Winning an international scriptwriting prize
HEALTH
By THOMAS HUKAHU
IN our writing tips this week, I am going to share something personal.
I am doing this in the hope that you get to see what you can do with your interest in taking a Papua New Guinean story, work on it and then share it with an international audience, as in entering an international competition.
A few more tips will be offered to you along the way as well.
A short recap of past tips
So far in my articles, I have shared with you the basics in writing the feature article, a format of writing that can help you work on many non-fiction pieces about people, places, and hobbies, including cooking different dishes of food.
In my last article, I discussed the basics in creative fiction, particularly the short story format and writing a script.
I made the point that if you plan to write a novel, try working with short stories first. Write a couple of long ones before you start on a novel, or a novella, the shorter form. Both are longer pieces of fiction and would need more time and effort.
To give you a sense of their sizes in terms of length, a short story can be as long as 1500 to 30,000 words, a novella between 17,500 and 40,000 words and a novel can be between 45,000 and 80,000 words.
My first novel
My first attempt at completing a novel was back in 2011.
Actually, it was a novella, and I completed it to enter a writing competition.
The competition was open to Pacific Island writers and I worked on a fictitious story based on my experience in teaching young people for two years in an island nation in the Central Pacific.
It told of the struggles of the children who were growing up in a place where there was nothing happening, where politicians and cronies ran the country down and there was no money for decades.
Actually, “nothing happening” is a common phrase that the children use to describe their island when they get to know you and talk to you about their lives and future.
It was my first attempt at completing a big creative piece and I submitted it by sending the manuscript to Fiji by mail.
It did not win the prize though but it pushed me to complete a full novel, something that I always wanted to do when I started working with fiction.
(That piece of work has been edited a few more times and is sitting among my pile of completed projects.)
Starting on a script
I am a self-taught scriptwriter.
I learned to write scripts by reading scripts, and reading online tips by professional playwrights and screenwriters.
Scriptwriting could be in the form of a drama script (for the stage), screenplay (for movies or films) or radio drama script (for the radio).
My interest was in screenwriting because I am of the view that most people nowadays like watching movies more than watching a stage play or listening to radio drama.
So, my view was that if I had a good story and wanted it written as a script, it should be in the form of a screenplay.
The first script that I wrote was very short and had four short scenes.
It was written for the screen but could easily be adapted for the stage.
Written in 2014, Four Languages was based on my interest in working with languages, where a young professional is in his office and speaking to four different people on the phone.
The first conversation was with his cousin sister in Motu, then to a colleague in English, later to his university pal, who is a boxer, in Tok Pisin, and finally, in French, to a visiting New Caledonian business personnel.
The script was nothing complicated, just normal conversations about different aspects of someone’s life.
Two of them were formal, and two of them were informal.
The international scriptwriting competition
After that script about languages I thought about working on a script for a Papua New Guinean story which told of the struggles of our people living in the rural area.
I was mulling over this when I sighted the announcement about the International Radio Playwriting Competition, which was hosted by the BBC World Service, the British Council and their other partners.
It was about that time, in early 2013, that some of PNG’s sorcery-related crimes were reported in the media and caught the attention of the world.
This trending topic was a good one to use as a theme and that is where I started work on The Confessions, the play.
The challenge now was it was going to be a full-length script, for about an hour. It was not going to be four short scenes with dialogues that ran for about two minutes each, like I did for my first written script.
The even more daring feat was even though I could visualise the different scenes, I had to write the scenes for a radio audience, not a movie audience.
The BBC World Service website was helpful and it gave tips on how to best write scenes for people who would be listening, not watching.
I learned from that site and worked for about two months and managed to complete the radio drama script and send it off in early 2016.
In June, I got an email from Marion Nancarrow, the executive producer for BBC radio drama. She said: “I am delighted to write to tell you that your play The Confessions has been shortlisted in this, the 25th BBC World Service/British Council International Playwriting Competition, co-produced with The Open University and in partnership with Commonwealth Writers. You have been shortlisted in the second language category. There are seven shortlisted entries in this category.
“Scripts are now being sent to our judging panel and we hope to know the winners within the next two months …
“Meantime, please accept our huge congratulations for getting to this stage. With over 1,000 entries from 112 countries there was a lot of competition.”
I also learned that the shortlisting of my piece was the first for a PNG script in that competition.
A few months later, I was informed that even though I did not win one of the first three prizes, it won a regional prize, for The Pacific (as seen in the photo).
The prize was a boost and got me to write a few more full-length scripts over the next two years.
In retrospect: My skills grew over time
I have often thought about how I managed to write such a good script, one that caught the attention of international playwrights who made up the judging panel for that competition.
I think much of that came from what I learned as a person, starting from the time I was born and continuing to develop that hobby, one of reading, listening to the radio, watching movies and writing.
I grew up in a home where books and comics were accessible at a young age.
Both my parents started off as educators but then left the profession.
My mother left teaching because of ill health, while my father decided to take on management jobs with private firms instead of managing educational institutions.
Even before we started school, our parents took us to the movies, in Wewak and Mt Hagen in the 1970s and Port Moresby in the 1980s.
Some of my favourite movies were first seen at Skyline Drive-In in Port Moresby in the early 1980s.
On Saturday, during the day and after our soccer matches, I would follow my friends to Gerehu Theatre or Wards Cinema to watch other movies.
We also grew up in the days when TV was just about appearing in PNG, but radio was the main way we heard news as well as listen to BBC-produced drama episodes.
During school holidays, NBC’s Kalang FM, which had just started operations, would run those BBC radio dramas during school holidays and we would be glued to the radio at 9 am, and for an hour, following up on an episode almost religiously before going outdoors for more games or gardening in the backyard.
Such were those days. They were simple but they were rich.
As aspiring writers, I hope you find ways to make yours rich too, as in buying good books, watch good movies, watch YouTube videos of popular authors sharing their tips and continue writing, honing your skills.
Writing is a craft that is perfected over time.
You may have talent but you still have to put in the time and effort and take tips from others to reach another level.
Having faith in PNG stories
I am one who believes that we have many interesting stories in our nation.
PNG stories are as good as any story that creates a buzz in the world.
PNG stories can be enjoyed by an international audience if they are properly crafted.
And we, those of us who like to pen stuff, must work on our skills to get to that level where we can engage an international audience as well.
We must not think that Hollywood is the only place where the best stories are shaped, our backyard is full of many interesting happenings, at times even more interesting than some of those produced in the western world.
That, of course, is my view.
Faith in PNG stories
I have faith in PNG stories and have continued working on some of those.
Reasons for entering writing competitions
I am of the view too that if you want to perfect your writing skills, write pieces to enter international competitions.
In your wish to do a good job, you will work to learn as much as you can and become a better writer.
I have thought about the reasons for anyone attempting to enter a competition.
Firstly, you may not win a prize if you enter a prestigious competition, but the experience that you gain will be valuable and should help you complete other writing projects.
Secondly, you could complete a project that you’ve always thought about. Like me, in the novel competition, where I completed my first.
Thirdly, you can get useful advice from the panel of judges, particularly if you make it to the shortlist stage. For my radio play, I got feedback from the panel and treasure that.
Fourthly, if you win an international prize, it could include some money that can help you get a new laptop or travel to another part of the country to a place you’ve always wanted to visit.
Fifthly, you would be as good as master’s students in a university’s creative writing program. In many programs, an MA student may be required to complete a novel or full-length script as part of their thesis.
Sixthly, if you win a prize, or make the shortlist, add that to your CV to show your capability for the new job you are applying for. I do that, and I mention that in my interviews too.
International competitions that you may be interested in
Here are a few international writing competitions that you may be interested in:
- The International Radio Playwriting Competition;
- Commonwealth Short Story Prize; and
- Calibre Essay Prize.
The first two are free to enter and the third, which is run by the Australian Book Review (ABR) would require a small fee.
ABR also runs competitions for short story and poetry. Visit their website to find out more.
I wish you all the best.
Next article: Rewriting a script as a novel
- Thomas Hukahu is an Australia Awards student in Adelaide.