Tuesday, March 10, 2009

It's tricky [as yet untouched by Jason Nevins]

Hit my target of page 50 for the Lighthouse project script yesterday, but ground to a halt at the end. Realised I didn't know how to get my heroes to their final confrontation with the Big Bad. There are plenty of obvious options, but I want one that comes naturally from the script. That means it's time to print and review my work thus far, remind myself what I've done and where that suggests I should go. Then it's a mad dash to page 60.

The Lighthouse TV drama team writing project is a fascinating process. Six writers are selected and each pitches a series idea to the group. After further development one is chosen from the six, with the originator expected to write the pilot episode. The others develop a subsequent episode that fits the series template, yet also works as a standalone script in its own right. Why? So it's useful as a calling card to promote them as writers.

Thanks to my love of serialised storytelling, I concocted an all-guns-blazing plotline that could only ever be the series finale - and that's what I'm writing now. Guess if I'd been cannier, I would have developed an idea that worked better as a standalone. But it's too late to worry about that now. My job for the rest of this week is making my first draft the best it can be. Deadline for delivery is noon on Thursday, no time to waste. Onwards!

1 comment:

Sofluid said...

If you would like to make your episode a stand-alone, perhaps after the workshop you could develop it into a feature? Unless of course thatn would cause problems, given the idea originated from someone else?