Blogging is mainly writing and writing\u2014according to one informed source\u2014is like having a poo.<\/p>\n
\tI have just seen the excellent Screenwipe<\/em><\/a>, hosted by Charlie Brooker on BBC Four (that’s the TV, not the radio). It doesn’t appear to be on their iPlayer, I’m afraid*. There’s a re-run on at 00:50 but that’s in less than an hour’s time, so you’ll have to be quick!<\/p>\n \tBrooker usually offers a caustic and often hilarious analysis of TV (for a taste, see this Guardian piece<\/a> on Dawkins’ program – that’s the science link taken care of) but this evening’s offering was instead an amalgam of interviews with various successful TV writers including Russell T Davies (Dr Who), Graham Linehan (Father Ted, The IT Crowd), Paul Abbott (Shameless, State of Play) and others. What I really enjoyed was that they were all given time to speak and Brooker had clearly asked some good questions.<\/p>\n \tI was impressed by the tremendous effort that all acknowledged was devoted to the multiple re-writes needed to shape the final piece. Gives us all hope.<\/p>\n \tBut what struck me most was the incredible degree of procrastination that all the writers interviewed admitted to. Linehan made the point that this was necessary<\/em> to feed the imagination or the sub-conscious, a necessary pre-amble to any good script. And he went on to compare writing to havng a poo<\/em>: “It’s really hard to go if you don’t need to, but sometimes you can’t stop yourself!”<\/p>\n \t**Update:* The show is now available on iPlayer<\/a> (for the next 7 days) for those with access (UK residents?). Well worth a look – there’s much<\/em> more to it than the crack about pooing…!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blogging is mainly writing and writing\u2014according to one informed source\u2014is like having a poo. I have just seen the excellent Screenwipe, hosted by Charlie Brooker on BBC Four (that’s the TV, not the radio). It doesn’t appear to be on … Continue reading