tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post3200476804970629761..comments2023-10-30T15:13:22.680+00:00Comments on Strictly Writing: Guest Blog by David Allison - Yes, But what are you trying to say?DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803989273524731892noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-13694384332901256622009-05-23T12:07:42.259+01:002009-05-23T12:07:42.259+01:00Cracking final episode last night. Great script an...Cracking final episode last night. Great script and really strong acting. We need more dramas of this quality. <br /><br />David, I'm really interested to know how long the project took you - from first draft to production. Oh - and how many drafts??<br /><br />I've recorded it all so will be watching again. Wishing you well as you move onwards and upwards - I'll be keeping an eye out for your name.SallyRnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-90377639573833663342009-05-18T19:59:00.000+01:002009-05-18T19:59:00.000+01:00This is so true, David. My 'proper' job is as a fr...This is so true, David. My 'proper' job is as a freelance journalist and non-fic author and I still get a huge buzz knowing that someone wants to pay me for something I've written. However, I also have three part-written novels on the go which always seem to get put on hold because there is no deal or deadline for them at the moment. Maybe if I could work out how to clone myself I would have the time to do it all!Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10371523973050040197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-47377442730619318802009-05-18T10:13:00.000+01:002009-05-18T10:13:00.000+01:00Hi Derek,
The honest truth is that I probably didn...Hi Derek,<br />The honest truth is that I probably didn't see myself as professional until it became my main income. I used to work as a waiter and everyone in the restaurant was a wannabe writer, artist or actor. But I always felt like a fraud telling customers I was a writer, because, as they could plainly see, I was in fact serving them pizza and tiramisu.<br /><br />In the end, though, what got me a writing job on a TV series was the work I'd been toiling away on when I'd been serving tables. I sent two plays to Hollyoaks, and badgered them for about a year, and eventually got offered a chance to write a spec episode. And that's how I got a foot in the door.<br /><br />There is a peculiar and complex relationship between money and creativity and I think we'd all like to believe that if you call yourself a writer and you write, then you are one. But there is something about being rewarded financially for your efforts that gives you a status and I was surprised by how different and how satisfying it felt to be paid to write.<br /><br />That still happens now. I have a play that I've been working on for a year or two, but because it's not a paid job with a strict deadline, the poor thing always falls to the bottom of the pile. I'm actually desperate to write the damn thing, but 'work' i.e. paid work always seems to get in the way. I suppose if I want to do it that badly, it'll happen. But there's nothing like the incentive of a contract, a deadline and a cheque to focus the mind...David Allisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-85765370322925119652009-05-17T17:12:00.000+01:002009-05-17T17:12:00.000+01:00David, congratulations on your recent success and ...David, congratulations on your recent success and thanks for the thought-provoking blog. I think sometimes the right characters say things we haven't even thought of or didn't know we wanted to say at all!<br /><br />When do you feel you crossed the line from aspiring to professional writer and what brought that about for you?Derek Thompsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-42618501383593069332009-05-16T09:46:00.000+01:002009-05-16T09:46:00.000+01:00Interesting to read, David - many thanks. I'll def...Interesting to read, David - many thanks. I'll definitely check out Boy Meets Girl.Gillian McDadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02758782108258244355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-19450550946723975252009-05-15T14:40:00.000+01:002009-05-15T14:40:00.000+01:00Yeah, when i realized what was happening, David, m...Yeah, when i realized what was happening, David, my first thought was Gawd, surely not?<br /><br />But, actually, i did watch through one open eye and chuckled. Then the first thing i said to my husband - who was yelling in horror - was that clearly, because of this, Veronica's partner would never find out what happened. That really would be too much:)Administratorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13894920115299109640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-53627466904613199282009-05-15T14:31:00.000+01:002009-05-15T14:31:00.000+01:00Ah, I only ever reward my characters when the lapt...Ah, I only ever reward my characters when the laptop's been put to bed for the evening. A couple of glasses of wine and they feel better in the next room -it happens by osmosis you know?!Fionnualahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12275984316414726884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-12542315864198257172009-05-15T14:23:00.000+01:002009-05-15T14:23:00.000+01:00Deb - funnily enough, Martin and Rachael were unca...Deb - funnily enough, Martin and Rachael were uncannily as I'd imagined them. Danny's described in the script as 'shifty and intense' and Veronica 'poised and womanly', so they fitted them perfectly. Everyone knows Martin of course, but Rachael is incredible and I hope she gets the recognition she deserves. Without a performance of that magnitude, we'd have been in serious trouble.<br /><br />Samantha - you know what, every heterosexual man who came across that scene winced. There was a discussion early on at the channel if it was a bit much. Personally, I think it might be my favourite scene!<br /><br />Fionnuala. My extensive research into drinking wine while writing has thrown up the following conclusion - up to 2 glasses fine, after then SERIOUS deterioration in quality!David Allisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-61491258355071614822009-05-15T14:01:00.000+01:002009-05-15T14:01:00.000+01:00David, my naughty step gets very busy in the early...David, my naughty step gets very busy in the early stages of a novel! Generally though, the longer I know the characters the less they misbehave, and yes I reward them (using myself as the tool obviously) with regular glasses of crisp NZ sauvignon.Fionnualahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12275984316414726884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-17177542294763246462009-05-15T12:44:00.000+01:002009-05-15T12:44:00.000+01:00I have to say, David, it was hard - yet hilarious ...I have to say, David, it was hard - yet hilarious - to watch when *Veronica* finally slept with her partner. She is a wonderful actress (Diana Rigg's daughter, i believe).<br /><br />I have to say for me, more often than not, it's theme that comes before characters when i'm starting a novel. Maybe this is where i'm going wrong...!Administratorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13894920115299109640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-23785045559808429492009-05-15T12:43:00.000+01:002009-05-15T12:43:00.000+01:00Hi David,
First of all, congratulations on the suc...Hi David,<br />First of all, congratulations on the success of BMG. I'm a big fan. I just wondered; when you wrote the series, in your mind did the characters look anything like the brilliant Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling?Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10371523973050040197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-67668052094777055992009-05-15T12:17:00.000+01:002009-05-15T12:17:00.000+01:00Hello all. Thanks for comments and glad some of yo...Hello all. Thanks for comments and glad some of you are enjoying BMG. I guess I'm not saying I deliberately avoid themes or meaning, but these days my starting points are always characters. And certainly with BMG, what emerged was the result of those two specific characters clashing with one another.<br /><br />Fionnuala, I love the idea of a naughty step for characters! Does that also mean they get rewards for good behaviour?David Allisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-15060124362644311882009-05-15T11:11:00.000+01:002009-05-15T11:11:00.000+01:00Fabulous post, David. I think I only started to g...Fabulous post, David. I think I only started to get confident about my writing once I stuck to my "world view" - those beliefs and even misconceptions that will probably run in my veins till the day I die. <br /><br />When I started out writing it took me a while to find a way of expressing my world view in a readable fashion and the stories I wrote didn't ring true. I think I was starting from the wrong end. <br /><br />Watching "Boy Meets Girl" is a fine example of plot growing from character and not vice versa. I really hope this series leads to even bigger things!Geraldine Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01575892095296317266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-86830770875773617472009-05-15T10:52:00.000+01:002009-05-15T10:52:00.000+01:00David, that is brilliant advice. I often want to ...David, that is brilliant advice. I often want to hammer home a 'message' in my writing. And when I do, it gets very pompous/dry/bombastic. I think it's good to let your 'theme'/what you want to say run underneath your writing like a constant stream you can fish from. If you see what I mean.Susie Nott-Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08428000582406338267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-43169219402388117352009-05-15T10:11:00.000+01:002009-05-15T10:11:00.000+01:00I must say I really do love Boy Meets Girl - great...I must say I really do love Boy Meets Girl - great stuff! Though I really don't think it's much about class at all ... For me, it's much more interesting for what it says about gender, and more importantly about relationships.<br /><br />AxxxAnne Brookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982495677389302410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-31329881479659910272009-05-15T10:00:00.000+01:002009-05-15T10:00:00.000+01:00Haven;t seen BMG but it sounds brill and I will de...Haven;t seen BMG but it sounds brill and I will definitely check it out now. I think that's very true about finding your story first and allowing 'what you want to say' to filter through once everything is in place. Thanks for a great post.Caroline Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04708248040141519582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-66766983429575566712009-05-15T09:23:00.000+01:002009-05-15T09:23:00.000+01:00It's interesting isn't it, this yearning to 'say s...It's interesting isn't it, this yearning to 'say something'. I've found as a writer that, yes, I know I want to do that but I rarely set out to do it from the beginning. For me it comes from the characters I draw. As soon as they start to speak and evolve, they ultimately end up revealing what it was I wanted to say. Sometimes they run off on their own tangents and they need reining back in or putting on the naughty step for a while!<br />Will tune into BMG tonight and thanks for a fab post.Fionnualahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12275984316414726884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-86072777645137463142009-05-15T08:49:00.000+01:002009-05-15T08:49:00.000+01:00First of all, David, my husband and i LOVE Boy Mee...First of all, David, my husband and i LOVE Boy Meets Girl - it's just what Friday night tv needed.<br /><br />And i can so relate to those Gauloises preconceptions you had about writing!<br /><br />My novels always tend to evolve from some initial idea of a theme, so it's interesting to me that you try not to do this and just see what happens, more of an organic process.Administratorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13894920115299109640noreply@blogger.com