January 25, 2016
I don't want to worry anyone, but there are only another 11 months until Christmas. That means I've already had one twelfth of the available time to achieve what I want to in 2016. As ever, time's going faster and things are taking longer than I anticipated.
One thing that has been frustratingly slow is keying in a TV screenplay. I was using a template from the BBC's Writers' Room website and had expected to zip through it. Using a template or setting up styles are well worth the small initial effort, otherwise every time I switch from action to a character's name or dialogue I'd have to change the margins. Even with the template it was a tedious chore. Thankfully, I didn't have to key in the entire script, because I would have missed the deadline. The few pages I did key in took at least three times as long as I expected. The moral of the story is: always allow yourself at least twice the time as you think you'll need, if you can.
You may wonder why I didn't write the screenplay on the computer in the first place. The answer is that when writing longhand I can change from capitals to lower case and back, use different margins and emphasise things how I like without having to think about it, so the flow of the scenes isn't interrupted. If you're one of those people who can do that directly on a computer–I salute you. At least, once the play is on there I shouldn't have to do it again. If keying in a screenplay's a fag on a computer, imagine having to do it on a typewriter, make carbon copies and repeat the process every time you send the manuscript out.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
January 18, 2016
One of my friends is on an extended stay in New Zealand at the moment. Usually, she's only on the other side of the country, but even then we write letters to each other. Thanks to modern technology it's possible to have instant communication with people on the other side of the globe. If she had Skype where she's staying, we could even see each other. That's great but it's ephemeral.
There's something about receiving a letter that's special. You have a real physical connection to the send...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
January 12, 2016
I treated myself yesterday. I showed no self-restraint at all. I binged on mini-stories in the Binnacle 12th Annual Ultra-short Edition 2015. My intention was to eke them out, to save them as a little pick-me-up whenever I needed something more substantial than a tweet but not demanding the time commitment of a short story.
Of course, I was curious to read the winning entries and find out how 'Harvest-time', my Editor's Pick entry, measured up, but I already knew from previous years that t...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
January 3, 2016
Happy New Year! Welcome to my first blog of 2016.
One of my favourite television dramas in the run-up to Christmas was series three of The Bridge. Everything about it was excellent–the performances, the lighting, and particularly the script, which was full of twists and turns that kept the viewers guessing, and taut dialogue. No doubt the writing was top notch in this and other Scandinavian crime novels and series, but does this alone account for the explosion in their popularity? Do all...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
December 20, 2015
It's been a while since I took a look around the new markets and free competitions, so it's high time I did a round-up. What follows is a mixed bag of creative non-fiction, travel writing, plays, novels and themed science fiction. Check out all of them, because even if a genre isn't normally your thing, you might just find something that sparks your creative instincts and gives your brain a work-out while you're digesting the Christmas dinner. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
* If you'...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
December 14, 2015
Following the excitement of last week's performance of my one-act play, Antarctica, I have some more good news to report: I have a feature in the January issue of Writing Magazine. It covers ways in which you can break the accepted rules of writing successfully.
Anyone who knows my attitude to misplaced apostrophes and similar slips might think this makes me a hypocrite, but I assure you I'm not advocating sloppiness or turning into a grammar rebel. For proof, I'm afraid you'll have to get...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
December 6, 2015
On Friday (4th December), the premiere performance of Antarctica took place. It was on a terrific programme of Walter Swan Trust Playwriting Award winners and runners-up at Ilkley Playhouse. Sadly, I wasn't able to attend, nor will I be able to get to the Courtyard Stage at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds for the second performance tomorrow. I know if I'd been there I would have gained far more than an evening's entertainment.
Scripts, whether for stage, screen or radio, are never a comp...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
November 19, 2015
Have you ever heard the saying: 'May you live in interesting times'? It's often understood to be as much a curse as a blessing. This week has been an 'interesting' time for many, if not downright tragic. Thankfully, my week hasn't included any tragedies, but it has been interesting in ways that haven't always been comfortable, and it's included some fun and good news too.
My entry in the On the Premises mini competition on a theme of amnesia was placed second. The boost to my ego was far ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
November 10, 2015
The UK has many national treasures besides the Crown Jewels–the Queen, the National Health Service, Wimbledon, fish and chips–scrapping any of these would be unthinkable, yet there's another national treasure that's constantly under threat–our public libraries.
I loved going to the library as a child. It never worried me that I was expected to be quiet, I was too enthralled by all the worlds I could enter on the shelves, even though the nearest library was little bigger than my livin...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
October 31, 2015
In case you hadn't noticed, tonight is Hallowe'en. If you thought about it three or four months ago, you could now be celebrating winning a ghost story competition or having an article on the scary season accepted. If so, congratulations! There are certain themes and events that are popular every year, yet it's all too easy to forget about them until it's too late. Bonfire Night is less than a week away, and while it might still be possible to write something for a competition about it, there...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
