My Hero With Terry Deary and Huck McKenna

Transcription

1 Scene Huck McKenna is sitting in front of his computer. Huck: Who is Terry Deary? In case you don t know, have a look here. He points at a website on his computer screen. Huck: Terry Deary best-selling author and television personality. He has written over 200 fiction and non-fiction books and sold 25 million copies of "Horrible Histories" in 40 countries. That s amazing. He s one of Britain s best-selling authors of the 21 st century. I want that to be me one day! Terry Deary approaches Huck s house and rings the doorbell. Huck opens the door. Terry: Hello! I m Terry Deary. And I ve come to meet the young man who apparently wants to take my job. Huck is awestruck. Huck: Hello... Terry: Have you heard of him? Huck? Huck: Yes, hello... Terry: That s you? Huck: Yes... Terry: I think we ve got to sort this out. You know, you wanting my job and all this. Scene min. Huck: I couldn t believe it when Terry Deary came to my house and then he said he d help me be a writer. On a bench in a park. Terry: Hello, my name is Terry Deary. Huck: And my name is Huck McKenna. Terry: I m a children s author.

2 Huck: And I want to be an author. Terry: My most popular books are probably the "Horrible Histories", histories with the nasty bits left in. Huck: My favourite books are the Horrible Histories. Terry Deary is my hero. Scene min. Terry and Huck are sitting in front of Hucks computer. Terry: So Huck, you wanna be a writer. Huck: Right, yeah. Terry: First of all, you ve got to be a reader, I think. What sort of stuff do you like reading? Huck: Well, I like reading fantasy books and historical novels. Terry: And what about your own writing? What have you been working on? Huck: Here s what I wrote. It s called "Cui Bono?" which is Latin for "who benefits?" Terry: A-ha. And what s it about? Huck: It s about Sir Christopher Wren who in this story sets fire to London so that he can build a new St. Paul s Cathedral. Terry: So your story says: Christopher Wren, the great architect, started the Fire of London. Huck: Yeah. Terry: Is that true? Huck: Probably not. Terry: But it s a great story. Huck: Thank you. Terry: One thing people say to me: All stories should have a good start so you pull the reader in. Let s have a look! He reads from the screen. Terry: "The brass plaque on the wall read: Sir Christopher Wren." Great start because we re right there, we know what it s about. And then: "Thomas Bridge raised his small hand and hesitated before knocking twice." And that s lovely because we ve now got a second character. And "small hand" tells us he was young, and he hesitated that s lovely. Why, we want to know, did he hesitate? So that is a cracking start. The other thing people say to me is: I ve got a good start to my story but I don t know how it ends. And guess what I say to them? Huck: I don t know. Terry: Write the ending first! So let s get to the end of your story.

3 He scrolls down the text on the screen. Terry: There we go. "Wren knew what Thomas was talking about. So he said: 'So it s a house you wanted in Greenwich? I think that can be arranged.'" He s being blackmailed by his apprentice. A great story. I m a bit worried now. I think I might have some competition. Scene min. Still in front of the computer. Huck: So what are your top tips for a young writer? Terry: Oh, you want me to give you my tips so you can beat me at my own game? Huck: Yep. Terry: Well, ok then. The first tip is: Writers don t matter. It s the reader out there who is most important. If they don t read our books, we might as well not write them. The second tip is: Know the market. What are people reading today? Go into the book shops and look at the bestsellers. And the third tip is about writing itself. It s called "Show, don t tell." For example: Don t write "Sir Christopher Wren was annoyed and told Thomas to leave." He feigns a yawn. Terry: Do a "'Get out of my sights!', Wren shouted." Which is much quicker, much shorter and makes the reader sit up, just like you did. Scene min. Terry and Huck are walking up a hill in Greenwich Park. Terry: One of my top tips is to get out and look at the world around you. You re lucky because you live here near Greenwich Park. And from here, you can see so much of the history of London. Huck: Yeah. That s what inspired me to write my story. Terry: I m sure it did. They approach a bench. Terry: Have a seat. Both sit down on the bench on top of the hill. Huck: So what did you do before you became a writer? Terry: I used to be a professional actor. We used to tour around to community centres and schools. And I got the job of writing the plays and I found I was quite good at it. The trouble is: After six weeks of touring a great play, we d put the costumes away and the characters dissappeared. And I wanted them to live on. So I turned one of my children s plays into a children s book and I d started my career. Huck: How did you get your first book published?

4 Terry: Well, I was so ignorant about how to do it. I just printed it out 24 times and sent it out to 24 publishers. And they came back and said: "Sorry, we don t like it." And on the 24 th time, a publisher said: "Yes, we like it. We ll publish it." So my first book was published. Now, we ve gotta get on with turning you into a writer. Huck: Ok. Terry: I want you to try your story out on some real people. So I want you to go into a school and tell your story to them. Can you do that? Huck: Yeah... Scene min. Huck: My story "Cui Bono?" is about Sir Christopher Wren starting the Great Fire of London in 1666 for his own benefit. Huck McKenna is walking down the street towards the library, holding a sheet of paper. Huck: Terry says the research is really important. I ve got to get the facts right. He wrote me this , it says: "For your story, find out what the streets of London were really like in 1666." He enters the library and browses through the books, taking some off the shelf. Huck: This will be good. He takes another one. Huck: Perfect. He sits at a table and leafs through the books. Huck: There are things in here you just can t find on the internet. Scene min. Huck is walking down the street towards the school. Huck: Today I ve got to read my story to a class at a primary school. This is going to be a bit scary. Huck is standing in front of the class with his story. Huck: Hello, my name is Huck McKenna. I m gonna read you the story I wrote. It s called "Cui Bono?" which is Latin for "who benefits?" He starts to read.

5 Huck: Thomas Bridge raised his small hand and hesitated before knocking twice. From the other side there came a sharp 'What?' Thomas entered. Sir Christopher Wren, the most famous architect in Britain... "Wren then scoffed and said: 'Your dad died of the plague and your family is in prison. Listen carefully, because you re never going to be an architect and your sister is going to die and I still won t care the slightest bit.' Then Wren yelled: 'Get out!' Thomas ran out of the building..." "Wren knew what Thomas was talking about so he said: 'So it s a house you wanted in Greenwich Park? I think that can be arranged.'" The pupils applaud. Pupil #1: How long did it take to write it? Huck: I wrote it in diary format originally but then Terry Deary said he didn t think diary format worked for the story and it would work better in third person so on Saturday I changed it and I ve been working on it since. Pupil #2: When did you first start writing stories? Huck: I ve been writing since I can remember. Pupil #3: Would you like your book to be published? Huck: Yes! Every author would like his book published. Scene min. Huck: I thought reading the story was scary. But then I had to show the video of it to Terry. Terry and Huck just finished watching the video of Huck s performance. Terry: That was really good. So what did you learn from doing that. Huck: I learned that as you said where possible, show, don t tell. Terry: I found that when you used dialogue when you made your characters speak I found that that was more exciting than some of your description even. So maybe you should work on your dialogue. Because some stories are told completely in dialogue: they are called plays. And because your dialogue s so strong I think you should write a scene from a play. Huck: Ok! Terry: I ll get a group of actors I know to perform it for you tomorrow. Can you write a play before tomorrow? Huck: Yes! Yes, I think I could. Terry: I hope you can. Because we re off to see a theatre company tomorrow.

6 Scene min. At the theatre. Huck and Terry are watching the play from backstage. Afterwards, they meet two actors on the empty stage. Huck: Do you like performing Terry s work? Actor #1: Yeah, it s great. We really enjoy it. I think it s just so fun, it s.. it s gruesome and gory but it s silly at the same time. You just wouldn t be able to do that in... probably, well, any other piece really. Terry: So Huck, you ve seen what they think about doing my work. Now let s see them do your work and get an opinion on that. Terry and Huck leave the stage and let the actors get on. Scene min. Huck: I wrote a play about the Roman emperor Claudius and his prisoner Caratacus. The actors on stage. Actor #2 (as Claudius): I m here to tell you that you are going to be executed for crimes against Rome. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): Executed? What do you mean? Actor #2 (as Claudius): Executed! What don t you understand? You will carry a cross up a hill... The next scene. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): Ahh, yes! Some of my men thought it was you. They said a handsome general was coming. Actor #2 (as Claudius): Did they say handsome? Ah, I do get that quite often... Actor #1 (as Caratacus): And they weren t wrong... The next scene. Actor #2 (as Claudius): If only my senate felt the same way. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): I could tell them how great you are. Actor #2 (as Claudius): Would you? That would be brilliant. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): I m just so sorry I won t be able to see you on those coins.

7 Actor #2 (as Claudius): Hmm... Afterwards, Terry and Huck evaluate the scene with the two actors. Terry: What s that line again? Actor #1 (as Caratacus): Executed? What do you mean? Actor #2 (as Claudius): Executed! What don t you understand? Terry: Yes, I think that "What do you mean?" you can really be sarcastic. Acts it out. Terry: "Ex-e-cu-ted!" You know? "What don t you understand!? Dummy?" Huck: When he s saying how great you are, I thought it was really cool when you stood there like that... Terry: The only other bit was the end. Erm... "I m just sorry that I won t be there to see you..." Right? You re not! You re trying it on. Actor #1: Right. Terry: You know? Acts it out. Terry: I m just sorry I won t be there hint, hint, hint!" You know? You re not sincere! Actor #1: Yeah! Terry: You know? "Oh, I m sorry I won t be there..." You re really greasing up to it. "I m just sorry..." Actor #1: Ok. The actors perform the scenes again, this time acting out the instructions from Terry. Actor #2 (as Claudius): This a Roman prison cell, under the Roman Senate, in Rome and I m here to tell you that you are going to be executed for crimes against Rome. Actor #1 (as Caratacus):Executed? What do you mean? Actor #2 (as Claudius): Ex-e-cu-ted! What don t you understand? You will carry a cross up a hill... The next scene. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): I remember my men saying: If only we had a leader like him. Actor #2 (as Claudius): If only the Roman senate felt the same way. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): I could tell them how great you are.

8 Actor #2 (as Claudius): Would you? That would be brilliant. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): I m just sorry I won t be able to see you on those coins. Actor #2 (as Claudius): Well, maybe I could give you a pardon. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): Oh, thank you, Claudius. May I become a Roman citizen? Actor #2 (as Claudius): Yes, of course. Actor #2 (as Claudius) puts his arm around Actor #1 (as Caratacus) Actor #2 (as Claudius): And you ll get to pay all the Roman taxes. Actor #1 (as Caratacus): Ahh. Terry and Huck applaud. Terry: That was great, wasn t it? Huck: A-ha. Terry: Thank you very much, actors. Actors: Thank you! Terry: What do you think of our young writer here? Actor #1: I think it s brilliant. It was really... we really enjoyed doing that actually. Sometimes you pick up a script and you think "Oooh, I m not quite sure how to do this..." but the two characters were really clearly defined. Terry: As an actor, what do you want to see from a writer s script? Actor #2: Well, in this style you want clearly defined characters... Actor #1: Yeah... it s kind of important that it s snappy and quite to the point with this kind of theatre but then obviously you gotta get all the historical facts in as well which must be tricky... Huck: Yeah... I had to research quite a bit. Actor #1: I bet you did, yeah... Huck: Thank you, that was great! Actor #1: Thank you, we enjoyed it! Scene min. Huck: Seeing my play on the stage with real actors was incredible. And working with Terry was the best thing ever. It s going to be a lot of hard work but I want to keep writing, just like

9 Terry. Terry and Huck back in the theatre s lobby. Huck: So what do I do next? Terry: Well, next you gotta find out what the public wants to read, then write it, send it to a publisher oh, and you ve gotta be prepared to be famous, how to deal with the press. Come on... Back in the theatre, Huck and Terry are sitting next to a journalist. Journalist: Ok, well, let me ask you first about... What inspired you to write history books? Was it... Terry: I wasn t inspired. I was payed. Huck is grinning.