A few questions….

I'm thinking....I'm thinking...Aren't I?

So last Friday I was a little stuck for a post. My friend Belle was in the same position, and she bravely posted a Blogoem (her word!) and I criticized it using my amazing Editor powers. Feeling guilty, I went back later and posted a brief poem of my own. However, in the spirit of solidarity, and because Kristen says I should be blogging more often (Listen to Kristen, folks! She KNOWS!) I’m going to put up a longer poem I wrote as a guest post on the immortal Lucy V Hay‘s blog. Lucy is a Script Reader, writer and Creme Egg eater, and so the poem is based on writing for the screen, rather than the stage or the novel, but a lot of the questions will be familiar to any writer. Ok, enough excuses, here goes:

Does it drive you slightly batty

If the plot is light and scatty

And the characters are all the writer shows?

Or do you find yourself quite dotty

If the characters are spotty

But they race to find the bomb before it blows?

Do you scan the first ten pages,

Making sure the hook engages

Or relax and just see how the story flows?

Do you write till you’ve got plenty?

Do you aim for that one-twenty?

Or just write the thing and see how far it goes?

Is your timeline front to back?

Do you think Quentin T’s a hack?

Have you got Three Act Structure coming out your nose?

Is your “STORY” copy tattered?

Is your “Save the Cat” all battered?

Do you read them til your sunward window glows?*

Where do you get your ideas?

Do you visualise your fears?

Do you take a pair of friends and make them foes?

Do you write in pen or pencil?

Do you use a structure stencil?

Do you have a writing room where no one goes?

Do you write outside your zone?

Do you work your best alone?

Do you exercise to keep you on your toes?

Now you may well find me tasking,

With these questions I keep asking,

But I’ve tried to write myself, oh, Heaven knows…

But I ask ‘em and I question

Ask which secret is the best ‘un?

Because essentially I’m finding any reason to avoid knuckling down and really coming to terms with the story I’m trying to write.

There you have it. No apologies, and if you think it was terrible, fee free to tell me so. But don’t blame Belle. And if you think I can’t make money from my rhyming skill, check out “The Crime done in rhyme” on Lazy Bee Scripts and eat your words!

*With the arrival of dawn. Because you’ve read all night.