Mark Gatiss on Character Development and Adaptation
This afternoon (my time)/evening (his time), there was a webinar presented by BFI NETWORK x Film Hub North called “Scratch Me: Exploring character in genre with Mark Gatiss”.
Unfortunately, due to connection issues, the video feed was dropped early, so we only heard Mark’s wonderful voice explaining some writing decisions and advice. Here are a few of my notes from the event, focusing on his advice.
Great dialogue exists in the service of story.
What is the key to a successful collaboration? Violence. (laughs) A shared sense of humor.
When talking about research for historical work, read tons of stuff. Immerse yourself in flavor and period, even if little makes it to the screen. “I spend a fortune and end up with piles of books I never read again.” Unexpected little avenues might influence the story, might influence characters.
“Reading is very good for you. Read screenplays, whatever, it’s all grist for the mill.” Look back, see what you’ve forgotten. You might later come across something and think, "Really rather good that.” You think you’ll remember but you really won’t. You’ll forget your best ideas. Write them down.
Asked about his writing space, he said it should be plainer to avoid distraction. “I can’t listen to music. I listen to silence.”
Try to do a thousand words a day. He may delete them or use four of them. Some sort of goal is good. Sometimes it’s slogging through treacle But if you’ve got there, it’s an accomplishment, and tomorrow might be better.
“I like to think my ear for dialogue is helped by being an actor.”
If you’ve got a problem, share it, with a friend or another writer, and that will solve it, sometimes before you get it out. If it stays in your head, you worry away about it
You’ve got to be able to write about something. Write about something other than being a writer. The myth is sitting in a garret on your own but you have to go out and live a little to have something to write about.
Dracula was a big challenge because they made a commitment when pitched that for the first time they would make him the hero of his own story. They had to drag him out of the shadows. Once cracked it, we were quite giddy, since they’d never seen him do THAT before.
When adapting a work, you have to park your love for it to be a bit more dispassionate about it, to find out what works and doesn’t. Dracula was easier because the book is a bit of a mess.
The murderer is always the first person you see twice.
Regarding An Adventure in Space in Time, “I’d been writing it for donkey’s years. It’s so important to tell it sensitively and realistically while also serving the drama and tidying up some facts and take on the sensitivities of the families.” It’s really difficult (writing about real people).
Redrafting is the only joy in writing. Writing is rewriting. Once you’ve got something on the bloody page, it’s much nicer. It’s hacking something out of the rock that’s more difficult.
A global pandemic is not the same as a sabbatical.
It was very difficult to do anything, then he wrote something for a charity collection and it broke the block.
Be kind to yourself. You can only do what you can do. It’s hard at the moment.
There’s no such thing as a would-be writer. If you want to write, all you need is a pen and a piece of paper. You can start it right now.
(This image is for @lavenderandvanilla who likes mugs.)
