Phew. This summer had roller skates. Creatively, it was wonderful, and then whoosh! There I stood, messy making everywhere I looked, enough mucky creative output to dance in for months!
And so. Back to school, while devouring new drama on t’telly, in the wicked playhouses and yet more in those moving picture theatre halls. And here, in the imaginarium?
- Draft Two (caps intentional) of the spec TV pilot I’m obsessed with (an elite public school in the Scottish wilderness is the battle ground for parental titans, demolishing the society around them as they war over their dead son’s legacy.)
- Tour planning for Glitter Knickers in 2017 – a wee show I might have mentioned once or twice.
- Sleeve-rolling collaborations with writers, makers, and creative entrepreneurs.
There’s two tunes playing in my mind that I want to inject into yours: the beautiful clockwork of dramatic structure, and the joyous Play-Doh Barber’s Shop game that happens from generous collaboration.
First of all, I’m just loving learning how my craft makes my writing so infinitely better. PEGGY’s first draft grew from a well-critiqued treatment, and then ten pages (thanks to script editors Philip Shelley & Yvonne Grace respectively). I left it well alone (very tough) for 6 weeks and have gone back to edit like a mad editing monster. I could now see the problems, the (very) weak spots, the frankly cringe-making things that needed sorting. And then I set myself the kind of challenge I could never have done without (a) a lot of learning from cleverer people than I, and (b) that 6-week break. Eh? What? Or, yes, sorry – to solve the problems!
- THAT’s no good as an excuse for his behaviour – WHY?
- Oh, come on – his character is weak! What’s he up to? Make him work!
- Ah. Great antagonist motivation. But now your heroine is nothing by comparison! Even out the score – fight that fight!
The first draft’s OK…BUT, nowhere near good enough. But I’m confident enough to know it’s still like a wobbly clockwork thing. It needs several wheels taking out, binning, replacing, moving…. Heck, I might have to lay the whole thing out on the kitchen table and put it all back together again. But that’s OK! Because if this story is worth telling – and it is! – then getting it right is going to make it absolutely marvellous!
Now, the other thing. The magic pennies of the title. I;m going to save that for my next posy (a) because you’ve read enough and (b) there’s more stuff to do before school pick-up and this is the luxury!
Gill Kirk, scriptwriter 