A writing buddy

To get the ball rolling over the summer Maddie, Hennie, Dan and I all got together to discuss our ideas and to see if we could help each other out.

Dan asked Maddie and I if we would be interested in co writing his world war 2 drama. One of the many reason that I came to uni was in hope of finding a writing partner and so far I have always written alone and although I see myself as a comedy writer I thought this project could only give me another string for my bow and finally get the chance to write with another writer. I enjoy Maddie's 'The Suitcase Kid' and I really like her new script 'Totally Masey' but as we both "specialize" I totally different genre's we knew it would be hard work and a lot of research was needed. It wasn't going to be a case of simply watching 'Shindlers List' 

Once Dan gave us the initial idea we sat down and worked out characters and the plot. We thought we would come up with the main plot point and then research further into the history of the war for little but important details.

The four main character are:

• Mary (Protagonist)
• Arthur (Mary's lover who was serving in RAF)
• Alice (Mary's next door neighbour /best friend)
• Frank (The village postman and Mary's new love interest)

Our first basic plot points we wanted to include:

• Mary and Arthur are writing back and forth to each other, while Arthur is fighting in the war. Mary is living at home, has a full time factory job and looks after her brother Johnny, with the help of her neighbour (Alice) due to the passing of both of her parents.
• The postman Frank, takes a shine to Mary and becomes more and more infatuated with Mary after each meeting.
• He begins to hide and intercept each letter between Mary and Arthur, fooling Mary into believing Arthur is dead/forgotten about her.
• Frank then begins to take on Arthurs' role in Mary's life by fixing things round the house and comforting her.
• They then begin falling in love, with Mary heartbroken and vulnerable.
• In a twist of events she finds all the letters Frank has been hiding and is distraught and guilty.
• Arthur comes home and Frank is shunned  by everyone.

After these basic plot lines, these initial questions were raised:

1. What sort of plane would Arthur be in? More research about his job.
2. Why is Frank not at war, what reasons did men not fight?
3. What job would Mary have living in the countryside?
4. What year would this be set? When were the RAF fighters in Africa?

So far I have found writing with Maddie very easy I think we both complement each others styles. Maddie is someone I'd like to work with writing after this project.