Autumn of artsy adventures begins

Autumn has reached London, and with it, a new university term focussing on idea development has began. During our first lecture last week, I submitted my summer elective, an analysis of the problems and solutions in sustaining a long-running television series, as well as three ideas for an original project, all of which enabled me to take another mandatory step towards acquiring those fabulous, juicy carrots I'm pursuing – a master's degree and a career in screenwriting.

I was also given my term two marks, and I was quite pleased. My overall mark was B-, which is also what I received for my script. We were working with adaptations, so I had to choose a short story (R.L. Stevenson's The Body-Snatcher) and write a 30-minute adaptation from it. I was not entirely happy with the piece when I submitted it, and knew it was only a 'first draft', thus the comments made by my marker were well justified: 'although a very strong piece of work, the script could still benefit from tightening the focus of the action and the dialogue to make it sizzle'. As a result, I have spent some time re-working the outline and the dramatic focus, and playing around with the project. I have dozens of ideas, which can hopefully lead to improvements that will make the script 'sizzle'.

My main focus, however, has been on re-working my first university project, a 10-minute short film script that I named A Matter of Time. Reading it now, I am quite horrified by it, and agree that a lot of further work needs to be done for it. It lacks a clear, cohesive structure, the dialogue is far from perfect, and some events could be scrapped altogether. It definitely takes priority over the adaptation, as it is an original piece of work, and I need to have more original work in my portfolio.

So, overall, I am looking forward to the challenges this autumn will bring along writing and study-wise. I have to say, I am quite excited to be writing and creating again. Let's hope this lasts :-)

Almost there - Summer holidays are near!

Oh, the bliss! I submitted the first draft of my 30-minute adaptation script last Thursday!

Words cannot express how relieved I felt. The project had stressed me for several weeks, up to a point where I had turned into a paranoid hermit. I lashed out to my close friends and family, sported black bags under my eyes, experienced trouble sleeping and caved in to my little room with tea pots and chocolates. I did not register I was turning into a living dead until I submitted my work, and then it hit me: I felt exhausted. It's like all the stress had been building up inside my body and at that moment, it escaped as one giant lump.

The mere feeling of adding the draft to my folder of 'Writing Projects' (which is basically a folder where I keep all my 'finished' script printouts) was simply amazing - although I doubt I will be graded very highly on the project (grading is really tough on my course), the joy of accomplishing it made me a very happy girl indeed.

It is slightly ironic that despite the exhaustion, I find my fingers lusting after the keyboard in order to start working on new projects. My mind is full of ideas and I am anxious to start working on them. However, I must wait - I still have an essay and some reports to finish before term two finishes. So until that dull work is done, I will have to keep my fingers and mind at bay. Hopefully my inspiration to write will not disappear during the next few weeks... So given this, I assume I am pursuing the right career for me? I should join Work-a-holics Anonymous!

First term over, first draft ready - First impressions of a screenwriting student

Within the first three months of this new year, my little London existence has changed quite dramatically - in my terms, anyway. Some big, exciting changes have taken place, which have made me a very happy lass indeed.

In January, I was finally able to start pursuing the art that had brought me to London in the first place - screenwriting. As a result, my days have been primarily dedicated to combining office work with university lectures, reading, project planning, and finally - writing. It has taken me hours and hours to actually get to the writing stage, and I must admit that it has been a lot more work than I thought it would be. Sadly, I have been ignoring my friends and turned into a bit of a hermit, but hopefully, it will be worth it in the end.

I have greatly enjoyed my first term, which has now come to an end. And... I have a first draft of a short film script to show for it! While I won't post the entire script online, here is a short premise to give you an idea of what the story is about:

A Matter of Time
On the day of her induction to the Clockmakers' Guild, 20-year-old Alice is visited by a mysterious woman from a distant time. This prompts Alice to re-evaluate her future goals, her heart and her own interests, and to question her suitability to the family tradition of clockmaking.

As for the next term, I can hardly wait. Our next project will be a 30-minute adaptation, and I've already been reading a wide range of short stories. I am starting to lean towards Victorian ghost stories or science fiction, but we'll see.

Overall, I am really excited to be pursuing this course. It is going to be a lot more work in the future, but being able to do the course has made me incredibly happy. This is my calling, let's hope I may flourish in it.