Britain has been hit by cold weather again, which despite the country being in the Northern hemisphere, always seems to surprise and upset those of us who live here. I'm tired of it already and it's only been a couple of days - I'm purposely listening to music whenever I'm outside just to keep the inside of my ears warm.Just as the weather was turning I actually managed to have a productive weekend. Rather than sit about watching multiple episodes of Castle and/or Battlestar Galactica I fuelled the ol' creative juices and went to a one day Screenwriting course run by the friendly folks of Raindance Film Festival. I got the deal via Groupon, so it was extra good to have only paid £30 or so for it, instead of the usual £100+, and it was worth every penny. I learned loads about the screenwriting process and writing in general so if anyone reading this is thinking about doing it my honest opinion is: fantastic for newbies, or for those who have a script and want to learn more about the pitching process. If you can afford the usual price (i.e. it doesn't make your sphincter clench at the thought of spending that much money on a one day course) then go for it. If your budget is a little more like mine, than look out for deals on Groupon - they do them on a pretty regular basis. It's presented by the founder of Raindance, Elliot Grove, and he's very easy to listen to.
Apart from learning that I know more about screenwriting (and indeed storytelling in general) than I thought I did, here are some of the highlights of the day, without ruining the point of going along for yourself:
