Writers' Block

Go! Go! Go!

2010-04-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

You may have read my post about Home Truths.

Well, last night I went to see the three plays:

The Reading Group (Fay Weldon)
Sour Graps and Ashes (Nick Warburton)
The Last Bread Pudding (Nick Warburton)

All three plays were excellent. The acting by Gill Somerscales, Mary Drennan and Claire Winterbottom was excellent. Jon Price was a little shaky, as was David Smith but St Peters Players is an amateur production company and to learn, rehearse and polish three 50 minute plays when you only started in January is to be commended.

I have written a detailed review for Daily Information (www.dailyinfo.co.uk) and anyway a review of one of the plays (performed by different actors) is here.

The plays, apparently, are comedies. Well, there is some laughter (especially for the third play) but in the main serious points are made. The programme notes say:

'These three one-act plays all see buried truths - sometimes troubling, sometimes inspiring, sometimes simply bizarre - finding their way to the surface...'

For £5 (if you get a concession) you receive almost three hours of entertainment.

Incredible value for money.

Here are some of the actors - in other roles...

This time it's POLITICAL!

2010-04-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Made from Scratch Theatre are putting on an Election Night Special!

May 1st at the Cockpit Theatre 8pm.

Tickets are £6.

This is how you get there....

So, what is special about THIS Scratch Night?

NINE NEW PLAYS
NEW WRITERS
NEW TALENT

Tickets can be booked here....

Made From Scratch theatre's Facebook page is here

Theatre Screen Shot

2010-04-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

Theatre

Oooops!

Home Truths

2010-04-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have suddenly become aware of St Peter's Players (Wolvercote).

It seems an excellent organisation:

St. Peter's Players is a small, friendly group committed to producing theatre which is enjoyable and interesting for both our members and our audiences.

All are welcome to participate either backstage or "in front" without audition. We have no fixed roles within the group and as such all members have the opportunity to act, work back stage or direct, for example, if they so choose.

All are welcome. While not directly connected to the church, we maintain close links with both the parish and community of Wolvercote. Even so, we are not exclusive to Wolvercote with current membership extending from High Wycombe to deepest West Oxfordshire.

St. Peter's Players sprang first into life in the 1930s and were formally constituted in 1955 with the then Vicar of Wolvercote, Michael Ottaway, as Chairman, a post he held until 1981. Since the first production "Mr Pim Passes By", many feet have trod the boards in dramas, comedies and musicals. We now produce three shows a year in Wolvercote, including a musical show at Christmas when we try to involve the local children. We also participate in local drama festivals where productions and individual performances are often commended.

Source...

Go and see their play! In fact THREE plays about secrets and lives.

Tickets: £7/£5

Check out previous productions....

Theatre Names

2010-04-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some:

Academy

Adelphi

Apollo

Arcadian

Aster

Avenue

Bayview (Fine Arts)

Beach

Beaver

Bedford

Bellevue

Belsize

Beverly

Biltmore

Birchcliff

Bloor

Bloordale

Bluebell

Bonita

Brighton

Broadview

Broadway

Brock

Cameo

Carlton

Casino

Centre

Chateau

Christie

Circle

Classic

College

Community

Coronet

Crescent

Crown

Downtown

Eastern s Ltd

Eastwood

Eaton

Eclipse

Eglinton

Elektra

Embassy

Esquire

Fairlawn

Fox

Glendale

Guild

Hart House

Hillcrest

Hollywood

Hudson

Humber

Hyland

Ideal

Imperial

Iola

King

King's Playhouse

Kingsway

Lansdowne

La Plaza

La-Salle

Loew's

Madison

Major

Massey Hall

Mayfair

Mount Dennis

New Grant

New Strand

Nortown

Oakwood

Odeon

Oriole

Orpheum

Palace

Paradise

Paramount

Parkdale

Parliamont

Photodrome

Pickford

Playhouse

Prince of Wales

Queen

Radio City

Regent

Renne

Rex

Rialto

Rio

Royal Alexandra

Royal George

Royal

Royce

Runnymede

Twentieth Century

Uptown

Weston

York

Given the mission statement suggested in the previous post, though, 'Fusion Theatre' seems like a good name.

Unfortunately, I am not the first person to think that...neither am I the second....(nice website btw). If the words are reversed we even have this one...

So what about Disparate Theatre - no-one else seems to have it...

Mission Statements

2010-04-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

Mission Statements - what are they?

"A mission statement one of the most important things a company should do," says veteran community theatre consultant Twink Lynch. "It's one of the first things a company should do when it starts out, and it's a good idea to look it over every once in a while as the years go by."

Why is a mission statement important? For one thing, it crystallizes just why you formed your group in the first place. It also helps others to know just what you're all about. It lets company members, your audience and the arts community know what you are and what you stand for. And as the years go by, it helps newcomers to understand as well. It also helps keep you on track. For it's too easy to spread yourself too thin, or to go off in directions for which you're not equipped.

A mission statement or artistic statement is a shared vision of what your company is all about. Here are some examples from around the country:

Waimea Community Theatre, Kamuela, HI
Mission: To provide an outlet for creative community involvement, while seeking to produce quality entertainment

Raleigh Little Theatre, Raleigh, NC
Raleigh Little Theatre is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior theatre experience.

Looking Glass Theatre, Providence, RI
The mission of The Looking Glass Theatre is three-fold: First, to create participatory theater, to involve a core group of students physically, emotionally, and intellectually with actors prior to performance to present a collaborative effort. Second: to adapt contemporary prose and poetry to inspire the desire to read. Third: to create original material revolving around social issues and values pertinent to the lives of young people.

San Jose Repertory Theatre, San Jose, CA
San Jose Rep's mission is to stimulate, celebrate and enhance understanding of ourselves and others through the shared experience of live theatre by producing new plays and classics marked by innovative interpretations and a reflection and inclusion of our community and the world in which we live.

Weathervane Community Playhouse , Akron, Ohio
The mission of Weathervane Community Playhouse is to entertain, inform, and educate, thereby enriching the cultural life of the Greater Akron area. Weathervane shall provide area residents the opportunity both to attend and to participate in quality presentations of a cross-section of the finest theatrical works available. Weathervane shall provide education in the theater arts to adults and children. In meeting these goals, Weathervane shall be mindful of the standards of its audiences and shall maintain fiscally sound management.

Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH
The mission of Cleveland Public Theatre is to inspire, nurture, challenge, amaze, educate and empower artists and audiences, in order to make the Cleveland Public a more conscious and compassionate community.
Cleveland Public Theatre is an alternative performance company with a priority commitment to help develop original theatre artists from our area -- particularly those whose work is experimental in form and/or challenging in content. We are known as one of the nation's leading experimental & political performance venues, sponsoring much dance, music, poetry, and performance art as well as theatre. We sponsor several multi-cultural ensembles and function as an artistic home for dozens of self-producing artists.
CPT's intent is to utilize the performing arts to make the Cleveland public a more conscious and compassionate community. During this season we hope to inspire in all of us the willingness to explore new ideas and generate dialogues concerning class, the social order and economic justice.

Tallahassee Little Theatre, Tallahassee, FL
The mission of the Tallahassee Little Theatre is to create opportunities for community participation in enriching theatrical experiences. Our focus is on inclusion and quality, giving the public a well-balanced theatrical season, and striving to meet with excellence all of the demands placed on a community theatre.
TLT will accomplish its mission by:
A. Continuing to produce eight or more theatrical productions of high artistic quality each year;
B. Increasing the theatre's impact on and service to the community; and
C. Generating the necessary resources and efficiently managing those resources in support of the first two goals.

Elgin Community Theatre, Elgin, Il
The mission of the Elgin Community Theatre is:

To produce a broad range of theatrical presentations of the highest possible quality;

To provide hand-on learning experiences in all aspects of theatre production and management;

To provide a program of educational experiences in all aspects of theatre for youth and adults;

To celebrate the achievements of our volunteers and staff;

To provide value for our many valued supporters;

To join with other community theaters for mutual assistance and enrichment.

Central Stage Theatre of County Kitsap, Silverdale, WA
To provide a community-based musical and dramatic performing arts organization for the purposes of:

Presenting quality family entertainment.

Creating opportunities for children and adults to develop talents in all aspects of theatre arts.

Providing recognition and support to encourage the youth of Kitsap County.

Objectives supporting this mission statement are:

To sponsor approximately five productions per year which will be
predominantly musicals, two of which will be productions for children.

To be recognized as a significant cultural asset by the local
community.

To develop and draw from local talent to the maximum extent possible.

To enhance development of youth in the theatre arts through cooperative
ventures with local schools via workshops and sharing of resources.

To sustain and increase recognition and financial support to talented
youth through scholarships and other means.

Clayton Community Theatre, Clayton, MO
The Clayton Community Theatre is a not-for-profit organization in cooperation with the School District of Clayton and City of Clayton, whose membership includes any person interested in its objectives, which are to:

Provide fun and entertainment to the community in a theatrical venue;

Express artistic, civic and educational abilities and interests in our community;

Provide quality entertainment through theatrical productions;

Showcase local talent; and

Bring an enjoyable theatrical experience to our community.

Source....

Here's another one:

"Our goal is pretty simple; to put on shows that people want to come and see, even if they wouldn't normally go to the theatre.

To achieve this, we put the emphasis on telling the story, making it accessible, relevant and, above all, entertaining.

From the choice of play through design and rehearsals to the performances themselves we focus on our audience; providing entertainment for a wide range of tastes and producing theatre that has true mass appeal."

Source

"The company was started by three people who wanted to entertain audiences and make them laugh (a lot!). With this in mind we created our mission statement:

“Turning pissing around into an art form.”

BIG WOW are silly, satirical, rude, and if audience reaction is to be believed, very funny. "

Source:

"Walkabout Theater Company is a collective of writers, performers, directors, designers and visual artists that have come together out of a mutual desire and compulsion to develop original work through the collaboration and exploration of varied mediums. We believe that theater at its best is a transformative experience for both audience member and performer. Through theater we grapple with humanity's questions seeking glimpses of that which is greater than ourselves."

Source:

"Mission Statement

LOST is dedicated to the advancement of the individual through the co-operation of the group. We strive to offer people the chance to explore the world of theatre in all its facets. At LOST you have the right to succeed, the right to fail - but above all the right to try.

What is LOST?

The principal object of the company shall be the promotion of the arts, with particular emphasis on youth theatre; and the advancement of education and training of children and young persons in drama.

- Extract from the Constitution of the LOST Youth Theatre Company"

Source

"We believe that all young people should have the opportunity to attend outstanding theatre, irrespective of their cultural, social or economic background. Our mission is to increase young people’s access to the best of live theatre in London (particularly those young people with limited resources, opportunities or support) and to enable them to engage creatively with that experience.

As an independent charity, Mousetrap Theatre Projects is in a unique position to select the appropriate or relevant theatre productions in and beyond the West End that stimulate and inspire young people. We devise programmes that use theatre as a catalyst to explore ideas, learn new skills, develop creativity and offer new perspectives. At the heart of our education and outreach work is the desire to open doors to young people who might otherwise consider London’s rich cultural heritage closed to them.

Core Values

To develop programmes in consultation with users and in response to an identified need
To work collaboratively with other arts and education organisations and theatres
To maintain our strategic and programming independence
To deliver our programmes with rigour, integrity and artistic excellence
To evaluate and refine programmes on a continuous basis"

Source

What about a Mission Statement for a NEW theatre - a theatre that as well as putting on plays, also provides resources for writers, actors, educators and others?

Well...one could turn to this and end up with....

We are committed to pursuing a long-term commitment to employee dignity by quality products and improved returns of the highest integrity.

or

Our efforts involve providing unquestionable personal gain with education in functionality from the bottom up.

But the key is to keep it simple. I like the Hijinx statement:

"to create high quality theatre which is accessible, entertaining and challenging for small communities throughout Wales and England."

The Enchantment Theatre one is somewhat longer:

"Enchantment Theatre Company exists to create original theater for young audiences and families. We accomplish this through the imaginative telling of stories that inspire, challenge and enrich our audiences, on stage and in the classroom. In doing so, we engage the imagination and spirit of our audience until a transformation occurs and the true grace of our mutual humanity is revealed.

We believe that theater has the power to illuminate, transform and heal.
We believe that experiencing theater is essential for children to thrive.
We believe that we have a responsibility to nurture, honor and respect the imagination of our audience.
We believe that fables, fairytales and myth stimulate intuitive thinking and encourage the possibility of mystery and magic in our lives.
We believe that theater can create community by bringing together a diverse audience encompassing all ages and backgrounds.
We believe that we have a responsibility to reach out to children and families who may not otherwise have access to the unique kind of artistic and educational experiences that we can provide.
We believe that how we work with one another matters.
We believe that creating a working environment that encourages collaboration and creativity enables artists and staff to be fully self-expressive.
We believe that including younger performers and staff in our ensemble keeps our work vital and ensures its continuity."

So, what IS the mission statement of the new theatre company?

Well, it's bringing together the experienced and the inexperienced, naive enthusiasts with professionals, able with the disabled. It's trying to provide a means by which dreams can be fulfilled, incomes guaranteed and a variety of avenues, explored.

And to allow all participants to have fun on the way.

Bringing all that together I came up with:

By the fusion of disparate talents to come up with an end product that is to the immense satisfaction of all. That end product being high quality theatre that is challenging, stimulating, educating and entertaining - and to have fun along the way.

Comments are welcome.

Playwriting Course: Oxford

2010-04-02T01:10:00.000-07:00

Read more....

9 week course - it would have been ten but there is an election in the middle....

The fees are very low - £99 - and any surplus will be ploughed back into the course participants.

Nothing goes to the tutor.

Worth a look!

Two – Day Devising Workshop OXFORD

2010-04-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Two – Day Devising Workshop

12-13^th April, 2010, 10am-4pm

The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

High St, Oxford.

£25 per person

Participants will come and explore the theatrical possibilities of storytelling through devised theatre, dance and song, in a beautiful site rich in history.

Working with ideas we will be exploring in the first outing of our new site-specific show Tightrope, which will be performed in early-May, workshop attendees will spend the two days exploring the theme of personal belief; belief in the spiritual, religion, science, magic and fairytales, to create short devised performances that will be performed throughout the site at the end of the second day.

St Mary the Virgin is an ancient church, rich in history and atmosphere, and provided Oxford University with the location of its first library, as well as being one of the law courts in which the Anglican Bishops, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, were tried and later burned at the stake by the Catholic Queen, ‘Bloody Mary’. Visit http://www.university-church.ox.ac.uk/ for further information.

Participants will have workshops in Early-English music with experts in the field, historical dance sessions with experienced choreographer and Renaissance dance expert, Diana Scrivener Blair, and sessions on creating site-specific performance with our performers and artists.

No prior knowledge of these fields, or previous experience in singing, reading music or dance is necessary, just come with a mind open to new and exciting projects!

UnderConstruction is a site-specific theatre company that was formed in 2007. We have a commitment to creating unique, participatory theatrical experiences in unusual sites, and have performed in both Britain and Brazil.

Our 2010 performance of Tightrope, is an experiment in combining contemporary devised performance, with the Early-English music of William Byrd and his contemporaries, as we want to bring this beautiful, but lesser-known period of music to new audiences in an innovative way.

Many of the ideas for Tightrope have been drawn directly out of the lyrics of some of this music, and from the personal struggles that the composers encountered through their work. Placing these stories in the site of St Mary the Virgin, we will create a new piece in collaboration with professional and volunteer performers and singers, which will be performed on 7^th and 8^th May, 2010.

If you would like to attend the two-day Easter devising workshop, please contact Artistic Director Lizzy McBain (lizzy@underconstructiontheatre.com)

One day....

2010-03-31T08:35:00.001-07:00

...this guy will be a star:

Writing a great short play: the workshop (Anna Jordan)

2010-03-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a workshop run by Anna Jordan.

Who is she?

This is Anna.

I think she looks a bit serious in this photo - believe me, she is much funnier in real life....

Anyway, the course.

This is what the blurb said:

"Do you want to write a short play? Do you need advice on where to start? Do you need help structuring your piece? Are you wondering where to send your work, or what short play festivals/competitions are out there? If so - this is the workshop for you!

In this three hour workshop, Anna Jordan -Winner of the Off Cut Short Play Festival at the Old Red Lion - will take you through ways to generate ideas, create dynamic and contrasting characters, tell a great story in a short space of time, and 'grab the audience by the balls'! "

Fair enough. The course did deliver.

But what makes a good course? It is a combination of factors:

a. the street cred of the presenter
b. the content of the course itself
c. the environment in which the course is delivered
d. the group attending if the course has an emphasis on participation
e. after-course follow-up

Certainly, Anna has the street cred.

"Anna trained as an actor at LAMDA. Fed up with being out of work she started writing her own parts, and has since gone from strength to strength as a playwright and director. Anna started Without a Paddle Theatre in 2006 and has since been writing, directing and producing her own work. Her plays include Marianne's Heart, which was developed on the Royal Court Playwriting Course and received a rehearsed reading at the Trafalgar Studios. It was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Royal Exchange Playwriting Prize in 2008, and will have a full production at the New Wimbledon Studio Theatre in 2010.

Just For Fun – Totally Random, a play about youth and violence, showed at LAMDA and the New End Theatre, Hampstead as part of the Lost One Act Festival 2009 to critical acclaim, and it won the Best New Writing Award. Just For Fun - Totally Random was on recently along with We Will Be Gone, a piece about the Chelsea Royal Hospital as part of a double bill called Youth & Age at Camden Peoples Theatre. Anna's short play, Closer to God, recently won the Off Cut Festival - the prize for which is a week long run of a play written by Anna at the Old Red Lion in 2010. It also won the audience award, voted favourite in the festival by over 250 people. Anna has had rehearsed readings of her work at Theatre 503. Anna met the fabulous Charlie Swallow while she was resident director for several months at Stand Up Drama – London Bites. Anna and Charlie are London Event Organisers for Artists Anonymous."

Source: Without a Paddle Theatre Company

The course was spread over three hours - with only a short break in the middle. I was delayed in arriving because of this and thus arrived 30 minutes late. No matter. Anna made me feel welcome - and then continued delivering the course.

The content of the course matched the description. Anna has written several plays and knows exactly what is required - and the problems that scriptwriters face. She also knows how to run a workshop - not dissimilar from teaching. Not too much lecturing - more on group participation. Last year I ran revision courses that finished at 1 am - and so I know how hard it is to maintain the attention of the course attendees.

The third element: the environment. The course was run at Lost Theatre. The room was big enough but...sweltering hot. No fan - when according to this the charges can be quite high....

The fourth element is the participants. Well, apart from the fact that I was probably double/triple the age of most of the participants - and yet they have more experience in scriptwriting than I do - the group seemed to gell well. no-one was shy in coming forward - and all added to the evening. Clearly some/all are actors - their enunciation put my feeble mutterings to shame. Interestingly, when I spoke to some of the attendees and asked them how they were going to make sure their plays were performed they simply replied: "We will put on the show ourselves..."

Tomorrow's entrepreneurs - very impressive.

The final element of any successful course is the follow-up. Anna asked for ideas and information about competitions etc and these will be circulated to attendees. That's good - it shows that the course didn't finish at 10pm but there is an element of follow-up.

So, overall, how was the course?

Excellent - and I strongly suggest to anyomne interested in becoming a playwright that they attend any course where Anna is the lead instructor. In fact, if you write to her (email address on the site ) she just might send you a copy of her play.

I hope the network continues - all of us are novices and we can all help each other. Maybe Anna will run more courses - I hope so. Her style is engaging, funny, lively and passionate. She brings experience, knowledge and expertise to the course - and seems a good person as well!

Oxford Fringe - 1

2010-03-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

The Big Bite-Size Soiree: OFS Studio 24-27^th March Produced by Bite Size org

Before I formally start this review I want to make one thing really clear: this is an excellent show and everyone should go. Tremendous value for money – one hour of near-flawless comedy. I will be telling the writing groups I am a member of, to go plus any and everyone else.

OK – that said, the show is not without its flaws, its elements of unease.

The Soiree consists of six pieces of work varying in quality of writing but all with a high level of acting performance.

The first piece is entitled ‘Tangled Net’ and stars Philip Dunn (Only Free Men, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern), Kate Willis (Confusions, Sketchy at Best) and Clive Wedderburn (ITV’s The Bill). The playlette concerns the transmission of emails from and to various parties as a suitor (Philip) tries to woo Kate by sending emails. Unfortunately her Father (Clive) becomes involved – to much hilarity and confusion all round. Excellent use of the typewriter – and the whole storyline makes sense. I was surprised, though, that there were no jokes built round cc, bcc, worms, spellings, smileys or ambiguity in emails.

The second piece is Celebrity and stars Hannah Brain (Games we Play, Intimate Encounters). Hannah plays someone who is seeking to be a CELEBRITY and becomes more and more hysterical as the play progresses. Each section of the play lasts for just a few minutes. Hannah rushes off stage and reappears in between the other plays. In this way she knits the evening together. In addition it allows the movement of props for the next play – but this movement is seen as part of ‘Celebrity’. During the play Hannah asks who remembers the first winner of Big Brother. It was Craig Phillips who then gave his winnings away. Given Hannah’s background in Psychology, care and social work, it is surprising the character made no reference to this. Equally surprising was the missed opportunity of humour aimed at Kinga and her use of a wine bottle (BB6)

The third piece is entitled ‘The Train Stops Here’ and stars Clive Wedderburn, Lewis Reid (Lewis, Up and Under) and Steve Coulson (My Mate Fancies you, Something Gnawing at Me). Lewis is a suicide bomber. Some neat lines ‘posthumous death’ and use of the mobile phone but, I felt, having introduced Islam, Christianity and God into the play why not have more jokes aimed at these faiths. If this is politically incorrect then why not have a ‘super being’ and an unidentified religion/faith’ allowing jokes aimed at the fake religion’s beliefs – and the Superbeing could also have a beard. It seemed to me that this playlette brought in some reality and then ignored it.

The fourth piece is ‘Tell Someone Who Cares’ and stars Kate Willis and Lucy Turner (Funny as a Crutch). The play concerns two people who say one thing to each other but actually think something different – which they share with the audience. This has been done in Oxford by another group (Playbites at the Oxford Playhouse). Nonetheless, the script is excellent, fast, witty – and the actors (especially Kate) show their versatility.

The fifth piece is Cake on a Plate and stars Kirrily Long (Noises Off, The Furtive Fortunes of Fickle Fate). Kirrily is the sole actor in this piece. She plays the role of a teacher dealing with a less-than-attentive class. As a teacher, this, for me, was the best of the playlettes. Joyce Grenfell updated! Very realistic – at one point Kirrily eyeballed me and told me to take off my headphones. I did a double-check…This monologue was really, really good and all credit to the writer Gina Schien as well as the actor.

The final piece is ‘Nice People’ starring Clive Wedderburn and Lucy Turner. The play concerns a bank robber (Lucy) who is madly in love with someone she took hostage (Clive) . I felt this would have gained if there had been a flashback to show the robbery, perhaps lasting a minute. This to be shown on a separate part of the stage. Also the photo opportunity could have been a photo for the prison mug shot.

One final point in this long review.

The ticket price. £8 is excellent value for money BUT if you buy online then the price can be £12.65 which is disgraceful. However, there is the option to avoid this fee by booking in person at the OFS or New Theatre Box Offices, or by calling the OFS Studio direct on 0844 844 0662.

As said at the beginning, this is a fantastic production with wonderful actors, fast, well-timed delivery. Go see it!

Also, check this out....

Election....

2010-03-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

Competitions

2010-02-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

This looks an essential site

Is it worth joining this?

What is Twitter?

2010-01-31T13:27:00.001-08:00

What is Twitter?
At its simplest, Twitter is a mini-blog where you record your thoughts or what you are up to in 140 characters or less. The enforced brevity of the service keeps the chat pithy; users often highlight favourite stories on the web, post pictures or talk about news or TV shows.

How do I sign up?
Simply go to Twitter.com and sign up. It is an easy-to-use, free service.

What's the difference between Twitter and Facebook?
Twitter is a bit like status updates on Facebook. Unlike other social networking sites, it's not about connecting with people you know, it's about following people that interest you. Crucially, in Twitter you choose whose updates to “follow”. They appear automatically on your home page. Most people begin with a circle of friends but many find that they break out of this circle once they become regular users.

How many people use it?
Analysts estimate that there are 1.2 million active users, posting more than 2.25 million tweets every day. It is particularly popular in the UK (there are more Twitterers in London than any other city in the world).

FIVE TWITTER TIPS

1 Find some people to follow. Use the “find people” feature or search for subjects (go to search.twitter.com) that you might be interested in. Check the profiles of people who are following others who you follow. Try out a few. Follow at least 30 people to get a lively home page. Then start posting your updates. Don't expect many to follow you immediately. It will take some time and those you follow do not automatically follow you.

2 Be short and sweet. Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to “tweeting”, so don't use your 140 characters every time. Keep it light and chatty. Some tweet ten times an hour, some ten times a month. Tweet as often as you have something to say and your network will build. If you attack people, people will shun you. Use Tiny URL to turn long web addresses such as http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/ the_web/article5565696.ece into this: http://tiny.cc/hzYBB

3 Observe the etiquette. If someone you follow posts an interesting update or link - copy and paste it into your update box with RT (retweet) at the start and post it.

4 Reply to someone by putting @ at the front of the name of the person you are responding to. Even if they are not following you, they are alerted to your post. Remember everyone can see these. If you want to message someone privately put a D or DM in front of the name and then your message.

5 Experiment. Twitter.com is a great platform but it is not very user-friendly - try one of the applications that outside developers have built: a favourite is Tweetdeck but there are also Twhirl and Twitterific. These give you a stand-alone home page where you can search Twitter, and they provide instant URL shortening, @ replies and retweeting, among other things.

Twitter is not for business

2010-01-31T13:26:00.001-08:00

I think there are several fundamental reasons why companies are unsuited to microblogging, not least the fact that: 1) Twitter relies on people having realtime conversations, and, as you’ll know if you have ever applied for a job, filed a customer service complaint or pitched for business, companies are incapable of doing anything on a realtime basis. Corporations don’t shoot the breeze: they spend ages dwelling on things, commission market research, consult consultants and then, when the moment has well and truly passed, they broadcast. Hence, advertising and corporate Twitter accounts that read like a stream of press releases.

2) Twitter requires users to be brief — keeping tweets to a maximum of 140 characters — and, as you’ll know if you have ever attended an AGM, read a company report or sat through a PowerPoint presentation, large organisations are institutionally incapable of getting to the point.

3) Twitter requires users to be open and, as you’ll know if you’ve ever dealt with a financial PR, tried to get an executive to say something interesting or been surprised by the collapse of a big corporation that previously had received nothing but positive write-ups in the press, corporations are not open.

4) The tone of Twitter is altruistic and reciprocal, whereas businesses are not altruistic and reciprocal: their essential mission in life being to flog stuff. Critics often suggest that social networking sites are hotbeds of solipsism and narcissism, but, at its best, Twitter is about sharing interesting and amusing ideas and helping people. And I’m not sure how businesses can fit into this. At least, I feel uncomfortable every time I discover a company in my list of followers — it’s polite for individuals to follow you if you follow them, but when corporations do it, it’s a bit Big Brother and creepy. And there was a dramatic illustration of what can go wrong when Habitat, the furniture retailer, recently used phrases relating to the contested Iranian elections to promote its mailing list. Using a political crisis to flog an £899 Massello table isn’t classy and it wasn’t surprising that Habitat suffered a backlash.

5) The best Twitter-users are those with distinct voices and personalities, and corporations don’t have distinct voices or personalities. And this is the thing about the handful of corporate Twitter accounts that are engaging, such as @zappos, and Ford’s @ScottMonty. They’re not really company Twitter accounts. They are accounts belonging to individuals who happen to run or work for a company.

Indeed, @ScottMonty is often cited as an example of how corporations can use Twitter well, especially after he recently used it to defuse a controversy over attempts by Ford to shut down a fan website in the United States called TheRangerStation.com. As soon as he read complaints about it, he began investigating, kept his followers updated and, after persuading Ford’s lawyers to withdraw the closure efforts, he was able to tweet that the dispute had been resolved.

But how much of what @ScottMonty says is Ford and how much is him? How much is his popularity a reflection of Ford’s desire to engage with customers via social networking? And what happens if or when @ScottMonty leaves Ford: will he take Ford’s voice with him? Difficult questions, which, if I ran a business, I’d resolve by avoiding Twitter entirely.

twitter.com/sathnam

Tweeting the classics

2010-01-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

Tweeting the classics: John Sutherland has channelled the quintessence of six classic English novels into 140 characters. Can you guess the novel in question? (Answers below)

1. Milk, Murder, Big Stones, the Rope. But she’s got a little sister. Kissed her.

2. Horseshoes unlucky for me. I rise like the sparks from the forge and fall like soot.

3. If you have to ask what the noise means, Southerner, you’ll never know.

4. Two heroines, no heroes, big war, boring, boring.

5. Nice little girls don’t go down holes and stay nice.

6. Whatever you say, that old crook with the red beard was more fun than bald locks in the country.

Twitter challenge: Ultra-short stories in 140 characters or fewer: writers respond

Tobias Hill I’ll be wearing a red reincarnation, he says. He disappoints her in the end, but she keeps the flower he wore. It never needs watering.

Philippa Gregory If my mother had not been a witch descended from the water spirit Melusina, then none of this could have happened to me. But it did.

Jon McGregor Walking far out across bay, tide coming in behind me. Locals wave and call. Voices carry clearly across surging water. Gorgeous sunset.

John Humphrys One after the other, the politicians said sorry. Mea culpa. I resign. The interviewer said so do I. What’s the point of carrying on?

Kate Mosse I called. Then hung up. Will you know it was me? You are disconcerting. The sun is out. It is hard to see the glitter screen. Call me.

Colum McCann After supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, she no longer showed any desire for antidisestablishmentarianism.

Answers to John Sutherland's brainteasers:

1. Tess of the D’Urbervilles 2. Great Expectations 3. Wuthering Heights 4. Vanity Fair 5. Alice in Wonderland 6. Oliver Twist

Ulysses

jamesjoyce: Man walks around Dublin. We follow every minute detail of his day. He’s probably overtweeting.

Great Expectations

charlesdickens: Orphan given £££ by secret follower. He thinks it’s @misshavisham but it turns out to be @magwitch

The Catcher in the Rye

jdsalinger: Rich kid thinks everyone is fake except for his little sister. Has breakdown. @markchapman is now following @johnlennon

Pride and Prejudice

janeaustin: Woman meets man called Darcy who seems horrible. He turns out to be nice really. They get together.

Bridget Jones’s Diary

helenfielding: RT @janeaustin Woman meets man called Darcy who seems horrible. He turns out to be nice really. They get together.

Winners Teet Micro-Fiction Competition

2010-01-31T13:20:00.001-08:00

sundancep: Tenderly he slipped the ring on her finger, “Grow old with me, my love”. She agreed, not knowing he meant right away.

RUNNERS-UP

dalcreations: Tried to write a story with 140 characters. I only had two. Pete and Antonio. It was a hell of a tale. Long story short, Pete did it.

edent: Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess. Something morally relevant happened. Then Disney f***ed it up to sell toys. The End.

sephjnr: Divorce. Solitude. Emptiness. Picture. Memories. Lust. Tissues. Depravity. Loathing. Bath. Wine. Wrists. Oblivion. Happiness. Peace.

The winner receives a Waterstone’s voucher worth £140 (£1 per character); the runners-up each receive a voucher worth £20

JUDGES’ FAVOURITES (FROM MORE THAN 2,000 ENTRIES)

catmachine: It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking 13. Another busy day ahead, thought Winston Smith, the clock repair man.

Sandyy_: Shelly! I yell as she shuffles away. Why was she always in such a snappy mood? And why was I falling in love with a crab?

annleary: She hated him. He sometimes bought her flowers on his way home. On weekends they grilled — he flipped steaks, she sharpened knives.

RomaDiaz: Her destiny was mapped out in the stars. What a pity she never looked up.

Skaski_: Drip drip drip, went the tap from high above, as the spider contemplated its inevitable demise.

OliveIsBlue: Mostly prison life was cold and bleak. Except the dating. It was nice to finally feel attractive.

cvh2009: Painfully making his way to the entrance of the cave, Jesus arched his back and pushed against the rock. It wouldn’t move.

dresdnhope: He had finally worn out the public’s goodwill. He would no longer be “Curious George”. He would now be “That asshole monkey”.

dustandair: She asked why I lied. I blurted out “I’m a compulsive liar.” Great. Now I have to keep that charade going too.

Story_Tweets: He went to the past, but changed nothing. He went to the future, but missed it all. He came back to the present and gained everything.

voodoobeans: As he stormed the city and felt the pedestrians between his toes, he wondered — was this really what he had risen from the ocean for?

annleary: It was an arranged marriage. On their wedding night, she lay, trembling, awaiting his steps. He watched the Red Sox, then Conan.

itisjan: “Is that my phone?” the surgeon thought as he snipped the final stitch. Sweat broke on his brow. Beneath his hands a slight vibration.

daveweeden: “No, Mr Bond,” cackled Argento Silvertoe, “ you see, laser technology has greatly improved since the Sixties. This really is the end.”

stuarthoughton: For Sale: baby shoes, removed from homicidal baby by arresting officer.

chickyog: He was very sorry. Again. He said so with flowers, clothes and jewellery. Again. All three were cheap, gaudy and his mother’s. Again.

WickedAunt: She walked in beauty, waddled in pregnancy, wailed in childbirth, wept with weariness and wondered where he went.

Dav3Ston3: Home, window broken, apartment ransacked. Maybe he should have just let her have that damn ceramic chicken in the divorce after all.

Synopsis

2009-12-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here's how to do it.

From Advancedfictionwriting.com

From Fiction factor

Screenplay Synopsis

From Helen...

From Brenda

Snowflake pro

Key links

2009-11-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

Createspace...

The Times Twitter competition

Booksurge...

Sunday Times competition...

Looking for inspiration? See a selection of The Sunday Times Magazine short stories

From Sean

2009-11-15T18:54:00.001-08:00

From Sean...

and...

Character building and what makes a truly great actor

What makes an actor truly great? The actor's job is to bring a scripted character to life. RADA's Dee Cannon’s 10 key questions

Acting technique is paramount to anyone wanting to be a serious actor. It's quite easy to imitate a character or even an emotion, but where's the depth in that? How can you sustain or repeat again what you might have found intuitively? Do you even know what you did or how you did it?

The technique, however, will help you find a character, which in turn informs how you approach the text/script/written word. How do you bring the dialogue alive? How do you know what choices to make? The goal of a trained actor is to become a fully realised three-dimensional character, with a rich backstory. I must believe the character you play is truthful and not a cliche, a caricature, a thin external representation of someone who barely resembles a human being. I must believe what you say is real and that you're not reciting, spouting or commenting.

In order to help you understand, I will lay out the backbone of what I teach at RADA and around the world to professional and student actors alike. This is based around Stanislavski's acting technique and his seven questions which, over the years, I have adapted into 10 key acting questions every actor should answer in order to be a fully rounded and connected actor.

1. Who am I?

2. Where am I?

3. When is it?

4. Where have I just come from?

5. What do I want?

6. Why do I want it?

7. Why do I want it now?

8. What will happen if I don't get it now?

9. How will I get what I want by doing what?

10. What must I overcome?

1. Who am I?

The first question is dealing with the type of person you are. I'm sure if I asked you that question, you would be able to tell me about your family background, your parents, grandparents, siblings. You would be able to describe them in detail. Also the house you grew up in, what it looked like, inside and outside. Your favourite room, what you could see out of your bedroom window, the smells you remember. Your earliest childhood memories, the kind of games you played, family holidays. Your education, favourite teachers, best friends, times you got into trouble. Your first kiss, first job, your likes and dislikes, influences, attitudes, anecdotes. All these good, bad, funny, interesting experiences shape us into who we are today. Most people don't walk around with all these memories on their shoulders like baggage. They've seeped into our being, our muscles, our subconscious, allowing us just to be, to exist.

When you play a character in theatre, TV or film, you should know your character as well as you know yourself, so you can just exist and live. Of course that doesn't just magically happen, nor does it evolve just from rehearsals. As an actor you have to plant those memories, anecdotes and backstory.

So how do you build a character? Well, first a good script should give you some initial information about your character, and also what other characters say or think about your character can be very revealing. All this should be extracted and written down in a separate notebook. The next stage is research. You need to find out through detailed research what the history, economics, politics, music, art, literature, theatre, film, foods, fashion, religion might have been at the time the play was written, in order to know how you would have lived and what and who your influences were, just as you know these things in real life. Possible sources include the internet, films of the era and finding images of landscape, as well as going to museums, art and photographic galleries. Fill your mind with images - not facts and figures. The more visceral your understanding, the better.

The final stage in building a character, once you've filleted the script and completed your research, is to use your imagination to flesh out the details you've gathered and bring them alive. Don't underestimate the power and the necessity of your imagination in the acting process. You can't use your imagination without the backup of research and reading. Nor can you use your imagination alone.

2. Where am I?

You might find in the script a description of the room you're supposed to be in, including details such as the style and period of the furniture. What does it mean to you though? Is your character supposed to be familiar with the surroundings? Is it the first time you've entered this room? Is it a cosy cottage? A freezing barn? A familiar street? We usually behave differently depending on our surroundings. You need to establish your relationship with your environment because this affects the way you use yourself. For example, you wouldn't start walking around, touching ornaments and putting your feet up if it wasn't your home. The geography will have an impact too: playing someone from very cold northern climates such as Norway or Russia will be different to playing someone in a baking Mediterranean climate such as Italy or Spain.

3. When is it?

We need to know what season it is, what year, what time of day. We tend to carry ourselves differently in the colder months than we do on hot, muggy summer days. We would also hold ourselves differently if the piece was set at the turn of the century. We must be aware that we can't bring our modern physicality to a play that is of another period. People expressed themselves differently then and didn't slouch or use modern gestures.

4. Where have I just come from?

You need to work out what your character has been doing, where they've been. When you make an entrance on stage it shouldn't look as if you've just stepped on stage from behind the curtain. Even if that's true, you should have worked out during rehearsal where you would be coming from - the bathroom, having just brushed your teeth? The kitchen in the middle of baking an apple pie? The car after being stuck in traffic? Shopping? What is your state of being supposed to be on your entrance? Does it tell you in the text? Has your director informed you of what they would like it to be? Or do you have to invent it? What's just happened in the scene before? Have you just had an argument? Have you just been proposed to? Whatever the situation, you should always know your previous circumstances at all times. It can be good fun inventing it, and no entrance should ever be the same. Just think about real life: do you always enter your house in the same way every night? No. Where you come from will have conditioned your mood.

5. What do I want?

This is a key question. "Want" means what do you need, what is your intention, your motivation, your action? You should never walk on stage just to play a scene. You should always have an objective. Often in a good script, an objective is written into the scene: to end the affair, to propose, to move out. Your action can change from scene to scene but you should always work out what you are meant to be doing.

You may be in a scene, for example, where you have very little dialogue. Instead of sitting doing nothing, give yourself a physical action, which can be anything that fits your reason for being in that room, from making a salad to polishing your nails. Even if you are pulled away from what you're doing, so long as you're doing something, you've always got something to return to once you're no longer engaged in conversation. The importance of this is so that you don't look or feel silly on stage doing nothing. You must have a life on stage, you must have a purpose for walking and talking, otherwise you are in danger of "just acting", which is fake. Don't forget you're trying to be truthful and three-dimensional, and in real life, no one ever comes into a room and stands with their hands by their sides or sits with their hands in their lap and just talks.

6. Why do I want it?

You must always have a strong justification for your action. All right, perhaps in real life we don't always have a strong justification for everything we're doing but, particularly in the theatre, you always need one. Most plays present a heightened version of reality (this can be different for the naturalistic performances and stories we see on television, particularly in soap operas). Having a strong justification means you have a strong motivation.

7. Why do I want it now?

The "now" gives you an immediacy that is crucial in acting and in any drama. You must know why your motivation has to be right now, not before, not later but now. Why should we sit through two hours of this play if you're not that bothered about getting the money or the house or the power?

8. What will happen if I don't get it now?

The stakes should always be high. Otherwise so what? The consequences of not getting what you want should always be very important to you. If the high stakes are not clear to you in the play, you need to invent them, otherwise it will come across that you're not bothered at all about the outcome.

9. How will I get what I want by doing what?

This question brings us on to how you break down a script. How do you know how to play the line as opposed to how one should say the line? There's a big difference.

Once you've worked out what your action is (question 5) you then have to work out your smaller action, which is called an "activity". You need to work out how you are trying to affect the other person with what you are saying.

One way of doing this is called "actioning" your text. Break your script up into chunks: every time you have a new change of thought, you need to find a transitive verb, a verb that is active, such as to beg, to entice, to charm, to get sympathy (a good thesaurus is very handy here). Remember that this technique is not about the emotional content of what you are saying or feeling but about what you want the other person to feel psychologically. By playing these chosen activities you are trying to make the actor that you are playing opposite feel something specific in order to further your action.

So, you have to think: how can I affect the other character by doing what? At this stage you should know who your character is, and your choice of active verbs should be informed by your character choice and not your personal choice. If my character was a loving, open, sweet, sensitive young girl and my dialogue was: "I don't love you anymore, I think you should go", my verb will be determined by my above characteristics and not by the actual line itself. Therefore verbs such as to plead, to get sympathy, to reason, should be chosen, as opposed to verbs that might reflect another type of character, such as to demand, to threaten, to hurt. If in the rehearsal a choice doesn't work then you can change your choice. Nothing should be initially set in stone.

I like to call this process "scoring" your text. Just as a musician or singer would rely on their score to know how to sing or play their song, an actor works out how to play the monologue, scene or play. Once you've done it, you have to play it fully, otherwise it's pretty pointless. The challenge is the execution of it. It's time-consuming initially to find the right verbs, but once you have them and tested them in rehearsal, not only will you have given your performance light and shade but also depth. It also means you do not have to fall into a dreadful cliche performance by thinking of how to say the lines and what you should be feeling and emoting. This technique allows you to be free and truthful without playing external emotion. It's really about what you don't say and trusting that actions will speak louder than words.

10. What must I overcome?

Every actor should always have an inner and an outer obstacle. The outer obstacle is the resistance (usually the other character) to obtaining your action. The inner obstacle is your inner conflict, which you must always plant in a scene even though it can change. There must always be a problem you are trying to overcome. If you think of yourself in life, you're never without an inner obstacle. You'll have seen scenes on stage or screen where the inner obstacle has not been properly planted: you get a load of actors just shouting, over-emoting and sometimes just playing the aggression. If the inner obstacle is there, the anger, fear or hate, for example, then you've got something to fight against in the scene. Much more interesting.

Actors may believe that they can do without formal training. But I have worked with untrained actors, who have landed a film or a TV series on the basis of their looks, and seen them struggle to be able to reproduce what they were able to do in the first take. Natural ability will get you so far, but it's the trained actors who know what they're doing and how they're doing it and can produce that emotion take after take.

To fully transform into a character, to be truthfully and emotionally connected needs hard work, technique, good direction. But the audience should see none of this. They should see nothing other than the fully realised three-dimensional character right in the truth of the moment.

• Dee Cannon teaches acting at RADA

How to write a play

2009-10-14T17:32:00.001-07:00

Principles of Story Story Structure

2009-10-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

Story Structure

Scenes or Acts?

Should you divide your play into acts, or just into scenes? It's really a matter of personal taste, as long as you recognize a few basic principles of play construction and why we have these divisions in the first place.

Virtually all plays, as much as we rail against the way some screenwriters have turned this into a cookie-cutter, divide into what has come to be called three-act structure. Here's where you get to impress your friends with your fancy verbiage:

The first act is the Protasis, or exposition.
The second act is the Epitasis, or complication.
The final act is the Catastrophe, or resolution.

Just as in screenwriting format, the middle act is the longest. Aristotle (384-322 BCE.), whose Poetics represented his collected observations on dramatic structure and playwriting based on the practice of Greek dramatists, is largely credited for three-act structure and has had long-lasting influence on playwriting. Want to really, really impress your friends? Tell them Aristotle didn't say anything about three Unities.

So what does this three-act structure mean? It means that no matter whether you label the divisions in your script acts or scenes, the arc of a good play will be roughly the same. Logically, though, if you're writing a play that is not meant to have an intermission, it makes sense simply to have scenes, whereas if you expect to have an intermission, put it between two acts. Of course, you could also put an intermission between scenes if you prefer. You have options. You even have options when it comes to structure. Read more about them in Chapter 17.

Write to be Read

One of the terms you'll hear a lot from me is "your reader." But plays are meant to be performed, not read - right? True, but before your play makes it to a stage, it will have to survive a small army of readers. For example, when I was reading for Robert Brustein's American Repertory Theatre, a play typically had to get through at least two script readers before it reached the head of new play development. If it got through him, it would go either to the literary manager or to the associate artistic director or perhaps to Brustein himself. That's a lot of reads, so it's crucial that you write not just to be performed, but to be read as well.

Source: http://www.playwriting101.com/chapter03

Developing your writing style

To be a good creative writer, it’s not necessary to have a vivid imagination, though that helps a lot. Many great writers of the English Language weren’t particularly creative, instead, they honed down their technique and style to garner interest in their stories. The greatest thing about creative writing is that it’s all yours (unless of course, you decide to plagiarize, which would completely defeat the purpose). But to be a good creative writer, the most important thing is practice.

There are four things to keep in mind while writing a story or play. These are:

1) Plot

2) Characterization

3) Dialogues

4) Theme

These are the basic things required to write a story, but the tackling of the concept is where many would-be writers lag behind.

Developing one’s writing style takes time, patience, and constant practice. Attempting too much, or writing too consciously may hamper your prose, not improve them. Here are a few ways you can improve your writing style and add color to your work.

1) Read: Reading can help improve your writing style immensely. There’s nothing wrong with being influenced by a certain author’s writing technique, in fact, you can even take a certain style a few steps further.

2) Write: Without constant writing practice you can’t expect you creative writing skills to improve. Write constantly, even if you think your work is awful. It’s not necessary to stick to one genre even; experiment and innovate. There is a great possibility you’ll latch on to your individual style soon enough.

3) Be natural: Use the language and words that come naturally to you. Opening a thesaurus and taking our difficult words will not make your writing better; in fact it makes it pedantic and pretentious.

4) Be concise and clear: nobody knows what you want to say better than you do, and most of the time simple, clear sentences make more of an impact than heavy longwinded phraseology.

5) Avoid being clichéd: try to craft original new sentences. Steer clear from done-to-death wordings and metaphors. You can create interest in your writing by being spunky, creative, and bold in your word choice.

Creating Realistic Characters

You can create complex well rounded characters easily by asking yourself questions about what type of person you wish to create. For example, where is your character from? What does he/she do for a living? How old is your character and what family background is he/she coming from? Etc. Following is a list of questions you could ask yourself about your character.

1) What does he/she look like?

2) What is your character called?

3) How does your character deal with conflict and trouble?

4) Are there other people in your characters live? How does he/she relate to them?

5) What is the purpose of your character in this story?

Once you’ve got your characters figured out, you can turn to dialogue, and how you can create realistic, and interesting conversations between your characters.

Writing convincing dialogue

Writing good dialogue takes practice and observation. People tend to over dramatize, or understate, in either case leaving the reader with a sense of disbelief. Dialogues play a great role in bringing fiction to life, and if handled properly can help create a wonderful piece of art.

So how can you make sure your dialogue writing seems genuine and colorful?

By following these tips:

1) Listen to how people talk: You’ll rarely find a priest swearing, or an English Professor using slang. Observe the way people speak, and note down any interesting figure of speeches they might use. Good writers are often good eavesdroppers too.

2) Cut down on extraneous words and phrases: real speech doesn’t flow as smoothly as it seems to on paper, but most readers don’t care to read unnecessary words like “err…” “uh…” and “oh.” between dialogues.

3) Use action to highlight your dialogues: Remind the reader that the characters they are reading about are as physical (theoretically) as they are. ‘He said’ ‘she said dialogues get monotonous if they aren’t broken up with movement.

4) Don’t stuff in too much information: It should not be obvious that you are using dialogue to communicate information. In general, apply the three-sentence rule: give no character more than three uninterrupted sentences at once. Let the story unfold naturally.

Avoid stereotyping your characters through dialect: Not only is this offensive, it also challenges the reader’s intelligence. Just like all Irish men do not have red hair, similarly not all Englishmen says “Bollocks.”

Source: http://www.termpaperscorner.com/articles/creative_writing_basic_principles.html

Editorial services

2009-10-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

Recently I have come across the work of Natasha Wagner. Natasha was given some urgent work to do yesterday - and managed to turn around the work in just a few hours. Her fees are competitive/modest/realistic - why not give her a try?

If you are an international student her work may well be very useful to you.

Natasha Wagner - Freelance Proofreader and Editor

tel. 07904 236406
e-mail. natasha.wagner@sky.com
website. www.natashawagnereditorial.co.uk

This is what her website says:

"Your document may be in hard copy or electronic format or it may be on a disc or website. Any of these mediums can be checked and amended as necessary. What makes this service unique is that once the work is completed, you will receive two documents; the first showing the suggested changes marked up, and the second, showing the changes incorporated into the document. Many of the proofreaders and editors in business today simply return the marked up copy, leaving you to finish it off. The second unique feature of this service is that we will work evenings, weekends and bank holidays to complete your job in good time. Many other proofreading services have restricted opening hours. We understand that you have invested a lot of time and maybe money into your work and will be anxious to get it back quickly and in good shape!"

Recent work includes...

EHS Brann
Tesco Clubcard
Volvo
Barclays
First Great Western
Foster's
Churchill
Crystal
SkiCOI
Practical Action
Wiltshire Farm Foods
Various websites
Various authors' works
Research papers
Student coursework (essays through to university dissertations and PhD theses)

Writer's Group

2009-08-04T13:16:00.001-07:00

I am thinking of setting up a Writer's group - anyone (in Oxford) interested in joining?

I'm not sure whether to 'run' or 'organise' or just 'help to exist' a group - it depends on how many show an interest and what we want to do in such a group.

Perhaps produce something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/1904623468/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Or maybe just to write and show others (in the group) and discuss/adapt/improve....

These are just ideas...

Meet the Agents - a reminder

2009-04-07T06:11:00.001-07:00

Meet The Agents Oxfringe Join three or four top literary agents working with playwrights, screenwriters and authors in conversation with Chris Taylor, Director, New Writing South. Find out if and when you need an agent, what agents do and how they can help your career.
www.oxfringe.com
6.30pm. £15
Saïd Business School , Park End Street; Tel. 01865 288800.

Sketch writing - from the ....

2009-03-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

...Sunday Times.

5th March class

2009-03-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

COMEDY HANDOUT

3- Analysis of Comedy

Intro idea of the possible uses or even necessity of comedy in otherwise ‘serious’ drama - we don’t see comedy always appearing in serious prose writing. Not every drama needs to have a comic strain, but the nature of ‘an evening at the theatre’ often means a playwright introduces some humour into their script.

Often it is deliberately employed in stark contrast to the serious subject and theme.

(Just put types on board, not details) Go through different possible comic ingredients to a drama: e.g.

Comic language.

 Irony - can be used a trait of one or more characters. Def: saying one thing but really meaning the opposite of what their words apparently express.

 Word play, or historically, wit - often used endlessly in historical plays or contemporary plays set in past times when wit was a ‘mark of quality’. Def: using the potential for double meaning in words or phrases, or substituting words with other similar sounding ones.

 Sarcasm - can be used a trait of one or more characters. Def: any cutting or bitter remark that is not just a blunt expletive or insult. Can be anything from a plain put down to a cunningly worded attack.

 Misunderstanding (intentional or otherwise) - often deliberately misunderstanding what someone is saying is a way of leading into irony or engaging sarcasm.

 Bathos - Def: a sudden crashing down from high flown ‘elevated’ ideas to the absolute common place). Use of bathos can make a character look absurd

 Just plain joke telling, one character could be the sort of person who just cracks jokes, funny or otherwise), whihc may or may not come out of the plot or just from his store of remembered jokes.

Situational comedy

Absurdity, which turns on a situation or idea being so unexpected or out of the usual that the effect of it is comic. (Bathos also involves absurdity.)

Misunderstanding can also be situational, characters can do things that are funny because they are misunderstanding the situation.

Physical comedy

Anything from a strange look, an unusual prop, to a custard pie in the face, or positioning on stage (Whitehall farces). Also known as sight gags

Then we looked at first 14 pages of a radio comedy script – Rudy’s Rare Records which you can download as a PDF (the whole script) through BBC writersroom home page, go to script archive, go to radio comedy, there it is.

So...

2009-03-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

...what was covered last week?

Lesson 26th February

2009-02-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Today was about re-writing and re-writing plays.

Here are some links you may like to visit:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

General advice

1. Think about genre. Is it going to be farce, black comedy etc....

2. Develop character. Do we know why someone says or does something? What happens next? Look at it from another character's point of view.

3. Dramataic pitch/variety. Make a list of scenes.

4. Are you starting your play at the right place?

Start with a burglary?
Flashbacks?

5. Scene order.

What are the consequences of something that has not yet happened?

6. Are the dramatic stakes high enough.

Paint with a big brush.
Pump it up.

You do not want the listeners/audience saying 'So what?'

7. Does everything make sense?

8. Justify every line.

Why include this?
Equally (on your 35th draft) why exclude this?

9. Can you use physical action/props instead of words?

The use of bodylanguage (on stage)

10. Be aware of the sound of your lines.

11. Make a decision:

a. are you going to write a play and then try and find a market
b. are you going to find a market and then write a play for it

Find tripwires - what speeches may make the actors trip up?

We then read through an extract from a play:

Killing Maestros (PDF)
Christopher William Hill

(Plenty of scripts here)

This is a collective blog so if anyone wishes to add....

Homework:

Visit a play(lette) you have previously written and re-write it.

I took part in a play tonight...

2009-02-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

...and it was a strange experience.

I was 'in' and also 'watching' Etiquette - which I have written about before.

£3 for two people - well worth going!

See Etiquette under 'labels'.

venue for the scriptwriting course

2009-02-22T03:24:00.000-08:00

You mentioned a possible venue but before you make a commitment can I suggest you take a look at this place?
Ive been there to look at it with ref to organising a poetry course and it is superb, and much cheaper than the Abbey. It is near West Malvern/Ledbury in the midst of fabulous countryside. When you get to the website click the link called "The Lighthouse" - that's the group venue bit. Hil

Week-end Course Proposal

2009-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about organising a 'scripwriting week-end' away from Oxford. The main problems have been:

a. venue
b. costs and dates
c. content

The venue has been found. Please visit the site:

Hearth

The Hearth is on the ground floor. With a beamed ceiling, a log fire, and views over the garden. Seats up to 18 people.

Room dimensions 5.2m x 5.5m.

Solar

The Solar is in the oldest part of the building (around 1280), on the first floor. It has timber beams, a log fire, and views over the medieval courtyard and garden. Seats up to 12 people.

Room dimensions 5.5m x 5.6 m

Library

The Library is on the first floor with magnificent stained glass windows overlooking the gardens. Sits up to 14 in armchairs or 20 people theatre style.

Room dimensions 5.2m x 6.4m

Great Hall

The Great Hall has a timber vaulted ceiling, wooden floor, magnificent fireplace, french windows opening on to the garden and a grand piano. This space is very flexible and can accommodate up to 75 people theatre style or 90 for standing events. It is wheel chair accessible with assistance.

Room dimensions 7m x 10.4m

The next thing is the cost.

It's not cheap!

RATES FOR VOLUNTARY, COMMUNITY ANDPUBLIC SECTOR ORGANISATIONS

Residential

Rate per 24 hours or part thereof (Including set up time, use of 1 group room, all meals, teas/coffees all day and overnight accommodation)

For groups of 9 or less £74.00 per person

For groups of 10 or more £67.00 per person

Non-Residential

(Including lunch, teas/coffees all day and the use of 1 group room

For groups of 9 or less £43.60 per person

For groups of 10 or more £37.20 per person

Extras

Use of additional group room £108.00

Additional Lunches £9.00 per person

Additional Suppers £9.00 per person

Additional all day tea/coffee £4.00 per person

Open wood fire £21.50 per day

Residential Self-catering

Rate per 24 hours (Including overnight accommodation in the guest house, use of the guest house kitchen and dining/meeting area)

For groups of 9 or less £ 49.00 per person

For groups of 10 or more £ 44.00 per person

Open fires £ 21.50 per day

Additional meeting room in main house £122.50 (excludes
Great Hall)

Bed and Breakfast may be available for early group arrivals subject to availability at a cost of £34.50 per person per night

Dates available

20 - 22 March 2009

1 - 3 May 2009

29 - 31 May 2009

4 - 6 December 2009

11 - 13 December 2009

So it would probably cost about £134 or more for 2 days/nights. (It is a beautiful place though)

The place is wi-fi enabled.

That leaves CONTENT

Here are some ideas - I stress, they are simply ideas, not cast in stone

1. Five days before we left, email each other scripts etc and I will also have them printed for everyone going if required. That means right from the first night (Friday) we can discuss scripts etc.

2. As the evening progresses we could try to write a joint play(lette) by using our computers. (Do people have laptops?)

3. As the evening further progresses we could share some more ideas or simply relax, sleep etc etc

4. Get given a 'night-time task to think about'

Saturday

After breakfast discuss the task from the evening before.

Then, adapt one of the exercises from here, for example

Or maybe adapt one of these:

People You Know

This simple exercise will help your understanding in creating realistic characters. Even seemingly dull people can be highly interesting or funny when placed in certain situations.

For this exercise write out a list of ten people you know. Try to pick a broad spectrum of people from your family, friends, work place and neighbours…you don’t necessarily have to like the people you pick!

For each person on your list write out a single paragraph character description. Come up with one characteristic for each person that makes them unique. Who knows, somewhere within the list of people you know, you might just find a gem of a character to write about!

It’s Not Paranoia If They’re Really After You!

They’re after you! You don’t know why, but you’re being chased down relentlessly. Write out a chase scene where you are the only being chased. Imagine the panic and fear you’d be feeling as well as the confusion. Really get into the frame of mind of someone being chased, and fearful for their life. To make it even more interesting write out three different scenes, each with a different method of travel.

On foot.
In a car.
In a helicopter, being chased by a UFO

This exercise helps you learn how to empathise with characters and feel what they’re going through. This will allow you to write our characters with a lot of emotional depth. If the danger doesn’t
feel real to the character then it won’t seem real to the audience.

Scene List Practice

A scene list is a set of one sentence descriptions of each scenes in a movie. Scene lists are done to keep track of story and character development. If a scene achieves nothing to develop either the story or a character then it’s probably a good idea to either rewrite the scene or lose it all together.

Writing a scene list before you start writing your script proper is an excellent way to make sure you don’t get halfway through your screenplay and end up lost with no place to go.

To practice writing a scene list, try this little exercise using the following steps:

Chose a movie from your home collection.
Download a copy of the screenplay, preferably a txt file. You can use either FSW Scripts or SimplyScripts.
Get yourself a pen and a pack of note cards. If you can’t find any note cards then you can up some paper into 3”x5” pieces. It’s much easier to buy them though as you’ll need a hundred or so to be on the safe side.
Watch the movie closely. Keep pausing the movie after every scene and write a one-sentence description of the last scene on a note card.
Once the movie is finished, put your notes to one side.
Pull up the screenplay you’ve downloaded. Copy and paste every scene heading into a notepad file or any other similar program.
Compare your note cards to your list of scene headings. Did you miss any scenes?
Write out a page-long report on what you’ve learnt from this exercise. Things you might notice include how the story is kept going in every scene, the pacing of the movie, use of subplots and how characters are developed.

After lunch - discussion on the morning.

Break to write one Act of a play.

Then discuss this early evening (I can bring a photocopier - not very good one but it'll do...)

Dinner

More discussion/relaxation

Evening task

These are ONLY ideas.

IF, and it's a big 'if' we go ahead then the costs would simply be the charges above and each person would be responsible for paying their own way. Ideally we'd all agree one Thursday evening and bring the money to class. Then one person (not me) makes the payment online.

As far as the content goes we could say the whole 48 hours or so is made up of say ten sessions and each of us is responsible for designing, orchestrating one....

Justa few ideas.

Let me know your comments - by email to:

chris@osl-ltd.co.uk

Also - of course, post comments here.

Writer's Forum

2009-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

There is an excellent writer's forum called One of Us Creative Writing

Well worth a visit - there is a section on Screenwriting.

There are plenty of others here and of course there are also Scriptwriting Forums here.

But I have been a member of One of Us for some time - it's pretty good and very helpful

Chris

Blogger Incontinence (2)

2009-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

On the right hand side of this blog are 'labels'. These are like sections in a filing cabinet. Click on the 'label' to see all topics within that category. Thus if you want to read/see posts involving videos, click Playwriting Videos.

If you're interested in How to write a play then click 'How to write a play'.

If insitead you're interested in Radio Scripts then click 'Radio Scripts'.

If, however, you're more interested in a section of a post or key word then on the top left hand side is a SEARCH box. Put the word(s) into that for example, I put in 'incontinence' and came up with one post but if I'd put in 'plays' then there'd have been a deluge!

Anyone any comments about last night's class?

Chris

Blogger Incontinence (1)

2009-02-20T14:14:00.000-08:00

Whoa!!! too much information. Had a look yesterday evening and saw some interesting things, but now....they've all disappeared into the 'older posts' section. Lots of useful stuff, but maybe its getting buried within a lot of ....
not such useful stuff?

Bit of blogger incontinence here....

143 Vintage Radio Series...

2009-02-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

...have scripts online. Read at your pleasure!

Also try the Old Times Radio Scripts page...

Nine more writing exercises

2009-02-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

TIME LOCK EXERCISE

1. Write a scene with two characters in which one character must get the red box from the other character before a certain time is up (i.e., the bus stops, the game is over, the old one dies, the paint dries, he marries her, the ice cream melts, the baby is born, etc.).
2. Keep the action in the same place (no change of scene).
3. Keep stage directions to a minimum.
4. Write a scene that ends when the character gets the red box or fails.
5. Write two to three pages.

HARMLESS/HARMFUL EXERCISE

1. Pick a harmless action, such as: eat a cookie, hug someone, jump rope, open a box, lick a stamp, shake hands, etc.
2. Pick two characters engaged in the action.
3. Give one of the characters an evil intent with the harmless action.
4. Write a scene that ends when the character carries out their intent or is thwarted.
5. Write at least three pages.

COMEDY EXERCISE

1. Pick a situation that the main character sees as tragic and two other characters see as comic.
2. Have the main character undergo a transformation from an unhappy state to a happier state.
3. Emphasize stakes the audience will see as inappropriate or ludicrous. ("If I sneeze, the spider will grow to six feet.")
4. Write a scene that ends when the main character undergoes their transormation.
5. Write at least five pages.

SYMPATHETIC EVIL CHARACTER EXERCISE

1. Create a character who wants to commit what you consider an evil deed.
2. Create a scene in which this character tries to persuade another character to help commit the deed.
3. Make the first character as sympathetic as possible.
4. End the scene when the second character agrees or refuses.
5. Write at least five pages.

CHANGE THE ENDING EXERCISE

1. Take the last scene of a play by another playwright and change the ending.
2. Begin with the original dialogue, then change to your dialogue.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Turn in a copy of the original ending.

FLIP FLOP EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Change the sex of at least one character.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Possible outcomes: you make a minor character more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about a different character than you thought.

REVERSE POV EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Take the point of view of the character who opposes your main character.
3. Write at least three pages from the POV of the opposer.
4. Possible outcomes: you make your oppositional character more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about the opposer.

MOVE OUT EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Put the characters in a different room, building, city, or universe, or outside.
3. Write at least three pages.
4. Possible outcomes: you make your characters more believable; you get ideas for better plot development; you decide your play is about a different charcter than you thought.

WHO IS THAT TALKING EXERCISE

1. Take a scene that you have already written from your play.
2. Cover up all the character names.
3. Read the dialogue out loud. Can you tell who is speaking by their word choice?
4. If you cannot tell who is speaking, give one of the characters a different way of speaking: more poetic or less poetic; with more slang or less slang; words that are more educated or less educated; in shorter sentences or longer ones; words in a different order within each sentence; or words from a different part of the country.
5. Rewrite the dialogue in the scene.
6. Possible outcomes: you make your characters more distinct and thus more real in their own world; you decide your play is about a different character than you thought.

Here's a Forum where they discuss Playwriting

These are many Yahoo Groups where they discuss Script Playwriting

Ten Writing Exercises

2009-02-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

Use stimuli such as music, photographs, a newspaper article, an object etc…to help you come up with the idea for a character or story.
Start off by trying to write a stream of consciousness. With paper and pen (or computer) give yourself 15 minutes, and just write anything that comes into your head. Try not to censor or stop certain thoughts, just give your mind and pen freedom to wander. You may surprise yourself as to what you come up with. Some, or most of it, may not be of any use to you, however, you may find that you stumble across an idea, or a little nugget of inspiration that you could develop. This may be a good exercise to do each time you start writing, or even when you hit a brick wall and don’t know where you should go next.
Listen to the way that people speak. Eaves-drop on conversations and note the differences in their voices and the way they speak e.g. accents; repetition; interruption; pauses; volume; vocabulary; what they say; what they don’t say; length of speeches etc… These ‘things’ are the tools that a playwright uses to create individual voices for their characters. It’s important that each character you create has a distinct voice.
People watch. Whenever you are out and about observe other people, how they act and interact. Make notes, and attempt to write down an exchange you have witnessed, or think you may have witnessed, even though you couldn’t actually hear it. Think about them as characters and try to work out what their stories might be. Consider the 5 ‘w’s – who, what, where, when, and why? One of these characters, or situations just might provide the spring board for your play.
Write a piece of dialogue between 2 characters, in which each character can only speak 3 words per line. The purpose of this exercise is to force you as a writer to focus on exactly what your characters want and are trying to say with each line of dialogue, and doesn’t allow for any rambling or exposing back story.
Write a scene with 2 characters, in which the first character (A) wants a physical object from the second character (B), but B doesn’t want to give the object away. Create characters and decide why A wants the object and why B doesn’t want A to have it. Think about not only what they say, but what they don’t say, how they relate to each other physically, how they move etc…
Re-write the above scene in a totally different location. What setting would raise the stakes for one of or both the characters? Could you switch from a private to a public setting or vice versa? Think about how this particular setting affects the dialogue, what is said and what is left unsaid, and the way the characters move /relate to each other.
To develop a character, (or all the characters in your play), try to write a list of 50 things about them, without letting your pen leave the paper. You can write about anything, such as where they live, who with, what they like, what they dislike, what makes them angry, what they had for breakfast…absolutely anything. Try to let go of your imagination and write whatever comes into your head. You want to get to know them, and the world they inhabit, inside out and back-to-front.
With a character you have developed, think about what it is that they want most in life. Think of a moment or event in their life when this ‘want’ is magnified for some reason – the stakes are heightened. What obstacles stand in their way (may be other people; something in themselves, such as fear; or a physical obstacle, such as being trapped in a room). Decide which other characters are in the scene and develop them (exercise above). What do they want? Write this scene.
Once you have written a scene, read over it, or even better ask friends to read it out, and ask yourself the following questions: does the dialogue wander aimlessly, or is it driven by the characters need for something? Does the dialogue contain lots of back story? Are the characters believable as people? Do you think the scene will leave the audience wanting more? Answer as truthfully as possible and then re-draft as necessary. Be ruthless, even if it means cutting large chunks of writing you feel attached to.

Some useful links

2009-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Awards/Competitions: Theatre Plays

(These links may be out of date)

Awards/Competitions : Radio

Spoken Word Internet Radio Station Wants Your Work

Audio Book Radio is an established Internet Radio Station dedicated to spoken word.

They want to broadcast and promote as many new writers as they can and link with all like-minded creative organizations that are out there.

If you have content ready for broadcasting, they want to hear from you. If you have new projects that you would like to discuss, please get in touch with them. They are also looking to form on-going sponsorship and affiliation partnerships with suitable creative companies and individuals.

Please visit their website: www.audiobookradio.net

Email: johnmayfield@audiobookradio.net

You could, of course, create your own radio station on the internet!

Listen to spoken word internet radio station.

Here are a selection of links to other organisations that may be useful to you.

www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
www.live.org.uk
www.hampsteadtheatre.com
www.painesplough.com
www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk
www.royalcourttheatre.com
www.scriptonline.net
www.shermancymru.co.uk
www.sohotheatre.com
www.spreadtheword.org.uk
www.traverse.co.uk
www.writersnet.co.uk
www.newplays.org.uk
www.mslexia.co.uk
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
www.arvonfoundation.org
www.royalexchange.co.uk
www.askaboutwriting.net

www.newplaysnw.co.uk

Even More Book Reviews

2009-02-20T12:07:00.001-08:00

Writing a Play Steve Gooch A practical guide to play-writing, from the original idea through plotting, structuring, characterisation, dialogue and rewriting to successful realisation. Presenting and marketing your play, working with theatre groups and your rights as an author are also covered. This revised edition includes a new chapter covering stage realism. Only £9.99!^*
The Art of Dramatic Writing Lajos Egri In this advanced book the author offers an approach to playwriting based on the natural law of dialectics. Don't buy this book as your first introduction to dramatic writing, but if you've read the beginner's guides this will take you way beyond. £7.16^* - save 20%
The Crafty Art of Playmaking Alan Ayckbourn With over 60 plays written and staged, many playing in the West End or the Royal National Theatre, Alan Ayckbourn's expertise on writing and directing plays is unsurpassed. Here, he shares his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing (Where has your play come from? Where is it going? How does it get there? What is comedy and how do you write it? What is tragedy and how does it work?) to tips on directing (working with actors and technicians, when to listen to the experts, how to cope with rehearsals), the book provides a complete primer for the novice and a refresher for the more experienced. £11.99^* - save 20%
Teach Yourself How to Write a Play David Carter A reference for the aspiring playwright. It covers the writing of stage, film, TV and radio plays and gives guidance on ideas, dialogue, plots, exposition and climax. It also discusses putting on the play, including self-production, marketing and the financial aspects. £5.59^* - save 20%
The Dramatist's Toolkit Jeffrey Sweet This is a practical guide to being a working playwright. The author discusses such matters as: the building blocks of playwriting; how characters relate to one another; the differences and similarities between musicals and plays; and screenwriting versus playwriting. £7.67^* - save 9%
The Art & Craft of Playwriting Jeffrey Hatcher A thoughtful and intelligent approach to understanding and analysing plays, as well as practical, creative suggestions for writing. Includes an excellent recommended reading list. £8.24^* - save 9%
Solving Your Script Jeffrey Sweet Tools and techniques for the playwright. £9.01^* - save 9%

More Book Reviews

2009-02-20T12:05:00.001-08:00

The Mind Map Book
Tony & Barry Buzan
Shows how to increase your ability to learn, remember and record or store information. Organise your thinking, make decisions easily, brainstorm, create more ideas in 10 minutes than you could in an hour using traditional methods.
£6.39^* - save 20%

How to Get Great Ideas
Jack Foster
How to come up with more ideas, faster and easier. Step-by-step guidelines to help anyone generate ideas and take the mystery and anxiety out of the idea-generating process. Great fun, easy to read, and very inspirational.
£7.19* - save 20%

Instant Creativity
Brian Clegg, Paul Birch
Problem solve, brainstorm, innovate. This book shows how fresh ideas and solutions are within reach, and demonstrates that a fresh perspective can be gained after doing the contained exercises. Not just for writers, this book is widely used in the business world.
£7.12^* - save 9%

Thinkpak - A Brainstorming Card Deck
Michael Michalko
A terrific brainstorming tool. Just flip through the cards and ideas start popping up out of nowhere. A fantastic tool for creative thinking, and can be used by anyone, not just writers.
£9.32^* - save 9%

A Kick in the Seat of the Pants
Roger Von Oech, George Willett (Illustrator)
Using your Explorer, Artist, Judge and Warrior to be more creative.
With an entertaining manner, the author gives the nuts-and-bolts of being creative, outlines a four-step programme to help stimulate creative thinking and promote the application of creative ideas, and provides techniques that everyone will find useful.
£8.79^* - save 10%

30 Minutes to Brainstorm Great Ideas
Alan Barker
This book starts with the essential rules of brainstorming and goes on to offer some other practical techniques that will help you generate new ideas. The author shows you how to make your brainstorming sessions effective, productive and fun, and provides ideas and advice on brainstorming alone or in a group to come up with ideas that really work.
Only £3.00!^*

Five Star Mind - Games and Puzzles to Stimulate Your Creativity and Imagination
Tom Wujec
This interesting book describes how you can be more creative. The author divides this creativity process into 8 phases, drawing a metaphor from cooking food: appetite - hunger for ideas, gather - collect ideas, cut - analyze ideas, mix - combine ideas, cook - concentrate on ideas, spice - season ideas, taste - evaluate ideas, and digest - assimilate ideas. Within each of these he gives you valuable tools you can use.
Only £8.52!^*

What If? : Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
Anne Bernays, Pamela Painter
Widely used by creative writing classes, loved by tutors, this book is full of exercises designed to guide you through the writing process and put your ideas into practice. Guaranteed to improve your writing!
£7.67^* - save 9%

Story Starters
Lou Willett Stanek
How to jump-start your imagination, get your creative juices flowing, and start writing your story or novel. Packed with good, sound, exciting advice, this book has so many story starters you'll be spoilt for choice.
£6.87^* - save 9%

The Writer's Partner
Martin Roth
1001 breakthrough ideas to stimulate your imagination. A comprehensive collection of plot twists, characterisations, regional dialects, occupation-specific dialogue and much more. A quick and easy reference tool that will save you hours of research whatever your genre.
Only £12.18!^*

Cracking Creativity
The Secrets of Creative Genius
Michael Michalko
This books shows how creative people think - and how to put their secrets to work for you. The author has researched hundreds of history's greatest thinkers - from Leonardo da Vinci to Pablo Picasso - and shows you how to apply their strategies in your own life. A fantastic overview of creative thinking.
£10.97^* - save 9%

Book Reviews

2009-02-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

The Date-A-Base Book 2009
Over 1,200 forthcoming historic anniversaries covering the whole year from Jan - Dec 2009. Ideal for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, producers, researchers, teachers and students. The book contains more than twice as many events per month than our standard listings on this site. You'll never run out of ideas for magazine and newspaper articles, radio and television features, and much more. Just one sale will pay for your book many times over.
printed version: £6.99 (£5.99 for members)
e-book version: £4.99 (£3.99 for members)

Writing Television Sitcoms
Evan S. Smith
This book is a must for established or aspiring writers of sitcoms. Packed with tips from established industry names. Use the author's premise-driven writing concept and you'll never suffer from writer's block ever again.
£8.45^* - save 9%

Writing for Television
Gerald Kelsey
Covers plot, story construction, characterisation, dialogue and comedy. Includes extracts from recent television scripts and information on the latest advances in television production techniques. There is also information on how to market new material, fees and a section aimed at beginners to help them avoid pitfalls.
£8.79^* - save 20%

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy Television
Joe Nazzaro
"If you've got any interest at all in TV sci-fi, and especially if you've got any ambitions to write the stuff, buy this book." - Dreamwatch Magazine.
£10.49^* - save 30%

Radio Drama
Tim Crook
This book brings together the practical skills needed for radio drama, such as directing, writing and sound design, with media history and communication theory.
Only £18.99!^*

Writing for Television
William Smethurst
Information and advice on all areas of writing for TV, such as: should you plan for commercial breaks, what camera moves should be put in, how should a script be presented and who should you contact? Includes chapters on the opportunities available to new writers, the basics of scriptwriting, and situation comedy.
£8.45^* - save 9%

Scriptwriting for the Screen
Charlie Moritz
An accessible guide to writing for film and television. Covers the first principles of screenwriting and advises how to identify and formulate a story and develop ideas to build a vivid, animated and entertaining script. The book introduces the essential skills of writing good drama. Includes many examples, ranging from American Beauty to Coronation Street.
Only £9.99!^*

Writing Television Comedy
Jerry Rannow
Provides an inside view of the process of conceiving, writing and marketing a winning TV sitcom. It offers detailed instructions on getting started, story outline, pitching to producers and creating a show. Tips, sample scripts and exercises are also provided.
Only £9.95!^*

Writing for Soaps
Chris Curry
This handbook covers the specifics of writing for the soaps, and guides the writer through the collaborative process from submitting a proposal and storylining to the finished script and the future of the industry. It also offers advice to readers about how to work in a successful team.
£7.99^* - save 20%

Writing for Radio
Rosemary Horstmann
A guide to everything writers need to know to write for radio: structure of plays and short stories, effective use of music and sound effects, moving characters in sound and space, and interviewing. Also covers possible markets for work, awards open to writers and the writing of commercials.
Only £10.01!^*

Writing for Radio
Shaun MacLoughlin
Hints and tips from an experienced author on how to write for the radio and how to get a play, feature or short story successfully produced. This revised and updated edition includes new material covering the future of radio, the future of audio drama on the Internet, and digital radio stations.
£7.19^* - save 20%

Local Radio Journalism
Paul Chantler, Sim Harris
This book concentrates on all aspects of local radio journalism, from how to establish a small newsroom on a budget, to planning and developing news stories and preparing bulletins. It explains what studio equipment to use and provides advice on keeping on the right side of the law.
Only £17.99!^*

Television and Screenwriting
From Concept to Contract
Richard A. Blum
A practical guide to writing and marketing scripts for film and television. In addition to story, character, and dialogue development, this book also coaches readers on developing series concepts and writing effective script visualisations, and how to incorporate it into television and film script formats. An entire section is devoted to marketing the finished product - how to analyse the market, prepare the script for submission and find an agent. This revised edition includes details of competitions, festivals, and workshops, and websites for screenwriters, with appendices on funding and legal information.
£16.94^* - save 9%

Collaboration

2009-02-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

PlotBot. Fancy yourself as a bit of a screenwriter, do you? Have some friends who think they also could do better than the professionals? Well here’s your chance. This interesting little application uses a combination of wiki style editing, an Ajaxified interface and clever code to provide a cool screenwriting environment for individuals or teams to create amazing works of art. Or Rocky XX, whichever comes first.

Read more here

Benderspink, the team who brought us American Pie, is trying a collaborative screenwriting experiment. The premise is that any writer can contribute/collaborate/compete with other writers to add pages to a developing feature-length screenplay. Every other week, judges will pick the best 8-12 page installment that builds from the developing screenplay. By the end, there’s likely to be 10-12 writers involved (assuming no writer wins multiple rounds).

Read more here

Scribosphere

2009-02-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

The following is stolen from Rage Against the Page It seems a pretty cool blog to me so maybe you'll go and have a look....

Alexander's Screenwriting Blog (Greek) — The most comprehensive list of screenwriting blogs ever. Left-hand column. I suspect Alexander tracks every screenwriter on the net. All scribes check for a hidden transmitter under your car bumper NOW.
Box Office Mojo — All Time Box Office Lists
Fun Joel — He's got links to every other screenwriting resource you could possibly want. Steal 'em all then blame it on THAT guy.
Go Into The Story — Screenwriter and instructor Scott Myers' young son urged his father to 'go into the story and find the animals.' Scott also found Lincoln's hat, a Pokemon, and Tara Reid's self esteem.
Guernse6's Screenwriting Page — Discusses act structure, including my megaplotter writings. Anyone who puts Orson Welles on the front page of their site is a friend of mine. Have you seen The Battle Over Citizen Kane documentary? If not, you can read the transcript online.
How to Write Screenplays. Badly. — Jeremy and Dan pretend to be Uwe Boll and Michael Bay. Or is it the other way around?
Jeremy Slater — Jeremy founded the popular site 'How To Write Screenplays, Badly' (see link above). That site is mothballed now, because Jeremy proved to be no good at writing screenplays badly when he sold his spec 'Pet' to MGM. Word of advice: if you meet Jeremy on the lot, don't ask why he's wearing the bear suit.
John August — Site tells the story of a Hollywood screenwriter who drinks a few beers, has a few laughs, and then writes the Charlies Angles movies. I forget how the story ends. Go there now and learn from a pro. Then come back. Bring beer.
Josh Friedman — Josh wrote Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Brother, did that ending suck, and I'm not complaining about the bacteria (the kid is alive? ALIVE? Why not throw in the 'it was all a dream' ending!). Luckily, Josh's blog anti-sucks bigtime.
Mystery Man On Film — Blog run by a powerful enclave of Hollywood A-list screenwriters who work night and day to impersonate a supposed 'mystery man' who blogs incessantly about everything screenwriting. There, now you know. Pffffft. Mystery my ass. The only mystery is, are these blueberries or boysenberries on my muffin?
ScreenwriterBones — Philip Morton's blog title holds a subject and a verb, but leaves us asking the question, 'bones what?'
Script Reader Tales: The Rouge Wave — The Wave-inatrix can help you avoid a "Project: PASS. Writer: PASS"
Terry Rossio's MySpace Blog — You will know Terry, of course, as the writer of Little Ghost Fighters (Philippines: English title). Also, he wrote a popular cartoon called Shrek. And Pirates of the Carribean, starring Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones. Kidding, just kidding. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio rule Hollywood with their superhuman storytelling powers. That seems to be working out way better than the time they tried to rule Hollywood with their colony of vicious (but poorly trained) vampire bats.
The Artful Writer — Craig Mazin & Ted Elliott. Go there and "procrasturbate" til the cows come home
The Pen is Mightier that the Spork — James Moran, up 'n coming screenwriter behind the cult hit Severance
WordPlayer — Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. The real deal, folks. Read and be thankful.

BBC Writers' Room

2009-02-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

"BBC writersroom is always on the lookout for fresh, new, talented writers for a changing

Britain

. When we find them, we do everything we can to get their voice heard and their work produced for BBC film, TV and radio – for drama, comedy, and children’s programmes.

If you have talent, an original voice, and stories to tell, then BBC writersroom wants to know about you."

7 on 7
Deadline: 27 February 09
Wanted: writers for a new BBC radio topical sketch show.

The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
Deadline: 27 February 09
Writers based in the North of England can win a bursary of up to £5,000 and have their work produced on Radio 4

The Windsor Fringe Marriott Award
Deadline: 05 March 09
Three one-act plays will be performed at the Windsor Fringe Festival, and the best will win a £500 cash prize

Northern Laughs
Deadline: 12 March 09
New opportunity for exceptional writers from the North who want to write TV Comedy.

Northern Laughs Workshops
Short talks in Newcastle, Leeds, and Manchester about writing comedy for the BBC

Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council offer bursaries to published playwrights based in Scotland

UK Film Council
Apply for money from the UK Film Council Development Fund

BBC Film Network
Submit your short to the Film Network

Read more here...

BBC New Wriitng

"

· Radio Drama · What makes radio drama different? · Approaches to writing for radio drama - key points · Script Layout - a format for presentation · Who produces radio drama? · BBC New Writing and The Writers' Room · The processes of production · Payment for Radio Drama · Further contacts

BBC New Writing (formally the New Writing Initiative) was set up to to identify and champion talent and diversity for all BBC platforms, across BBC Drama, Entertainment and Children's programmes.

BBC New Writing runs various schemes targeting specific writers who come to our notice via a wide range of sources: the unsolicited script system, agents, play readings, contacts with theatres, film schools and so on. We rarely invite open submissions for these schemes.

Past schemes have included:

A TV Screenwriter's course
A Radio Drama Writers' group
Two T.V. Popular Series schemes
A Children's Comedy Drama Series scheme
A Comedy Writers' Group
Regional Initiatives
Writers' Bursaries

We are constantly on the lookout for writers of any age, with potential for BBC TV and Radio Drama to take part in these initiatives. You should let us know if there is a reading, production, or screening of your work and we'll try to see it or ask you to send us a script. We accept and read unsolicited scripts for complete Film, TV and Radio Drama.

Writers who previously had to guess where to submit their work now have a single address, and the confidence that, if their work is brilliant, it will be recommended to the right producers or development units across the BBC"

Read more here...

BBC writersroom seeks new talent

Back

13 February 2009

BBC writersroom champions new writing talent in film, television, radio, and theatre, working in partnership with theatres, writers’ organisations, screen agencies, and the wider cultural industries. It helps new writers develop their craft through its website and in open sessions around the country with the UK's best writing talent. It holds open competitions for writers, and detail other industry opportunities.

BBC writersroom is constantly on the lookout for writers of any age and experience who have exceptional talent, an original voice, and great stories to tell. Visit www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom to find out more.

Blogs about BBC Writers Room

BBC Writersroom roadshows

Throughout 2009 the BBC Writersroom team will be running roadshows for writers interested in submitting radio or TV scripts. The next ones are in Hull tomorrow (7th Jan) and London on 15 January.

Attendance is free, but places should be reserved.

Full details on the BBC Writersroom website.

The Writers Guild Blog

BBC Writers Room on Facebook

If you could write a script for your dream tonight what would it be?

2009-02-19T23:28:00.001-08:00

Here are some answers to start you off...

What short story would make good radio drama?

2009-02-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea - please put your own ideas below...

How to...

2009-02-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

ontent

How to Write a Radio Script

Learning how to write a radio script is critical for proper execution of a radio performance. The script must include various cues for dialogue, music, and sound effects and be able to quickly and...

How to Write a Radio Play

A radio play is much like a television show, but some people prefer the radio version as it allows the imagination to generate the images. The radio play may not be as popular as other modern forms...

How to Write a Movie Script

Every year thousands of people write movie scripts hoping to get them produced and make a lot of money. However, very few scripts are actually bought. The reason is that movies are expensive to...

How to Write the Formation of Script

Writing a script is one of the most challenging types of writing that there is. Doing it well means making it look effortless, while it is anything but. The challenge is truly in the preparation...

How to Create Goals and Obstacles in a Play

Goals and obstacles are important in a play because these aspects of a script are part of setting up a plot. Goals and obstacles, as well as other character events, give backbone to your plot and...

How to become a Screenwriter

2009-02-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

How to Become a Screenwriter -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

How to write a Radio Script

2009-02-19T23:19:00.000-08:00

Learning how to write a radio script is critical for proper execution of a radio performance. The script must include various cues for dialogue, music, and sound effects and be able to quickly and clearly communicate the writer's objectives to the cast and crew. Here is a guide on how to write a radio script.

Here's how to write a radio drama script...

Instructions

Step 1:
Figure out the central topic of your radio play. Radio drama can be about pretty much anything, but it has to be driven solely by dialogue, narration and sound effects. This makes plot-driven genres such as science fiction, adventure, suspense and mystery especially well-suited.
Step 2:
Create a protagonist and a few supporting characters. Because radio play has no visual reference, you'll want a lot of contrast in your characters. Having characters of different ages, genders, nationalities and subcultures with different ways of talking will broaden the appeal of your radio play and make it easier to follow.
Step 3:
Come up with a good central conflict. Does the protagonist have to catch a villain before he strikes again? Does he have to discover a way to escape from the strange planet where he has been stranded? Does he have to reconcile with a friend from whom he has been growing apart? Writing out a clear explanation of the central conflict will help you organize everything in your own head before you start writing the script.
Step 4:
Create a villain. Not every story has a villain per se, but a really evil antagonist gives your script that pulpy, over-the-top feel that made old-time radio so much fun.
Step 5:
Pick a script format for your radio drama. It really doesn't matter what format you use, as long as you have a standard way of writing dialogue, stage directions, sound effects and narrative.
Step 6:
Set the scene. Radio plays can create the scene using a narrator, a monologue, a dialogue, sound effects or a combination of the above. The important thing is to let the audience know where they are at the beginning. Within the first few minutes, they should know who the principal characters are, where they are and what they are doing.
Step 7:
Clearly introduce a plot element and place in each scene. The first scene might tell you that the protagonist is on a mission on board her starship, for example, and that she is searching for a ship that put out a distress beacon. The second scene might take place in the science laboratory of the vessel and introduce the character of the head scientist and his theory that the ship fell into a parallel dimension. By tying each scene to a place, event and character, you can, piece by piece, create a vivid world for the listener.
Step 8:
Incorporate sound effects whenever possible. Creaking doors, shrieking alarms and cavernous echoes really make radio more vivid. They help set the scene, raise suspense and hold the attention of the audience.
Step 9:
Wrap it up within 30 minutes. Although radio plays can take hours, don't set too big a task for yourself in the beginning. Keep the script tight, short and simple.

Tips & Warnings

Although it is usually best to tell the listener what is going on, there are exceptions. Sometimes the tension comes from the character being lost and disoriented. When this is the case, making the audience feel a bit disoriented strengthens their identification with the character.

Resources

How to Write a Radio Script -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Radio Scripts

2009-02-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

Liven up your radio scripts:

In the playground

Sound of the sea

Road traffic

Here's the full article

These people will write a script for you - maybe they would like some writers in the UK?

Buy a professional radio commercial template...

You could always get one free...

Brokensea BBC Radio Script Template... This is a Pages template designed for Apple's iWork 08. It automatically formats your Radio/Podcasting script (dialogue, effects, etc).

This Pages Template was made for audio dramas at http://www.brokensea.com/

It is based on standards for radio scripts available at http://bbc.co.uk/writersroom/

It is free for download/use/modification. No warrantee is stated or implied.

Download Now

Apple iWork '08 (Pages)

Evening class 19 February - Group Post

2009-02-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

A summary as to:

a. what was discussed in the evening class
b. what the homework was

will be written below............

Screenwriting Software

2009-02-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

Detailed computer programs are designed specifically to format screenplays, teleplays and stage plays. A number of these programs offer access to online screenwriter communities. Celtx, DreamaScript, Final Draft, Movie Outline 3.0, FiveSprockets, and Montage are several such programs. Software is also available as web applications, accessible from any computer, and on mobile devices.

There's a free download here...

Some writers workshop details here

Screenwriting visualisation is here

More free/evaluation copy stuff...(extract)

Do you have existing scripts that you want to import to Practical Scriptwriter ?

If you do then you may be interested in a script conversion utility we are developing. The Beta is available as a free download here. It will only accept screenplay format scripts in rich text format (.RTF) at present and it's not fully automatic, you may have some changes to make before you can import. But it should avoid too much retyping.

Be warned, it requires version 3.5 of the .NET framework and windows installer version 3.1 (both available as free downloads from Microsoft, but they may be lengthy downloads). Windows only at present.

This is from here

Scriptware for Macs...

Free scriptwriting software

Evening class 19 February

2009-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

What was covered?

The Ultimate Playwright's Exercise

2009-02-19T10:26:00.001-08:00

The Ultimate Playwright's Exercise -- powered by eHow.com

Organising a Writer's Salon

2009-02-19T10:24:00.002-08:00

How to Organize a Writers' Salon -- powered by eHow.com

Goals of a Salon:

Goals of a Writers' Salon -- powered by eHow.com

Games for a Salon

Games for a Writers' Salon -- powered by eHow.com

Sharing Ideas

2009-02-19T10:24:00.001-08:00

Advanced Playwriting: Sharing Ideas -- powered by eHow.com

Working with a partner

2009-02-19T10:22:00.002-08:00

Writing with a Partner -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Writing Dialogue

2009-02-19T10:22:00.001-08:00

Writing Dialog for a Play -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Writing a Story

2009-02-19T10:21:00.002-08:00

Writing a Story -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Using Gimmicks

2009-02-19T10:21:00.001-08:00

Using Gimmicks in Writing -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

How to structure a play

2009-02-19T10:20:00.001-08:00

Structuring a Play -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Starting to write a play

2009-02-19T10:19:00.002-08:00

Starting to Write a Play -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Goals for your Play

2009-02-19T10:19:00.001-08:00

Goals for Play Writing -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Dealing with Writer's Block

2009-02-19T10:18:00.001-08:00

Dealing with Writer's Block -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Writing Steps

2009-02-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Play Writing Steps -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

What length of play?

2009-02-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

Play Writing Length -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

How to get ideas to write a play

2009-02-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Play Writing Ideas -- powered by eHow.com

How to write a play

2009-02-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Start off by reading this...

Then read this - extract follows:

"Radio is an extraordinary medium. A radio play can travel through time and space, between centuries and continents. It can take place in an aeroplane, down a goldmine, on a ship; it can also take place within the confines of somebody's mind. All this can be done for a fraction of what it would cost to do the same in film. But in every case the audience has to be attracted, and its attention held, by the means of sound alone. "

You could muck around with this...

Be very aware of playwriting competitions in the USA and UK and that you know who is looking for scripts....'only' 1200 entered this last time...

Be aware of crap writing workshops - and the ones that might be good...

Make sure you know how to get your play read....

Get advice and tips about writing a script...

Maybe even write one online...

Or watch a video

Actors in search of a play...

2009-02-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

We are looking for 3 One Act Plays for our group - we have more women than men and most of the group and 50+ - though we do have 2 younger men and women. Our choice would be comedy - has anyone got anything they can recommend that has been successful - it is just to perform locally not for a festival.

Further info see here

One person from this website, responded:

"Hey “Linz67″ I may have the script you seek! As an established playwright I’m about to release a freebie one act murder mystery parody, and it’s absolutely fab! Initially I wrote it after being invited to run it’s premiere at the forthcoming London Fringe Festival, but due to other commitments I can no longer do this. It can be minimal set or single set depending on your budget, the characters age ranges are flexible, and alot of fun! I’m looking for a group to take it on for it’s premiere"

Promotional trailer for the royalty-free play "The Cook Did It!"

Experimental Plays

2009-02-19T09:46:00.001-08:00

Read Bo's experimental plays cataloged here (below), and become his friend.

Puppet Play, One Act Play (164K)

SETTING: The play is split between Big D's dressing room backstage at the Happy Fun Time Show, and Mark's bachelor pad apartment. Mark's apartment contains an overly large television that doubles as a Puppet Theatre. The Time is now.

Happiness Hunting, One Act Play (72K)

(A burnt forest is littered with ash and blackened tree stumps. Happiness enters and gives all the necessary information for the curtain speech)

HAPPY: (Enters) Hello. Good evening and welcome to this performance of "Happiness Hunting". Ok, what do I have to say, oh right, um please turn off your cell phones and pagers, anything that beeps or vibrates, I don't want to know what it is, just please turn it off...

Something New, One Act Play (51K)

Cliff and Dawn are wondering around the stage trying to find their way to the bar. Cliff is nervously trying to lead the way, while Dawn is relaxed and enjoying the situation.

CLIFF: Don't worry, I'll find it soon enough.

Pre Post Eros, One Act Play (52K)

John, Man, and Paul, are seated in three separate and identical booths; all dressed the same, drinking coffee and reading the same paper. Man is in the center booth. Enter Strange Woman. The three men watch her. She sits in booth with Man, he pretends not to notice

[Pause]

Bored Strange Woman speaks

STRANGE WOMAN: Tell me a story.

Two and ½ Pints, One Act Play (25K)

Bo enters stage left carrying luggage, he is well dressed in suite and tie, throughout the performance the suit jacket and tie will slowly be taken off and discarded.

[Speaking to self]

BO: Okay I'm at gate C... need to get too... Level 14B?

Los Variables, One Page Play (14K)

A near empty stage with a large diagram of a tree center stage. XX and XY Enter from Stage Right and Stage Left, respectively. They laugh together hysterically. They stop together. Look at each other and giggle. As they talk they walk towards each other.

XX: Don't you think it is weird?

Sad Hoopla, One Page Play (15K)

An Actress is onstage holding a hula-hoop. An Actor is kneeling before her dressed as a dog.

Dog: Why are we here?

Ferry Terminal, One Page Play (9K)

Bob: Hey you, what are you doing here, the terminal is closed, get out.

The Fabricator™ Comics, Comic Book (315K)

Better buckle your seat-belts boys and girls because The Fabricator™ is about to take you on a ride.

Royalty-free One Act Plays

2009-02-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

ROYALTY-FREE ONE-ACT PLAYS

The Angel Intrudes - Comedy. Floyd Dell. 3 m., 1 f.
The Beggar and the King - Comedy. Winthrop Parkhurst. 3 m.
The Boor - Comedy. Anton Chekhov. 2 m., 1 f.
Campbell of Kilmhor - Drama. J.A. Ferguson. 4 m., 2 f.
Chitra - Drama. Rabindranath Tagore. 3 m., 1 f., extras.
Cocaine - Drama. Pendleton King. 1 m., 1 f.
The Cyclops - Comedy. Euripides. 4 m., extras.
Debit and Credit - Drama. August Strindberg. 6 m., 3 f.
A Dollar - Comedy. David Pinski. 5 m., 3 f.
Echo - Drama. Joseph T. Shipley. 3 m., 1 f.
Enemies - Drama. Neith Boyce & Hutchins Hapgood. 1 m., 1 f.
Enigma - Drama. Floyd Dell. 1 m., 1 f.
Ever Young - Drama. Alice Gerstenberg. 4 f.
Facing Death - Drama. August Strindberg. 3 m., 3 f.
Forbidden Fruit - Comedy. George Jay Smith. 3 m., 2 f.
Fourteen - Comedy. Alice Gerstenberg. 1 m., 2 f.
The Game - Drama. Louise Bryant. 2 m., 2 f.
The Genius - Drama. Horace Holley. 2 m.
Gettysburg - Drama. Percy MacKaye. 1 m., 1 f.
Hamlet - Drama. William Shakespeare. 14 m., 2 f., extras.
Helena's Husband - Comedy. Philip Moeller. 3 m., 2 f.
Her Tongue - Comedy. Henry Arthur Jones. 2 m., 2 f.
He Said and She Said - Comedy. Alice Gerstenberg. 1 m., 3 f.
His Luck - Drama. Horace Holley. 2 f.
His Return - Comedy. Percival Wilde. 1 m., 3 f.
Home - Drama. Maurice Maeterlinck. 3 m., 5 f., extras.
Ikuta - Drama. Zembo Motoyaso. 3 m., chorus.
Ile - Drama. Eugene O'Neill. 5 m., 1 f., extras.
The Illuminati in Drama Libre - Drama. Alice Gerstenberg. 1 m., 1 f.
The Incompatibles - Comedy. Horace Holley. 2 m., 1 f.
The Intruder - Drama. Maurice Maeterlinck. 3 m., 4 f.
An Irish Engagement - Comedy. Walter Watts. 4 m., 2 f.
King Arthur's Socks - Comedy. Floyd Dell. 1 m., 3 f.
Legend - Drama. Floyd Dell. 1 m., 1 f.
Living Hours - Drama. Arthur Schnitzler. 3 m.
A Long Time Ago - Drama. Floyd Dell. 3 m., 2 f., extras.
A March Wind - Drama. Alice Brown. 2 m., 2 f.
A Marriage Has Been Arranged - Drama. Alfred Sutro. 1 m., 1 f.
The Master-Poisoner - Drama. Maxwell Bodenheim. 2 m., 1 f.
A Matter of Husbands - Comedy. Ferenc Molnar. 2 f.
Mine Eyes Have Seen - Drama. Alice Dunbar-Nelson. 4 m., 4 f.
Mr. Icky - Comedy. F. Scott Fitzgerald. 4 m., 1 f., extras.
Not Smart - Comedy. Wilbur Daniel Steele. 2 m., 3 f.
The Open Door - Comedy. Alfred Sutro. 1 m., 1 f.
Overtones - Drama. Alice Gerstenberg. 4 f.
Pariah - Drama. August Strindberg. 2 m.
The People - Drama. Susan Glaspell. 10 m., 2 f.
The Philosopher of Butterbiggens - Comedy. Harold Chapin. 3 m., 1 f.
Pictures - Drama. Horace Holley. 2 m., 1 f.
Poet's Heart - Drama. Maxwell Bodenheim. 3 m., 2 f.
Porcelain and Pink - Comedy. F. Scott Fitzgerald. 1 m., 2 f.
The Pretentious Young Ladies - Comedy. Molière. 9 m., 5 f., extras.
The Proposal - Comedy. Anton Chekhov. 2 m., 1 f.
A Question of Sex - Comedy. Arnold Bennett. 2 m., 2 f.
Riders to the Sea - Drama. J.M. Synge. 1 m., 3 f., extras.
The Roadhouse in Arden - Comedy. Philip Moeller. 4 m., 2 f.
The Sequel - Comedy. Percival Wilde. 3 m., 1 f.
Simoom - Drama. August Strindberg. 2 m., 1 f.
The Stepmother - Comedy. Arnold Bennett. 2 m., 2 f.
St. Martin's Summer - Comedy. Cosmo Hamilton. 1 m., 2 f.
The Stronger - Drama. August Strindberg. 2 f.
St. Valentine's Day - Comedy. Annie Eliot. 2 f.
The Sun - Drama. John Galsworthy. 2 m., 1 f.
Sweet-and-Twenty - Comedy. Floyd Dell. 3 m., 1 f.
The Telegram - Drama. Horace Holley. 2 m.
They That Sit in Darkness - Drama. Mary Burrill. 4 m., 4 f.
Thompson's Luck - Drama. Harry Greenwood Grover. 3 m., 1 f.
Trifles - Drama. Susan Glaspell. 3 m., 2 f.
Two Slatterns and a King - Comedy. Edna St. Vincent Millay. 1 m., 2 f., 1 other.
Thirst - Drama. Eugene O'Neill. 2 m., 1 f.
Voices - Drama. Hortense Flexner. 2 f.
Why Cupid Came to Earl's Court - Comedy. Cosmo Hamilton. 3 m., 4 f.
The Witch of Coös - Drama. Robert Frost. 1 m., 1 f.
Yesterday - Comedy. Colin Campbell Clements. 1 m., 1 f.

Source: http://www.one-act-plays.com/royalty_free_plays.html

More One-Act plays

Write a script - and sell it through Lazy Bee!

2009-02-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

What do we publish? Lazy Bee Scripts is a publisher of theatre scripts. We specialise in English pantomimes and school plays, including musicals with strong sidelines in plays, one-act drama and sketches, skits and short plays. (That said, the specialism is largely a matter of happy accident: we will consider any plays - but see below!) Most of the material is humorous - but again, that is accident rather than policy.
We also publish scripts for interactive murder mysteries.
Many of the plays and pantomimes feature original music which we publish with the scripts.
We publish scripts written in a recognisable form of the English Language. So far, this is limited to British English and American English, but we are willing to tackle other forms. (Okay, we have also published one script in Afrikaans and one in French, but they are translations, and they started-out in English!)

For further details click here

This whole concept looks exceedingly interesting

2009-02-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

Come and Play Out on the Cowley Road.

Find a friend, book a table and enjoy a 30 minute theatrical experience just for the two of you.

When you arrive, you'll be shown to your seats and given headphones and instructions. In front of you are some props and that's all you need to know!

Playhouse Director Michelle Dickson says: "When I experienced Etiquette recently, I knew straight away that it was a perfect Playhouse Plays Out show. It's like nothing you'll have seen or done before, and if you're like me, you won't stop talking about it for ages. It's theatre and you're part of it, but there's no audience and it's not exposing, just rather special!"

Etiquette takes place in George and Delila's café on the Cowley Road, and you can book your slot online, at the Playhouse Box Office or at G&D's when Etiquette is on.

Gripping... If the line between audience and performer seems blurred, Rotozaza's Etiquette erases it entirely. New York Times

Etiquette is suitable for 13+.

4.48 Psychosis

2009-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

This looks an interesting play....

Highly experimental adaptation by Sarah Kane exploring with sincerity and integrity what it means to be mentally ill in the year 2009.

4.48 Psychosis at the Burton Taylor Studio: Thu 19th Feb - Sat 21st Feb: 9.30pm. £5 / £4.
Burton Taylor Studio, Tue February 17th - Sat February 21st 2009
You can’t just ‘put on’ Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis any more than you can just ‘muck about’ with a loaded shotgun. The psychological and physical intensity it requires of its cast borders on the sadistic. Close to the bone doesn’t cover it – this is deep in the marrow: an examination of the thought processes leading up to suicide by an author who killed herself the year before it was first staged. You don’t put something like that on, you take it on, and if you’re not prepared to do that with fearless commitment and without a hint of self-consciousness then, frankly, you’ll lose. In that regard, last night’s performance struggled to an honourable, if messy draw. It got most of its points from the staging. There’s a lot of theatre to be had here – dance and live music (performed excellently by the cast and a quartet lurking at the edges of the stage), sudden changes of lighting and mood, all very well handled by cast and crew alike, using the Burton Taylor’s awkard space to its fullest extent. There’s also clearly been some serious thinking done on the play’s complex themes – particularly in the way it handles the fervency of religion and its close affiliation with psychiatric disturbance. It’s with the words that things become a little wobbly. They’re not Kane’s strong suit anyway – the play is a bit overwritten and tends towards the heavy handed, so anything that breaks the spell created by its extraordinary rhythm threatens to topple the narrative into parodic melodrama. Alas this happens too often, mainly because there doesn’t seem to have been as much thought put into the verbal performance as the visual. The performers continuously fall into the ‘shouting trap’, where volume is lazily assumed to convey dramatic intensity. Lines are occasionally swallowed and garbled. Repetitions which should have been agonising are rushed over as if they were embarassing aberrations. Jokes (and there are quite a few) are delivered poorly. The male lead’s one big comic moment in particular – the doctor’s waiting room gag - is magnificently ruined, roared over the heads of the audience like an Am Dram Lear in an otherwise brave performance. These weren’t obtrusive failings, and might have passed unnoticed in a different setting. Here, though, they break the spell, providing an unwanted ‘out’ and allowing the audience, unforgivably, to remind themselves that they’re really only watching a play.

Review stolen without any guilt at all, from here...

The Bird and the Bee

2009-02-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

Podcast: The Bird And The Bee

Two short plays which tell the same story, but from a different viewpoint - ThreeWeeks meets the playwrights

'The Bird' and 'The Bee' are two new plays that tell the story of Chloe and Jacob, teenagers who meet online only to end their lives. ThreeWeeks met with the writers behind this production - Royal Exchange Bruntwood Award winner Matt Hartley and double Sunday Times Playwriting Award and ThreeWeeks Editors' Award winner Al Smith - to find out more about their inspirations, their thoughts on the perceived rise in teenage suicide, and why they needed to keep their plays light hearted.

Click on the link below to play through your browser, or right click and select 'save file' to download the MP3 to your PC or iPod.

http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/podcast/mp3s/3wks_birdandthebee_hw.mp3

"It's not spoiling anything to reveal that The Bird and the Bee ends in the deaths of its teenage protagonists: the outcome is slapped all over the publicity for this engrossing double bill. Even so, it would be possible to watch the two plays and never accept that Jacob and Chloe will commit suicide. Surely the joyful hug the youngsters share at the close of The Bee signals the start of a carefree romance? As in real life, where teenage suicides seem unfathomable and unacceptable, it's hard to avoid wishful thinking."

For the rest of the review click here...

Second review...

Podcast on playwriting

2009-02-19T09:09:00.001-08:00

In this programme broadcast on Whatsonstage.com, Mark Shenton talks to Charles Spencer (Daily Telegraph), David Benedict (London correspondent for Variety) and Matt Wolf (International Herald Tribune) about the world premiere of Tom Stoppard’s latest Rock 'n' Roll, Michael Grandage’s revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita, the puppet-led Broadway import musical Avenue Q and the winner of Channel 4’s The Play’s the Thing playwriting competition, Kate Betts’ On the Third Day.

To listen to the podcast click here

Oxford Group -Comment on Chris's Ideas

2009-02-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Chris
Would love to see your ideas about the rich and the poor groups last week translated into a script. Think it lends itself to humour and, as Shaun said, to music and even dance. Best wishes Eileen Doyle

Half term at schools

2009-02-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

Is there a class tonight?

New course?

2009-02-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

1 Arrange six meetings at fortnightly intervals.
2 Agree a steward for each meeting
3 The steward decides a play [not their own]
4 The steward posts ads for actors to play roles in play with summary script
5 Play is then read at a workshop seesion.

Of course it would be possible for a steward to arrange a theme instead of a specific play. We would need to pick a venue as convenient as possible for all participents.

All those in favour....

Richard

Help Needed with Poetry Competition

2009-02-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

You may or may not know that I run a poetry competition - the Faringdon Online poetry competition, and, as its name suggests it is 'online'

To this end I use a web form, you can see it here
poetry entry form

The arrangement I have with the adjudicator(s) is that I display the poems, minus any identifying features, on web pages to which only the adjudicators and I have access.

I also have to produce for admin purposes a database, [I use access] with poem title, author, email address and in addition, an email address contact list [oulook] for all the contestants.

Following that I then have to convert the winning poems and those which are to be included in the accompanying anthology into .pdf, [I convert with 995] to send to the printer and for the selection people - who need hard copy to make the anthology selection.

All of which is fine, when there are only fifty entries. Now there are 550+ entries and quite likely to double this coming year.

So: my question is - does anyone out there know of any software that would make all the above more streamlined?
In particular - I cannot cut-and-paste the poems from the HTML form without destroying the formatting so the hapless entrants have to add their own code as per instructions which leads to many mistakes. Is there any software that allows formatting to be retained and added to web pages, word docs etc. ?

Hilary

Incidentally, If anyone wants to read the winning entries they can do it here winning poems
Or see/buy the book, it's here book page

Epiphany

2009-02-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

Large office with copier, several laptops, general furniture and a man asleep John Porterloo slumped over his desk. The office is probably on the fifth floor with panoramic view over Kensington Park.

Telephone ringing and sound of window cleaner being lowered from roof.

John What, what, what the hell. picks up phone Who's that for God's sake its the middle of the bloody night go away.

Sees window cleaner Irishman Micheal bangs on the window

Micheal Hello sir and what would you be wanting?

John Your name my angel and when do we leave?

Micheal Oh now sir you've caught me there.

John I'm coming out Micheal and well go up together

Michal Sound of window being shut No No sir you stay there sir. Micheal uses mobile
Mr Lord oh for Gods sake we have a fellow here that doesn't finish sentences!

Help!

This is a group post!!!!

2009-02-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

This is great! I just love blogs and imagine all the radio and theatre plays we can access.

Me too - and there's a certain 'buzz' from being anonymous too!

Now

2009-02-12T11:44:00.001-08:00

Here I am wondering what I should do next Chris? Like all web logs this can so easily waste a deal of precious time. I appreciate the time you took to lead us in to these nettles but already I'm anxious to avoid getting any more stings. Richard

Right now

2009-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

This is being written as I sit here right now in front of you all listening about an extra date for the classes. With no half term break. There is a half term school holiday but...."It doesn't matter so carry on"

Hilary and Richard are working jointly on the internet on a non-dom play.

NOTHING MARKED!
:-(

Finding ways to keep your writing group going:

1. Online

You don't HAVE to do the assigments set (!)

Make money - write!

2009-01-25T02:41:00.001-08:00

Here are some easy ways to make money, if you like writing. (I probably should have said simple ways to make money, rather than easy ways to make money, because there is a difference between simple and easy. But who cares, this is about how to make easy money quickly).

1. Make easy money online naming domains. The original idea comes from Dane Carson’s blog. While you can earn money as a contributor for services such as PickyDomains.Com, here is a better idea. Go to Google or any other search engine, find sucky domain names and contact their owners directly, offering them your services. The key to success is to make it 100% risk free. Inform your prospective clients that you’ll accept money only if they like your domain name. If you come up with one approved domain name a day and charge what PickyDomain charges, you can make $1500 a month. Another twist – come up with cool domain names, like SiteToRemember.Com or ItsMe.Com, register them yourself and sell them on the aftermarket.

2. eBay arbitrage. A lot of people like buying stuff on eBay, because it’s cheap. And some people never buy on eBay, because they are afraid of being ripped off. Here is your solution to making easy money on eBay. Go to Craigslist.Com and see what items people buy and sell most often. Look at prices. Then go to eBay and see, if you can get it cheaper. Once you find your niche, you can buy things on eBay (or better yet, act as a representative for an eBay powerseller) and sell them for a profit using local classifieds and Craigslist. You can do this online as well. Set up a proxy store, and when you get an order, simply buy the same item on eBay for less, substituting shipping address from your own to that of your buyer.

3. eBay copywriting. If you are good at copywriting, go to eBay and look for highticket items, like boats. Find auctions with totally sucky descriptions. Contact an owner and inform him or her that good description of his or her item is likely to increase the chances of that item being sold. Then offer your services for a 1% of the selling price. You can use free eBay software

4. Get Paid Writing Reviews. This idea comes from a blog called Business Ideas That Work. A site called SoftwareJudge.Com pays up to 50 dollars per good review. However, if you are good at reviewing software, you can do this on your own. Go to CNET or any other site that lists software. Find sites that don’t have any reviews or testimonials. Contact developers directly, offering them your review services. Good reviews and testimonials increases sales, so you shouldn’t have any difficulties convincing developers that they need your services. And you get free software and games too! Oh, and you don't have to limit yourself to software alone.

5. Social Bookmark Whoring (oops, I meant to say PR). This is really easy money online. RedDit and Digg can bring a crapload of traffic. And traffic means money. If you have experience creating linkbate titles and getting to the top, why not offer your services? Say, you charge 10 dollars for submitting news to RedDit, Digg, StumbleUpon, Furl, NewsVine, Fark and all the other social bookmarting sites. The key is to work only with interesting stories, so you don’t become a spammer. 10 news a day and you are 100 dollars richer. You can probably work out a deal with online PR agencies, because they are totally clueless about this.

6. Writing Google AdWords Ads. Every time I see “Cake Icing. Used And New. eBay.Com” type ads or “Four best sites on killing your wife”, it makes me wonder. Aren’t there any GOOD AdWords ads copywriters? Look’s like a great job to me. The ads are only three lines long and if you charge 10 bucks per ad, you can make a lot of money. And the customers are easy to find, too. Just look at all these terrible ads that Google displays on their search engine and contextual network.

7. Wacky blogs. Steve Pavlina gets over 300 dollars a day from AdSense alone, writing on wacky topics, like polyphasic sleep, astral projection and psychic development. Or take David Icke, who claims that president Bush in an alien and a reptilian. Your blog doesn’t have to be true, it just has to be interesting.

8. Blog whoring. There are a number of services, like PayPerPost.Com, that pay for promotional blogposts. Once again, you can do the same thing, cutting the middleman out.

9. Unique Personal Ads. Write memorable personal ads for online daters. Most personal ads suck. “Hi, my name is Bambie, I’m a Vergo, I’m 19 and I love dogs.” Here is my favorite personal ad. If people pay for resume writing, they might pay for a great personal ad.

10. Poet For Hire. This is nothing new. Still, if you love writing poetry, why not make some money with your rhymes.

Urgent Notice - and a Suggestion!

2008-11-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

First the URGENT notice.

URGENT EVERYONE

From Shaun

I am so sorry but I have a spectacular bug and am unable to do the class tomorrow (6^th) I will try to contact those whose emails I have personally but please pass this on, carpet bomb everyone with the announcement please.

I will add an extra session to the term to make up the course.

Meanwhile, to focus your reading of the two scripts I gave you last week, think about/ write about, these questions for next time:

Ÿ What do we know about the characters at the end of the extract (just factual stuff we are told or we can clearly imply)?

Ÿ What picture have we got of them as people (soft information, what do we think about their personalities, maybe how do we imagine them physically both in appearance and action etc)?

Ÿ What might they know about each other?

Ÿ What sort of relationships might already exist between Septimus/Thomasina, Septimus/Chater? Oliver/ Mrs Pecs

Ÿ What is the tone of the extract (totally comic, comic with an edge etc.)?

Ÿ What simple notes might we give an actor playing each of the parts?

Imp of writer’s notes for actor’s. These are the distillation of your thoughts/feelings for the characters you are creating or in this case, imagining. They are practical notes for performance but they can help you firm up your own ideas about a character. Think especially about tone of voice, any particular body language or way of reacting, way of standing, etc.

Sorry again

But!!!

A SUGGESTION.

The room is probably booked anyway so why not meet up and discuss whatever you've been writing? bring along scripts, ideas etc etc.

Why not use the space and the time?

Having said that I have a bad cough and cold and have lost most of my voice, so won't be coming - but everyone else can.....

You could use this blog and the Discussion List to announce you're coming, share files pre-course etc.

Remember you ALL have the password etc so anyone can approve the comments - you could, for example, approve your own comments.....

Thursday October 30th (Chris)

2008-10-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight we read two sections of two plays. One, the Pentecost play is reviewed here. The picture on the left gives an idea as to what the play looks like when performed. (Click on pic to enlarge)

These links may be of interest:

Nick Hern Books publicity page
Old Globe production
Ohio State Theatre production
Girlie Girl Productions - Pentecost, the film project
Article in Edmonton Sun

If you wish to buy the script it's £8.54

Some Scripts to Read (Chris)

2008-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Radio Drama

RADIO 4 - FRIDAY PLAY
Damned, Damned, Damned (One Chord Wonders #3) (PDF)
Frank Cottrell Boyce

Lying Undiscovered (PDF)
Richard Monks

Porshia (PDF)
Ed Harris

The Sound Barrier (PDF)
Sarah Daniels

Far From Home (PDF)
Micheal Butt

Man With Travel Hairdryer (PDF)
Katie Hims

RADIO FIVE LIVE
World Cup Tapes Monologue (PDF)
Johnny Vegas

RADIO 3

Caligari (PDF) *NEW*
Amanda Dalton

The Colony (PDF)
Dennis Kelly

How Many Miles to Basra (PDF)
Colin Teevan

The Incomplete Recorded Works Of A Dead Body (PDF)
Ed Hime

RADIO 4 - AFTERNOON PLAY
Abigail Adams (PDF)
Mark Shand

Killing Maestros (PDF)
Christopher William Hill

The King's Coiner (PDF)
Philip Palmer

SPORTS SHORTS
The Match (PDF)(2005 winner)
Mark Kotting

Goal Difference (PDF)
Andrew Viner

OTHER SHORT PLAYS
Smooth Apparatus (PDF)
Laura Wade

Link to BBC Writer's Room

Here's a Starter (Chris)

2008-10-26T09:26:00.001-07:00

Do you want to write drama or comedy for Radio 4?

Radio 4 commissions programmes twice a year. At each Commissioning Round we publish a set of guidelines to help focus producers' thinking and to outline the direction of each of our slots.

Producers are encouraged to share these with writers but we thought you would find these highlights from the current guidelines useful.

If you would like to submit an idea we suggest you either contact The Writersroom, an independent producer or a BBC department. Please do not send material direct to the network.

If a producer is interested in your work they will discuss it with the Commissioning Editor, Drama & Entertainment. If they are also keen the producer will have to prepare an offer to send to Radio 4. Below you'll find some of the guidelines we send producers to help them submit the best possible offer.

CHECKLIST FOR DRAMA AND SCRIPTED COMEDY PROPOSALS

For single plays:

Additionally for dramatisations or adaptations of stage plays:

And for serials or series:

The writer:

Read the Commissioning Brief for Radio 4 Drama and Entertainment programming

More about the BBC Commissioning process

Welcome

2008-10-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all enrolled on the Scriptwriting for Stage and Radio course!

This is for all of us.

We all have the password - we can all add to the blog.

If you see anything here you dislike then probably best to ask someone before you delete it. Conversely if you see anything on the web (in terms of other blogs for example) then probably a good idea to add it!

Because we all have access I suggest we sign our blog entries.

Other than that - it's for all - and all are invited!!

Here's a site you may be interested in....