I have discovered the Sky Arts channel. After hearing that I had
failed my interview for a permanent contract with my company, where I've been
for a year and a half now, Google and I sat down to reassess my life. This, of
course, needs background telly.
I flicked through
the channels, hoping to find something other than endless repeats of Friends
(though there is nothing wrong with endless repeats of Friends), and I noticed a
program called 'Screenwriting Lecture Series'. I stuck it on.
It was really
interesting and helpful - BAFTA and Sky Arts had got together to create a series of lectures by various screenwriters, sharing their experience and
giving advice about screenwriting. The first was lead by William Nicholson
(writer of Gladiator), and his words were very interesting and inspiring.
He talked about
the role and responsibility of the screenwriter, bursting the illusion that
they 'just write dialogue'. He spoke about the importance of knowing
characters well in order to really capture their emotions and let us in on his
personal trick of always knowing the ending before he starts to write. He spoke
very strongly and passionately about the discipline of writing, which I really
needed to hear.
The series was
actually first broadcast in August last year, but it looks like they are
repeating it on Thursdays. I thought I would mention it, if anyone has access
to Sky, and hasn't already seen it, it might be worth a look.
Hi Nariyou , thanks for letting us know about the screenwriting lectures, I am going to put them on series link.
ReplyDeleteHaving been involved in a screenwriting group for the last couple of years, I have found it takes a lot of self restraint to keep dialogue to a minimum. A lot of the scripts that were brought to the group had hardly any dialogue at all . I love dialogue too much, but then I write comedy, so how am I going to get my funny lines out? Some of those old repeats of Friends bears testimony to that with their rapid fire one liners.
Nevertheless, it is good practice for novelists to show rather than tell.
Good luck with your job hunting Nari, I'm sure you will have a great career ahead of you. Your creativity will hold you in good stead.