In the last few days I've been struggling with three characters I'm working with. At times I want to yell at them: "I created you! Do as you're told!" but then I get this reply:
Prodigal Son: "You know I have to find my birth mother. I have to know who I am."
Egotistical Maniac: "What? And that's given you some right over my life? Screw you. I'll do what I want."
Stubborn Woman: "That's not my story I'm trying to get you to tell. It's my story, you're just the means by which it gets told."
How did I get myself into this situation?
Prodigal Son: "You know I have to find my birth mother. I have to know who I am."
Egotistical Maniac: "What? And that's given you some right over my life? Screw you. I'll do what I want."
Stubborn Woman: "That's not my story I'm trying to get you to tell. It's my story, you're just the means by which it gets told."
How did I get myself into this situation?
Growing up, the radio was always on in our house. Not talk back radio (which probably explains why I can't stand them), but music stations. But come 2pm, it was time to change stations. For the next hour I would sit, glued in front of the radio, listening to the next existing episode of the afternoon's radio serial. It was on those afternoons where my imagination was swept away that my love for writing developed.
It was in those early years of my writing career that the idea of Family Secrets developed. A series about a family with secrets and the things they'd do to keep them secret. Sadly, the radio series I wrote all those years ago was not destined to go anywhere. Reading those original scripts I can understand why. Not my best work. Mediocre at best. Thankfully I've since had twenty years in which to hone my skills as a writer and create the colourful and detailed story lines people have enjoyed in Season 1 of Family Secrets.
With no real demand for radio plays and serials in Australia (where I now live), I shifted my focus to television and novels, burying my love for radio, so to speak. Until one boring day in July when I did a aimless search on Facebook for people I might know.
I accidentally stumbled across the Facebook page of a well-known South African author. Granted, only well-known if you hail from there. Growing up he was my writing idol. Whatever he wrote (books, short stories, serials for radio, series for television), they all become a success. On his Facebook page I saw he had a link to a radio station in South Africa that has been broadcasting radio plays and serials for decades. Jumping onto their website I discovered they had podcasts for the current radio serial available for download. Curiously I downloaded and listened. Oh boy. It was like a bear waking up from a two-decade long hibernation! The writing-for-radio-bug bit again.
Just like television, there is a common format to the scripts, though each radio station has their variances to this format. I messaged the author on Facebook to find out where I can get samples of scripts. A couple of emails between myself and the head of drama at the radio station in South Africa later I had sample scripts and what their criteria is. Within days I was using every free moment in my workday to plan and develop a series for radio. Three months later and I'm on the last couple of episodes. And here's where things got unstuck. I've got everything packaged and tied up with a nice little bow. Problem is, these three character don't want to play ball and get from where they are to where I need them to be at the end within the last three remaining episodes.
So, what am I going to do with my prodigal son, egotistical maniac and stubborn woman? Once thing I learned when writing Family Secrets is that as the author, you're just the vessel used to tell the story - your characters' stories. Sometimes it's better to sit back and let them get on with it.
It was in those early years of my writing career that the idea of Family Secrets developed. A series about a family with secrets and the things they'd do to keep them secret. Sadly, the radio series I wrote all those years ago was not destined to go anywhere. Reading those original scripts I can understand why. Not my best work. Mediocre at best. Thankfully I've since had twenty years in which to hone my skills as a writer and create the colourful and detailed story lines people have enjoyed in Season 1 of Family Secrets.
With no real demand for radio plays and serials in Australia (where I now live), I shifted my focus to television and novels, burying my love for radio, so to speak. Until one boring day in July when I did a aimless search on Facebook for people I might know.
I accidentally stumbled across the Facebook page of a well-known South African author. Granted, only well-known if you hail from there. Growing up he was my writing idol. Whatever he wrote (books, short stories, serials for radio, series for television), they all become a success. On his Facebook page I saw he had a link to a radio station in South Africa that has been broadcasting radio plays and serials for decades. Jumping onto their website I discovered they had podcasts for the current radio serial available for download. Curiously I downloaded and listened. Oh boy. It was like a bear waking up from a two-decade long hibernation! The writing-for-radio-bug bit again.
Just like television, there is a common format to the scripts, though each radio station has their variances to this format. I messaged the author on Facebook to find out where I can get samples of scripts. A couple of emails between myself and the head of drama at the radio station in South Africa later I had sample scripts and what their criteria is. Within days I was using every free moment in my workday to plan and develop a series for radio. Three months later and I'm on the last couple of episodes. And here's where things got unstuck. I've got everything packaged and tied up with a nice little bow. Problem is, these three character don't want to play ball and get from where they are to where I need them to be at the end within the last three remaining episodes.
So, what am I going to do with my prodigal son, egotistical maniac and stubborn woman? Once thing I learned when writing Family Secrets is that as the author, you're just the vessel used to tell the story - your characters' stories. Sometimes it's better to sit back and let them get on with it.