Bang - it's 2014!

The new year has begun with a bang: during the first week and a half, I already finished an essay and a two-page project outline for university. On top of that, I returned to my job in the office and begun to pack up my things, as I am moving to a new place at the end of the month. However, I have to admit that I quite like being a busy bee.

I spent an amazing Christmas in the English countryside with my boyfriend's family. It was my second Christmas without my family, so I felt very homesick, especially on Christmas Eve. However, Christmas Day was amazing! Everyone made me feel very welcome and loved so I ended up having a really nice, relaxing time. Having time off from everything was really good as well. I allowed myself to do nothing for a good five days, and then slowly returned to work-mode by picking up university work. And on Monday, I returned to work in the office.

Writing-wise, I have just begun work on my final university project, due in December 2014. We were asked to choose between writing a 90-page feature film or 60 pages of original TV, and I really struggled with my decision. While I've always wanted to write television and create my own show, I was under the impression that most production companies, even when their work focuses on TV, ask to see a film script instead of TV script. According to my understanding, this is mainly due to the fact that film tends to tell a complete story with a distinct beginning, middle and end, illustrating the writer's ability to keep a story together.

Fortunately, we were told that while we were to choose one or the other as our main project, we could pursue the other as a minor project. I felt relieved that we could do both, but the dilemma persisted. Which one should I choose as my main one?

After careful consideration, I finally decided to focus on a feature and pursue TV as a second project, aspiring to write a script for that, too. Now I don't want to say too much about my two projects, but I do have distinct ideas for both, but they might still change considerably. The feature is a science fiction thriller set in space while the TV project is a dark drama set in post-WWI London.

So yeah, that's it for now. Blog-wise, I've changed the layout - do like the new background? I made it myself from illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson. A romantic writer girl at work...

Plans for the bank holiday weekend: Mini-getaway and a writing spree

The month of August has whizzed by at a skyrocketing speed. September is knocking and my birthday draws near again. How can time fly by so fast?

For the past few weeks, I have been slowly trying to return to the university mode. Yesterday, I went to the university library and did some research on a summer project we should finish. So, for the next few weeks, I have two academic projects to work on: analysing a television show and conducting an interview with a contemporary UK screenwriter. In addition, I should submit three original script ideas and prepare to pitch an original TV show idea. These are all exciting projects, and I already have a few ideas that I want to pursue, so I am feeling quite energetic and enthusiastic about it all. 

And so, it is a bank holiday weekend, which I will be spending in the Cotswolds countryside with my other half. The aim is to do some work on these above-mentioned university projects and to enjoy a relaxing, quiet weekend getaway from London. It is a really beautiful area, I might post photos later. Toodles! 

Summer's almost gone...

...where will we be, when the summer's gone?

It is mid-August, and I have to say, the summer has just flown by. Not only has the weather been full of warmth and sunshine, my personal life has been so as well. I have found romance and been quite productive in terms of writing, so things are all good.

Although I have played around with a few script ideas, I have not been doing a lot of screenwriting. Instead, I wrote a short theatre play for the Little Pieces of Gold contest, which showcases new writing talent by choosing a handful of plays and showcases them at the Park Theatre in London. I'm not sure if my play, Shelter, was quite what they were looking for, but I am glad I managed to write it all the same. My first theatre play!

To conclude, here's a little song from the Doors to entertain you. It is playing in my head on repeat!

Looking for Prince Charming!

As a single London chick, the end of the week is always dedicated to romantic optimism. You convince yourself that this weekend, you will meet someone lovely and you will begin a beautiful journey, which will lead to expensive rings and happy honeymoons. Nightclubbing and the weekends are all about living a fairytale, from looking like a princess to attending a ball, finding your prince there and living happily ever after.

Needless to say, when you lie on your bed on Sunday morning; shaking, sweating and sipping bland tap water; you feel like an utter fool. No numbers were exchanged, no one interesting came up to you, or if they did, you cannot really tell, as it was far too loud in the bar and you were a bit too intoxicated to register their interest. Prince Charming was nowhere in sight, and neither was his second-cousin, or third-cousin, for that matter. Instead, you spent way too much money, your feet ache from wearing high stilettos, you feel like shit and the memory of all the ineligible bachelors squeezing your bum while passing you by angers you. So what was the point of it all?

Hey, at least you're going out and not staying in feeling sorry for yourself. Besides, it is fun to maintain the illusion that night clubbing is beneficial to your cause. Dressing up is fun, drinking makes you convinced you'll find that perfect someone, holding a cocktail makes you look rich and fun, dancing (even two-stepping in stilettos) burns off some of the calories acquired from drinking, and hanging out with your friends is always fun-tastic. Fun, fun, fun, right?

Last weekend, I ventured into two nightclubs in my quest of making my fairytale fantasy a reality. First up, on Friday night, was Chinawhite, and on Saturday, Jalouse. Despite their cool reputations, my intoxicated state and my alcohol-infused confidence, I did not enjoy the two places very much. The chart-topping music was hardly exciting, and the men in the club were very, very pushy and just looking to score a chick for the night. You would think that all the money you spend would be able to 'buy' you a good evening without sleazy men who ask you to join them for a 'hanky panky' and girls with fake - well, everything - but no. These places were seedy, and no fun. 

So while the fairytale illusion of meeting the prince at a ball is overtaken by sleaziness and seediness, there is hope for us chickadees yet :-) The cocktail lounge Match Bar had a really good, friendly atmosphere, and the lounge DJ played really good, upbeat tunes. And, no, you did not have to shout when talking to your friends, so it was the perfect bar for catching up, too. And yes, there were cute guys around, but I did not really get to speak to many, as we had a private booth and a private party. No sight of the Prince Charming though, but his third-cousins were there. So maybe he'll turn up at the Match Bar sometime soon... I know I will!

So no, I did not meet Prince Charming yet. As the chances of meeting him in a night club seem relatively slim, I have given in and joined a dating website. So far, it has been alright, and there are far more eligible men there than there are in the two night clubs I visited. There is a certain old-school romantic feel about sending little messages to the guys you come across there, and then, perhaps, going out on a date with them. It is quite exciting. So maybe my Prince Charming is waiting for me online instead? I will keep you posted ;-)