My first venture into creative writing was to co-author a murder-mystery game (which was later the focus of a murder mystery-party at my house. After a stab at a murder-mystery play with the same friend, I realised that my real interest was in farce, considering myself to be something of an expert on the Carry On films (and having a general love of British 60's and 70's comedy).
During the last year, I have found myself mixing in a wide range of theatre and acting circles and all this stems from introductions and notices which I found out about through the Writer's Workshop. If I have learned one thing about the theatre world, it is that networking works (and is also essential!).
My first comedy play was a Roman farce called A Gladiator in the House and was performed is Salford in 2009. Two other plays are due to be performed at the same theatre in 2010, A Visit to Eastern Europe (about a disparate group of Western Europeans caught up in a hotel siege) and towards the end of the year, A Very Scottish Play (about ghostly goings on at a guest house on a Scottish island). I have a couple of other full length plays in the bag.
Other projects include developing two full length screen plays and I'm also trying my hand at magazine short stories. I have travelled extensively and found travel experiences to be a great source of inspiration for story settings. The Writers' Workshop has been a very useful source for trying out scenes in order to test character interaction and play structure as well as general reactions to dialogue.
John's web site
