I Want To Be A Skilled and Great Writer!

Lately I've been organising my somewhat chaotic bookshelves, and seeing what novels I want to read. I used to read a lot of novels when I was younger (in High School), and when I spent over an hour each way travelling to and from work. It was either that or fall asleep on the bus! But since then, I haven't read much of anything. I've joined the site Goodreads.com, you can find me as Sketching Girl here. I set myself a challenge to read 12 novels this year, and so far I've managed two, including a graphic novel.

I started reading one and found I didn't like it, the style of writing I didn't care for, the lack of description and not being able to picture what was happening put me off. I have read amazing books like A.C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy, and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. They have amazing descriptions I can picture vividly, and main characters I can believe in, and thoroughly love learning more about.

But reading a book I really don't care for, and I believe has inferior writing quality, has really shown me what I don't want my writing to be. I don't want to get a book published only to be ashamed of it. I would hate for that to happen. So although in the future I want to be a successful and published author, I want to earn that right properly. I want to write and practice my craft until I consider it really good. I want to be proud of what I submit to publishers/agents. Please don't let me produce rubbish! Thank you to the poor author (who I shall not name) for giving me the spurt of inspiration to write more and to hone my skills. I don't just want to be a published writer, I want to be a GREAT AND SKILLED WRITER!

BBC Writersroom - A Path to Success

I stumbled across the BBC Writersroom whilst looking for a writersroom equivalent for ITV, when I happily stumbled on some BBC writersroom success stories. I love reading success stories, they fill you full of enthusiasm and make you believe that you can succeed at television writing. And with so many more TV Channels these days, there's even more chance of succeeding.

One that caught my attention...

Paul Farrell
Paul sent in an unsolicited script that impressed us and was selected for a week long residential scheme to develop ideas for returning crime shows. He worked intensively on an idea and pitched it to BBC executives. It was soon commissioned to treatment, then to script, and his two-parter was broadcast in the 2006 season of Silent Witness on BBC1. Paul also took part in our BBC Films scheme to develop writers new to the department. He has since been produced for Waking the Dead on BBC1, commissioned for Primeval on ITV and is on a development scheme with Eon Films.

He worked on shows I am interested in, and I love that he can work between BBC and ITV. Some of the writers featured on the success stories page also did work for Channel 4, and a lot of the BBC Radio Plays too. There is great scope for working on a wide variety of projects for different companies. There are many opportunities out there just waiting to be explored!

The BBC Writersroom is full of writing tips, inspiration and sample scripts to read. They are actively seeking new talent, and have a page of opportunities with deadlines for you to check out.

What kind of writer do I want to be?

What kind of writer do I want to be?

I am asking myself this question so I can figure out what I want my 2011 Writing Plan to be. My end goal is to be a published writer. I would love to write for TV, but I would also like to write novels and short stories too. I've been looking at Sera Gamble's website, she is someone I admire greatly. I love the Supernatural tv series she writes for, which she has now become the executive producer and showrunner of. She has a great section for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in which she answers many of the common questions she has been asked about becoming a writer. (Well worth a read). Reading this, and a recent blog post about why people stop following your blog (apologies I forgot where I saw it and didn't save the link), it's made me think more about my online presence.

I want to promote my writing on this blog, especially as I become a more skill writer (with lots of practice), but I also want to make it interesing and blog things people want to read. I recently read one blogger say they often type blog posts up ahead of time in their Word documents first before posting, and they always have a few ideas for blog posts they jot down before they actually come round to writing their blog posts. They also try to stick to a schedule for their blog posts, as there's nothing worse than a blog that's updated rarely.

With this in mind, these are my 2011 Writing Goals I want to work on this year:

1. Create a blogging schedule, possibly weekly.
2. Jot down a few blog post ideas so you have something to blog about when you do sit down to blog.
3. Comment on other similar theme blogs to increase your blog readership and make friends with similar interests
4. Practice prose fiction writing every day.
5. Create Writing Samples to show my work...
6. A Short Story
7. An Original TV Pilot Script
8. A Speculative TV Script of a critically acclaimed TV Series
9. A Movie Screenplay (original)
10. Create a new website as a Writer to show off my new writing samples
11. Practice Writing even more fiction!

Book Recommendation: Make A Scene

As you may be aware from reading my blog, I am busily preparing for Nanowrimo next month - I aim to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I've been reading No Plot? No Problem! to prepare my novel ideas and hopefully get me through to 50,000 words. Although my plot ideas are coming along well now, and I have a few main character ideas, I have been worrying about writing good interesting prose. I don't want my novel to suck!

So now I have started reading Make A Scene - Crafting a Powerful Story, One Scene at a Time by Jordan E Rosenfield. And I am really impressed with this book. It gives plenty of examples from a range of books with detailed discussion as to how they have balanced description, action, dialogue and narrative to make vivid interesting scenes that won't bore your reader. I find the author's text engrossing, she writes in a way that makes you want to keep reading and keep turning the pages - exactly the kind of qualities you want to find in your own writing. So obviously a great person to learn from!

Reading this book is giving me the confidence to believe that with practice I can write an interesting novel with great scenes that will remain in a reader's mind long after they have finished reading my book. I am looking forward to starting Nanowrimo with more belief that I can achieve it now.