Blogtastic

Thursday, March 16, 2006

I have another blog. 'Why?' you might ask, 'isn't the one the lovely people at Moov2 did for you enough?' Yes it is but I don't want to fill up their server with the crap that floats around in my brain everyday. So I've come to a decision. The blog on this site will be purely for my work, what I'm writing, where I'm sending it and what response I receive. The other blog, located at Doms World, will concentrate on the theory of writing and any issues arising from it. There, that's settled then.

Only 9 days to go now. I promise I'll tell you soon... maybe.

How To Handle Rejection

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The familier thud of paper hitting the carpet and the rattle of the letter box as it swings shut; two sounds guaranteed to get a new writer rushing to the front door. My letter box went this morning. Another rejection letter this time from Scala Productions. I didn't bat an eyelid. I have a folder full of rejection letters, some good, some bad, but all adding fuel to my desire to be successful. The way I look at it is this; if a production company rejects your script it's not you they're rejecting. It's nothing personal they were just not interested in what you sent them this time. It doesn't mean they'll reject the next one... although they probably will.

11 days to go... maybe I'll tell you soon.

New Writers

Friday, March 10, 2006

It looks like the BBC are taking their hunt for new writers seriously,

Just to remind you it's now 15 days to go. And no, I'm still not telling you.... yet.

A Writer's Life For Me

Thursday, March 09, 2006

I've started another rewrite on Where Angels Fear to Tread. After reading Writing for Television by William Smethurst I have realised that it's too static in places and too long for the medium. Hopefully if I'm satisfied with the rewrite I'll start sending it out next month. I think I'll start with the BBC Writersroom first. I'm also working on the treatment of Remember Me - working title which is coming on very well. It has now got to the stage where I can no longer put off doing research. Mr. Valentine, my feature comedy drama, is being put on the backburner for a while. It needs a major rewrite and I'd rather devote my time to projects that will give me a better chance of making some money.

On another front there are now only 17 days to go. 17 days to what you might ask? Ah, for the answer you'll have to wait and see.

Post It Note

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

All I wanted was one envelope to post a script to the BBC in, just one envelope.

Two hours I wasted wandering around Bournemouth looking for just the right ones. Two bloody hours. You know the envelopes, the gusseted expansion ones you can send large documents in. You would think that a large high street chain like W H Smith's would have them? They had a whole shelf devoted to colour pens but only a tiny section for envelopes.

What about the Post Office? The Royal Mail loses a lot of letters in this area but the Post Office seem to lose the envelopes before you get the chance to post them. No luck there then.

Staples must have them then? 'We used to do them... I think,' was the answer I got from a dopey looking shop assistant who was eager to get to his lunch break. I took the catalogue, I'd had enough of dealing with people.

When I got home I found that Staples did indeed do the envelopes I wanted but you can only get them 250 at a time. Balls, I only bloody wanted one. I ordered them online anyway. Well that's another £30 out of my already very red looking bank balance and it looks like I'm going to have to start sending out a LOT MORE scripts very soon.

Return To Sender

Monday, March 06, 2006

Today I received a letter from Kate Gordon at David Highman Associates. It was a rejection letter for From This Day Forth. She said she read it with interest but had decided it wasn't the project for her. She didn't tell me why.

Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I going to give up? Not on your life. It's been nearly five years since I left university with my scriptwriting degree and I know that for at least three of those years I gave less than one hundred percent to my writing. I also know that I've made mistakes along the way, but what matters is that I know where I went wrong and I'm determind not to make the same mistakes again. I knew from the start that I was in this for the long run and if it takes me another five years to get anywhere then so be it. At least nobody can say I haven't tried.

Gordon's Alive

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Kate Gordon at David Highman Associates emailed me yesterday to request a treatment and a sample of my work. Those of you that don't know, the last time I had a script requested by an agent all I received back was a tick-the-boxes-no-thank-you letter. Not very encouraging. However, I am very optomistic this time and I'm keeping everything crossed for a better result. This might prove to be a problem the next time I need to go to the toilet.