Meet Your Mentor

"We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings. … Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting."
—John Updike

This week we met for the first time with our assigned mentors and pitched our feature ideas in groups. We also pitched our TV ideas. This was in no way terrifying. 

The best thing about this experience is being shaken out of my usual working patterns. First of all, doing some work instead of stalking people I hate on Facebook. Secondly, moving away from the crutches and go-to methods that can occasionally serve to put my ideas in a box. 

For example. I like lists. I have even been known to make use of a spreadsheet once in a while. The blank page scares me, so I like to set the story in stone as soon as is humanly possible. Which is, for obvious reasons, not always conducive to making the best story possible. 

So this has been the week of the mind-map. In the first one, I ask, 'What are the worst possible things that could happen to our protagonist?' This is a great way to generate ideas, because even if her 4 year old daughter isn't murdered, even if she isn't killed in a gun fight when the police unexpectedly turn up, we might want to see her threatened with these eventualities. This way, my hero's mundane and dull existence becomes a little more interesting to watch...

The other thing that's happening is that I am steadily making my way through Polanski's back catalogue. Word to the wise... watching Cul De Sac, The Tenant and Chinatown back to back does not for pleasant dreams make...