Inside the writer’s head: embodying reflection on creative writing processes

Abstract

Inside the writer’s head is a response to Ian Macdonald’s discussion of alternative approaches to assessing screenwriting within Higher Education (2001). Macdonald argues for consideration of the reflective work of students when assessing their screenplays. As both an assessor of student screenplays and a doctoral student engaged in creative practice-led research, this prompted me to consider how my own narrative comedy screenplays might be assessed as research outputs. My methodology of writing narrative comedy screenplays mirrored McKee’s (1998) writer’s method and occurred within an action research cycle of ideation, planning, writing, analysing, reflecting and evaluating (Christie et al. 2015). Reflective and creative writing processes such as idea generation, concept development, research and critical feedback were documented in a reflection journal. This action research cycle generated numerous ideas for screenplays. The screenplay discussed in this paper uses characters to explore the often competing rational, intuitive and emotional aspects of screenwriting and in doing so, contributes to the body of screenplays-as-research artefacts (Baker and Beattie 2013; Baker 2013, 2016; Batty 2014). The characters in Inside the writer’s head articulate thought processes behind ideation, the role of research and consideration of audience in developing screenplays. Inside the writer’s head challenges learners of screenwriting to consider why we write. The screenplay embodies critical reflection and demonstrates how reflective and creative perspectives can be integrated within the screenplay form. In doing so, Inside the writer’s head illustrates a hybrid form of screenplay for how screenplays might be assessed within an academic context.