This is going to sound so optimistic that you\u2019ll think I\u2019m auditioning to write for Hallmark Cards. But I mean it.<\/p>\n
I mean this: right now is the best time there has ever been to be a writer.<\/p>\n
Okay, just to get Hallmark off my back, I will also say that this is the worst time it has ever been to be a paid writer. Getting money for this is tough. But while I can\u2019t and won\u2019t discount the problems, the opportunities are astonishing.<\/p>\n
I was doing a writing masterclass session at Birmingham City University<\/a> this week where we discussed a couple of students\u2019 work in detail. One of them was a short radio play and I\u2019m blathering on about it when I realise that actually what this writer needs isn\u2019t me. <\/p>\n She needs to make that play.<\/p>\n And she can.<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019ve been in Birmingham City University\u2019s radio studios and they are impressive: I presume she can book space there. And there\u2019s a School of Acting around the place so I imagine casting isn\u2019t going to be a great problem.<\/p>\n But as handy as all that is, the truth is that she\u2019s got a phone. I don\u2019t know what phone and I don\u2019t know what recording apps she may have, but for pennies she can turn that phone into a recording studio.<\/p>\n She can even edit the audio on the phone and I\u2019ll never get used to that. I don\u2019t mean that as in I\u2019ll never cope with doing it on phones, I mean that I edit audio a great deal and it is forever a delight what you can do now. I learned on giant BBC local radio desks and I was taught to edit with razor blades and chinagraph pencils. And, actually, I think sometimes you learn better from doing it physically, from doing edits where you can\u2019t undo them with a tap or a click.<\/p>\n But then that\u2019s really what I think about writing now. You have always been able to write but now you can see and hear how that writing works. Immediately. Pretty much. <\/p>\n I had lots to say to this student about her script and I loved that she and the whole room had lots to tell me that I\u2019d missed in it. But ultimately I mean it: write something, make it, and you\u2019ll learn what works and doesn\u2019t work for you.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t quite know how this goes for novelists but for scriptwriters, this is the best time there ever was. If only we could lick the money problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is going to sound so optimistic that you\u2019ll think I\u2019m auditioning to write for Hallmark Cards. But I mean … Continue reading