Wish I was a faster writer.

TV As I've mentioned before, Graham Kibble-White, reviewer of the contemporary series of Doctor Who in the party newsletter is re-producing his work in the form of a blog. On his latest post, The God Complex, he's included his working: the notes he took during the episode with a few words about his methodology. It's fascinating and well worth seeing.

Here's my methodology: watch the episode once. Decide if I'm going to watch Doctor Who Confidential or not (which won't be a problem in the future).  Decide how much I liked the episode.  Panic.  Realise I have no idea how to write.   Turn on computer.  Sit looking at Microsoft Word for half an hour.  Mess about on twitter (which has lately replaced mess about on Gallifrey Base).

Go to the toilet.  Make another cup of coffee.  Look at clock and realise that time's marching on.  Have an idea.  Start typing hoping it'll go somewhere.  Keep typing.  Realise that the structure I've chosen doesn't make any sense.  Rewrite everything so that it adheres to a new structure then realise I should have stuck with the old one.  Press undo a lot on Word until I get back there (after having copied useful paragraphs to Notepad).

Keep typing.  Having typed a thousand words become guilty because I've only mentioned the writer and some of the actors.  Try to remember something about the direction of the episode.  Realise that I don't remember anything about the episode now.  Check the TARDIS Index File hoping someone has posted a synopsis.  It's ten o'clock and I'm exhausted.  Keep typing.  Wish I was a faster writer.

Midnight.  Finished.  The clever thing to do would be to save what I've written and post it on the Sunday but I'm sick of the sight of the thing and just want to get it posted.  Copy to Notepad.  Copy into Blogger.  Look around for illustrative graphic.  Somehow manage to pick the same one as everyone else, especially Tachyon TV.  Add links to explanatory TARDIS Index File pages while simultaneously rewriting most of it.  Post.

Wake up the following morning to comments indicating I've put the name of the wrong director in because I believed whatever the TARDIS Index File said.  There are also comments pointing out I've misunderstood the story which I also blamethe TARDIS Index File for when I really know I should have watched it twice.  Spend an hour rewriting it again to resolve the tenses.  Spend the rest of the day correcting typos and grammar.