How to actually sit down and read someone’s script…
It’s quite hard to do, right? Sometimes you’d rather fashion yourself a smart-casual jacket out your script pile than actually read one of them.
Despite being obsessed with the things, some days even I find myself struggling to muster the motivation to actually sit down and open a new script. Especially if, for instance, it’s a densely-packed political drama or a fantasy storyworld that’s been rendered in great detail on the page. Something that’s going to make my brain hurt a bit, at first!
Script feedback, and letting go of what other people think…
Receiving feedback on your work can be really agonising, especially if you’re an introspective person (i.e. all writers!). But as a screenwriter, working with feedback is part of the deal. The key is not taking it personally, and not letting it hinder your creativity going forward. But how on earth do you do that?
The number 1 thing screenwriters grapple with when writing for audio…
When writing a dramatic scene for your fiction podcast series, ask yourself, “Where is the mic in this scene?” It’s the same thing as asking, “Where are my listeners in this scene?” (because your listeners hear exactly what the microphone hears). The fixed microphone is the way you communicate the mise-en-scène to your audience. It’s something TV and film writers never need to think about, but in audio it’s integral to a scene making sense.
Let’s work together