Mother's coming to life

 

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

Sometimes, opportunities come when we least expect them, and in the most surprising of ways.

On Sunday, 19th June, I took part in two of the workshops in the BBC upload festival. One was writing for children, and the other, was writing for the BBC. 

What I didn't expect, but makes sense as the BBC makes programs for the big and small screen, was that it was a presentation on screenwriting. Loads of fantastic information, from a clearly experienced presenter. The upshot of the workshop was that the main chance to get your work in front of them was via their Open Call opportunity. A chance to send in a script, which happens once a year. 

Now, I've never written a screenplay before, and from what I've heard it's a very daunting task, but what excites me is the fact that they are looking for writers to develop, they want to discover that writer's individual voice. 

I know that I have a tendency to get to excited about things, but if I don't give it a go, then I'll never know. I've got my complete Screenwriting course from the library so let's see. 

But that's not the exciting bit - that's just the long preamble - Dang - I knew I should have hit the ground running!

The exciting bit is that Mother is coming to life! 

As a result of attending the seminar, I heard about the BBC Writers room, and that's where I discovered this: 

Do you write horror? Kind of - If you accept OTT dark humour as horror?

Jacks Lantern Productions Ltd are looking for short film, TV & theatre horror scripts from Yorkshire based writers.

Then further down the page, it said this:

They want Yorkshire based writers to send in their short horror film, TV or theatre scripts that they would like to hear read aloud by actors. Perfect for writers who have never had their scripts performed.

Now I saw this on the 19th June, and the deadline was the 20th, so I had one day to send in material! Thankfully, one of my previous alpha challenges was to write an interview, which I did as a radio show for Saga radio, where they interviewed Mother's daughter, so I sent that in, along with Mother's murders so they'd have the background. I didn't hear anything till the next Saturday, so I was nervous as to whether it was accepted, but it was. They asked if we could have a zoom meeting, and they said how much they enjoyed it, and wanted to use it!

I know it's only a public rehearsal, and not a full on theatre performance, but I will get to work with the actors reading my pieces, I'll be paid, and I'll have the chance to network with other writers before and after the performance, and be given feedback, so I'm thrilled. though slightly nervous at the same time. Will the actors find it easy to perform, will I be okay with their interpretation of Mother, and what will the audience think? 

But, as Wendy H Jones said in her recent blog post - I would encourage you to explore each and every opportunity that presents itself and see where it leads.

So that's exactly what I'm doing, and I'll update you in my September post. 

Would love to hear of the most surprising opportunities that happened to you. Let me know in the comments or on Facebook. 

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here.