Screenwriting

As I may have mentioned at some point in the past, I recently spent some time learning about screenwriting. Last night, I completed the first draft of my first screenplay!

Soon after Artefact Nouveau was published at the end of 2005, I received an email from an independant film maker and screenwriter in North America who was interested in turning it into a screenplay for a possible future project. He said it was a suitable story as it contained lots of action and dialogue. He also siad that if I could turn it into a screenplay myself it would be more valuable. Of course at the time I had no idea how to do that, and the idea came to nothing.

Then, last year, after learning to appreciate comics courtesy of Murky Depths, I decided to have a go at creating a comic script. I used one of my own very short stories as a basis and found it a fascinating discipline to distill my own prose into scenes and dialogue.

At the end of last year I read Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, the new edition that included two screenplays that he wrote based on the stories. It suddenly ocured to me that writing a screenplay is very like writing a comic script - converting your story to scenes, action and dialogue.

I dug out Artefact Nouveau and had a go at the first page or so. It's very slow work. Then I decided to look up some information on how to write a screenplay and found some very helpful websites. I discovered that thet Bradbury script is what they call a 'shooting script' - with camera angles, transitions and all kinds of detail. What I needed to write is a 'spec script' - with just the bare bones that a director can play with as he sees fit.

So I started again. According to my calculations, the finished story would make a 45 minute drama - perfect for the BBC. Yes, I know, somewhat optimistic for a first screenplay.

What I need now is to find some friendly screenplay critiquing people to tell me where I've gone wrong.

It's been a fun and interesting experience.

Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

What has always struck me about Ray Bradbury’s short stories is the lyrical quality of his prose. The sentences seem to ramble, but always with purpose, always with poetic grace. Introductions by several authors make similar comments, and the introductions by Ray Bradbury himself display the same enthralling style.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Not Writing

I haven't written any fiction for a week or more. A new job and attempting to finish refurbishing my new house have left me with no time or brain power.

I have managed to finish reading Charles Stross' collection Wireless and written a review for SF Crowsnest. I'm now reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles - The Complete Edition (750 pages!). Lined up next I have Interzone #224 and Philip Palmer's Red Claw, plus the latest re-issue of the Hitchhiker trilogy (in 5 parts).

Hopefully, normal writing service will resume shortly...

Friday Flash Fiction: Built by Moonlight

Built by Moonlight
By Gareth D Jones


This story now appears in the Illuminations anthology.

The somewhat breathless style of this week's story was inspired by the Ray Bradbury collection that I'm currently reading. Many of his stories have that rambling style that drags you inexorably from paragraph to paragraph without time to pause.