Show & Tell

Week 2 rolled around pretty fast and within a blink of an eye I found myself midway through week 3! I came down with the dreaded flu which accompanied with the 37 degree heatwave meant that, I was not in the right mindset to blog.

Nonetheless, I’ve rebooted and along the way, managed to gain a few small achievements. Last week (Wk2) I pitched my short story idea, of which was not created without a struggle and a half. I drafted the story 3 times prior to pitching and after a small discussion with Heidi (My facilitator). One of the main problems I faced in writing, which I think Heidi saw,  was failing to illustrate my story which lacked so much depth that Heidi failed to even see a story. Just like my thoughts, my story was packed with a hundred ideas. With her advice I went back to the drawing board.

Then came pitch day (or show & tell day), I had in my hand a stories that had been refined three painful times and to be honest, in that moment, I still had no confidence in myself or my story, this was, unsurprisingly, reflected in my pitch. Boy was I was pulled up on it. Big time.

I can’t count how many times Heidi managed to put me on the spot, proving that I had no understanding of my story. As the bloody writer and future director of this story… You would think that that would be pretty important. Like many, I’m so used to just telling people my ideas instead of showing them, this is exactly what Heidi pulled me up on. I’ve realised that I need to pull myself out of this habit.

-STORY TIME WITH PRI-

As a kid my mum would call me the biggest storyteller and would sometimes get frustrated with how imaginative I was. I lost sleep for like week (I’m exaggerating slightly) because I had convinced myself that a giant, green and black, hairy monster with 4 eyes and sharp teeth, that carried a brown sack to put children in, lived in my cupboard and was waiting to eat me… or something like that.

I don’t know where I lost this imagination and way with words, but I’m in the process of finding it.

Back to pitching. Heidi did however, praise the depth and concept I had created after refining my story for the third time. She recommended that I narrow my story a little further and refrain from complicating the plot, giving me good mindset when it came to fleshing out my synopsis.

I’m now in the, ‘treatment-transitioning-into-script’ faze and I’ve drafted this darn treatment more times than I can count, I think my friends could become co-writers now, but I am gaining a little bit more confidence each time through. I’ve actually been doing a little research into how once can show a story as opposed to telling.

thewritepractice.com : This site has helped me a lot during my treatment writing process. If you, like myself, are struggling with “showing the story,” I would recommend checking this website out and doing a little, futher research into writing practices. The internet has an array of sources for you to learn from, you just need to look for it.

On another note, the end of the pitches saw the two films that would be green lit to move into pre production! I am now the proud producer of a script titled Fawkner St. by Amy Harman. The script is in development stages, however unlike my story, I have full confidence that myself and my group can produce something great. My role as the producer means that right from preproduction to post production, I work closely with the director to recreate her vision. Incredibly excited and I hope to keep you all updated, hopefully my next blog post will include a brief synopsis for you, as a little teaser. ‘Till next time.

-Pri