Free Wheeling

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, the trees are tinselled, the sparkly lights swaying, endangering the house in the high winds, while I contemplate the highs and lows of my writing journey for 2018 which, all things considered, has had the same up and downs as the outside lights.

I started off the year with a novel completed which with the whole #Metoo thing went down like a lead balloon. Readers liked the premise and it wasn't a trope but at the end of the day I think there is a lot to be said for timing, both good and bad. It was a learning curve. It taught me that you have to learn to let go, go back to the drawing board and if something doesn't work, sometimes, it's not the work but the timing and you can shove it away and go back to it later.

Off the back of the novel, I wrote a comedy feature script called 'Making a Boob' which had a really successful Actor's Table Read at London Screenwriter's Festival and motivated me to try my hand at writing the first episode of a sitcom. I'm currently on the second episode and so far feedback from two fellow writers - who I don't know - (hence are not obliged to be nice), has been hugely positive. Phew!

This year I decided that I'd try festivals too. I decided that I'd send to a set amount and see how I faired. I gave myself a budget of around £200 from temp money I made and set about picking a load of different festivals worldwide to submit to, mainly using discount codes. This covered approximately thirty different and varied festivals. So far, this has led to a Semi-Finalist spot at Berlin Flash Film Festival, a Coronet Award from Queen Palm International Film Festival, LA (for a feature!) and a nomination and a win for Best Short Script for two different scripts in Tokyo (!) and I have a load more to be drawn all the way to December next year. (Doing the maths, it worked out that the average was £7-£8 to enter and at that price it's what you'd pay for a coffee out and a magazine. Thus, my tea mug has stayed full at home and I read off the net.)

Not living 'down souf', I figured the festival run would give me something for my Film Freeway page to show that I wasn't a one trick pony and any IMDB competitions are great for when my micro-short is filmed next year and my page is up and running there too.

Since social media is so readily available it's a great way to put myself out there. Entering different festivals means you are not always judged by the same group but by a variety of different judges. So, if different festivals appreciate you, my theory is that should translate to a win when I pitch for things. It shows not only versatility but that you can please different people.

This season my short story 'Deviance' made it into 'Twisted 50 - Volume 2' and while I would have loved to attend the launch, between flu and family, I couldn't but it's encouraged me to try my hand at diversifying my writing style and writing different genres too. All the authors had a bash at a style many had never tried before with 'Twisted' and getting feedback on something you've never done is daunting but worthwhile. So, as a change from horror and comedy (which I love), I wrote a children's story that had interest from a publisher, however when they wanted me to get an illustrator and it stalled, I rewrote it as a kid's script, so something else to try out at festivals. The exercise is good as it can show you what works and what doesn't in your writing.

Submitting to festivals has also made me think about worldwide audiences and how they react to things, if there is anything that I'd do differently writing for people from other countries with varied viewpoints and traditions.

On top of that, I've managed to do a handful of blogs to celebrate the successes of my fellow friends and authors, always a win win. I'm happy to promote them and they in turn make me think, read other styles and offer moral support and as a writer that's often the most important thing you can give to other writers.

So, all in all, it's been a productive year and with my first short shooting next year, I can't wait to see what next year brings.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas when it comes and a super productive 2019!

All the best,

Eileen x