There has been a lot of grief - but at our last SoA meeting we were meant to discuss "What my writing passion is" and I realised that my writing passion was to work on my own creation - to do work that I had conceived and could fashion myself - not becoming increasingly bored with a smash/bang conspiracy series - which is what Ransom is increasingly becoming. I was still not very engaged with the characters and saw no sign of Tony doing anything much to rectify this. I talked a bit about it and several of the SoA men told me furiously I should get a contract immediately - and later Tony (another one) who has worked in tv for 40 years in virtually every capacity - told me quite firmly that what the other Tony was doing was "unethical". So - greatly daring when I got an email from him saying "The plan for July is that we are going to work on...." I found myself thinking, "well, that's not my plan for July". So I sat down and emailed him back and said - awfully sorry - but have to work on my book - so can't do this now. Also isn't it time we had some sort of formal agreement for our co-operation? I sent it to the whole Borderlines team... and I pointed out that I needed to finish my novel and start on a re-write of TAG. I waited a week and then he sacked me.
I felt a bit narked that he said several somewhat putting-down things in his email - about me not being a team player (this, my child, is what we therapists call projection) but I rose above them! And Tara was nicely rude about him, as was Jill who has a lot of experience in tv... so...and then of course there was a great liberation. There have been some sticky patches, but The Malice of Fairies has surged ahead and I am in the home strait at last. I haven't replied to his last effusion - but his "that's not the way we work" comments when I've made suggestions (note royal "we") haven't endeared him to me. I don't think the experience has been completely wasted, but I have definitely found it tied me down and made it harder to write my own stuff.
When we first discussed the project he said airily "Oh, the beauty of this is that you'll have plenty of time to do your own work..." My riposte should have been "How do you know - have you ever tried it?" Of course he hasn't. I'm at a loss to know what he actually has done - because I can't find him under any of his aliases on Google and he doesn't appear to be one of the East Enders writers, or to have written a play performed at Edunburgh about Captain Swing... so I am at a loss to know why he feels he can tell me how to write. On Google he doesn't appear to exist - on Google I have plenty of entries - some for writing! entries. So. The point is, it is incredibly difficult to get creatively excited about stuff if you don't have any real input, if your ideas are not used and your "co-writer" won't give you anything to do - or then decides he doesn't want that scene because he's changed the story from what you discussed in your meeting. If the writing were brilliant one could accept it, but frankly some of it was gibberish and ruthlessly under punctuated - one was always getting a rough draft, and if you complained you were told it was at an early stage..."so maybe you let me see the whole one..." I think it was a bit of an ego trip to have modest females politely admiring his stuff.
About 10 years ago if this had happened I would have been devastated and wondered what I had done wrong - but now I think that even if the thing does become must see tv and the boxed sets are flying off the shelves in HMV my withdrawal from it will not be a bad thing. He says they will pay me for my contribution - so if I get £100 out of it, it'll be something (although it's a pretty poor hourly rate).
Anyway - I am now involved in less work - and am convinced that I have far more energy and imagination as a result. So onwards to the end of MoF.
I felt a bit narked that he said several somewhat putting-down things in his email - about me not being a team player (this, my child, is what we therapists call projection) but I rose above them! And Tara was nicely rude about him, as was Jill who has a lot of experience in tv... so...and then of course there was a great liberation. There have been some sticky patches, but The Malice of Fairies has surged ahead and I am in the home strait at last. I haven't replied to his last effusion - but his "that's not the way we work" comments when I've made suggestions (note royal "we") haven't endeared him to me. I don't think the experience has been completely wasted, but I have definitely found it tied me down and made it harder to write my own stuff.
When we first discussed the project he said airily "Oh, the beauty of this is that you'll have plenty of time to do your own work..." My riposte should have been "How do you know - have you ever tried it?" Of course he hasn't. I'm at a loss to know what he actually has done - because I can't find him under any of his aliases on Google and he doesn't appear to be one of the East Enders writers, or to have written a play performed at Edunburgh about Captain Swing... so I am at a loss to know why he feels he can tell me how to write. On Google he doesn't appear to exist - on Google I have plenty of entries - some for writing! entries. So. The point is, it is incredibly difficult to get creatively excited about stuff if you don't have any real input, if your ideas are not used and your "co-writer" won't give you anything to do - or then decides he doesn't want that scene because he's changed the story from what you discussed in your meeting. If the writing were brilliant one could accept it, but frankly some of it was gibberish and ruthlessly under punctuated - one was always getting a rough draft, and if you complained you were told it was at an early stage..."so maybe you let me see the whole one..." I think it was a bit of an ego trip to have modest females politely admiring his stuff.
About 10 years ago if this had happened I would have been devastated and wondered what I had done wrong - but now I think that even if the thing does become must see tv and the boxed sets are flying off the shelves in HMV my withdrawal from it will not be a bad thing. He says they will pay me for my contribution - so if I get £100 out of it, it'll be something (although it's a pretty poor hourly rate).
Anyway - I am now involved in less work - and am convinced that I have far more energy and imagination as a result. So onwards to the end of MoF.
