WRITER'S BLOG TOUR 2014

Remember that scene in Kenneth Branagh’s “A Midwinter's Tale” when the characters start listing what makes life worthwhile? “Brief Encounter”, says one. “Thinking of my son being happy”, says another. “Oh s**t. Do we all have to do one?” says Carnforth.

A screenwriter, it seems, has nowhere to hide. We may prefer to stay in our bedrooms, typing in our pyjamas, but when that invitation to participate in the Writer’s Blog Tour lands in your inbox, you’ve got to throw off your comfort blanket and “do one” – or in this case, four.

Thanks to the delightful Cera Rose Pickering for inviting me to take a turn. Here goes…

What am I working on?

At the moment I’ve got my producer’s hat on and I’m spending most of my writing time working on marketing materials for the two projects I am currently promoting: adventure/drama "Africa As You Like It" and period ghost story "Dowl’s Mill" – two completely different genres, but both featuring strong female protagonists.

This summer I am starting a new screenplay called "The Erskine Double", a period comedy loosely based on scandalous events that occurred at the periphery of my family tree in the early nineteenth century involving Thomas, 1st Baron Erskine, Lord Chancellor of England 1806-7.

How does my work feel different to others of its genre?

This is the trick question, isn’t it?!! Everybody brings their own personal narrative to their work, and I am no exception. I’ve had a unique set of experiences, good and bad, that have made me who I am and shaped my world view. I can’t help but bring that to my writing.

Having said that, I believe my scripts are more relatable than the vast majority of Hollywood fare. Personally I’m rather tired of worlds peopled solely by men and where female characters, if they exist at all, are often cyphers whose sole function is making the male protagonist look human/manly/sexy/etc.

My scripts typically feature female protagonists, but I work hard to ensure any supporting characters, male or female, are well-rounded with an interesting story arc of their own. I think the idea that audiences should feel that every character in your script is the star of their own film in a parallel universe is great advice.

Why do I write what I do?

I honestly feel that the story chooses me. And yes, I do know how nutty that sounds! Let me give you an example. I was jogging past a row of beach huts of uniform appearance on Bournemouth beach, when I noticed the last one was completely different to the rest. I started to wonder about the owners of that beach hut. What drove them to dare to be different? The characters continued to grow and evolve in my mind, and the next thing I knew I had a screenplay called “The Beach Hut”.

Another example is “Dowl’s Mill”, which was inspired by an ancient mill I saw progressively restored from a ruin to a magnificent residence as I stared out of the window on train journeys between Bournemouth and Dorchester. My 5x great grandfather, Henry Parker, lived in the adjacent village and I’ve always had an odd fancy that he worked at that mill… Train journeys seem to be a great place for writers to find inspiration. It was on a train that J.K. Rowling dreamt up  “Harry Potter” and Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat first discussed “Sherlock” – but not on the same train, obviously!

The other reason I write what I do is because I tend to write about what I know. Growing up, one of my favourite characters was Jo in “Little Women”, and she was advised to write about what she knew. It’s when she took that advice to heart that she became a really good writer, and I’ve always remembered it. The great thing is, you can constantly learn about new things, so the store of what you know is continually replenished and never diminishes.

How does my writing process work?

It’s a mosaic. It might start with an image, or a character or a snatch of dialogue. I need to start writing to explore it. It is in the act of writing that the story begins to emerge. When I’ve got a vague sense of the story, I do my research. I write. I research. I write. I research. Once I have enough material, I create an outline.

From there I’ll write the first draft. It’s pretty much a stream of consciousness that often takes on a life of it’s own and deviates from the outline. But that's OK. Sometimes you need to write stuff that is never going to end up in the script because you, the writer, need to have that information about your characters and their world on the tip of your brain.

Writing is re-writing, so I will then write any number of drafts until I’m happy with it. One of the things I do when I’m re-writing is break the script down into sequences (typically eight, with possibly a ninth as an epilogue), to make sure I have a strong structure and appropriate pacing. My two favourite screenwriting books are John Yorke’s “Into The Woods” and Julie Gray’s “Just Effing Entertain Me”. They’re never far from my desk when I’m in re-write mode.

Passing the Torch

Many thanks to my three torch -bearers:

Screenwriter Annas Eskander who specialises in science fiction and whose personal courage inspires me to be a better person and a more dedicated writer.

Comedy writer Nick Boocock who wrote the screenplay (amongst others) of the forth-coming short, “Reply To All”, of which I am proud to be an associate producer.

Playwright, poet and screenwriter Mary Anstey who was a classmate on the "storytelling for the screen" programme at the Screen Arts Institute in 2013.

Thank you one and all!