interview with writer – georgia symons intellect. I wanted the character to be calculating, and aware of exactly how to push people‟s buttons. What was the most challenging part of the process of scriptwriting?
Georgia wrote the monologue, Twisted. How did you come up with your idea for your monologue?
As always, the challenge was not in writing the script in the first instance, but rather in cutting and changing that draft. At first you can really see the flaws and pitfalls of your work, but the more drafts you do, the less material you can find to cut or alter, and the less aware you become of what is and isn‟t working - especially, I find, when you‟re having to work on that one piece of writing all day, every day, for an extended period of time.
When I was starting out, I thought that the best thing to do to get ideas flowing to write a monologue on the topic of death would be to brainstorm some ideas about death as a concept. Pretty soon, though, I could tell that was getting me nowhere. And so instead, knowing that the monologues were to be performed by teenagers, I started brainstorming about youth instead. Some phrases I came up with were „hormones‟, „fun‟, „hidden depths‟, and „inability to connect actions and consequences‟. I was pretty intent on writing a darkly comic piece, and so connecting these ideas and phrases back to death through the prism of comedy, I found my idea.
What advice would you give to aspiring scriptwriters?
What was the process involved in developing your character?
The writers were all invited to the first day of rehearsals, where we sat around the table with Tanya, the actors, and all of the creatives involved. First we heard the actors read each of our pieces, with a brief discussion of its themes and people‟s initial thoughts after each reading. Then we had a design presentation, and Tanya shared with us her thoughts going into the rehearsal process of what the show might look like and how it would be put together. It was an incredibly exciting day and gave us writers all something to look forward to. Unfortunately, as there are ten writers on the project, it hasn‟t been possible for us to attend rehearsals, but I think we‟re going to get to go along to a tech rehearsal, which I‟m looking forward to!
When I write a character, I usually think of one particular person I know who most closely resembles the character I‟m trying to write, and whenever I get stuck I try and think what that person would say or do in any given situation. The process for this character, though, was slightly different. I had three different reference points which I thought would come together to create a more multi-faceted whole. For the Australian teen idioms and general word placement, I kept my younger brother Jono in mind (thanks, Bro!) To make that character a little more outrageous and larger than life, I would occasionally cast my mind back to the character of Nathan from the TV show Misfits. Then, as more of a guiding principle than a specific reference point, I tried to infuse the whole character with a hidden but powerful
If you‟re only a few drafts in but can‟t see what needs fixing, leave your script alone for a while. Save it in a folder on your computer or put it in a desk drawer, and leave it there for at least a week. Once you‟ve been out doing other things and not thinking about the script, the next steps you need to take will become much clearer. Have you had an opportunity to collaborate with the director, Tanya Goldberg, and the actors? If so, what has that been like as a writer?