Dirty talk: Scriptwriting, script editing and the creative process

Craig is a writer. And a script editor. And an academic. He is working as script editor on a series of short films that sit under the umbrella title of Dirty Talk – comedy dramas in the mockumentary form about couples’ sex lives. Whilst trying to write his own film, he’s grappling with style and tone in another writer’s screenplay – namely whether or not having the manslaughter of a lollipop lady as the reason for the protagonist being in prison is, in his words, too camp. He is also thinking about the creative processes that take place during the development of a film script, and how they might be made visible. Dirty Talk: Scriptwriting, script editing and the creative process is a multi-narrative work that weaves together the screenplay, the writing of the screenplay and the editing of another writer’s screenplay, and in doing so draws attention to the creative and pragmatic decisions that influence the creation of a screenplay. These include inspiration, writerly interactions with characters, peer review and the pressures of industry conventions.