So I've been getting into the writing pretty serious lately, and I've just uploaded some of my stuff in the hope of getting some feedback. I've just completed a spec script for The Office which I've entered into the Austin Film Festival, and hopefully some other competitions over the next few months.
You can download it here: http://homepage.mac.com/davidtharwood/FileSharing4.html
Also, I entered the New York Midnight Movie Madness Screenwriting Competition for the first time this year. They give you a genre and a subject (in my case Romantic Comedy and Flight) and you have a week to write a short screenplay up to 15 pages. I placed first in my heat, and on to the final which is this Saturday - similar set up, but only 24 hours to write a screenplay. Wish me luck!!
My first round screenplay, which I ended up basing around a flying pig, can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/davidtharwood/FileSharing2.html
Finally, if anyone's interested, I've also posted my spec script for SpongeBob SquarePants which was my submission for the Nickelodeon fellowship. Admittedly this was a bit rushed, so I've not got high hopes, but if they liked it at all I won't here anything until September at the earliest anyways.
That one is here: http://homepage.mac.com/davidtharwood/FileSharing3.html
I'm really proud of my attempt at The Office, and the flying pig thing - and really looking forward to the final next weekend. I'll post my final entry once that's done too of course. I'm really enjoying getting into the writing hard core now, reading as many screenplays as I can get my hands on, and become addicted to the Creative Screenwriting podcast. I'm going to attempt to make a good crack on a feature comedy idea I have next, and then probably a new TV spec and try to get an agent once the fall TV shows start.
Please, if anyone is interested in reading what work I've posted so far, I would really like to get some feedback. Much appreciated. And, of course, I hope you like my work.
Saturday was the Final for the NY Midnight Movie Madness Screenplay Competition. We were given the genre of 'Suspense', the subject of 'Birth', and 24 hours to write something. This (http://homepage.mac.com/davidtharwood/FileSharing5.html) is what I came up with.
I just finished watching all four seasons of The Office so I decided to give your spec a read. While your set up has potential, your dialogue really needs some work, especially between Jim and Pam. Besides the fact that it seems to me to be a little too early in their relationship for things to be getting stale, the way you go about dealing with the subject is almost painful sometimes. If you're going to go this route, it's gotta be a little more subtle. Try to find ways to clue the audience in through the character's actions, rather than just having them say what their problems are outright. The way Pam flat out tells Jim that their relationship feels stale seems like lazy writing to me. And with a better build up, that scene at the end with the candles would have more weight to it.
As for the rest of the script, I liked the open and most of the stuff with Dwight, but something about the portrayal of Michael seemed a bit off to me. I'm not exactly sure what though. Overall, I think there's some good stuff in there and with some work it could be really good.
Thanks for giving it a read and your feedback. I totally know what you're saying, and I guess I was aware of those problems (particularly the whole Jim/Pam thing) but I guess it takes someone else to say it for me to really assess the issue. Thanks!
Last week I took part in a Twitter story contest. In order to go through to the next round I now need people to vote. Would really appreciate it! They won't ask for your email or anything and it will literally take you 30 seconds. I'm the 4th from the top:
http://www.nycmidnight.com/competitions/tweet/firstround/20.htm
Voted!
If anyone is interested, the 8th Annual Screenwriters Challenge starts this weekend. This will be the first of 3 rounds. Every writer gets a genre, subject and character and then has a week to write a short screenplay no longer than 12 pages.
This will be the third or fourth time I've taken part in this, and it's always good fun and a great boost to the creative juices. If any other Xixaxers are interested in participating, it should make it even more enjoyable.
You can register here (final deadline is today):
http://www.nycmidnight.com/Competitions/SC/Challenge.htm
Enter the coupon code CHALLENGE8 for a $5 discount on entry fee.
Sounds like a fun contest, but 50 bucks for an entry fee to a competition with a $1500 grand prize is a little exorbitant. We'll see. I might still decide to enter before the end of the day.
I actually did the early registration so it wasn't that bad. To be honest, I do it more for the fun of it, although I did place 5th in the whole thing a couple of years ago. I gave it a miss last year, but I do enjoy it hence I'm back in.
Currently taking part in the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Contest as a way of getting back into writing after neglecting the habit for far too long. Here's my first round entry (only 5 pages) and a blog post on my approach to writing it: http://www.davidtharwood.com/2014/12/cow-boy-a-five-page-mystery/
Late last year, I decided that 2016 was going to be the year that I re-focused on writing. Although I've done some pieces over the past couple of years, it really hasn't been a central part of my life for the past 5 or 6 years at least. Last year, I worked to get rid of the clutter of other distractions, and the X-Files podcast is wrapping up by the end of this month, so from here on out this year is all about writing for me.
I've already made a good start on a screenplay idea that's been rattling around my head for a long while, but I also wanted to force myself to write something regularly on a deadline - and maybe hold the interest of some of the new contacts and followers I've gained from doing the XF podcast.
So I decided to write a story (I can't quite bring myself to call it a novel) publishing one chapter per month on my website. Basically, I thought if the guy who wrote The Martian can do it, then I can too. The chapters will mostly likely be fairly slight (I'm setting myself a target of around 1,500 words per month, which seems totally doable) and figure it'll take me two years or so to complete the story I have in mind at this pace.
And I'm really enjoying it so far. ("So far" – ha!) I haven't written prose in a long time, and my screenwriting habits are clearly affecting my writing here, but I'm really liking the style that's resulting. Hopefully other people dig it too.
So here's the link where you'll be able to find everything on this project. I published Chapter One yesterday, and the goal is to publish a new chapter on the 15th of each month henceforth.
Maybe you'll check it out...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.davidtharwood.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F02%2FVs_Cover_600w.jpg&hash=fd077566329b5fddced855608ba9ed3322566737) (http://www.davidtharwood.com/vs/)
i already support you because of course i do. very excited for you. i enjoy thinking about writing like anything else, in that as a writer you write what you would read. do it.
It has a nice hard-boiled style. My one critique is that the writing may be a touch too direct, laying all its subtext right out on the table, especially in Anna's inner monologue. But I'm intrigued, for sure. There seems to be a gem of an idea in there in which the vampirism can be read as a parallel to transgenderism, which is kind of an exciting new take on it.
So a predictable schedule isn't going to happen.
Chapter Two is up. (http://www.davidtharwood.com/2016/04/vs-chapter-two/)