Upload a piece of writing you completed during a studio task/activity/workshop. Include a short paragraph reflecting upon a) what you think works with the piece and b) how you think the piece could be improved.
Taylor, 18, hates chocolate because it causes breakouts and worsens her already prominent acne. She hates her skin too. Its bright red boils and blisters cause her to be self-conscious and walk with her face angled towards the ground because she doesn’t want people to stare. In general, Taylor avoids leaving the house. She enjoys the comfort of her own bedroom more than any other location because it provides everything she needs; her computer, her books, whatever she requires. At school she generally keeps to herself, spending most lunch times either in the library or at the milk bar across the road smoking.
Her room is dimly lit with only a small window that often has its curtains drawn. There’s a desk upon which sits her computer, a keyboard, a pair of speakers, an upright tin containing some stationery, some notebooks and a few other bits and pieces. An old jumper hangs over the back of her desk chair. The floor is littered with different objects; her backpack, a bike lock and a pair of headphones to name a few. Some clothes, mainly socks, are strewn across the floor and furniture but not too much so that there’s no floor visible. Some old dishes remain on the bedside table, alongside a lamp and a book.
When in her bedroom, Taylor mainly sits are her computer. There’s something on there that allows her more contentment than anything else in the world. Her feet blog. Taylor has a foot fetish. She’s found a niche audience from the online community that share her passion for feet and has amassed an impressive following of over 7000 on her blog. They provide loyal and caring company based on a mutual interest for something she has never been vocal about in the real world. In her head, having this community justifies her lack of being in a social circle at school.
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This piece of writing is the synthesis of me and my partners brainstorming for the screenplay that relates to our Week 1 task. When asked to write about something we like and something we hate, I chose chocolate and feet. Initially we were going to focus on just one, but we decided mixing the two made for a more interesting character. Once we started building the story behind the kind of person who hates chocolate, we naturally progressed down a path that took us to giving them some other unusual quirk – a foot fetish seemed appropriate.
Once we had established the temperament of our character Taylor, we started formulating the type of world she is in. It became clear that we had both envisioned a similar environment. I think our idea of the world she is a part of worked well because it was plausible and realistic. We had the image that her room would be dim and gloomy while outside would be much brighter. This served two purposes; one, that these atmospheres would emphasise her isolation from others as she remains hidden away in the darkness while the outside world thrives; two, that the gloominess of the room reflects her own temperament, being a reserved and introverted person. However we also imagined the screen of the computer being a glowing source of light, which sort of parallels our initial notion – while the light beyond her window indicates all that goes on in the real world, the light from her computer similarly indicates that there’s another world behind her screen, one that she can identify with and feel more a part of. What could be improved is the general plot of the story. While we had established a world for our character we hadn’t settled on the direction that our story was heading in. There could also be further development of her background and a deeper exploration of her environmental context such as her family and school life. These are important elements to consider because they will have an impact on her world by informing her setting.
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