- Rob Ulitski
THE FIRST FEW WORDS
Diving head-first into fiction hasn't been without its challenges. My background is in film directing and scriptwriting, and whilst I've become quite accustomed to the structures and rules of that world, narrative fiction is a different beast entirely.
Where screenplays form the foundation of a film or TV project - ready for a talented team to bring the vision to life on screen - fiction stands alone, and one of my largest challenges has been exploring how to build a world from the ground up, and prepare to do all of the heavy lifting through words alone.
I can't hide behind images or talented actors, and I don't have a team around me - though I have to say a HUGE thanks to Alex Davis, who joined me right at the start of this journey and has guided me step-by-step, giving me feedback and the confidence to write without fear of judgement. He offers author 1-2-1's and workshops over on his website for anyone who may be interested.
Building these worlds has been a lot of fun. Thinking about the macro and micro elements of a fictional environment, considering the five senses and how they can be used to drive a story forwards, discovering the best words to describe horrific bodily transformations - there's been a lot to think about, but it's been incredibly freeing to be able to transfer images from my head straight to the page.
My debut release is going to be a body horror short story collection, and at least half of the final stories that form this collection started life as script ideas. As anyone involved in filmmaking in any form will be able to tell you, the gap between your favourite ideas and those which are achievable on a budget is sizeable, and as such, many of these ideas have existed only as a description on a document, waiting to come to life.
So, I can't wait to introduce you to some of my favourite work I've ever written. Some of my most out-there ideas, which would have remained simple concepts if I didn't have the opportunity to start this journey.
There will be more news and updates coming soon, and the best place to keep up to date (should you be interested!) is by joining my newsletter, Pastel Wasteland. It's a fortnightly email with updates on my horror writing and film work, plus a roundup of the latest indie horror news and a spotlight on various up and coming horror creatives. Oh, and an exciting monthly giveaway! You can sign-up on my homepage.
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