How do I go about the creative writing process when it comes to Jelly Trumpet? I sit myself down and hope.
How I Used to Write
A great deal of planning. I mean, a ridiculous amount of time researching, plotting, making characters come alive and redrafting. It worked. Hard work pays off and if you are writing a sitcom or a play you need to put a lot into individual scenes.
The Power of Index Cards
Yes, you can get software that can do the same, only it can’t. You can’t doodle directly into something like Trello or Evernote. You can’t place arrows for connections between ideas and you can’t entirely cross out something that has displeased you.
I would still use these paper rectangles when I need to be meticulous. I would divide the project into 20 cards and write an idea for each scene on one card. Then as the ideas flowed, I would write them on the back of the card. The flipside was for play, the other side for the more formal. That is what happens (just that, nothing clever). Eventually, the scenes would be numbered and given a title.
Then I would set them out and remove one, does the plot still make sense? Sometimes I would place the last or last but one card at the start. There are all manner of things you can do with the cards. I even colour-coded them, one colour for visuals, and one colour for character traits. You can go to town with this idea. It is fun. Especially useful if you are having a hard time with structure and all the different elements that go into a piece.
Now That’s What I Call Jelly Trumpet
Jelly Trumpet started out as an idea to promote my business consultancy, Conversion Detectives. It had to give value to the listener. What do I do and what do I enjoy doing? Creative stuff, lots of it and make it silly.
I went to Mr b, a musician with his own studio. Can you help me record this? “Yes!” he said. I went off and started writing it. Season One was a trial and mainly sketches interspersed with creative tips, ideas and challenges.
Mr b and I had a lot of fun. But it wasn’t quite what I had projected. I wanted to have something more cohesive, more silly and a rich soup of silliness (with structure, character arcs and all that makes it easy to relate to, even though the listener doesn’t have to know that structure).
Season 3
Story. All about the story. Make stories and make the characters breathe a bit more, enough for them to write themselves. We now had me ‘Jim The Writer’, Mr b ‘Tech Wizard’ and Claire as ‘Queen Eleanor of the Aquitaine’.
Juxtapositions
That’s how I now write. I have a podcast that can land anywhere. Where would be an interesting place to land? Which interesting characters can they meet?
The character dynamic between the three main characters is developing. I choose a place I want to take the podcast and that place has to have potential. Now, we have stories based on film genres. Film noir, westerns, Zombie flicks, heists, monster movies etc.
Now, I have the characters I put them in danger in a genre and have fun. No planning, no plot working out, just aim for a decent ending. That’s it.
About Jelly Trumpet
Jelly Trumpet is the ‘World’s only comedy podcast about creativity.’Listen to the struggles of Jim, a struggling writer and Mr b, a musician, as they attempt to put a podcast together. Jelly Trumpet is full of tools and tips and really is a useful and insightful podcast about creativity. Give it a go eh?
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