Acting Out has entered the world...

So having handed in my MA script the long process of rewriting it can actually begin. It's a mugs game this writing lark. All they want us to do is write. And who wants to do that? It's like dead hard and stuff. 

Oh well, somebody has to write it...

If anybody would like to read the current draft I have posted it up at Peerage, a Google group created by Robin Kelly. If anyone is interested in having a look you can find it by clicking this link. You might need to sign up to the group first in order to view it but that won't take long. There are also a number of comments on the script and if you want to contribute feel free.

Feels strange to have my work out in public like this as I'm in the early stages of writing (finishing) scripts but everything has been helpful so far. Just got to collect everything and start the rewriting while working on the next project. Fun, fun, fun.

Still obsessed with The Innocents album by Erasure. Pure, unadulterated 80s pop. Love it.

The Big Idea...

Searching for The Big Idea (so important they capitalised it) to develop into a TV pilot/series/global brand to dominate the world (again).  I am obviously not alone in my quest as a number of other writers have blogged about this.  One of the most entertaining at the moment is James Henry who is blogging about trying to get his superhero series off the ground.  It is pretty compelling reading and sheds some light on the TV development process.  

The search for this idea has been on my mind for a while and has been prompted again by the recent finale of Lost on US TV.  Not that I watch the show or anything but wouldn't we all love to create a TV show such as that.

Think I also need to blog about things that are a bit more closer to my heart. Rather than bleeting on about things I have or haven't done.  It's not really that interesting to read apart from keeping a log of how my project is going.  So hopefully some more interesting stuff will appear on these pages before long.

1st Drafts and Rewriting

I have finished my first ever first draft for my first ever feature script. (Last part technically not true but I'm counting all of the unfinished attempts as practice).  It feels like a bit of an anticlimax to be honest.  Maybe it's the fact that I know it needs to be rewritten which takes the shine off it a little bit.  But saying that I do feel like I have achieved something.  The rewrites are only going to make the script better so that isn't a problem really.

The draft itself has to be handed in this Monday (the 18th) so there will only be time for a speedy one week rewrite.  I intend to continue rewriting until I feel everything is working and then hopefully send it out to some people around January next year.  January I hear you cry! Yes, January.  The main reason for that is I also have to write another feature by the end of August as part of my MA.  I was hoping when both of these features are finished and rewritten it will probably be the early part of next year.  It also means I can begin the year with two scripts behind me, something that has always seemed a long way off.

So hopefully the next six or seven months will be spent furiously writing and rewriting two projects that will create lots of interest in my endless talents and earn me loadsamoney!

Here's to world domination.  

Or two finished scripts.  

I think the latter.

The Return....

I'm back. Turned over a new leaf. Ready to blog again. Right, right, everyone has heard all of that before. So I'm not going to go on about. If I'm back I'm back. If not. Who cares?

Anyway, finished my 1st draft of Acting Out which is the project I have been working on for my MA. Started the actual script on 1st March so it has come together nicely over the last 10 weeks or so which I'm pretty pleased with.

In terms of what it is about here is the logline I just posted on twitter for the #140synopsis challenge. Although as you can see from that sentence I have posted a logline and not a synopsis. Nobody knows what any of these terms mean anyway so nevermind. Here it is....(no stealing either)

A security guard at Pinewood Studios brings together his rag tag bunch of workmates to create an alternative blockbuster.

I'm pleased with the 1st draft and will begin on another script (no rewrite time for the first script) probably next month after more treatmenting, step outlining and any other -ing I can think of.

I'm still here....

I have been a bit quiet recently but hopefully I will blogging much more regularly in the coming weeks. Just getting ready to start writing my script.  The step outline has been completed and I have written the first few pages and things are going pretty well.  We have 8 weeks to write the whole script which means I will not be able to do my usual leave everything until the last minute routine.

Going to see Watchmen tomorrow which I can't wait for despite a lot of the mixed reviews.  Just seeing it up on screen is pretty exciting so we shall see how that goes.

I've also got BUCS Korfball Championships this weekend which is another thing that has taken up a lot of my time.  I will blog about how it goes when we are done.

The Story Engine

The Story Engine report is coming. I promise.....

The Story Engine

Seeing as everyone else is talking about it I thought that I would chime in to.

The Story Engine.

Just got back home to little old Normanby - near Middlesbrough - in preparation for tomorrow. I even managed to have a look at where the venue is so I won't get lost in the morning. Parking may well be troublesome as the Darlington Arts Centre is right next to a Sixth Form College. Great.

Anyway it's the Middlesbrough FA Cup replay against West Ham tonight which I will be attending and then day 1 of the Story Engine tomorrow.

I will try and blog about the event on Saturday and beat everyone to it.

Getting busy...

...Not in the I'm-getting-paid-to-write sense but nevertheless I have been a bit too busy to blog recently. Work at Uni is mounting up and Korfball is getting towards an important tournament so they have taken priority.

In terms of Uni work I am currently drafting a step outline which is very scary even after having done a treatment. It has to be in by next Monday morning which will be tough seeing as my current schedule looks like this:

Tomorrow: Adaptation Reloaded module @ Uni, Korfball in evening
Wednesday: Travel home, go to Middlesbrough vs. West Ham
Thursday: The Story Engine
Friday: The Story Engine
Saturday: Middlesbrough vs. Liverpool
Sunday: Travel back to Sheffield, Korfball late afternoon in Leeds

How will I fit everything in.

By the end of that I should finally have something interesting to blog about and will hopefully get a report from The Story Engine done before anybody is in bloggerworld.

And you can of course follow me on Twitter where my username is robfletch1985.

Treatment time

Treatment is almost complete. I need to bulk up the 2nd half of the 2nd act (who doesn't) and then trim down to fit under the two page limit. I'm just over two pages at the moment so I will probably have to condense some things or remove any flowery language.

The narrative seems to be working at the moment as the structure seems pretty simple and hopefully that will be a strength of the script when I get round to writing it.

Just a short one today. I can feel a big, long post coming along anytime soon. I can feel all of you non-readers quivering with excitement.

The next steps

One page structure document is all done and dusted with feedback on it today. I seemed to be the only one who had fulfilled the brief and feel better for it. Thought what I did was clear and concise and my simple structure seemed to be a good selling point.

The next step in the process is a two page treatment that needs to be done by 4pm on Friday so having that deadline is a pretty good incentive. In terms of my actual idea it is coming along nicely and filling two pages shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully the quality will stay and the feedback will be positive again.

I'm actually really looking forward to writing the script but the idea of not writing it for another three weeks is starting to feel like a good thing. I've never given myself this much time to develop an idea and I hope it will pay dividends in the end.

Been tweeting a bit recently but only slowly getting the hang of writing things that aren't utterly boring. Adding celebrities to my following list is quite interesting and maybe they will say something revelatory. Here's hoping.

Still waiting to blog something out of the ordinary but just recording my writing process will be a help for myself in the future. Until next time.

Back again

I've managed to blog for the 3rd day running, this must be some kind of blogging record. Next thing you know I'll be blogging more than once a day. And you never know I might actually post something interesting at some point.

Finished my one page outline today. Not something that I had done before in my writing but it is pretty much a page containing the main beats/incidents in the plot. They are as follows:

Status quo

Inciting incident

1st Act turning point

2nd Act turning point

Climax

Resolution

Now even though this is not exactly breaking new ground in the screenwriting world I think that being able to see all these points at this stage in the process is helpful. It has made my think about the overall structure of the narrative and focus my ideas into something that resembles a plot. It should also help with the next step of the writing process which will be a 2-page treatment.

Hopefully at some point I will be able to post all of these documents but at this point I don't know much about copyright etc. so I'll wait until everything is finished before posting anything specific.

I will think of something much more interesting to post tomorrow rather than the simple day in the life ramble I have been posting so far.

Until tomorrow....

That winning feeling

Finally the Korfball team that I coach (Sheffield Hallam University 1st team) have a victory. 12-6 over our rivals at the University of Sheffield. It helped that they only had 7 players (instead of 8) but it was a victory never the less.

No more progress today with my writing but I do have some one sentence character descriptions that I will expand on and hope to have my one-sheet three act structure done by the end of the week.

Recently joined Twitter as well but find it a little bit strange/stalkerish, not sure if that's the idea. My username is robfletch1985 so add me if you want. I'm also on facebook as well so add me there if you like.

Also if there are any other bloggers out there reading this how do you get one of those nifty progress bars to show the script you are working on at the moment? Can't find any info on how to get one of them.

Posting time.......

I have just started the Writing for Cinema module on my MA in Film Studies and Screenwriting so I'm hoping to blog the process of me getting to the end of a first draft.

We have been set a number of stages to complete and here is where I am so far:

Premise - done
Synopsis - done
One sheet of 3 Act structure - working on

The thing with this process is all of the work in between. I am currently assembling my characters and plotting their character bio's. The idea seems to be working so far but I have a long way to go before I can actually start writing anything that resembles a treatment or outline never mind a first draft.

I am going to try and blog when I do something new and hope to offer the perspective of a novice writer working on their first feature length script.

Hopefully some people will start following my adventures and provide some feedback or just identify with where I am in my writing life so far.

Here we go...