Keeping going keeping going

So the sitcom pilot is with the BBC, maybe for the next four months until we receive a decision. Paul has completed his sci fi TV drama pilot and I'm currently editing that before we put it to bed for a week. Once that is over, I have a new script to write for Murdering The Text.

What will I do with myself then? Ok, that's kind of a redundant question as my life is so filled with an abundance of time devouring tasks. Where's a passing tardis when you need a few extra hours?

The likelihood is that I'll find another storyline to turn into a TV script.

A postcard from the BBC

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Not quite as colourful or suggestive of holiday time as the one on the right but a hundred times more welcome is the postcard that arrived on our doorstep on Friday from the BBC Writersroom.

It may only be acknowledgement of receipt of our script but it's a vivid landmark on our journey as sitcom writers.

Having read through the guidelines to submitting unsolicited scripts to the BBC many many times, we know that we now have to wait and see if our first ten pages will hook the Writersroom into reading the entire script. As it says on the postcard, this can take a while ("you should hear from us within four months").

In the meantime, we're working on the next script, Paul's sci fi drama and getting on with being human beings.

I've got the TV bug

No, I'm not talking about a new kind of flu. What I mean is my newly found enthusiasm, nay, obsession with writing for TV.

It started with a murder mystery play written for my business which turned out to be a popular choice with my customers. My husband and  co-writer came up with the idea this summer of taking the scenario and characters and turning them into a TV sitcom. Brilliant! We wrote the first draft, put it in a drawer, blogged about it, then wrote the next draft, and finally polished off the final draft. It was sent to the BBC about a week ago.

In the meantime, my husband began writing a sci fi TV drama (see, it's not just me that's been infected) and although I'm currently editing it for him, my mind has started casting around for story ideas I've filed away that could be turned into TV scripts.

I think my obsession has come from the difference between writing for the stage and the screen. Whereas with writing for the stage, a certain level of detachment is required because once the bones of the script have been handed over to the theatre company involved, it is for the actors and director to flesh those bones out into a full blown body of characters. When writing for television, however, along with the basic script is the task of leading the eye of the viewer to see what the characters see and experience what the characters feel - a street sign, terror, a TV show. I find that richness of portrayal the real hook.

What about you? What's your hook?

It Was Bound To Happen

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We've done it!  We've wrestled and wrangled, cajoled and calluded, judged and juggled, messed-about and mused and finally both agree that the pilot and all related materials are fit to send off.  It has a covering letter, the pilot script itself and a summary of plots for the rest of season one.  Research has told us that the BBC prefer the script to be loosely bound using a bulldog clip or similar.  So if you were thinking of using a curly-wurly spine with transparent covers then I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Being allergic to waiting, the following few weeks will no doubt prove to be torturous.  At least I can return to my Plan B script (providing we don't lose all electricity to the house again), which is about halfway written.

That said, I'm proud that we've got to this stage.  It is the first step for us becoming experienced (not necessarily successful) sitcom script writers.  Now we are at the mercy of fate, fortune and faith in whoever's desk it lands on.

Watch this space.