On Writing: My Journey with The Airshipmen. Part Two
As time wore on, James Cameron began making his masterpiece ‘Titanic’—and on and on I typed in my basement—kind of like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. My friends and family thought I’d gone completely mad. My R101 story was a sort of Titanic tale, but related to aviation, albeit just as tragic in human terms—imagine a whole nation and its Empire in mourning, and a funeral as massive as that of Princess Diana.
The workshops I attended at the Writer’s Center were great fun. The other would-be screenwriters often wanted me to read their parts when we read aloud segments of each other’s screenplays. ‘We want to hear that British accent,’ they would say, and I was pleased to oblige.
By this time, I had culled down my screenplay and turned it into two separate stories. I should also say that one of them, the ghost story, did well, making it into the quarterfinals of both the Austin Heart of Film and the Cinestory Screenplay Competitions. Believe it or not, for me, this was every bit as good as winning!
By now, Cameron’s film was finished and was a massive box office success. I used the magnificent soundtrack music to keep my inspiration going. I knew this thing I was writing was going to be a massive success too! Hollywood would soon be beating a path to my door!
But it never happened…
After a massive number of rejections from agents and film production companies it all petered out and I took a breather—a long breather. I have to admit I was dispirited. My love for the story and the real characters never waned, however.
After a long layoff, friends encouraged me, as did professionals in the film business, to think about writing these screenplays into novels—‘they are great stories’, they said. I decided I would save the screenplay I liked the best (the ghost story) and write the other one first, in order to learn the craft of novel writing.
Gradually, as time wore on The Airshipmen took on a life of its own. I became merely the typist taking dictation. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy… I typed over and over. No, just kidding! Some days, I never knew where it was all leading. Things happened, people popped in and out of the pages, got roughed up, bullied or even murdered. Things I had no idea were going to happen, happened. It was a roller coaster, to be honest—and turned out to be the best time of my life.
So, even if I never sell another copy of this book, it will have all been worth it.
In my next blog I will tell you about challenges I faced and things I had to learn: using POV, my attempts at finding an agent, formatting, editing, self-publishing and deciding on using Amazon platforms, my book cover, setting up a website, learning about Amazon and Goodreads marketing and books I’ve found helpful along the way.
The workshops I attended at the Writer’s Center were great fun. The other would-be screenwriters often wanted me to read their parts when we read aloud segments of each other’s screenplays. ‘We want to hear that British accent,’ they would say, and I was pleased to oblige.
By this time, I had culled down my screenplay and turned it into two separate stories. I should also say that one of them, the ghost story, did well, making it into the quarterfinals of both the Austin Heart of Film and the Cinestory Screenplay Competitions. Believe it or not, for me, this was every bit as good as winning!
By now, Cameron’s film was finished and was a massive box office success. I used the magnificent soundtrack music to keep my inspiration going. I knew this thing I was writing was going to be a massive success too! Hollywood would soon be beating a path to my door!
But it never happened…
After a massive number of rejections from agents and film production companies it all petered out and I took a breather—a long breather. I have to admit I was dispirited. My love for the story and the real characters never waned, however.
After a long layoff, friends encouraged me, as did professionals in the film business, to think about writing these screenplays into novels—‘they are great stories’, they said. I decided I would save the screenplay I liked the best (the ghost story) and write the other one first, in order to learn the craft of novel writing.
Gradually, as time wore on The Airshipmen took on a life of its own. I became merely the typist taking dictation. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy… I typed over and over. No, just kidding! Some days, I never knew where it was all leading. Things happened, people popped in and out of the pages, got roughed up, bullied or even murdered. Things I had no idea were going to happen, happened. It was a roller coaster, to be honest—and turned out to be the best time of my life.
So, even if I never sell another copy of this book, it will have all been worth it.
In my next blog I will tell you about challenges I faced and things I had to learn: using POV, my attempts at finding an agent, formatting, editing, self-publishing and deciding on using Amazon platforms, my book cover, setting up a website, learning about Amazon and Goodreads marketing and books I’ve found helpful along the way.
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