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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 22, 2020 16:09:35 GMT
Again, congrats to last year's winner Ben (hope we see you around here sometime) on The Best Laid Plans, and to Selim for graduating to full-price releases. Now, let's get a shift on.
With a few months grace, it never hurts to flex the creative muscles and cook up some new ideas for stories. Just like the last few years, this thread is all about offering writing advice and answering questions you may have about writing a Short Trip. Past winners and runners up, as always, feel free to chip in with any tips you have.
A refresher on preferred guidelines from the ex-man Ian (though I imagine a lot of these will still be very applicable, as it's good story pointers): 1) Story must be emotionally moving. Preferably with some type of extra 'kick' at the end to really hit it home i.e. the daughter in Forever Fallen. 2) Intimate over epic, and character driven. A chance to really get inside someone's head, and it doesn't have to be the Doctor or companion. 3) Optimistic. Not necessarily sappy or a happy happy ending, but something to do with overcoming or perservering. 4) Ideally, not a comedy or too 'jokey'. The implication being it's not appropriate for a memorial competition, and the writer comes off as not taking the opportunity seriously. 5) Proof read/read aloud so nothing is unintelligible or clumsy. 6) Death and bereavement, while effective, were a really common theme in submissions, and made reading them more emotionally taxing, given the contest's tragic origins. 7) Smaller to larger amounts of submissions per writer. Try to restrain down to 1, 2 max, and save the others that don't fit the above for a future Temporal Logbook or other Who opportunity. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2020 0:27:10 GMT
From someone who's currently doing professional proofreading, never take rejection of a submission (past, present or future) as a sign that you are automatically a bad writer. Ever. There are a multitude of factors contributing to that final acceptance. Good writers get rejection notices all the time. One of the most common pieces of advice -- and one of the most prevailing traits I've seen among such authors -- is persistence. Keep creating and keep learning from those creations.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 23, 2020 2:00:31 GMT
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
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Post by Tony Jones on Jan 23, 2020 8:59:48 GMT
Don’t forget Ian isn’t involved any more
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2020 9:25:41 GMT
Actually have two submissions planned at the moment. One features the Tenth Doctor and Rose (set before Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday). The other will have Flip taking on the lead role (set between Scavenger and Quicksilver), but so far haven't decided which incarnation will appear. What I will share from them is the most broadly helpful, starting with this evergreen story thread from Elementary and Andromeda writer Rob Hewitt Wolfe. Even though it's primarily about TV, there's plenty solid, all-round writing help here, whatever the medium: twitter.com/i/moments/929055340158742530I should note that Rob Hewitt Wolfe also wrote Deep Space Nine, including some arc-driven episodes.  |
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Jan 23, 2020 15:03:20 GMT
Well will be sending them my story from last year.
You remember right? the one my email didnt send? lol
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Post by Ricky on Jan 29, 2020 16:28:50 GMT
After toying with it for the past couple of years, I definitely intend to enter this year. I'm leaning towards the Eighth Doctor and Charley at the moment.
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Post by butler on Feb 3, 2020 7:06:03 GMT
Maybe this will be the year I finally take my own advice about keeping the submitted idea simple. The details always seem to invite all their friends to come with them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2020 7:22:54 GMT
Maybe this will be the year I finally take my own advice about keeping the submitted idea simple. The details always seem to invite all their friends to come with them. This works for me, but your mileage may vary: I find it helps to write every detail down in bullet form, just so they're out on the page. Then, once it's all there, see what can be linked together and what can be used in other stories. That way, I've got a clear idea of how all these components gel together, without feeling that if I discard something it's gone forever. |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 3, 2020 10:35:00 GMT
Maybe this will be the year I finally take my own advice about keeping the submitted idea simple. The details always seem to invite all their friends to come with them. This works for me, but your mileage may vary: I find it helps to write every detail down in bullet form, just so they're out on the page. Then, once it's all there, see what can be linked together and what can be used in other stories. That way, I've got a clear idea of how all these components gel together, without feeling that if I discard something it's gone forever. This sounds not disimilar to a scene breakdown in screenwriting - lay everything out, see what you have. It's a very handy tool as you can both give your work structure, without having to yet commit to the much bigger, less intuitive outline/treatment step, which can make things seem bigger than they really are. |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 3, 2020 10:51:41 GMT
As always, I like to put up easy, one stop writing resources, for members to access. This time, it's Bang2Write, something of a cult favourite in online writing circles, run by indie author Lucy V Hay. Loads of great, easy to digest articles and lists with tips on bettering your writing: bang2write.com |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2020 15:45:44 GMT
Actually have two submissions planned at the moment. One features the Tenth Doctor and Rose (set before Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday). Might swap Ten with Nine, since I haven't done an entry featuring the latter incarnation yet. And if they amend the guidelines to include New Series companions, this year, I'll also include Captain Jack Harkness. |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 8, 2020 11:03:52 GMT
Scene rewriting tip from comedy script editor Andrew Ellard:
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 12, 2020 0:49:23 GMT
So here, we have 'Inspector Gadget'/'Degrassi Kids' writer Mike McPhaden chiming in on common problems in first time writing (mainly on TV pilots, but these are cross-transferable to any medium). Many vets chip in with food for thought on your stories, so do read the thread, including this tip from Jamie Mathieson
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2020 1:02:37 GMT
So here, we have 'Inspector Gadget'/'Degrassi Kids' writer Mike McPhaden chiming in on common problems in first time writing (mainly on TV pilots, but these are cross-transferable to any medium). Many vets chip in with food for thought on your stories, so do read the thread, including this tip from Jamie Mathieson I mean, a fun twist on all those tropes is: "While giving chase, the lead falls for the skills of the driver who'd originally kidnapped their car." |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2020 10:42:45 GMT
So here, we have 'Inspector Gadget'/'Degrassi Kids' writer Mike McPhaden chiming in on common problems in first time writing (mainly on TV pilots, but these are cross-transferable to any medium). Many vets chip in with food for thought on your stories, so do read the thread, including this tip from Jamie Mathieson I mean, a fun twist on all those tropes is: "While giving chase, the lead falls for the skills of the driver who'd originally kidnapped their car." Reminds me of what Moffat said about developing a character, back in 2013. He comes up with a cliche first, then modifies it once he plays around for a few pages. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2020 11:13:04 GMT
I mean, a fun twist on all those tropes is: "While giving chase, the lead falls for the skills of the driver who'd originally kidnapped their car." Reminds me of what Moffat said about developing a character, back in 2013. He comes up with a cliche first, then modifies it once he plays around for a few pages. Yeah, and the ideas can stem from all sorts of places. One good method of brainstorming is to take a fairly conventional premise and mess around with its order: Can become... Something conventional made rather unusual. It's simple, but it can be quite effective as a launching pad. |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Mar 14, 2020 20:43:42 GMT
With so much going on in the world, I get how you may not feel up to creating right now. However, maybe this from 'Death in Paradise' writer Sally Abbott can give a jolt:
Sometimes, motivation matters as much as any trick.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Mar 18, 2020 0:45:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2020 20:09:08 GMT
Sorry if this is sort of irrelevant to this year's Opportunity, but here's a social event worth attending:
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