Getting my life back.

Don't get me wrong... I have LOVED having my son home this past 18 months and home educating him. It has done him the world of good and has certainly made us closer.

But...

...it will be so nice once September arrives and he starts High School. I will finally have my days to myself again and can GET SOME WRITING DONE!! I truly did not appreciate just how much time I had before. As with so many things in life, you do not value what you have until it is gone.

A whole working day. To myself. Five days a week. I am giddy with excitement. =D

I've been busy recently. I submitted the script for 'After Dark' to the Red Planet Pictures competition. I don't think it will get anywhere, but at least I have sent something. I also sent a synopsis for the newly named 'Intermission' to Island Pictures.

I rewrote the begining of my novel, 'In the Blood'. I cut five pages from chapter one and made it a prologue instead. It is faster paced now and more appropriate for the intended teenage market. Now that the above competition entry and synopsis are complete I can get back to finishing this book.

I'm enjoying writing. Just wish someone would actually pay me to do it....

Mars Attacks

Red Planet Pictures have just launched their 2010 writing competition.

I'm excited.

Very.  Excited.

This year they are looking for a one hour drama or tv pilot. I have a lot of tv pilots. Tons, in fact. Off the top of my head I can think of Demonheart, Henge, After Dark, Phantasmagoria, Sweet Enchantment...

Not all of these are completed scripts, but Red Planet are only asking for the first ten pages initially. No problem at all.

Here are the details:

This year’s competition is for an original 60 minute television script, either a single play or a pilot for a new series. You are initially required to submit the first ten pages along with a short synopsis. The full script should be available on request, you may be required to submit this within a month of the final closing date.

As before, the winner will receive £5000, a script commission and the option of representation if required.
 Red Planet and Kudos will also mentor finalists for the Prize.The competition is open to anyone within the UK. The RED PLANET PRIZE will close to new entrants at midnight on 31st July.

31st July. I have some writing to do.....

As if that wasn't enough, the Peter Ustinov competition this year is for a half hour tv show. I just happen to be working on one called The Bad Apple.

There is a monumental gift horse standing in front of me and I am determined not to look the sucker in the mouth.

Happy Tuesday everyone. I'm off to buy some candles that I can burn at both ends...

Can I wake up now, please?

It's a dark moon. I'm always funky around the dark moon.

Yesterday was a total disaster. I woke with a headache and sore throat, and my day went downhill from there. Nothing I wrote came out right. I gave up on After Dark and tried Henge instead. Rewrote it four times and still managed to make it sound like it had been written by a twelve year old.

Oy. Must try harder.

Add to that the fact that this 'government' is getting creepier by the day. They seem to be split into two groups... those who *have* jobs in the government, and just keep smiling and telling everyone what a wonderful time they are having... and those who *don't* have government jobs, who feel free to snipe at each other and admit this coalition is shit and will never work!

I want it to work. We as a country need it to work. But I'm not buying the grins and buddy talk. Rewind three weeks and recall what these parties were saying about each others policies. You really think they can move past that and reach an agreement? Really?

And what if they do? What kind of government is built on compromise? How did the Lib/Dems, who actually LOST seats I believe, end up with their leader as Deputy PM??

I feel as though we have a 'Stepford' parliament. No-one is real. They are all pretending to be perfect. And the changes they are trying to push through are downright terrifying!

Can I wake up now?

B is for Beautiful...

It's a beautiful day out there today. The sun is shining, the sky is a cloudless blue... I want to grab my coat and go walking in the wood.

Borthwood Copse is breathtaking at the moment. A lush carpet of scented bluebells interspersed with yellow primroses. Tiny forget-me-nots peek out along the path, and here and there are great seas of delicate white stitchwort. The hawthorn and cherry trees are in blossom, and vibrant spring greenery lifts the spirits.

I could live there. I truly could. If it wasn't for the spiders, of course... =)

Unfortunately I have to stay in and work on these two tv series ideas. They are pretty much complete in my head, but getting my thoughts down onto paper (or screen) adequately is proving difficult. I just can't seem to find the correct words. Must read more! My vocabulary is shrinking.

I am adapting one of my previous ideas to make it more adult. Although I am happy with the way it eventually turned out I am also mournful for the 'loss' of my previous script. It is hard to put so much of yourself into something and then tear it apart. Hopefully the peeps at Island Pictures will like the changes and make it worthwhile. 'After Dark' is now much darker...

The other idea - the new one - is called 'Henge' and is set in the village of Avebury. I was going to tie it in with the legend of King Arthur, but worry that the no-one will touch it due to the popular series 'Merlin'. Shame, as it all fit together perfectly. I have alternative antagonists, but no dastardly plan as yet.

Must go write. Wish me adjectives!

Eureka moments and the tendency of tempus to fugit.

It was supposed to be simple - take a tv series idea and make it more 'adult'. No problem. I'll have it done by the weekend...

But as I worked on making the theme scarier, creating more tension, and introducing more adult scenes, I realised that the characters themselves were now wrong. Originally they were in their late teens and early twenties. Far too young (if statistics are to be believed) to capture the hearts and imagination of older viewers.

Damn.

So I made them ten years older. Much better. Only now their dialogue sounded immature and their character traits didn't fit. How would those extra ten years of life have affected them? Did they learn and grow, or hide from their problems? Were their insecurities overcome or accentuated? Who were they now?

I love creating people. I truly do. I find it the most enjoyable part of writing a script. But I could not find a way to make those characters mesh once I had added ten years. I tried getting rid of one of them, adding another, starting over with new characters and only the keeping original premise intact... I just couldn't make it work.

Somehow two months passed and I was nowhere near a solution. I got dispondant. What the hell was I thinking trying to make it as a writer anyway? I started work on a new book instead and told myself I was being pro-active.

Then this morning I had a Eureka moment in the bath. (What better place?) I started to 'see' the opening scenes in my head. I realised that the focus needed to shift to one of the other characters. I watched, fascinated, as the entire first act was played out in my mind. FINALLY I know who they are!

It is probably too late to submit this idea now, but I'm going to complete it anyway. I'm excited about it again. Hopefully that passion will show through.