Where do stories come from – and how do we know when we’ve got one on the hook? The genesis of an idea can be an inspirational moment but the road forward can be fraught with challenges and hard work.

In this Script to Screen Writer's Room transcript  writer/director Gregory King and playwright/screenwriter Thomas Sainsbury talk about the genesis of a story.

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Writer/director Gregory King (A Song of Good, Christmas) and playwright and screenwriter Thomas Sainsbury (Super City, Talk) joined MC Philippa Campbell (producer Rain, Rubbings from a Live Man, Black Sheep, No.2) at the March Writer’s Room to talk about where their ideas come from, how stories emerge from those ideas and ways in which their work has been influenced by living and working overseas.

Gregory King’s work has consistently received national and international acclaim. His first feature, award-winning Christmas, was made on a mere $30,000 and was accepted into Toronto, Locarno, Edinburgh and Melbourne International Film Festivals. His more recent project, the low-budget digital feature A Song of Good sold out at its world premier at the 2008 Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Thomas Sainsbury has been writing and directing theatre for the last six years. His plays have been performed in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, France and Greece. His plays The Mall, Loser and The Christmas Monologues have be published by Play press. He has also written for television and his comedy, Super City, is currently screening on TV3.

Philippa introduced Tom and Greg by saying, “It’s great to have young people in the industry who have made a vibrant impression and contribution.”

The word ‘genesis’ can have daunting implications for storytellers; it is the beginning, the moment of creation for an idea that can be a turning point for any writer and where we go from there can be equally as challenging and exciting.

Both Greg and Tom agreed that writing stories is hard work and indeed Tom defined himself as a ‘story basher’ because the act can be likened to a physical workout. “It’s nice to be able to make some money out of it, relatively late in life,” said Greg. “As a child I was always day dreaming and writing down ideas for stories so I guess I had a sense for storytelling even then.”

New Zealand author Patricia Grace has described her story writing process as being in the centre of a void that is full of potential. The idea of a story as a journey with a destination simply didn’t connect with her. Some writers speak of their process in terms of building blocks and others see it as a gradual releasing of something that is already there, as a sculptor may release a form from stone. All writers are different.

Tom admits to having been ‘dangerously seduced’ by a writing software package that asked certain questions of the writer and then produced a plot. “I don’t think I’ll go there again,” he said. Greg described his process of creation as more universal, encompassing everything from a news item, an image, the tune of a song, a poem. “There is an ongoing interplay between the world and me. Sometimes these impressions are very strong and I write stuff down. God help me I have at least 50 folders of ideas for feature films and what I guess could be called fantasy novels. Film is a commercial medium and relatively conservative, especially here in NZ. Out of necessity I write an outline for the film which must be around 90 minutes long and engage the audience moment to moment so things have to be structured and tight. I have my fantasy novels too and the challenge is to find space to work on them as well.”

Many writers have ‘rituals’ they perform in order to get into the creative zone and for Tom it is establishing a sense of order in his working environment. For Greg, it is quite the opposite. My process is a little messier, organic I guess.” Much of Greg’s story-gathering process has nothing to do with the computer. “I am always writing, building stories in my ‘imagination’ – while walking, waking, talking, staring, listening, eating… Guess that seems pretty neurotic, guess it’s the way I am, a curse and a gift that I am learning to manage. Don’t ask me how many worlds, stories I have going…”

Tom feels his writing is often much better than he thinks it is at the time. “I get excited about writing and invariably hate what I’m working on, revel in the self-hatred a while, then go back and polish it later and see it actually isn’t that bad. It has promise and potential.”

The genesis of an idea can occur any time, any where and for Greg, an image for the beginning of a feature film he is currently thinking of working on came to him tonight while driving down to Auckland from Whangarei. “I had to pull over on the motorway and write it down, it was so strong.”

A clip from Greg’s film Christmas was shown. Philippa felt that Christmas, a film of powerful observational and ritualistic images, embodies a play between hope and fear that is very compelling.

While writing the script, Greg had been influenced not only by the style of ‘realist’ film makers but also by the space in which the film was to be shot. “I knew before I began writing that I only had this much money, I came to the project with a lot of personal stuff and knew I wanted to make the film in a house. My parents were going on holiday so with their blessing I used theirs!”

The second clip from A Song of Good showed a stronger visual storytelling style and Greg described the evolution. “I was working in a more subjective voice. The script was developed at the Binger Institute and it crafted was in a more organic, mystical style. Even though I think it’s a very good, unique little film, though very polarising, it ended up being a very tough experience and a lot of my original vision was lost unfortunately, it became much ‘straighter’ out of necessity and error than I wanted. We tried to make it for much less money than was originally conceived and needed and well it was a bit of a nightmare for me… Big big learning curve in terms of realising that to ‘get’ a feature film of that scope right you need the right support and resources, and if relatively inexperienced, the wisdom around you to guide and support you technically and emotionally as the main creative driving it.”

The popular series Super City is currently showing on television and Philippa described Tom’s writing as quite subjective. Viewers are really ‘in the shoes’ of the characters played by actress and co-writer Madeleine Sami. The audience was treated to two clips from the show and both displayed an insightful and poignant writing versatility while illustrating a serious lesson Tom learned while writing for the networks. “They are quite structured in how they want things. There is a character with a problem: they want something, how will they get it and what obstacles will they have to overcome along the way. Audiences like repetition so we keep laying out this scenario over and over.” The second clip (an emotional scene taking place in a shelter for the homeless) lacked the light-hearted mood of the first and indeed Tom had trouble persuading the networks to approve it. “The aim is to make people laugh but this scene, by necessity, outlined the tragedy of a situation. You have to be able to take your characters to the darkest places.”

Writing with Madeleine offers Tom productive opportunities to come up with ideas and share them. Madeleine may have created the five characters she plays in the series but she and Tom work together on plot and dialogue. They will also spend time in the environments they write about (for example, they spent weeks at the City Mission and the homeless people they met influenced the story they told).

To bring in more income Greg also now works as a screenwriter for other directors and talked about how it took some time for him to be relaxed with this process “I became very attached to the characters and the material and I had to learn to be open and let go of my baby, trust it could be realised by the director and team. Recently I was part of a facilitated meeting with a director I am writing for to sort out problems and as a result we became even more aware of each other and the processes involved in development, we got clearer and deeper. It helps if you can put your egos aside and make it all about the project and not about you as individuals, with all your fears and ambitions.”

Both Tom and Greg have lived and worked overseas and were asked how this influenced their storytelling. Tom lived in London for some time and staged several plays there. The only plays that did well were the ones he wrote while living in the UK. “The New Zealand plays did not translate well. The English people and their stereotypes were so different so I had to write differently to connect with the UK audiences.”

Greg studied at the Binger Institute and is now based in Berlin as well as NZ. He said that much of the work he originated there would probably not have happened if he had stayed in New Zealand. “A lot of my new scenarios are ‘fantastical’ and being in Europe where there are so many layers of ancient human history, really turned me on, especially coming from the ‘new world’.” Both felt that if a story is good, it would be well received anywhere and Greg believed the more specific a work is, the more universal it can become. “It’s kind of like Tom’s software programme. If you just follow the rules, join the dots so to speak, you will probably end up with something pretty lame and homogenised.”

Philippa asked the writers about their ‘toolbox’ and whether they had acquired any tools that were particularly helpful for the genesis of ideas. Greg drew upon his experience at the Binger, saying, “It was a real hothouse and I was lucky to attend and observe the process of top script consultants. There are so many approaches to writing a film and at The Binger I gained tools and craft awareness. We sat in with other film makers and observed their processes, and this helped me break down some of the defensiveness I had in opening up my story to a larger discussion and examination. I became more open with my work and rather than throw myself into something, burn out and collapse, the craft tools I acquired now help me make my writing a sustainable process.”

Tom’s writing process revolves around the needs and wants of his characters. “What do they want and how are they trying to achieve that? If I come back to that, it solves any problems I have. I used to think that characters eluded the writer but now I think the writer does know what the character wants!”

The panel accepted questions from the floor and the first queried the actual writing of the script. How much description is needed to convey meaning? “When writing Super City,” said Tom, “there were times when we had to add in a lot of adverbs to help the readers and investors understand ‘this is a joke and is meant to be funny’.” Greg had experienced quite the opposite. “I try to convey the setting and atmosphere with as few words as possible. I choose a couple of aspects and then let the reader make up the rest of the scenario in their imagination. I still want to write something that is a good read so it can be a fine balance between work that flows well and is a page turner too.”

A second question harked back to Greg’s flash of inspiration while driving from Whangarei. How does the initial passion of an idea relate to the final draft, if at all? “I come back to the inspiration, return to the core, the first thing that turned me on. That could be an idea, a theme, or the essence of a character. What is the film about? Later on, that understanding will help me make choices about what to leave in or take out. So much of what we write will be cut because it does not fit the original vision, the core.” Tom agreed, adding, “If you can get one sentence of what the story is about, always come back to that.”

And how easy is it to find that one perfect sentence? “It can be very hard to find,” said Tom, “and that’s where the story bashing comes in!”

“Storytelling is a constantly evolving process,” said Greg, “and as I go along, I gain more awareness of myself.”