Two of my students are made of win!

The Campaign For Real Fear short story contest has announced its 20 winners from among the many, many entries. Among the names is Christina Koh, a student on the Creative Writing MA course I help teach at Edinburgh Napier University. Her story Hounded will be published by Black Static magazine and also gets released as a narrated audio story [see proposed cover]. Congratulations, Chris!

Also on the list - another student from the course, John Fagan, a winner for his story Infected With Death. Congratulations to John! So that's two of our MA Creative Writing cohort among the top 20, a win ratio of 10%. I'm liking how that sounds.

The Campaign For Real Fear was set up by Christopher Fowler and Maura McHugh to promote new terrifying fiction that reflects the diversity of 21st-century life. They originally planned to have only ten winners, but the standard proved so high they extended that to 20 [with seven honourable mentions]. You can see the full list of winners and find out more about the contest here.

Coming Up 2011 open for applications

Coming Up is a scheme that gives emerging talent the chance to have a half hour, authored piece of drama made for and broadcast on Channel 4. Now, I've never met anyone who's actually succeeded with the scheme, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a punt. You've got until June 9th to get your postal application in [no email, how quaint]. Here's the press release:

COMING UP is the only talent scheme currently in the UK where emerging film-makers have the opportunity to make an authored drama with a guaranteed network broadcast. Now in its tenth year, Channel 4 and Touchpaper TV, part of the RDF Media Group, continue their commitment to innovation, experimentation and new voices.

We will make up to 7 eye-catching, innovative, challenging films from the best fresh talent in the UK. Each film will be for a half-hour C4 slot and we are looking for:
* Bold, original and surprising ideas with strong voices - unafraid of ambition, wit, urgency and fearless entertainment.
* Films that can be shot in 4 days on a limited budget

WRITERS: This scheme is open to all writers who have NOT had an ORIGINAL single, series or serial broadcast on UK television; writers who have contributed episodes to series or serials (e.g. a long-running soap) are eligible to apply.

The closing date for receipt of applications is: WEDNESDAY 9th June 2010. All applications are by post ONLY: COMING UP 2011, Touchpaper Television, 3-6 Kenrick Place, London W1U 6HD. Want more details? Go here.

Fave sitcom scene: Rev Jim's driving test

China Mieville: blurring the boundaries of genre

China Mieville won the Arthur C Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of 2009 this week [his third victory]. This time it was for his genre-bending blend of crime, fantasy and SF, The City & The City. Here's his speech - not great sound quality, but you get the gist...

Bishop: not afraid to crack some skulls

Tenth Doctor Who: The Musical

I'm sorry, but this is blindingly good - an affectionate skewering of the David Tennant/RTD era of Who, set to many, many songs. Does feature a track that's NSFW. Apologies for it bleeding off to one side. I suggest clicking through to the YouTube original. Anyways, enjoy!

Quo Vadimus, and other career conundrums

Feeling a weight lifted from my shoulders, having decided not to go for the BBC Writers' Academy this year. It's not that I thought with any certainty I'd get in - the odds are about 80 to 1 against, and I doubt my current scripts are either developed enough or fresh enough to have got me through the first and second sifts. But at least now I don't have to think about it so much.

Plus not going for the academy frees up lots of TV time. No need to be watching Holby City and Casualty and EastEnders as homework. I'll probably keep watching Casualty, as it's been on a roll for me lately - particularly the character May. [Love to write for her one day!] What else am I watching? BBC Scotland's homegrown soap River City, and I'm flirting with Waterloo Road.

British TV dramas I'd love to write for? The BBC has commissioned a series about the Medicis and Renaissance Florence that's right up my street. But I haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of getting on that anytime soon, even though I know the period backwards. To get to hour-long drama I need to build up more half-hour credits. Still got so much more to learn.

I'm also dipping my toes into children's programming, having been accepted on the BBC Scotland CBeebies Lab that starts next month. Four day-long sessions about writing for the up to 6 audience, with industry practitioners in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Should be fascinating, and I've got a fistful of mad ideas that might fit the bill. Will let you know how that gets on.

For now I'm busy writing a radio project, first deadline is Friday of next week. Can't announce all the details until contracts have been signed, but it's a fun project that started for me at a brainstorming session in May last year. That's evolved into a cross-platform thing with all sorts of bells and whistles. But the script won't write itself, so... Onwards!

Prepare for Hamlet-esque hang-wringing

You'll have to forgive what comes next. This blog entry is mostly me thinking out loud, trying to come up with some conclusions. Indulge me or don't, it's up to you.

Two years ago I was burning to get one of eight places up for grabs at the BBC Writers' Academy. I'd completed a successful trial script for Doctors, one of the four continuing drama series the academy trains you to write, but wasn't making much progress otherwise. Didn't have an agent, didn't know where my next commission was coming from - or if it was coming at all. I was flailing a bit.

Last year I decided not to apply. I was helped setting up a new Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University, and felt a sense of commitment to that. In the unlikely event I got through the academy selection process, it would have meant walking out on the course just as teaching was about to begin. Didn't feel I could do that, even as a part-time lecturer on a fixed contract.

This year I'm trapped in should I/shouldn't I limbo. The MA is now up and running, the first full-time cohort will be finished by September when the new academy intake starts. I'm enjoying teaching much more than I expected, so walking away from that wouldn't be easy. [Not to mention a regular salary alongside enough time for my own writing.] So that's one factor in the mix.

Then there's relocating to London. I heart London, lived there for ten years. But getting into the academy would necessitate leaving everyone and almost everything I care about for three months. If I lived within commutable distance of London it would be easier, but I live in Scotland. That means a rented room, not seeing my wife, a total commitment to the academy.

So, what are the upsides? Guaranteed income for three months, with the potential for another year. Fast track to writing for EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City. [I already write for Doctors, so that's not a factor for me.] Incredible learning and networking opportunities, no doubt. My writing could likely make great leaps forward during that three month frenzy.

On the other hand, do I care enough about the continuing drama series covered by the academy to give up everything for them? The chance to write for other shows, or to write my own, original dramas? If one of the four series was a police procedural, that would be a big plus. I heart Doctors, but three of the four academy shows are medical dramas. That's a lot of docs.

Anyone going for the academy can't do it half-arsed, in my humble opinion. You have to make a total commitment, be watching all four shows, analysing their strengths and weaknesses, learning to think and talk like the characters. Ideally you should have been doing that since Christmas, if not before. Not just be watching as a viewer, but as a potential writer for them.

Then there's your sample. Deep knowledge of all four shows and intelligent answers on your application count for nothing unless you submit a cracking piece of original writing. It needs to showcase your distinctive voice, have emotional appeal, display visual storytelling, great characters and dialogue, narrative pace and structure, a credible world and more.

Without those qualities, you won't get close to the academy. So all my hand-wringing above could well be moot if my writing sample doesn't do the business. But I can't worry about that, it's beyond my control [as Valmont would say]. There isn't time left to write a new, polished script from scratch - at least, not one nurtured by months of development time.

I've got scripts I can submit, and am busy writing an original script for a commission that might fit the bill as an academy submission. But do I want it enough? Compared with two years ago, I've made significant progress. Got my first TV drama broadcast credit on Doctors, with two more story pitches in the bank. Writing another broadcast commission this week and next.

Secured representation with a London agent. Developing projects for a couple of independent production companies. Just been accepted on the BBC Scotland CBeebies Lab, a four-day introduction to the world of writing for children's TV. [I've got a lot of mad, daft ideas for shows best suited to a younger audience - and CBeebies could be a perfect outlet for them.]

So I'm making progress. Maybe not with the skyrocket speed you can attain at the Writers' Academy, but it's still forward momentum. I've got a balance of work and life that suits me. It's easy to drive yourself crazy chasing rainbows while failing to recognise you're already in a good place. Would going for the academy be doing that? Right now, I just don't know...

UPDATE: Have come to a conclusion, finally. Will not be applying to the Writers' Academy this year. Am in a good place now, may progress on multiple fronts. Will review situation again at the end of this year, see how things are going on. In the meantime - onwards!

Enjoy the word yes when it happens

Writers hear the word no far more often than they hear yes. It's not always easy to remember that the rejection is about the work, not about your personally. But you can drive yourself crazy if you take every rejection to heart. Far better to take that rejection to head. Think about your writing - could it have been better? Another polish to be found? More feedback needed?

I find the pain of rejection for any writing opportunity is in direct proportion to how much I wanted it. For example, I once did a try out for a range of TV novelisations [no, not Doctor Who - that I'd maim for], but didn't get the gig. Rejection? I shrugged, and moved on. I didn't care enough to care. Thank grud I didn't get the job, I doubt I would have enjoyed one second of it.

Other times rejections have been like a lump of red hot coal, burning a hole through my soul. They feel like crushing defeats, glimpsing your dream before having it snatched from your grasp. It was so close you could almost touch it - and then gone. I hate those kind of rejections, but that comes with the job. Trust me, passion is so much more compelling than bored indifference.

Two or three weeks back I got a call to say a story of the day pitch of mine for Doctors had been banked. It could be in the story bank a long time, there's no guarantee it'll ever get taken to a full commission. But it was another step forwards, and the first pitch I'd had banked in months. So that made my Monday - a yes after a plethora of no, a positive affirmation.

Fast forward to Friday of the same week, and I got an email headed More Good News. Another story of the day pitch I'd submitted was also now banked. Two in the space of four days, after months of work and rejections. That was a good week. Writers find it easy to dwell on rejections, to recall only the bad reviews. But you've got to enjoy the word yes when it happens. Onwards!

Ending the week that wouldn't end

The past seven days felt like the week that wouldn't end. It was probably exacerbated by starting away from home at Eastercon, the British national science fiction convention. I was down in That Fancy London [well, mostly airports alongside Heathrow] from Friday to Sunday, eventually getting home round midnight on Sunday. Monday to Wednesday was work on a project I can't discuss yet.

No doubt I've mentioned this before, but there's an unfortunate interregnum when writers who blog start getting somewhere with their writing - and the blog suffers. They become understandably skittish about discussing a project in public before contracts have been signed, for fear of kiboshing the whole thing. Loose lips sink commissions, and all that jazz. So, generalities abound.

But I'm not ready to pull the plug on this blog. If nothing else, it's a useful way to keep family and friends apprised of what I'm up to [particularly useful when all your relatives live in New Zealand - hello Kiwis!]. And Vicious Imagery is a good way of getting my arse planted in my office chair, writing. So the blog stays, even if I can't talk about certain specifics.

Where was I? Oh yes, the week without end. Like I said, Monday through Wednesday was the project that dare not speak its name. Deadline for the first draft is Friday April 30th, so it'll be occupying plenty more of my time between now and then. Thursday and Friday was back to my part-time job as a lecturer on the Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University.

Thanks to some gorgeous sunshine, I kept having flashbacks to last year before the course began. That summer felt like the calm before a storm - writing module handbooks, interviewing applicants, trying to prep for the unknown. We've pretty much concluded the taught section for the first cohort, and are now prepping for the summer trimester and year two.

The current cohort are on their two-week Easter break, but work continues for the teaching staff. So Thursday and Friday we were interviewing applicants and writing a module handbook for the major project each full-time student will be creating over the summer. Also trying to figure out when to take holidays - more accurately, when I won't be in at uni this summer.

What else? Oh yes, Wednesday night I was playing the part of Doctor Love for a film student's graduate project. The shoot was to be done by 8pm, but inevitably overran so it was nearly midnight before I got home. Still, a lot of fun. I'm also directing an amateur production of the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses, so that's eating at least three nights a week of my time.

Spent much of Saturday catching up on my TV drama research, watching two Doctors eps [including a cracking all-serial effort from Friday, written by Claire Bennett], the return of Waterloo Road, this week's Holby City and some EastEnders by top bloke and Writers' Academy graduate Paul Campbell. Hard to feed my Good Wife addiction amidst all this British continuing drama.

Speaking of the Writers' Academy, the annual BBC scheme to train scribes in the ways of scripting Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City is now open to applications. To be eligible you've got to have at least one professional (paid) drama commission in film, TV, radio or theatre. Then it's the quality of your writing sample that decides whether or not you get further.

I've been eligible since my first radio play was broadcast in 2006, and applied twice without much success. No shame in that, up to 100 people try out annually for each of the eight available academy places. Apparently my 2008 entry got past the first sift, but not an invitation to the workshop day. I didn't apply last year, having committed myself to the uni teaching gig.

But now it's decision time again. I'm a lot further down the road than I was two years ago. Back then I'd just completed a successful trial for Doctors, was pretty fresh off my screenwriting MA and only had a 15-minute radio play as my qualification. Since then I've been on the Doctors shadow scheme, had my first Doctors ep broadcast and sundry secret projects progressing.

I'm a better writer, but still have so much to learn. Getting into the academy would be a great leap forwards, but it's far from being the only path. I didn't need it to get my first drama commission, or secure representation from a London agent. There are plenty of writers who've broken through recently [e.g. Danny Stack, Michelle Lipton] without being in the academy.

Getting in would be a dream come true - and a massive upheaval. It'd mean leaving my wife, my home and my friends for three months to live in London. It'd mean giving up the teaching job I enjoy for at least one trimester, if not for good. It's the fast track to EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City - but it's not the only route to writing those shows, those opportunities.

So, it's decision time. Fortunately the deadline isn't until May 5th. In the meantime, I've got a script to be writing. Onwards!

Kittens, Elbow do Charlie's Angels song

In honour of John Forsythe, the voice of Charlie's Angels, here's an unlikely cover version of the Destiny's Child song Independent Woman - with kittens on animation. All kinds of wrong, but it works. Sort of.

A good man always knows his limitations

Over at his blog Dom Carver wonders is 41 too old to still be pursuing a writing career? The answer is yes, no and maybe - but it depends on individual circumstances. There are many novelists who haven't enjoyed success until after later in life. The best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series was published when author Sandy McCall Smith was closer to 50 than 40.

Writers on the TV series Skins have an average age of 21, but co-creator Bryan Elsley is more than double that age. The BBC Writers' Academy trains people to write for continuing drama, and takes writers ranging from early 20s into their 40s and beyond. It can be argued some areas of writing favour younger people, but I'd suggest age is not the key factor in determining success.

Perhaps a more pertinent question is how long should you pursue the dream of a writing career? Is there some statute of limitations on achieving your goals, or your dreams? A commonly held wisdom suggests it takes 5-10 years to become a successful screenwriter. Quite how you define that success is another debate, so let's just call it making a living from writing for the screen.

Five years ago I chose to shift focus from writing tie-in tales across various media to screenwriting. Since then I've completed an MA, won a prize and been a finalist for several more, had a radio play broadcast, secured representation by a London agent and got my first TV drama credit. Am I making a living solely from writing for the screen? Not yet, but I'm getting there.

Along the way I've dipped my toe in certain waters to see if they're a good fit for me. [Excuse the mixed metaphor.] Sketch comedy writing? Not so much. Children's show? A specialist area, the jury's still out. Continuing drama? Loving it. Feature films? Not there yet. Script editing? Seems I'm too old to get an entry level position in that field. Radio drama? Loving it, more to come there [I hope].

These efforts have been a means of learning what I do well naturally, what I can learn to do well and what doesn't suit me at all. There's an apposite quote in the 1973 Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force: "A good man always knows his limitations." There's no shame in admitting you don't do something well. Me, I can't write sketch comedy, so I don't pursue it as a career.

In his excellent book Making It As a Screenwriter [available here, all proceeds to Childline], Adrian Mead has a reality checklist. Among the questions he asks: Are you still struggling to get your break and become a professional screenwriter, despite years of effort? Adrian's tough but cruel advice - make everyone happy, get another hobby.

I aspired to being a professional actor, long ago. Even auditioned for the New Zealand school of drama, the only place in my home country you could train for that career at the time. Didn't get in. I knew things weren't going well at the audition when the examiner laughed during my tragic speech from Hamlet. Ouch. I wasn't good enough. So I concentrated my energies elsewhere.

I still enjoy amateur dramatics, both acting and directing. It was a blow to realise I'd never be a professional actor, but I got over it. So if you've been slogging away for a few too many years without achieving any of your major goals [you've been setting goals for yourself, right?], then maybe it is time to give up. Remember: A good man always knows his limitations. Onwards!

Eastercon, sore feet and missing Carlos

Spent much of the weekend at Eastercon near London's Heathrow airport. I don't go to many conventions or conferences - or almost any, if I'm honest. Used to be a requirement of my job as a comics editor, and that gave me an aversion to spending my free time in mediocre hotels and conference centres. Pay me and I'm happily bounce along. Otherwise, I'd rather be somewhere else.

But Eastercon offers the chance to mingle with lots of other writers and editors, most of whom I know. So we get to catch up on life, work and the marketplace. It coincides with the new series of Doctor Who, and getting to see a new episode in the company of 600+ plus eager people all crammed into one room is a rare treat. [Stellar job by Moffat and company, by the way.]

I went to Eastercon in Bradford last year as a way of marketing the new Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University. I hadn't intended to go again so soon, but legendary 2000AD artist Carlos Ezquerra was a guest of honour and I offered to interview him on stage. Sadly, family illness prevented Carlos from attending [fingers crossed for a quick recovery by Conchita].

Nevertheless I went along, did my panels and spent the rest of my time standing on hard marble floors in shoes built for style, not comfort. Ouch. Most of Eastercon was spent in an atrium with next to no seats, never an ideal plan. I was grateful to be staying down the road in a considerably better designed Marriott, it provided a welcome retreat from con madness.

Got back home very late Sunday, spent much of yesterday doing the writing I didn't get done while at the con. Sigh. I persist in dragging my ten-tonne laptop to distant hotels and never using it, most learn to trust pen and paper more. Back teaching at uni this Thursday and Friday, so I've plenty to get done before then. Onwards!

Barack Obama tours top secret US Govt. Vault

President Barack Obama recently visited M.O.G.U.L., a US Government repository for new technology and science vaults in New Mexico. The following photos were only intended for staff at the facility, but have since leaked on to the internet. Debate is now raging about the significance of these images. Go here to see more of these images before they get taken down...