What can possibly go wrong?
Well, we are all at the mercy of the unforeseeable glitch. I worry about the unforeseeable glitch every time I switch my computer on - what if it just decides not to work today? What if my 9 year old has deleted all my files and replaced them with Tracy Beaker documents downloaded from CBBC.
For 24 hrs this weekend I was without internet due to a fault on the phone line. I didn’t panic, My 2nd draft has to be in on Tuesday - there was still time. There was the post after all, I could simply mail my script .. Ah, if they posties weren’t striking. I did once have some script notes delivered to me by courier, which was very exciting, I guess I could hire a motorcycle guy to speed my draft 2 over to Bristol. As it was, the phone fault was fixed by Sunday morning and the only real crisis was my not being able to bid on those two tone shoes I really wanted on eBay..
2 fellow Academy writers fell foul of the unforeseeable glitch last week though. One emailed me to say he’d just sent off his finished Casualty script, was knackered, looking forward to a drink, some sleep yadda yadda the usual. I replied fab, well done! Enjoy the rest! Half an hour later he’d emailed back an expletive ridden explosion of pure frustration and rant. No sooner had he handed in the final draft than his script editor had contacted him to say due to unforeseeable circumstances, one of the actors in his episode would be unavailable for filming !
I suggested he lie down in a dark room for half an hour.
He, of course, spent the rest of the day rewriting, no doubt in a fug of adrenalin, coffee and Red Bull.
The other Academy writer friend, also working on Casualty, emailed me rather mournfully to say that the programme Final Draft was eating his scripts. A gremlin had got into the programme - every time he typed in a character’s name, the programme crashed. FRUSTRATING or what? He’d lost loads of script and the clock was ticking..
I work on a Mac. I love my Mac. I’m sure my Mac would never do this to me. However, I have booked in my Mac for an MOT next week - just to be on the safe side.
Working up draft one into draft two has been quite tough this week. It’s a bit like rearranging bricks in a wall in such a way that the wall doesn’t collapse as you do it and the finished wall is stronger. A lot of my episode takes place out of the Hospital and I needed to find ways to bring us back into the Hospital and the world of our Regulars that didn’t somehow seem contrived or arbitrary. The main character back at the ED (emergency department) had to ‘Bigged Up’ a little, his story made stronger and clearer - a sturdy through line that would anchor the audience to the department when we were there. I worked hard on my ED scenes and tried to trim my location scenes. After a few days, loads of blutacked index cards and the cut and paste function on my Mac going into overdrive - I thought I’d cracked it.
I did a page count - I had managed to increase the script by 6 pages - It needed trimming by 8 or 10! Now I’d have to trim it by 16 or so.
I can get obsessed with formatting and script length. I think it’s because it’s something tangible and easy to explain - the ‘dramatic purpose of your protagonist’ being less so.
After another day I’d whittled away 7 pages and the notes from my medics came in - (now you know how we slip in those ‘Nurse, I want FBC’s U’s and E’s..’ lines - the medics tell us). Unfortunately one of my guest characters would be in a rather a bad way after all I’ve had done to him, and probably wouldn’t be able to utter his last (and important) line. Hmm. I look at this, tweak, and hope for a little dramatic licence.
In the midst of writing my draft 2, I had a shed load of Holby storylines to revisit and a Holby planning meeting to attend. I had been waiting for my Holby storyline document to drop into my in tray for weeks. Who would I be writing for? What exciting things would be going on in my episode? Would it be a real ‘ethical medical humdinger’ or one of those slightly dull ‘all about hospital policy’ episodes that take place in board rooms with men in suits?
For those of you unfamiliar with writing for Continuing Drama - the storylines of the Regular characters are mapped out over the season. My job as an episode writer is to fully realise the Regular’s storylines by introducing two or 3 guest stories that will interplay with the ‘serial’.
My Holby story doc arrived. I made a cup of coffee. I sat at the computer. I painted my nails. I came back to the computer. I opened the doc…
So .. I’m writing for so and so am I? Interesting…
Comments
This blog is really useful. I hope you get everything in on time and everything. Can you tell us a bit more about the actual editing process you do maybe? Like how you deal with Widows, good ways to introduce characters in three words etc, any pitching tips you have? Making good concise 25 word synopses? Good luck with your work.
Dan