Friday January 23rd
WE DIDN’T GET IT!
Jo Schofield from RTE called this morning. She was apologetic and positively gushing with praise. She thanked us for an amazing pitch. She praised the promo, especially the acting. She said that we were great and was sure we would be doing exciting things on the Internet. The only reason she gave for not picking us was the eternal: “The standard was very high.” She then went on to tell me again how very good we were. She promised to send out an email with feedback from the panel.
So why didn’t we get it?
1)Reason:“The standard was very high”: Damn right it was. Our standard was apparently sky high, so one can only imagine that 50% of the short list (10 out of 20) was positively stellar.
I believe that we had one of the most solid proposals in the running and then some. I’ll go further and say that I think we were one of the only ones to really grapple with this new medium of Internet drama and come up with a truly original concept that tied in with the marketing criteria of the proposal. I know we blew them away at the pitch.
Does that sound resentful? It isn’t. I’m just trying to figure out why we didn’t get it. Back to
1) Reason: “The standard was very high”.
1.2 OK. We got that bit. I know that our standard was very high. In fact, I believe it was up there with the highest.
2)Reason: Intrigue:
That’s the problem with using: “The standard was very high”. It can only mean two things:
a) you suck (see 1.2: We didn’t suck.)
b) other forces were guiding our hand. It is unfortunate but, when dealing with public bodies such as RTE, or the Arts Council or such, there is always much room for intrigue. We all love to speculate on the Other Forces that guide funding decisions. Other forces include: We’re too old/too young, they already knew who was going to get it, we’re not from Dublin, …the list is endless. I’m as partial to speculating as the next applicant. Here’s my favourite: Appearing confident and capable can work against you. It’s a fact. There’s a weird reasoning that goes something like: “You don’t need it. You’ll make it anyway.” With a little bit of “Someone so confident and capable is sure to be difficult to work with.”
Which leaves us with: Deluded?
Maybe. I know that we blew them away. It was a great pitch. If it had been NY they would have told everyone else to go home. Or so I thought. Maybe they were blown away-just not in a good way.
Jaysus! They’ve got footage of the pitch. I think I’m going to tell me them they can’t used it. Feck’em.
Bitter? Who me? Never.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
AFTER THE STORM: HIBERWAITING
Wednesday, January 20th
Wow. It’s Wednesday. How time flies when you give yourself some time off. The storm took down a few trees, but doesn’t seem to have caused any grievous harm. Then again I haven’t really gone out and had a look around. It’s too nasty outside and besides I’m hiberwaiting. It’s a cross between hibernating and waiting.
We haven’t heard from RTE yet. They said we’d know this week. Twelve entries pitched on Friday. Eight more pitched on Monday. I figure they should know by now. I don’t like waiting. As a freelance writer you always have something pending: a reply from a publisher, or agent, or commission. The best thing to do is to move on to the next project while you wait, but that’s always hard to do. I’m grateful for a writing deadline because it forces me to think about something else. This week the workload is pretty light, so I spent the first three days giving myself some time off to do domestic jobs instead. I also decided to celebrate Obama’s inauguration by dedicating the afternoon to watching it with my daughters and making a really nice dinner. I’m still feeling all warm and fuzzy and slightly bewildered. I’m not used to feeling inspired by the United States of America. As an American born and raised in Europe, it feels weird. I think that yesterday was the first time in my life that I could have run around waving an American flag and people would have waved back instead of giving me the finger. Moreover, it’s the first time in my adult life that I can ever remember wanting to run around waving an American flag.
Which, you may think, is neither here nor there. Except that it is. This blog is about “competing” in RTE’s Storyland project and waiting around to hear if you made it through the Pitch Hoop is part and parcel of the experience.
I think I’ll call David.
The next time I blog- I’ll know if we got it…
Wow. It’s Wednesday. How time flies when you give yourself some time off. The storm took down a few trees, but doesn’t seem to have caused any grievous harm. Then again I haven’t really gone out and had a look around. It’s too nasty outside and besides I’m hiberwaiting. It’s a cross between hibernating and waiting.
We haven’t heard from RTE yet. They said we’d know this week. Twelve entries pitched on Friday. Eight more pitched on Monday. I figure they should know by now. I don’t like waiting. As a freelance writer you always have something pending: a reply from a publisher, or agent, or commission. The best thing to do is to move on to the next project while you wait, but that’s always hard to do. I’m grateful for a writing deadline because it forces me to think about something else. This week the workload is pretty light, so I spent the first three days giving myself some time off to do domestic jobs instead. I also decided to celebrate Obama’s inauguration by dedicating the afternoon to watching it with my daughters and making a really nice dinner. I’m still feeling all warm and fuzzy and slightly bewildered. I’m not used to feeling inspired by the United States of America. As an American born and raised in Europe, it feels weird. I think that yesterday was the first time in my life that I could have run around waving an American flag and people would have waved back instead of giving me the finger. Moreover, it’s the first time in my adult life that I can ever remember wanting to run around waving an American flag.
Which, you may think, is neither here nor there. Except that it is. This blog is about “competing” in RTE’s Storyland project and waiting around to hear if you made it through the Pitch Hoop is part and parcel of the experience.
I think I’ll call David.
The next time I blog- I’ll know if we got it…
Saturday, January 17, 2009
THE PITCH
Saturday January 17th
THE PITCH
Phew! I’m back in West Cork being battered by a mighty gale after a whirlwind 12 hours up and down to Dublin yesterday-7:30am train up from Cork city, back in the People’s Republic by 7:30pm. The night before I rewrote the first episode (had some brilliant ideas-more about that later) and wrote my pitch notes for RTE before hitting my bed. Met David on a lonely dark road at 6:15am. We were both a bit astounded to be awake at that time of the morning.
We worked out the pitch on the train up. Breakfast helped. David is good at keeping to the point and not confusing the issues. We decided to be clear about our roles: Tina: Writer & Internet marketing stuff. David: Director & Technical AV Stuff. We’re both producers, but I figure that David should talk about budgets etc. We want to be sure not to talk over each other. Clear roles, clear points. We decide not to ask RTE any questions except for the Storyland launch date. We can work out the details after we get the gig.
The gale has just picked up a notch. The front window looks like it’s being blasted by a high-powered hose. The back and side windows are dry. The trees are thrashing around alarmingly. Howling and screeching accompany a deep rumbling sound, like a giant steamroller moving up the valley and over the house. It’s the kind of sound that fills your head. Every once it a while something flies by the window: a plastic carton, a tree branch, a UFO. I don’t often get scared, but this one is getting a little scary .
Pause while I go around the house, checking windows and doors and looking for a pair of tights to tie the kitchen door to the Aga.
Back.
I’ve just realised that I’m wrecked. The rumbling steam roller, the flickering lights and fuzzy TV reception don’t help. In fact, I think I’m too wrecked to write this blog.
Suffice it to say that we did it. It was great. We were very pleased. They seemed pretty pleased and everyone at RTE was lovely. Met Moocow and the guys from Mayo who made Hardy Bucks and wish them both luck.
I’m going to forget about Internet drama for the weekend and try to come back to Earth and get grounded. Either that or get blown away by this gale and end up in the back field.
THE PITCH
Phew! I’m back in West Cork being battered by a mighty gale after a whirlwind 12 hours up and down to Dublin yesterday-7:30am train up from Cork city, back in the People’s Republic by 7:30pm. The night before I rewrote the first episode (had some brilliant ideas-more about that later) and wrote my pitch notes for RTE before hitting my bed. Met David on a lonely dark road at 6:15am. We were both a bit astounded to be awake at that time of the morning.
We worked out the pitch on the train up. Breakfast helped. David is good at keeping to the point and not confusing the issues. We decided to be clear about our roles: Tina: Writer & Internet marketing stuff. David: Director & Technical AV Stuff. We’re both producers, but I figure that David should talk about budgets etc. We want to be sure not to talk over each other. Clear roles, clear points. We decide not to ask RTE any questions except for the Storyland launch date. We can work out the details after we get the gig.
The gale has just picked up a notch. The front window looks like it’s being blasted by a high-powered hose. The back and side windows are dry. The trees are thrashing around alarmingly. Howling and screeching accompany a deep rumbling sound, like a giant steamroller moving up the valley and over the house. It’s the kind of sound that fills your head. Every once it a while something flies by the window: a plastic carton, a tree branch, a UFO. I don’t often get scared, but this one is getting a little scary .
Pause while I go around the house, checking windows and doors and looking for a pair of tights to tie the kitchen door to the Aga.
Back.
I’ve just realised that I’m wrecked. The rumbling steam roller, the flickering lights and fuzzy TV reception don’t help. In fact, I think I’m too wrecked to write this blog.
Suffice it to say that we did it. It was great. We were very pleased. They seemed pretty pleased and everyone at RTE was lovely. Met Moocow and the guys from Mayo who made Hardy Bucks and wish them both luck.
I’m going to forget about Internet drama for the weekend and try to come back to Earth and get grounded. Either that or get blown away by this gale and end up in the back field.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Multi-layered narratives?
Wednesday January 14th
There’s a nasty, dark gale blowing outside. It’s making it very difficult to write. The howling wind is distracting and jarring. The fire keeps going out, which doesn’t help. Oh yeah- and the Internet is slow as treacle.
We shot the teaser last night. I forgot to take pics. We threw a black backdrop up, stuck Amelia in front of the camera and shot it. I had written a script, but David decided to just “busk it”. I’m really enjoying working with David. It’s the best writer/director collaboration I’ve ever had. I write it. He reads it and shoots something I hadn’t thought of which is better than my first draft, but which still contains all the important bits. He’s also really fast. It was shot, edited and up in a few hours. Another shiny gold star. Actually three shiny gold stars: one for Amelia, one for David and one for me.
It’s on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9GC-KERPc
I now have to get a dedicated channel up and throw some seeds out with the teaser. I’ve been quite picky so far in seeding this thing. I’ve mainly concentrated on “industry sites” ie online drama and filmmakers in Ireland. I don’t want to go overboard until we actually have an episode up that people can vote for.
Back to writing Internet drama:
A single-layered narrative has a beginning, a middle and an ending. This gives you a timeline. It goes from Act 1àAct 2àAct 3. You can jumble them up, like Pulp Fiction, but it still has a timeline, a definite direction.
A multi-layered narrative has other narratives that run parallel to (and are linked to) the main narrative. They can go backwards, or forwards, or sideways. Much as you have a main character in a story and minor characters (whose parallel stories you get to know a bit about), you have a main narrative from which sprout other narratives. The fundamental shape and direction of an Internet narrative is different from any other writing.
David Mitchell has written multi-layered narratives in his novels Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas. I think that David’s work (I can call him that because he is a fellow West Cork blow-in, which frankly blows me away) could only be properly brought to the screen on the Internet. When you read Ghostwritten http://www.amazon.com/Ghostwritten-David-Mitchell/dp/0375724508 , for example, you immediately want to go back and reread a bit that came before because you realise that there’s a character that was in an earlier story. If it the book was adapted as a webcast you would click on the link and go directly to the other story.
An internet drama should have a main narrative along with a bunch of parallel narratives that you can explore. Which brings us back to the second person narrative. YOU don’t just read, or watch the narrative- you explore it.
OK enough pontificating for now. I’ve got a long list of things to do for this pitch on Friday, including laundry.
There’s a nasty, dark gale blowing outside. It’s making it very difficult to write. The howling wind is distracting and jarring. The fire keeps going out, which doesn’t help. Oh yeah- and the Internet is slow as treacle.
We shot the teaser last night. I forgot to take pics. We threw a black backdrop up, stuck Amelia in front of the camera and shot it. I had written a script, but David decided to just “busk it”. I’m really enjoying working with David. It’s the best writer/director collaboration I’ve ever had. I write it. He reads it and shoots something I hadn’t thought of which is better than my first draft, but which still contains all the important bits. He’s also really fast. It was shot, edited and up in a few hours. Another shiny gold star. Actually three shiny gold stars: one for Amelia, one for David and one for me.
It’s on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9GC-KERPc
I now have to get a dedicated channel up and throw some seeds out with the teaser. I’ve been quite picky so far in seeding this thing. I’ve mainly concentrated on “industry sites” ie online drama and filmmakers in Ireland. I don’t want to go overboard until we actually have an episode up that people can vote for.
Back to writing Internet drama:
A single-layered narrative has a beginning, a middle and an ending. This gives you a timeline. It goes from Act 1àAct 2àAct 3. You can jumble them up, like Pulp Fiction, but it still has a timeline, a definite direction.
A multi-layered narrative has other narratives that run parallel to (and are linked to) the main narrative. They can go backwards, or forwards, or sideways. Much as you have a main character in a story and minor characters (whose parallel stories you get to know a bit about), you have a main narrative from which sprout other narratives. The fundamental shape and direction of an Internet narrative is different from any other writing.
David Mitchell has written multi-layered narratives in his novels Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas. I think that David’s work (I can call him that because he is a fellow West Cork blow-in, which frankly blows me away) could only be properly brought to the screen on the Internet. When you read Ghostwritten http://www.amazon.com/Ghostwritten-David-Mitchell/dp/0375724508 , for example, you immediately want to go back and reread a bit that came before because you realise that there’s a character that was in an earlier story. If it the book was adapted as a webcast you would click on the link and go directly to the other story.
An internet drama should have a main narrative along with a bunch of parallel narratives that you can explore. Which brings us back to the second person narrative. YOU don’t just read, or watch the narrative- you explore it.
OK enough pontificating for now. I’ve got a long list of things to do for this pitch on Friday, including laundry.
Blog Wrestling
Just spent the last half hour wrestling this blog. I couldn't figure out how to build an archive and so I tried to edit my first post to include the posts from my original blog at www.eraseandrewind.org that I'd left out originally. I don't know what happened but the result (after much cutting, pasting and deleting) is that my first post is somewhat recurssive. It's the best I could do.
I promise, on my honour, to post properly from now on...
I promise, on my honour, to post properly from now on...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Multi-layered narratives
Tuesday January 13th
. . . and multi-layered narratives. I forgot to put that in.
Internet drama = Immediacy, Intimacy, and Interactivity written in the second person with a multi-layered narrative.
I’ll explain what I mean by a multi-layered narrative (and expand on the other stuff) later. I still haven’t really got the hang of this blogging caper. I think it’s probably more a case of a little often, rather then a lot once in a blue moon. It’s all about the traffic innit?
We’re finally shooting our “teaser” this evening. I’ll try and remember to take some pics and post them. In the meantime I have to go to meet some lovely ladies who want to write rural memoirs.
. . . and multi-layered narratives. I forgot to put that in.
Internet drama = Immediacy, Intimacy, and Interactivity written in the second person with a multi-layered narrative.
I’ll explain what I mean by a multi-layered narrative (and expand on the other stuff) later. I still haven’t really got the hang of this blogging caper. I think it’s probably more a case of a little often, rather then a lot once in a blue moon. It’s all about the traffic innit?
We’re finally shooting our “teaser” this evening. I’ll try and remember to take some pics and post them. In the meantime I have to go to meet some lovely ladies who want to write rural memoirs.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Writing Internet drama
January 7, 2008
When the lady from RTE called to congratulate me I wasn’t sure what she was on about. It’s not that I’d forgotten about our Storyland submission, in fact I’d already checked the RTE website, www.rte.ie/storyland several times that day along with the forum on http://www.filmakersnetwork.ie/ .
It’s just that at first I couldn’t figure out what I’d won. I even caught myself wondering if I’d bought a Winning Streak ticket, got three stars and posted it in to RTE with no recollection of having done so? I must have sounded a right Lula when I exclaimed: “Oh you’re from Storyland! That’s wonderful. It’s my birthday!” She wished me a Happy Birthday and said that we were invited to pitch on January 16th and that they would contact us with the details. A quick jump to my laptop confirmed it. We made the short list. Not only that- we were top of the list. As they weren’t in alphabetical order I assume that MUST mean something. Writers like that sort of thing. We also like big shiny gold stars.
Fast forward three weeks:
Christmas is done and dusted. Kids are back to school. Life returns to normal. Not a peep from RTE since the phone call on December 15th. I hadn’t really thought about it much what with having a house full of people over the last fortnight. David and I meet up at O’Donovan’s Hotel in Clonakilty to discuss the pitch. I am delighted at his enthusiasm for the project. He’s had a good think and has come up with some really cool ideas based on the original short story. Erase and Rewind was rattling around in the back-back drawer of my mind for about ten years. And yes, it was inspired by the Cardigans’ song. What if you could erase and rewind your life? What sort of story could I write based on that idea? I’d only think about it from time to time, which is why it took me so long to write. When you are a professional writer who has to make a living, short stories are only indulged in while on holiday or when attending a literary festival. I didn’t write a word. I just kept transferring a blank document labelled Erase & Rewind (in my Short Story Ideas folder) as I went from one computer to the next over a decade or so. Then in July 2007, after attending the West Cork Literary Festival http://www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie/ , I sat down and wrote it over one weekend. A couple of drafts later it was transferred to the Finished SS folder where it has sat since. When David suggested working together on a submission to RTE’s Storyland, Erase and Rewind immediately popped into my head. I’ve been thinking about writing for the Internet for yonks, but haven’t really got my teeth into it yet. This seemed like the perfect opportunity.
At our meeting we decided that the website must go up ASAP. We also decided that I should have a blog.
24hrs later and http://www.eraseandrewind.org/ is up and I’m writing this.
I think that deserves a big shiny gold star.(Note to David: Please attach a big shiny gold star. Thanks.)
Friday January 9th
I lost a day. I should have seen it coming when I got the date on my first blog wrong. I was writing on Wednesday night, but I dated it Tuesday January 6th. It was a sign that all was not well in my brain. Thursday morning I dragged myself out of my bed and drove my daughter to the airport feeling like death. I managed somehow to navigate back home and went straight to bed and died. I didn’t emerge for six hours. I only came back to life because I had to write my regular column for the West Cork People http://www.westcorkpeople.ie/ . A paying deadline is the one thing a freelance writer can only ignore if they are in a coma or have met the ultimate deadline. I put everything else on hold including the list of stuff I was going to do for ERASE & REWIND. David and I were meant to meet up to film a teaser to add to the website. We have to reschedule. I didn’t feel much better this morning, but was instantly cheered up when I checked the Internet. http://www.storygas.com/ put a link up to our site and it has seeded to a full page if you google Erase and Rewind Storyland. We even got lg15today
http://lg15today.blogspot.com/2009/01/rte-storyland-show-erase-and-rewind.html .
I’m going to spend the weekend spreading the word. But first I have to stop feeling like shit…
Sunday January 11th
I managed to achieve the latter. I’m not all better, but I don’t feel like death warmed over anymore. I’ve spent most of the weekend curled up with Russell T. Davies. Not literally, what with him being gay and all, but rather with his excellent book “The Writer’s Tale” ( http://www.thewriterstale.com/ ), which my daughter Amelia gave me for Christmas. (Incidentally, Amelia stars in the 30-second pitch for ERASE & REWIND.) It’s the best book on writing since Stephen King’s “On Writing”. I’ve been using King’s book in creative writing classes for a few years now and I think I’m going to use RTD’s in a new scriptwriting class that I’m starting to teach this term. Both books are focused on the hard slog of writing rather than any lofty theories about dramatic arcs and plot points. It’s all about the storytelling. They are both like magic writing beans for me: I read them and I want to write.
I also spent much of the weekend thinking about writing for the Internet (Why does my spell check insist on capitalising the Internet? It feels like typing God.). It’s something I’ve been musing over ever since I first discovered the magic of web links.
My thinking goes something along the lines of this:
-The novel did not exist before the invention of the printing press. The feature film did not exist until the invention of the cinema. In other words, each new medium has given rise to a new art form-or form of entertainment. It took years for writers to figure out what to do with these new mediums and even longer for standard forms and methodologies to emerge. The Internet is on the cusp of developing its own art form –or new form of entertainment-and we are still working out what that is.
-The first films all looked like they set up a camera in front of a stage and simply filmed a play (which is pretty much what they did). It took many creative advances to develop the close-ups, ellipses, panning shots etc that are a part of anything committed to film or video today. Similarly, the first webcast films were simply a film uploaded on a website. Most still are. You click. It plays. Terrific. But it’s still fundamentally the same experience as watching something on the telly. The Internet opens up far more interesting experiences.
Here are some ideas about what makes viewing on the Internet different:
-Immediacy and intimacy. Watching something on your laptop is both a more immediate and more intimate experience than watching the telly. That’s the beauty of virtual reality.
-Interactivity. After centuries, nay millennia, of passive entertainment, the Internet allows the viewer to interact. From WOW, to Second Life, from shopping to blogging, YOU are a part of the experience- if only by clicking the play button.
The three Is :Immediacy, Intimacy and Interactivity- sum up the Internet experience (there’s probably more, but it’ll do for now. Anyway it has a nice ring to it.).
-It’s all about I. This is a radical change of POV. It’s about writing in the second person-YOU. Last summer I did a “writing audition” for the Choose Your own Adventure Books ( http://www.cyoa.com/ ), which are all written in the second person. It was a great experience though I didn’t get the gig because they preferred someone living in the US. It opened up a whole new way of writing.
Film scripts are often written in the third person: WE see John run up to the door. The door opens and WE discover a large hall.
Writing for the Internet should read: YOU see a door. YOU open it and enter a large hall.
That’s all for now. Time to get dinner and start thinking about next week’s work….
Tuesday January 13th
. . . and multi-layered narratives. I forgot to put that in.
Internet drama = Immediacy, Intimacy, and Interactivity written in the second person with a multi-layered narrative.
I’ll explain what I mean by a multi-layered narrative (and expand on the other stuff) later. I still haven’t really got the hang of this blogging caper. I think it’s probably more a case of a little often, rather then a lot once in a blue moon. It’s all about the traffic innit?
We’re finally shooting our “teaser” this evening. I’ll try and remember to take some pics and post them. In the meantime I have to go to meet some lovely ladies who want to write rural memoirs.
When the lady from RTE called to congratulate me I wasn’t sure what she was on about. It’s not that I’d forgotten about our Storyland submission, in fact I’d already checked the RTE website, www.rte.ie/storyland several times that day along with the forum on http://www.filmakersnetwork.ie/ .
It’s just that at first I couldn’t figure out what I’d won. I even caught myself wondering if I’d bought a Winning Streak ticket, got three stars and posted it in to RTE with no recollection of having done so? I must have sounded a right Lula when I exclaimed: “Oh you’re from Storyland! That’s wonderful. It’s my birthday!” She wished me a Happy Birthday and said that we were invited to pitch on January 16th and that they would contact us with the details. A quick jump to my laptop confirmed it. We made the short list. Not only that- we were top of the list. As they weren’t in alphabetical order I assume that MUST mean something. Writers like that sort of thing. We also like big shiny gold stars.
Fast forward three weeks:
Christmas is done and dusted. Kids are back to school. Life returns to normal. Not a peep from RTE since the phone call on December 15th. I hadn’t really thought about it much what with having a house full of people over the last fortnight. David and I meet up at O’Donovan’s Hotel in Clonakilty to discuss the pitch. I am delighted at his enthusiasm for the project. He’s had a good think and has come up with some really cool ideas based on the original short story. Erase and Rewind was rattling around in the back-back drawer of my mind for about ten years. And yes, it was inspired by the Cardigans’ song. What if you could erase and rewind your life? What sort of story could I write based on that idea? I’d only think about it from time to time, which is why it took me so long to write. When you are a professional writer who has to make a living, short stories are only indulged in while on holiday or when attending a literary festival. I didn’t write a word. I just kept transferring a blank document labelled Erase & Rewind (in my Short Story Ideas folder) as I went from one computer to the next over a decade or so. Then in July 2007, after attending the West Cork Literary Festival http://www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie/ , I sat down and wrote it over one weekend. A couple of drafts later it was transferred to the Finished SS folder where it has sat since. When David suggested working together on a submission to RTE’s Storyland, Erase and Rewind immediately popped into my head. I’ve been thinking about writing for the Internet for yonks, but haven’t really got my teeth into it yet. This seemed like the perfect opportunity.
At our meeting we decided that the website must go up ASAP. We also decided that I should have a blog.
24hrs later and http://www.eraseandrewind.org/ is up and I’m writing this.
I think that deserves a big shiny gold star.(Note to David: Please attach a big shiny gold star. Thanks.)
Friday January 9th
I lost a day. I should have seen it coming when I got the date on my first blog wrong. I was writing on Wednesday night, but I dated it Tuesday January 6th. It was a sign that all was not well in my brain. Thursday morning I dragged myself out of my bed and drove my daughter to the airport feeling like death. I managed somehow to navigate back home and went straight to bed and died. I didn’t emerge for six hours. I only came back to life because I had to write my regular column for the West Cork People http://www.westcorkpeople.ie/ . A paying deadline is the one thing a freelance writer can only ignore if they are in a coma or have met the ultimate deadline. I put everything else on hold including the list of stuff I was going to do for ERASE & REWIND. David and I were meant to meet up to film a teaser to add to the website. We have to reschedule. I didn’t feel much better this morning, but was instantly cheered up when I checked the Internet. http://www.storygas.com/ put a link up to our site and it has seeded to a full page if you google Erase and Rewind Storyland. We even got lg15today
http://lg15today.blogspot.com/2009/01/rte-storyland-show-erase-and-rewind.html .
I’m going to spend the weekend spreading the word. But first I have to stop feeling like shit…
Sunday January 11th
I managed to achieve the latter. I’m not all better, but I don’t feel like death warmed over anymore. I’ve spent most of the weekend curled up with Russell T. Davies. Not literally, what with him being gay and all, but rather with his excellent book “The Writer’s Tale” ( http://www.thewriterstale.com/ ), which my daughter Amelia gave me for Christmas. (Incidentally, Amelia stars in the 30-second pitch for ERASE & REWIND.) It’s the best book on writing since Stephen King’s “On Writing”. I’ve been using King’s book in creative writing classes for a few years now and I think I’m going to use RTD’s in a new scriptwriting class that I’m starting to teach this term. Both books are focused on the hard slog of writing rather than any lofty theories about dramatic arcs and plot points. It’s all about the storytelling. They are both like magic writing beans for me: I read them and I want to write.
I also spent much of the weekend thinking about writing for the Internet (Why does my spell check insist on capitalising the Internet? It feels like typing God.). It’s something I’ve been musing over ever since I first discovered the magic of web links.
My thinking goes something along the lines of this:
-The novel did not exist before the invention of the printing press. The feature film did not exist until the invention of the cinema. In other words, each new medium has given rise to a new art form-or form of entertainment. It took years for writers to figure out what to do with these new mediums and even longer for standard forms and methodologies to emerge. The Internet is on the cusp of developing its own art form –or new form of entertainment-and we are still working out what that is.
-The first films all looked like they set up a camera in front of a stage and simply filmed a play (which is pretty much what they did). It took many creative advances to develop the close-ups, ellipses, panning shots etc that are a part of anything committed to film or video today. Similarly, the first webcast films were simply a film uploaded on a website. Most still are. You click. It plays. Terrific. But it’s still fundamentally the same experience as watching something on the telly. The Internet opens up far more interesting experiences.
Here are some ideas about what makes viewing on the Internet different:
-Immediacy and intimacy. Watching something on your laptop is both a more immediate and more intimate experience than watching the telly. That’s the beauty of virtual reality.
-Interactivity. After centuries, nay millennia, of passive entertainment, the Internet allows the viewer to interact. From WOW, to Second Life, from shopping to blogging, YOU are a part of the experience- if only by clicking the play button.
The three Is :Immediacy, Intimacy and Interactivity- sum up the Internet experience (there’s probably more, but it’ll do for now. Anyway it has a nice ring to it.).
-It’s all about I. This is a radical change of POV. It’s about writing in the second person-YOU. Last summer I did a “writing audition” for the Choose Your own Adventure Books ( http://www.cyoa.com/ ), which are all written in the second person. It was a great experience though I didn’t get the gig because they preferred someone living in the US. It opened up a whole new way of writing.
Film scripts are often written in the third person: WE see John run up to the door. The door opens and WE discover a large hall.
Writing for the Internet should read: YOU see a door. YOU open it and enter a large hall.
That’s all for now. Time to get dinner and start thinking about next week’s work….
Tuesday January 13th
. . . and multi-layered narratives. I forgot to put that in.
Internet drama = Immediacy, Intimacy, and Interactivity written in the second person with a multi-layered narrative.
I’ll explain what I mean by a multi-layered narrative (and expand on the other stuff) later. I still haven’t really got the hang of this blogging caper. I think it’s probably more a case of a little often, rather then a lot once in a blue moon. It’s all about the traffic innit?
We’re finally shooting our “teaser” this evening. I’ll try and remember to take some pics and post them. In the meantime I have to go to meet some lovely ladies who want to write rural memoirs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
