the way and sometimes I miss the chance to get one script in a week. My desk and writing environment with two whiteboards chock-full with notes screams " Writing! Writing! Writing! " whenever I am there or nearby. But not so much " Reading! Reading! Reading! " Of course, if we are to write well - we must read. However, not to the extent that if you wanted to impress a producer - instead of doing so with your excellent script you reveal that you've read 2...

" Nobody tells people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me.... is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it and we get into it because we have good taste. But there's a gap. That for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good. It's not that great. It's trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it's not quite that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer  and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get passed that phase and a lot of people at that point they quit. And the thing I would just like to say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as the...

John The Animator Guy has an interesting and helpful piece on visual storytelling  for newcomers. Lucy V at Write Here, Write Now  offers great advice  on how to put together a Writer's CV for those looking to do so. Scott at Go Into The Story has an excellent ten-part series on his scriptwriting process for the curious. Michelle Goode of So Fluid: Confessions of a Screenwriter  has some great info and resources on social networking and peer feedback for writers wanting to network and share work. Brian at Screenplay Readers  shares some golden advice on how to get a 'Recommend' on your script coverage for those wanting to improve their game.

For the last month or so I have been working diligently on a new TV project: an animated adventure series for children. Although this is the grand reveal, I'm afraid it'll be a no show as to specific details. You know the score. If it was Comic-Con then I would be happy to share all! Instead I will offer a little insight on the origin of the idea, its rebirth and end with some notes on the early development for this. Project Spacebound is not the actual title. Although, a rather cool one come to think of it. It's the codename for the show and a way to talk about it other than referring to it as the vague New Project 2012, New Project1, 011011100010011 or Animated Children's TV Series, or God forbid, to reveal its actual title before its time! From Short Animation to Series  The revival for this stems back to a chat with Danny Stack a few months back. The act of being able to share the story concept with him and have it received well was revitalising and encou...

Have you ever had an idea for a story or character journey and could not only picture its existence as a film but could also see it expanded as a television series? Maybe an idea began as a comedy series for television but would work well as a radio series with less budget and more chance of being commissioned? Alternatively, it may have began as a short film but has the potential to work as a feature with expanded development and more characters? But ultimately were put off by the amount of work and wrote it in one format - while dreaming of the other. Or could not decide and left them both. It can sometimes be troubling and a killjoy to visualise an exciting story concept in another form to then reach a deadlock. However, the important thing is to keep moving forward regardless. Passion Vs. Logic  From experience the more insight and knowledge I've gained into what would work and fit into a particular form the more my instincts are attuned to what will work bes...

I have recently found this great eHow video on script writing for children in both an animated and live-action context. It's an essential video and sound advice, if like me you're starting out writing your first major children's animated project or even if your live-action script has a child character or two in there, or a whole main cast of them. It's a useful insight on what's important when writing for children that can be easily forgotten when writing, as we tend to write and appeal to the child within us first. But the longer we ignore our audience the more we run the risk of damaging our script, characters' voices, credibility and will bore. The last thing we want to do is disrespect them and convey a lack of professionalism and talent to a script reader and/or producer. Step out of the story for a moment and watch the video to be reminded of the fundamentals on writing for children. How to Write Scripts for Children -- powered by eHow ...

I read this morning, an excellent piece of project management advice from Go Into The Story that will change my writing life forever. This promptly made its way to ScriptSense . It arrived in the last minute of the eleventh hour to prevent me going any further with my proposed Rotating Triangle Approach to Screenwriting and Project Management. After four weeks on the preliminary work on the Primary Project (Codename: Spacebound). I was set to rotate and start the prelim-work on Secondary Project today. As well as share the initial idea on the approach. If you wish, you can read the unpublished post on the abandoned approach here . What it shows is that I was on the right lines searching for a solution to managing and progressing with three projects at once. Although, last night did spot weaknesses in the approach which were going to led to modifications and to include the overlapping of projects. But I needn't do any more on it now. The First Hour  I have no d...

The New Year for me has kicked off in style and has been long awaited. As always: it's great to be alive and writing! The new groove is partly due to reaching challenging genres and approaching the year's worth of projects in a different way. As well as reaching a foreseen change of direction and new level of writing; with growing confidence and a relaxed and focused outlook. The aim is to write great scripts - that all starts with concept and genre. ...but what happened to the old ones?  The last two years writing has essentially been spent on writing the same project: not exactly the truth, but most have existed in the contemporary drama arena of varying degrees. It's not ideal material for a body of spec work - but then again, I knew that going into some of them. However, they all have a home and a place in time where they belong, which is a great thing. As for WWII Drama Screenplay, that's an entirely different matter and is a project that has more than ...

No purchase necessary, no hidden scam. Just free common sense advice from an expert that isn't myself. Everyone has different levels of creativity and I assume it's safe to say that at some point in our creative endeavours our conscious mind has gotten the better of us. There are many factors involved that can stifle and cut a creative moment short but just like anything the way to overcome it is by understanding it. In this case, to understand what is going on under the surface and what the act of creativity involves and needs in order to thrive. I'm not going to go into that myself but as the topic has been covered will direct you to an excellent article on creativity and the various bad habits that people get into that dampen their chances of success. Take me there now! As the Doomsday Clock moves 1 minute closer to midnight, by clicking on the link above and reading you've just advanced your Success Clock 1 minute closer to its midnight. That can be increa...

TheScriptJoint   Ellexia   Most stories are a combination of 2-3 genres. Amplify the primary genre & put other elements of genre in where they fit.  TheScriptLab   The Script Lab  "Realistic dialogue only gives a flavor of reality."  tsl.cm/d5sunY   robthor   Robert Thorogood   Never be cynical - always write with passion and love.  UnkScreenwriter   Unknown Screenwriter   The longer the dialogue, the more EMOTION. The shorter the dialogue, the more DRAMA.  Screenwriter911   Will Chandler   Keep in mind that your Antagonist THINKS he's the Protagonist.  TheScriptLab   The Script Lab   5 Key Screenwriting Skill Sets  tsl.cm/h004lM   MatcoopLeeds   Matthew Cooper   Every script and every scene and every character should have an active question. What is the active  question of your script?  XanderBennett   Xander Bennett   Screenwriting Ti...

For today is the first day of the rest of your life. The New Year not only brings a close to the old one but marks significant achievements and turning points along the way. Essentially we're still the same but hopefully wiser and more committed to the cause. No time to waste then: Let's aim even higher, wider and bolder! Inevitably the New Year also brings an excuse to talk about oneself regarding resolutions and things learnt, and to indulge a little. Instead I will offer some short words on my trajectory as I find myself thrust from one year into another. The Year Ahead  This year I will progress from writing contemporary family drama scripts for television to commercial genre scripts and high concept spec material. This is something I have always been drawn to but after University found myself compelled to write these dramas. I enjoy them and find them challenging but they are only a part of ...

I have had this sci-fi TV project since around 2007 and was quite attached to it. That was until a few months back. But what was supposed to be heartbreak turned into a kind of liberation. Origin  Inspired by TV conspiracy dramas Oktober and The Last Enemy , and novel The Bourne Identity , as well as in the spirit of doing something different. The original idea was conceived and planned as a six part mini series and had the scope for more. It was to be something unique, thrilling, relevant and with a strong emotional core. That was all well and good. However, at that point I was just going along for the story ride and hadn't really considered whether it was right or would work on screen. Back then, I could see it and feel it and that was enough. Feedback  After some time, I then pitched the TV proposal to an agent at Blake Friedmann  whilst an intern there. It was one of those life changing conversations that I wish I could have ...

For those who don't have the money to spare for a professional script reading service. Here's a way to raise the funds for one, which I'm sure for most people would be needed sometime in the near future and not today or tomorrow. If you put 50p (a dollar or euro, etc.) into a pot for every session you attend on a TV script or screenplay each week or month. By the time you complete a first draft or rewrite or two you should have saved up enough money to pay for a professional script reading service. (To use on a later, more refined and polished draft, of course.) In that respects, it's not much at all and wouldn't take much effort to raise the desired amount with at least a couple of pounds (dollars or euros, etc.) going in each week. Or it could be a continuous fund added to every time you work on a script and would result in a large amount that could see many scripts receiving the professional treatment when the time is right. If Only ... professional scr...

Major excitement at  The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs  announcement and secret artwork from, well, the past...  [-] Great performances and script from moving real-life drama The Blind Side ... [-]   [-] Boxing goes futuristic in exciting high-concept action drama  Real Steel  from DreamWorks Studios...  [-] Many scriptwriting lessons and a compelling experience to be had in Abi Morgan's  White Girl  television script...  [-] Excitement rises as Sony announce revival of 1990s afterlife hit thriller  Flatliners , with Source Code screenwriter on board...  [-] Fresh new episode, with silly bits and new competition from UK Scriptwriters Podcast ...  [-]

Some have common sense, others a great sense, few have a sixth sense, many an undesirable sense. What is your script sense?  What begun as an idea for a blog post series to offer sensible scriptwriting advice to beginners and intermediate writers didn't quite make the first post. However, it has transformed into something so much better.  I had previously planned a blog post series entitled Script Sense and had a fair amount planned for it. But something happened the moment before hitting publish on the first post.  " Why am I not one hundred per cent convinced on this? " Something was out of balance with what I was trying to attempt. I had good intentions and wanted to help but felt it wasn't quite the right way to go about it.  Then in a moment of inspiration, a desire to keep Script Sense alive and to still help others:  Twitter  met My Rejected Idea  And  This was born:  If you can't m...

If you're writing a screenplay (like any other script) it will need to have an underlining structure to it which means outlining and planning, not rushing in without an endgame in sight. To help us along the way there are some structural guidelines and practices to take into account. The Three-act structure is widely taught in screenwriting books and courses for beginners. However, John Truby has a different view and outlines  in detail and length "Why 3-Acts Will Kill Your Writing." The fundamental problem is that the structure isn't at all about character. How are we supposed to structure character growth?  Here is where a number of useful and insightful character development structure guidelines come into play. For instance, John Truby has his 22 Steps  in The Anatomy of Story -  Joseph Campbell  developed The Hero's Journey - others have their own ways, steps and points but will require some research and experimentation to see which one...

During the process of writing a script, new things are learnt, new layers and ways of doing things are found. Upon completion, each draft, revision, and finished script brings you closer to identifying and employing the various elements that a script comprises of and to creating a well executed story, plot and characters. But just as important for new writers is the friction created between ourselves and the outside forces, and importantly what is learnt in the ensuing conflict, before and after embarking on a script.  With the first draft of an overdue and long  TV Drama Spec  complete ( the follow up script is well under way ) and the process and writing experience faded somewhat from my memory. Fortunately I had pre-assembled a list of the main self-development points that I encountered and rediscovered along my journey in the beginning stages of this project. 1) Putting Things Off For sometime early into 2010 I he...