Scriptwriting North

Big news: I completed my #100daysofwriting challenge which I started just before New Years Eve and I’ve written a separate blog https://sarahcassidy.net/2018/04/18/challenge-100daysofwriting/

January – and what better way to start 2018 than joining a new writing group called Writers Support Group. I love many things about this group; it caters for writers at all levels, it is flexible so you can just turn up, the group is a mix of actors/writers which is incredibly beneficial for script reads and each week there are different writing exercises to do. In fact, the new play that I have just started working on was sparked from one of those exercises.

Speaking of writers groups. I attended a weekend writers retreat at Whalley Abbey with another writing group that I’ve been part of since I finished my MA and that is the outstanding Scriptwriting North. Spending three days in a relaxing, tranquil Abbey in Lancashire was a perfect setting to write with no interruptions or distractions (photo @scriptsnorth) .

I began teaching a beginners playwriting course at my local library in January. A six-week absolute beginners programme that I’d written for people who live in Wythenshawe. What a wonderfully, fulfilling six-weeks it was. A perfect introduction to teaching for me, and one which I would like to develop further later in the year.

February – and I attended a magnificent celebratory evening at Manchester’s Central Library for the Suffragette Tea Party organised by Manchester Women’s Words. Cucumber sandwiches, cake and tea hosted in a room fit to burst with incredible females. Spoken word artists, singers, actors and musicians all came together to celebrate 100 years since the vote for women was rolled out to a few. I felt incredibly privileged to even be there, let alone sip tea with novelists, poets, teachers and even the the Mayor of Manchester.

Speaking of tea. I met with one of organisers of Altrincham Word Fest in a Didsbury tea shop to discuss becoming involved in this years festival. One of the most enjoyable parts of scriptwriting for me is the creation of characters. I use a number of processes when developing characters which I’ll be displaying in my workshop at the festival.

March – and it was a busy month for me as my Everyman deadline whooshed by. Slight relief to let it breathe for a couple of months until it has a read through. Read about how that went in my Spring blog post.

I also attended a storylining workshop for a well known continuing drama show. A brilliant experience at how stories are created and developed. And even more thrilling was that I got to see inside the new studios. Pulling a pint in the Rovers to selling a copy of the Weatherfield Gazette at The Kabin. As a lifelong fan it was a magnificent treat to tour the studios and see where it all happens.