ROCLIFFE STORIES: A SCREENWRITER'S PASSAGE - LOUIS PAXTON

A SCREENWRITER'S PASSAGE - LOUIS PAXTON

This blog is by Louis Paxton whose work THE SPARE ROOM was featured in May 2014 as part of the TV Drama Writing. I think it is so important not just to share these writers work with the world but also their journey. 

THE ALL-IMPORTANT ‘AND’

I wish I could say I flirted with other careers… But rather uninterestingly, I’ve always known what I wanted to be: A writer/director for film and TV.  Over the years I’ve found employment in a number of odd jobs (Cinema Usher, Christmas Tree Logger, Edinburgh Ghost Tour ‘Jumper-Ooter’), but I was never any good because they weren’t directly contributing to what I wanted to do with my life – write and direct. I’ve never had a ‘back up’ and so you’d be hard pressed to find even one of my eggs outside the filmmaking basket. They’re all in there… those eggs of mine.

This is great in terms of giving me focus, but pretty crap when it comes to living in the world and paying for things… Like food and rent and stuff.

For the past ten years or so, through my BA in Glasgow and then an MA in London, I have made numerous short films as a writer/director. I learned that A LOT of other people want to be writer/directors, it’s definitely one of the most sought-after roles. There’s not that many jobs out there, and it almost goes without saying that there’s zero money in short filmmaking, so I looked around to see how others were making cash. I met various people with numerous strings to their bows. These multi-stringed directors seemed to be able to make money shooting other peoples’ films, moonlighting as First AD’s or taking corporate work. I was never very good at operating a camera and my style doesn’t exactly lend itself to the corporate world… So I had to find something else.

I adore writing, for me it’s the best part of the entire filmmaking process. It’s pure creation, everything is up for grabs and (at the risk of sounding like a LEGO ad) the only limitation is your own imagination. It seemed outlandish to assume I could make a living from something so creative and fulfilling, especially considering there are so many who have spent years concentrating solely on screenwriting.

I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by an incredibly supportive family and group of friends. They all inspire me hugely, and after watching a few of them develop projects for TV, I felt I’d like to give it a try. I had an idea for a Sci-Fi Comedy Drama that I’d been toying with, I knew it was a strong set-up that would play to my strengths, but I had never met with anyone regarding a television project. To the industry I was strictly FILM, and if I wanted to get in the room with the TV folk, I had to prove myself based on a script alone.

Around this time I came across BAFTA Rocliffe. I always work better with a deadline, and when I saw that the deadline for drama scripts was two weeks away I locked myself up in a room and pushed the script out like a 30-page newborn (Lovely image there).

Then I kind of forgot about the whole thing. I was glad to have finished the draft but assumed I’d never hear back from Rocliffe. I sent the script to various people through my agent but it was hard getting anyone to bite due to the fact that nobody in the TV sphere knew who I was.  A few months later I got a call and was told my script was to feature in the BAFTA Rocliffe TV Drama New Writing Forum. I was so surprised I think I may have initially told the bearer of good news to ‘F - Off’. [FARAH - He didn't]

The 2014 BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum on TV Drama reading kicked off the best year of my professional career so far. The evening was fantastic; I had tremendous feedback and learned a huge amount. After the event - on Rocliffe’s advice - I contacted all the industry figures on the selection panel and asked for a meeting, within a few months my script had been optioned by the BBC and Hartswood had commissioned another original idea. Obviously I’m hugely grateful to Rocliffe for providing the springboard, but I’m also thankful that the process allowed me space to concentrate just on writing without directing a script.

I still direct (I made a short film last year through Film London and I’m currently developing a feature Doc with Creative Scotland) but the opportunity to focus on what I would argue is the most important aspect of the whole filmmaking process has been invaluable.

I think success is being able to make a living doing what you love. While I’m still not quite there yet, and the day jobs continue, (though thankfully I’m not getting paid to scare American tourists) I’m better off than I was last year and much better off than the year before that. I figure as long as you’re moving forward and not backwards, then things are going good. I’m supporting myself doing what I love, and I can now proudly say I am both a Writer and a Director.

~ Louis

READ WHO ELSE WAS FEATURED IN OUR TV DRAMA - BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum

ROCLIFFE NOTES ON FINISHING WHAT YOU START

Nothing you write is ever a waste of time. Even if you don’t finish what you start, it may be of use to you later on. I started writing the Rocliffe Notes book in 2010 but put it aside. Then someone suggested I create a blog, so I used the book as the content. The book was then mooted and, bar interviews and quotes, a lot of it was already half written. So nothing is ever wasted – only abandoned until you need it.

Rocliffe Notes from creatives on finishing what you start

ALAN MCKENNA: I used to bowl straight in and fire up Final Draft with only a rough hint of a story, character or scene, foolishly believing that the rest would somehow magically come together once I started typing. Needless to say, it didn't. Some great scenes, sure, but no real story. I have a bunch of scripts that never got beyond here and those are the longer ones. More than anything, this ‘fools rush in’ process leads to half-finished scripts or scripts that remain destined never to leave the privacy and comfort of your hard drive. Luckily, my writing process has evolved somewhat and I’m a firm believer in the ‘treatment first’ method. Get it down, see if it works, know your beginning, middle and end. It's my way to ensure the story is worth telling and, if you have that, nothing will stop you finishing that draft.

REBECCA DALY: You always feel like you’re getting to the end before you get there, both in the writing and the editing process. You’re winding down and you’re checking along the way, ‘Am I really at the end?’ You just know. It just feels right.

PETER HARNESS: I always advise finishing things. Keep doing it and get it finished, even if it’s the most painful thing in the world. Drink a bottle of wine, sit and crack something out until it’s finished. Once you’ve finished, you can do something with it, edit it – you’ve got something there, rather than a trail of half-finished things. Writers finish things. People who aren’t writers don’t finish things. That’s the difference.

TINA GHARAVI: I finish all the scripts I start. I am lucky or unlucky in that I don’t know how to give up.

JAMES DORMER: I got a piece of advice from some crappy astrological book my mum gave to me to not give up – finish things. Actually it landed so hard I went and got a tattoo of my Chinese sign. A goat. Which is still with me – for better or worse.

GARETH EDWARDS: The phrase I come back to a lot about writing is ‘A thing is finished, not when there’s nothing left to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away’.

CLAIRE WILSON: I finish every script but not every idea. I have a folder of sparkling gems that never see the light of day. When I go back over them for inspiration I often understand why.

ALISON MILLAR: I’m never completely happy with the films I make. There are always bits that just needed a wee bit more work. You stop because you collapse, run out of money and time, or hit the transmission date. Afterwards, no matter how many awards they win, and even if critics write positive things, I often think to myself, ‘Oh, I feel that could have been a bit better.’ Having someone supportive and strong working with you, such as a great exec, will help encourage you to stop and may even utter the words, ‘Leave it now, Alison, it’s grand… it’s done… leave it… no more…’.

SIMON CHINN: The thing with filmmaking generally, and documentary-making specifically, is that you always feel, at the end of a project, that you are just walking away or being dragged away from it. A film is never quite finished. I’ve just been to Sundance with a film of ours. I sat through the screening wishing we could get back into the cutting room and change this and fiddle with that. I always feel like that. As it happens, Malik claims he spent 1,000 days cutting and editing Searching for Sugar Man. He literally had to be dragged away from the edit suite; we were screaming at him to stop. We felt there was a point where the film started to get worse, not better. That’s often the case. That process for him had become something other than making the film; it was like falling in love. Malik had fallen in love with the story and had spent four years of his life with it, suffering for it, loving it. The end of that process was painful for him and still is in a way. He gained so much from making that film (he won an Oscar, for Christ’s sake!) but he also lost something when it ended. I sometimes wonder whether he feels he may never find it again – which is really how I felt after Man on Wire.

POSTSCRIPT: My interview with Simon Chinn was conducted prior to Malik Bendjelloul's tragic death. 

Excerpt From: Farah Abushwesha: Rocliffe Notes: A Professional Approach for Screenwriters and Writer-Directors

ROCLIFFE STORIES: A SCREENWRITER'S PASSAGE - JOHN HICKMAN

This is a brand new strand in this blog, by our featured writers, telling their journey. We begin with John Hickman. The BAFTA Rocliffe selection process is completely anonymous, so we never get to know who the person is behind the voice until we decide upon the winners. We first met John after the panel cast their votes, his script THE THINGS was entered into the Writing for Children initiative. Here's his story: 

I won't just go on about the difference BAFTA Rocliffe has made to my professional life beyond saying I've got an agent now – Georgina Ruffhead at David Higham – and people want to see my work! I will take a little bit of time to go over how I got here. Wherever “here” is.

I've been writing for years. Around 8 or 9 at this point. At the start, I was an angry, frustrated young man. I'd discovered my passion: writing. It was all I wanted to do. I was so angry that I wasn't allowed to do it. Time and money were in my way. If only I could get paid to do the thing I loved, everything would be OK. I'd be happy. But I couldn't. I didn't have any industry connections. I grew up on a council estate. My dad was a labourer and my mum was a cleaner. Writing for a living was never going to be for someone like me. That made me angry.  

I had to harness my anger, focus it. It took time, but eventually I came to the conclusion: I didn't need to make money from writing to write. I just had to write. It didn't matter that I didn't have connections or creative theatre-loving parents. It didn't matter where I came from. Nothing could stop me writing. Once I realised that, I felt a lot less angry and frustrated and I started to feel OK. All I had to do was make a plan: how could I write more? I sat down and I came up a 5 year plan:  

• Train as a social worker – 3 years. 
• Practise as a social worker full-time – 2 years.
• Go part-time as a social worker and write part-time.

Looking back, it wasn't the most efficient of plans. I didn't need to earn money from writing. I could do something else, like say, be a social worker. I love working with people (I was a support worker at the time) and not only would I be doing something useful, I'd be learning new skills, and gaining life experience. All that good stuff that I could pour back into my writing.

I stuck to my plan. I trained as a social worker, all the while writing whenever I could. I practised full-time, writing for an hour each morning before work as well as weekends. I learned a lot from the job. Most of all, to be empathic, and see things from someone else's perspective. Which in turn, gave me a real sense of perspective.Then I worked part-time and I wrote part-time, writing for more than half of my week. I wasn't making money from my writing, but I was writing. Because it felt like I was losing money to write, I made damn sure I wrote on those days. I sat down from 9 to 5 and I wrote like it was my job. Well, my part-time job at least. Because of my social worker job, I valued my writing days even more, I looked forward to them, enjoyed them. If you think writing's hard, try being a social worker. Or a nurse. Or probably lots of other things that matter.

That's how it went for a while. I was enjoying writing, and I was getting better. I was also doing lots of other things to make me a better writer. I joined a writing group. I did a Creative Writing MA. I put on plays, made films with my mates. Year-on-year, I could see my work developing. I was learning the craft, finding my voice, everything that writers who know what they're talking about, tell you. I knew that if I kept on writing and getting better, that one day someone would notice. One day someone would pay me for all this hard work. One day, this would be my job. In the meantime, I didn't care about that, because I was writing and improving. Then I realised, I wasn't angry or frustrated any more. Far from it. I was happy.

So I wrote and I rewrote and I rewrote, until my scripts were all nice and shiny. Then I sent them out. Competitions mainly. In September 2014, I got a call telling me I'd won the BAFTA Rocliffe's Children's TV Writing Competition, and a couple of months later I won the BBC Writersroom Scriptroom 7 competition. I was really happy. Over the moon, in fact. Although I’d have been happy even if I hadn't won, because I was writing. And that's what really makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, there are days when it's tough. I think about being a social worker, and all my friends who are still social workers, and everyone who doesn't get to do what they love, and I crack on.

When I look back now at that angry, frustrated young man, I know I wasn't ready. I hadn't learned the craft, I hadn't found my voice, I wasn't enjoying the ride. So thank you BAFTA Rocliffe for noticing my work. The competition really has made a difference to me. Now, I'm ready.

Bring it on.

~ John

ROCLIFFE NOTES ON CREATING A SCRIPT

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I wrote an article for the Irish Star on writing a film script, and how to get started. It appeared on 07 January 2015. 

There is an age-old saying that we all have a story in us. It’s as true as the day it was first uttered. Everyone is a budding writer – be it for books or scripts.

People often approach me with a great idea for a novel or film but when I ask them for a script or an outline they shrink away.

The issue is that people talk about it but don’t make it happen - the reality is it’s just talk until you start writing. There’s nothing more disheartening than someone telling you about a project they’ve never written. Believe it or not, you need to sum up your project in one line verbally or one page.

You must commit your idea to paper. Too often we fill our days, clutter our time with reasons not to do this - writing is writing, it’s as simple as that – starting with a blank page.
When I set out to work in the film industry, I would constantly puzzle about how to break in. Was there a big secret? Was forging a career in this industry impossible? It was only asking around that I discovered I was looking at it in all the wrong ways – it wasn’t impossible; in fact, the possibilities were endless if you sought them out.
People will help you if you help yourself because most have a passion for the work and want to support those trying to make their way.

Writer DANNY BROCKLEHURST (Shameless, The Street, Driver) says, ‘If someone asks, I don’t want to be the lad that pulled the ladder up behind them. PAUL ABBOTT (State of Play, Shameless, Cracker) helped me, and you want to help and show encouragement to new talent and to nurture it.’

I was lucky when I started out in this business; I was curious and asked questions.

All the mistakes I made I put into this book, from briefing the wrong meeting, to selling my idea in 45 minutes instead of 45 words.

I discovered that there was nothing stopping me making my dream a reality except me and confidence.

ROCLIFFE NOTES taps into the experiences of 150 successful writers, producers, actors and directors – those in the know across the globe – sharing a variety of perspectives on topics from writing habits, pitching and ideas, to agents and application forms.

I love describing it as eavesdropping on 150 conversations. I learned that the mystery is that there is no mystery - that’s the big secret anyone who wants to write should know. Best bit is you don’t need to read my entire book, you can just dip in and find what you need.

JIM SHERIDAN (My Left Foot, In America), at the Austin Screenwriting Conference in October, told the audience that the first ten pages are pretty much like his advice on dating – don't say much in the first ten minutes.

His review of my book had even less words “It’s brilliant” he told me on the flight from New York to Texas - although he called me a bitch for keeping him awake as he was knackered but couldn’t stop reading it. Other great advice is like Sharon Horgan who says of sitcom pilot scripts to get as many jokes on the page. It’s obvious but true – comedy needs to be funny!

And it’s never too late to start - LENNY ABRAHAMSON (What Richard Did, Frank) in an article, not to me, describes himself as a late developer.

But don’t give up the day job just yet. According to MOIRA BUFFINI (Byzantium, Jane Eyre, Tamara Drewe, Handbagged), it takes time: "if you want to be a writer, you have to write. Keep writing. Make it a discipline. Write every day. It took me ten years doing waitressing jobs, acting jobs, temping jobs, other things, but I wrote consistently during that time."

‘DO IT! Don’t wait for permission. There are no red lights,’ says Wolverine and Big Eyes actor, DANNY HUSTON, but I would add to this: work won’t find you. 

ROCLIFFE NOTES ON GETTING STARTED:

Find a reason to write – for pleasure, work or to explore a truth. You need to write with purpose.

Start by writing a one page outline – a beginning, middle and end – and then fill it in.

Buy a notebook. Write down your ideas. Eavesdrop on conversations – take out those headphones.

Note things that make you laugh or cry, write it down. You will forget it otherwise.

Get screenwriting software. If it’s a script, it must look like a script. Celtx is free

Throw everything into your first attempt but remember at the heart what you want to say with your story.

Get someone to read it and ask them to mark an X where they get bored or confused (a tip from JULIAN FELLOWES, writer of Downton Abbey).

Set a time each day to write. Put on the alarm clock an hour before you usually do. Use that time to write. If you can't work within the time frame of an hour, set goals of page count, scene count or word count. Don't let yourself walk away until you have achieved your goal.

Know when you write best – morning, afternoon or evening. What environment makes you the most prolific? Cake helps me!

Think of writing as spending time with someone you love: if you hate writing or what you are writing, why would you spend time doing it?

Once you’ve written a script, it is about getting your work read and about meeting people, engaging with them, them wanting to read your work, seeing potential and then wanting to work with you! 

Be pro-active:

Go to festivals and attend the Q&As of writer-directors.
Information is key and knowledge puts you in a better position.
Sign up to to newsfeeds – Screen, Variety, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, BAFTA, film bodies (e.g. Film London, Northern Ireland Screen, IFB, BFI), - it’s all relevant.
Read scripts, watch films, watch short films and research your subject matter.

Excerpts From: Rocliffe Notes: A Professional Approach for Screenwriters and Writer-Directors. Available from Amazon and most book stores.

SCRIPTWRITING CHECKLIST - HOW TO QC YOUR WORK BEFORE SENDING IT OUT

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I believe that getting ahead is a combination of talent + connecting with collaborators (commissioners, producers, development execs) + determination. The talent is your script and it's up to you to make it make a great impression – it doesn't have to be perfect but it does need to be well-presented. Create the halo effect with your work. There are things you can put right to avoid being written off before being fully read. This is a crude but effective checklist and you'll see within five pages if the script needs more work.

Rocliffe Notes Writing Checklist

A first draft of anything is never good enough! Don’t send your work to be read by someone just because you’ve finished writing the script! You get one chance to be read. Why send out something that is mediocre? Casting Director Catherine Willis agrees "don’t send stuff that’s not ready, an early draft that isn’t complete. Send something that’s ready – it needs to be working on paper." Kate Rowlands concurs, quoting Tony Grounds "Don’t think about the first draft, think about the first read". She adds "what’s the impact that your script is going to have? Are they going to commission the first draft?"

The title page are the very first words people will read of your work. Nothing raises my eyebrow more than to see "story by XYZ & written by XYZ & created by" all the same writer's name. Simply put the script title by the screenwriter's name. Modesty becomes the writer. That's all that is requited unless someone else wrote it with you or it is based on an original story by someone else. I hate endless credits on films for the same person, especially on shorts by an unknown filmmaker. It just spells EGO to me. 

Often you will be asked what's your film called. Is your title is clichéd or difficult to understand? I believe a title should tempt a reader - be distinct, enticing, mysterious and stimulating… a sort of promise of potential by the story-teller to entertain the reader. Before you go listing examples to prove me wrong, ask yourself this: why make it even harder to get your work read when you have yet to get a producer, then finance and then a release? Here's a blog listing what they consider the worst film titles - I'm torn between I DISMEMBER MAMA and THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI. 

Camera or edit directions in a script - ie CUT TO, PAN UP, CLOSE UP, FADE IN. It suggests the writer is unaware of how films work. A writer's craft is to write, not to tell the cinematographer and editor how to do what they do. Everything is possible through images rather than camera directions. Award-winning actor Danny Huston: "don’t show me a cut and paste job that has been patched together. A collage of ideas is fascinating, but when it feels patched it can be really distracting and unattractive. Too much camera description feels very amateurish. I have read good scripts that have ‘pan to’ or ‘fade in’ or ‘fade out’, but when the writer is describing the camera movements you’re not seeing the images – you’re being told them. If I read ‘the retina of an eye’ I know to get out a micro lens. If it says ‘the Amalfi coast’ I know it’s a grand shot. How you present things creates the shot. Don’t tell me how it will be shot."

Poor presentation and punctuation with spelling mistakes and incorrect formatting. A script with typos is annoying. There are so many resources out there – both free (Celtx) and paid (Final Draft, Screenwriter). Software that will correct it for you and the blessed spellcheck – seemly much underused but never underrated. There is no excuse. Company Pictures Head of Development Serena Bowman commented: "not proofreading scripts and sending them in with mistakes and grammatical error shows you really don’t care. If you don’t take the time to proof it then I won’t take the time to read it."

Using the ‘ing’ in action words such as ‘is walking’ instead of ‘walks’ – go back through your script and see if you have used the ‘ing’ and change it.

The overuse of the word ‘feels’. How does the character show how he or she feels when they are sad/happy/angry – what emotional action will demonstrate this? Show us how they are feeling, don’t tell us. Give the actors something to do. Similarly with the word ‘looks’ – what kind of look – is it a glance, a stare, a glare or are they peering? I love these word cheatsheets for 'walks', 'emotions' and 'looks'. 

Excessive swearing indicates amateur writing – actors will add swear words if it feels natural within the script. It doesn’t make the character harder or more edgy nor does it add realism to the script. Occasional use is fine but you need to be aware of watersheds and PG ratings, and if you are not you should be. Read Bang2Write on swearing in scripts.

How long does it take to get started, when does the set up stop and the real heart of the film begin? Would you sit in a cinema waiting for a film to get going? A busy reader won’t keep reading, waiting and hoping for the script to start. Don't make reading it like work. A development exec will stop reading after a few pages. It's tough but true. 

You really only have one chance to make a good impression - many of our panellists feel that whilst the ideas are brilliant – the writers aren’t pushing themselves enough. Be bold and brave and quality check your work. 

All quotes are excerpts from Rocliffe Notes: A Professional Approach for Screenwriters and Writer-Directors.

"I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit," Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. "I try to put the shit in the wastebasket."

Keep writing!