It's done.
The mantra has been met: Don't get it right, get it written.
The first draft of the pilot episode of my new TV drama series is in the bag.
And, according to all sources, it'll be a pile of pants. But it's my pile of pants and I can be proud of having written it, if not of it itself.
I used to think synchronicity was a word Sting had made up to make himself sound clever, but it actually has a real meaning. And it's odd that the completion of my first draft last night should coincide with a message from another scriptwriter pointing me in the direction of this fascinating BBC4 programme, in which TV writers are interviewed about... well, TV writing:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fvgj5/Charlie_Brookers_Screenwipe_Series_4_Episode_3/
There is so much for me to cling on to here, from the assurance that there will be many more drafts ahead to the near certainty that I will hate what I have written when I go back to it cold.
None of this matters. For now, I am basking in the simple but significant achievement of writing "FADE OUT" at the end of my episode.
Now the real work begins...
Thursday 4 December 2008
Tuesday 2 December 2008
Virtual Viagra
WHERE the hell have I been these past few weeks?
Blogging is a major commitment if you want to be taken seriously, and there's no bigger crime in the blogosphere than failure to get it up, if you'll pardon the expression.
I guess I could make my excuses and reach for the virtual Viagra but - hey - the truth is actually more interesting.
The truth is I've been working my way through weeks of careful preparation for creating the pilot episode of my new hour-long TV drama serial. That and an interesting mixture of reviewing, roleplaying and redundancy.
Check the website - www.mrgdavies.com - for the reviews. Roleplays have ranged from the Foreign Office to Travis Perkins (you can't complain it's not varied). And redundancy is an ongoing tale of woe familiar to all freelances, who not only suffer the indignity of being regarded as second-class citizens, but also then have to fight for every last penny when they've outlived their usefulness... or at least their affordability. Every silver lining has a cloud, they don't say but they should.
Anyway, back to the main point. The script.
Having toiled for endless hours through various stages of development, from pitch and synopsis to treatment and scene-by-scene breakdown, the writer now faces the ultimate in painful pleasure: actually writing the damn thing.
And that's why I'm back blogging. Classic diversionary tactics. There's a script in there somewhere, Jim, I promise, and I'll have it to you before next Wednesday's deadline by hook or by crook.
Unless those three panto reviews, next week's roleplay, a weekend gig and washing my hair somehow conspire to get in the way.
Blogging is a major commitment if you want to be taken seriously, and there's no bigger crime in the blogosphere than failure to get it up, if you'll pardon the expression.
I guess I could make my excuses and reach for the virtual Viagra but - hey - the truth is actually more interesting.
The truth is I've been working my way through weeks of careful preparation for creating the pilot episode of my new hour-long TV drama serial. That and an interesting mixture of reviewing, roleplaying and redundancy.
Check the website - www.mrgdavies.com - for the reviews. Roleplays have ranged from the Foreign Office to Travis Perkins (you can't complain it's not varied). And redundancy is an ongoing tale of woe familiar to all freelances, who not only suffer the indignity of being regarded as second-class citizens, but also then have to fight for every last penny when they've outlived their usefulness... or at least their affordability. Every silver lining has a cloud, they don't say but they should.
Anyway, back to the main point. The script.
Having toiled for endless hours through various stages of development, from pitch and synopsis to treatment and scene-by-scene breakdown, the writer now faces the ultimate in painful pleasure: actually writing the damn thing.
And that's why I'm back blogging. Classic diversionary tactics. There's a script in there somewhere, Jim, I promise, and I'll have it to you before next Wednesday's deadline by hook or by crook.
Unless those three panto reviews, next week's roleplay, a weekend gig and washing my hair somehow conspire to get in the way.
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