What are you writing at the moment?

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  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    ^^ Sorry to hear that, keep trying. Hope it all works out for yis :)



    ^^ Well done! :)
    I joined a performing arts group several months ago, just to help out with tech (scenery and stuff) and one of the guys also involved works for an independent film production company. I got talking to him and found out his company produces mainly short films/stories. I told him I had an idea for one, briefly explained it to him on a whim and he gave me his email and told me to write it and send it him. I have done and he's looking at adapting it with his company along with several other scripts they have on the go - honoured! Its not Hollywood, but its a start :D:D

    Also written a script for a horror-comedy-drama series idea a friend and I had - we've written 4 scripts so far in total and I've sent them out to a few people for feedback and advice etc and the general consensus is that they look very professional and that the idea is funny (in a weird way) and has legs. I've been advised to send one into the BBCs Writers Room by the above mentioned dude that has his own small production company. I may just do that :D :cool:

    And I never really thought my writing was up to much - I always thought I was the ideas man.

    I've just finished reading 'The Calling Card Script' by Paul Ashton, who works for BBC Writers Room - worth a read before you send anything off to the BBC. He made an interesting point that the script you send in will NOT get made - they are just a way of demonstrating your voice and writing ability. From what I learnt on the Training and Performance Showcase, the next step for promising writers is to work on Doctors or a daytime drama. So if you have any big dreams, save them for the production company!
    It's a useful book to read, certainly made me consider my unsatisfactory script in a new light. I'd hit a bit of a brick wall and feel I can move ahead with it again.

    Went to see a rough edit of my film recently. Trying not to be precious, but when the director said he wanted to add a second twist to the ending, a voice in my head started screaming NO! THAT'S NOT THE ENDING I WROTE!
    It starts with quite a sinister tone, which he's done a good job capturing; but the twist at the end reveals the situation to be quite innocent, even sweet. He now wants to add yet another twist, so that the 'happily ever after' is actually an illusion and the situation is much darker than the original ending. I tried to persuade him not to 'over egg the pudding', as did his wife... but I fear he will end up doing it without any input from me and effectively ruining what took a lot of plotting and consideration. He doesn't realise that every word of dialogue and every movement or detail specified was carefully calculated, and if the changes the ending it means all the previous story unravels. He's been talking to one of the actors and they've been thinking up ideas and images 'which look good' rather than images which move the story forward. Gah, quite frustrating. I wouldn't mind... but my name is down as author of the screenplay and I don't want people to say the script was weak.

    trphil wrote: »
    The hardback is now out, I haven't sold one yet though! There seems to be a steady trickle of ebook sales and I have three good reviews. It's all very exciting!

    Good to hear your e-book is selling well and getting reviews.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,567
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    I've just finished reading 'The Calling Card Script' by Paul Ashton, who works for BBC Writers Room - worth a read before you send anything off to the BBC. He made an interesting point that the script you send in will NOT get made - they are just a way of demonstrating your voice and writing ability. From what I learnt on the Training and Performance Showcase, the next step for promising writers is to work on Doctors or a daytime drama. So if you have any big dreams, save them for the production company!
    It's a useful book to read, certainly made me consider my unsatisfactory script in a new light. I'd hit a bit of a brick wall and feel I can move ahead with it again.

    Went to see a rough edit of my film recently. Trying not to be precious, but when the director said he wanted to add a second twist to the ending, a voice in my head started screaming NO! THAT'S NOT THE ENDING I WROTE!
    It starts with quite a sinister tone, which he's done a good job capturing; but the twist at the end reveals the situation to be quite innocent, even sweet. He now wants to add yet another twist, so that the 'happily ever after' is actually an illusion and the situation is much darker than the original ending. I tried to persuade him not to 'over egg the pudding', as did his wife... but I fear he will end up doing it without any input from me and effectively ruining what took a lot of plotting and consideration. He doesn't realise that every word of dialogue and every movement or detail specified was carefully calculated, and if the changes the ending it means all the previous story unravels. He's been talking to one of the actors and they've been thinking up ideas and images 'which look good' rather than images which move the story forward. Gah, quite frustrating. I wouldn't mind... but my name is down as author of the screenplay and I don't want people to say the script was weak.

    ^^ Thanks for the advice, I'll check the book out - I assume its a book? TBH I'm not expecting it to be made, I just wanted to write something and this idea has been knocking around in what's left of me brain for a while. Its a very unique, funny and well-crafted idea apparently (then again a lot of thought did go into it :D), according to the people I've shown it to and apparently it has legs. Its nice getting compliments and praise, but like I said I'm not expecting it to be made. Even I know there are some spelling and grammar errors that need editing in it, but most people think the idea is "brilliant" and "very funny" which is a good start I guess. We'll see though.....

    God that sucks, its always bad when people steal or hijack your ideas. I hope you manage to maintain control. That being said I personally usually hate happily ever after type plots unless there is some good twist. Was your twist ending a lovey-dovey happily ever after one or something different?
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    ^^ Thanks for the advice, I'll check the book out - I assume its a book? TBH I'm not expecting it to be made, I just wanted to write something and this idea has been knocking around in what's left of me brain for a while. Its a very unique, funny and well-crafted idea apparently (then again a lot of thought did go into it :D), according to the people I've shown it to and apparently it has legs. Its nice getting compliments and praise, but like I said I'm not expecting it to be made. Even I know there are some spelling and grammar errors that need editing in it, but most people think the idea is "brilliant" and "very funny" which is a good start I guess. We'll see though.....

    God that sucks, its always bad when people steal or hijack your ideas. I hope you manage to maintain control. That being said I personally usually hate happily ever after type plots unless there is some good twist. Was your twist ending a lovey-dovey happily ever after one or something different?

    I was aiming more for poignant than lovey-dovey. It's a short film about a woman who thinks she is being stalked by a strange man who seems to follow her everywhere. At the end it is revealed that he is her husband and is watching over her while she goes off to 'find herself' whilst trying to recover from amnesia. It's quite subtle - it ends with the man talking to her doctor about how hard it is to have a stranger for a wife. Then she arrives home, finds photos of her family, labelled with their identities - and we realise that the mysterious organisation tracking her are actually her grown-up children. It ends with her picking up her wedding ring and smiling. No guarantee of a happily ever after, but better than the double-twist the director wants. I know I could write it in (the husband was actually responsible for the accident which gave her amnesia), but I think it would be too much in a 20 minute film.
  • couchpotato2011couchpotato2011 Posts: 1,090
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    Looking for some advice. How do people go about starting their novels? Do you just write and see what happens? The snowflake method?

    Is there a certain length you try and stick to (in how many words you write)?

    What software are you using? I have heard Ywriter is very good.
  • trphiltrphil Posts: 2,931
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    I already had the whole three book story planned out broadly in my mind before I started writing. Originally I was planning to use the word "antidisestablishmentarianism" in it but I bottled out! I wrote in Word but the format isn't important. Good luck.
  • Jellied EelJellied Eel Posts: 33,091
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    Looking for some advice. How do people go about starting their novels? Do you just write and see what happens? The snowflake method?

    Start writing! Part way through my 4th now and only read one book on writing. Just googled the snowflake method, and kind of use parts of that but the idea of spreadsheeting everything is a bit OCD for me.

    My method is to think of something crazy, write it down and then leave it to ripen a bit. Then come back to it later and see if it still makes any sense. If it does, start fleshing it out. Sometimes that'll turn into something that can develop into a short story, novel or just end up a scene. Or I'll bin it for turning into something too derivative, implausible, boring or waaay off the wall.

    For novels, I expand the basic idea into plot points, time lines and character bios. I work on the idea of a book having a beginning, middle and end (yey! trilogy!). I have a large collection of those that sadly belong to different books. Having some kind of structure written down is reducing that problem though. I've done that for my current one that started off as a pub conversation about the implausibility of a popular monster. Then figuring out a way to make it more plausible. And have some fun with convention along the way.

    Now I'm 57,232 words in, I'm thinking I may have made my monster a little too good and struggling with non-cheesy ways to kill it. So I may need to go back to the pub, let everybody die or think about whether it's becoming more than one book..
    Is there a certain length you try and stick to (in how many words you write)?

    80-100,000 words should translate into 350-400 pages which is my preferred book length. You could halve the word count or double the page count by doing the 1-page chapter thing which I hate.. But if you're going to e-publish it, it's all in kb these days :p

    This however is something I struggled with. When buying books, I liked ones that were thick enough for a couple of days commuting. Now I buy & sell books on Kindle, physical size matters less. So IMHO, it should be long enough to tell the story. If it ends up 'too short', there's the temptation to try to pad it out to meet some arbitary word/page count when in reality it may be better to turn it into a short story or novella.

    If it's 'too long', then the dilema of whether to try padding it out into a series. Or the fantasy curse, a trilogy. For some reason in fantasy, anything over 1-book long is expected to to be part one of a gripping new series. Which my current book may become, or I may just be trying to delay the inevitable of figuring out a plausible ending..
    What software are you using? I have heard Ywriter is very good.

    notepad++ but depends if you've got an editor. If you have one of those, your job is to write, their job is to wrestle with formating. I started off using Word but gave up as I was spending more time cursing it than writing. Nothing breaks the flow like a recalcitrant word processor which suddenly develops a mind of it's own.

    Now there's an idea..
  • MuzskiMuzski Posts: 809
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    Looking for some advice. How do people go about starting their novels? Do you just write and see what happens? The snowflake method?

    Is there a certain length you try and stick to (in how many words you write)?

    What software are you using? I have heard Ywriter is very good.

    I start with an idea where I know how I want to start and end and by that I mean literally chapter one and the final chapter, from there I just have to get myself to the final chapter, making sense as I go along, at least I hope I am!

    I try to aim for around 100,000 words. Not for any other reason than I like reading books about that length.

    I use word. I have a very simple set up with my styles, chapter heading, sub heading, main text, break, italic main text and use them religiously. Converting into epub or mobi format seems to be fairly easy if you keep the styles consistent. I tried scrivener but couldn't seem to get used to it for a book although great for a screenplay.

    Best of luck!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    I have loads on the go. I am trying to write a series about district nurses which I came up with a good year ago and a play. My main project at the moment is my novel. I am up to four chapters but I need to re-write some of it because I added a new character part way through but she arrives near the beginning. I think when I have finished it I will publish it on Kindle or Kobo. It may be a while before it does get finished now I'm doing my last year of A-levels!

    I have always loved writing and I get extremely attached to my characters! :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,960
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    I am currently writing a story (which I started about 2 years ago or so but I thought I had lost it until about 3 days ago! Phew!)...re-reading it I am quite chuffed with it :) I am 5 chapters into it so far...I have also written a few poems as well.
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    How's everybody getting on with their writing?

    Today I dug out my short film script and went for a film production meeting. We start filming in February. There's four of us on the production team now, and they have lots more practical film-making experience than I do, which is good as my contribution so far has been limited to putting things on paper. Will be quite exciting if we keep to our deadlines and things move forward.

    Have also finished writing my novel in Welsh... but I'm proofreading it for the second time and am heartily fed up of it by now! Looking to send it off the some publishers in the New Year.
  • GiraffeGirlGiraffeGirl Posts: 13,619
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    I've written 86000 words of a Casualty fanfiction and despairing of myself! I'll never be able to quit my job if I keep on avoiding writing actual legitimate stuff!
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    I've written 86000 words of a Casualty fanfiction and despairing of myself! I'll never be able to quit my job if I keep on avoiding writing actual legitimate stuff!

    Wow, 86000! My novel is only 97,000. Have you ever been tempted to do an E.L.James and keep the plot but change the names?
  • GiraffeGirlGiraffeGirl Posts: 13,619
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    Wow, 86000! My novel is only 97,000. Have you ever been tempted to do an E.L.James and keep the plot but change the names?

    Frequently! I fear being sued though! Also, I try to write the characters as accurately as possible so it would look incredibly coincidental!

    In fairness, I do always use at least one of my own characters as I never like romantic pairings on TV and have better ideas (or think I do!)
  • Jellied EelJellied Eel Posts: 33,091
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    How's everybody getting on with their writing?

    Mine turned into a trilogy, and first two parts are off with the editor. So hopefully they'll be out soon and I can carry on worrying about the ending..
    Today I dug out my short film script and went for a film production meeting. We start filming in February. There's four of us on the production team now, and they have lots more practical film-making experience than I do, which is good as my contribution so far has been limited to putting things on paper. Will be quite exciting if we keep to our deadlines and things move forward.

    Congrats! I hope that works out well for you, and it looks as good on screen as it did in your mind. Watch State and Main for tips :p
  • trphiltrphil Posts: 2,931
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    I'm ploughing through the second in my trilogy at the moment but have somewhat lost momentum. In fact I've been thinking about making a start on the third because the structure of the whole story means that it may be easier. I keep procrastinating which is not good!
  • Smithy1204Smithy1204 Posts: 4,352
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    One of my goals this year is to start writing again. Used to love writing stories when I was little, but as I grew up I started to become embarrassed at the thought of anyone reading anything I'd written (still have this problem even with essays at uni!) so haven't written anything like that for years.

    Thinking about starting off by having a go at writing some kind of article first.
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    trphil wrote: »
    I'm ploughing through the second in my trilogy at the moment but have somewhat lost momentum. In fact I've been thinking about making a start on the third because the structure of the whole story means that it may be easier. I keep procrastinating which is not good!

    When I got a bit bogged down with my novel, I jumped ahead and wrote the key incidents and events (the exciting bits to write!) To have written it chronologically would have bored me, and as the story covers a long period of time, I think there was a risk it would have ended up reading almost like a list: 'And then I did this... a month later I did this... then this happened...'
    Instead I concentrated on the events which really drove the plot forward, and went back afterwards to fill in the gaps. In a weird way I think it worked well for me, because I realised that I could dispense with large periods of time and lots of unneccessary detail I might have written if I'd written everything in a linear fashion.

    I started hopping from one scene to another with my latest stage play, and the technique has worked well again. I wrote the key (again, most dramatic) scenes first, and then realised that a lot of the scenes I'd envisioned were just filler and I didn't need to bother with them! It certainly has improved the momentum of the play - it reminded me to spend far, far less time introducing the characters and to use acts 1 and 2 as a vehicle to get to act 3, which as everyone knows, is the juiciest bit of the story!

    Before Christmas I finished my first Welsh language novel and sent it off to a publishing house. The response was encouraging (she started reading it and said she liked the story and the humor) and I'm trying so, so hard not to get my hopes up; but I get butterflies everytime my inbox pings, in case it's a message from the editor!

    On top of that I finished my stage play (just working on synopsis and character list) and have entered a competition in the National Eisteddfod. I had a couple of wins in the National Youth Eisteddfod, but have never entered the National before. What's nerve-wracking is that an adjudication of your work is published in a book, so you get honest (usually pretty brutal) feedback. Luckily you enter using a pseudonym, and I'm not telling anybody mine!! :D

    Right Phil, you and I need to stop posting on here and procrastinating...
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    Today I met with the artistic director of the theatre company. My novella IS being adapted into a stage production. I have to do some re-plotting to shorten the story and submit a revised synopsis by the middle of next month.

    Sent my script off to the theatre company last week, and today I got an e-mail from the director, thanking me for sending it.
    She's going to read it in the next few days... but then she's going off on maternity leave until October. Gah! She's asked me to contact her then, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
  • trphiltrphil Posts: 2,931
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    Sent my script off to the theatre company last week, and today I got an e-mail from the director, thanking me for sending it.
    She's going to read it in the next few days... but then she's going off on maternity leave until October. Gah! She's asked me to contact her then, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

    Sounds like exciting things could be afoot for you! I've sort of been writing in the way you said but the problem I have is a lot of my fully-formed ideas will only fit into the third book! The problem I have is that I didn't imagine it would be so easy to get the first book published so I am now in a position where they are a few things that are minor details in the first book that have far reaching effects in the second book that I would like to have made subtly different!!!
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    trphil wrote: »
    Sounds like exciting things could be afoot for you! I've sort of been writing in the way you said but the problem I have is a lot of my fully-formed ideas will only fit into the third book! The problem I have is that I didn't imagine it would be so easy to get the first book published so I am now in a position where they are a few things that are minor details in the first book that have far reaching effects in the second book that I would like to have made subtly different!!!

    A victim of your own success... :D How are your sales?

    I'm not holding out much hope my play will ever make it onto a stage. The artistic director was so enthusiastic about it to start with, but that was last year. Her company has a specific remit, funding is scarce and priorities change, so it may be that the moment has passed.
    If it doesn't get produced, at least I can say that I did everything I could to get it onto the stage.
  • Jellied EelJellied Eel Posts: 33,091
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    trphil wrote: »
    I've sort of been writing in the way you said but the problem I have is a lot of my fully-formed ideas will only fit into the third book! The problem I have is that I didn't imagine it would be so easy to get the first book published so I am now in a position where they are a few things that are minor details in the first book that have far reaching effects in the second book that I would like to have made subtly different!!!

    Mine kind of went the same way when I realised it was going to get tricky as a novel and decided to turn it into a trilogy. So I had some time to tweak the first two, so the finale made sense. Mostly. Possibly a couple of characters I should've let live, but hey ho.. But not quite nailed the ending, and still procrastinating, mostly here :p
  • MuzskiMuzski Posts: 809
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    I've been asked by Amazon to write a novella for Kindle Worlds. A new world is launching on the 3rd February based on the Perseid Collapse books written by Steven Konkoly.
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    Update - I've been selected to participate in Literature Wales' Mentorship Scheme to ready my Welsh language novel for publication. The best bit is that a publisher is interested in publishing it!
    Hugely happy right now.
  • trphiltrphil Posts: 2,931
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    Well done, that's great news. I managed to write a bit more of my second book at the weekend but I'm really not in the groove and it's slow going.
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    I was at the library earlier and saw one of Blackhorse's novels on the shelf! Where have all the authors gone? We used to have such good discussions and now it seems as though there is only a handful of us left.

    I forgot to mention that we started filming last week. Somehow I've gone from being script writer to director. I wasn't prepared for the entire cast and crew to turn to me and say, 'okay, how do you want this shot?' But by the end I think I got the hang of it. It's micro-management on an insane level. I'm used to coming up with the dialogue, we were taught never to think about camera angles. We've got seventeen more pages to film and I've got to plan every single shot before hand.
    I also acted a small role. I was the corpse in the bath. It was quite gorey, lying spattered in red food colouring (although you only see one arm hanging over the side of the bath. I don't mind gratuitous swearing, but hate exccessive gore and violence.) Roll on the comments about my 'lifeless performance.'

    Also thank you to the DS poster who recently left an undeserved but lovely review of my e-book. :)
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