Difficult First Album Syndrome

Gone is the time when record company Exec’s demanded: ‘where is the Hit Single?’. More pressing in these days of chart decline is the questionable question: ’which song would be great for Sky Sports’ ident’s?’ or ’which is the new Morrison’s ad?’

I was recently quizzed by a friend (I’m not permitted to use ’chum’ in this instance) on why I’d be happy to rest on my laurels and accept a ’created by’ and/or ’executive producer’ credit on my own sitcom (here’s hoping! March 25th is rapidly approaching…) rather than write the whole darn thing myself. My rather shaky justification was that - rather than me being a sole shining beacon for quality control, to ensure the quality I’d at least like to muck in with a pool of writers. On my head alone be it?… Are you mad?!!…

Rather eloquently (I thought - although I think the wine had been flowing freely (if not free) for some time at this point (it was mid-afternoon, after all)) I pontificated - I had moulded all my best work into a really solid Pilot episode. Surely that was like a band putting their tried and road tested bestest material onto the debut album before struggling with all subsequent follow ups - never living up to all that hype and potential.

I’d sculpted my great first album, I reasoned. I’d lit the torch for others to then run with. Perfectly reasonable, no? No.

My friend - with characteristic laser like logic - pointed out that by writing a Pilot episode, I had merely written a single for the album. Nothing more. Surely nothing less than an entire series equates to that debut album? Yes? Yes. Arse.

And so I’ve knuckled down. I do have plotlines and character arcs for a first series and am about to throw down episode three, which effectively brings me to a close on side one. At this rate side two may be mostly instrumental…

With friends like this, who needs Agents?

But it’s friends like this that keep us grounded and distanced from the delusional excuses we can occasional be prone to propping up our inactivity.

After all, it would be nice to realise that potential.

A few days after this revelation my attention was drawn to another piece of neglected writing, a children’s book with a Green theme that I’d written when the Green Agenda wasn’t even considered worthy a post-it note.

Spurred by ’trim your bin’ week at school, my youngest asked if she could take to school the book I’d written and illustrated for her big sister when she was nought but a wee little lady, a lifetime ago from the savvy independent woman she’s grown into and who I’m so immensely proud of. Absolutely not a problem. We shoehorned the leaves into protective wallets and off it went to be read in class. Collecting my youngest from school last Friday, she instructed me to wait whilst she fetched her teacher to heap praise upon me (modesty be damned - her teacher is hot!) ‘Teach’ spoke my thoughts in that the book is more topical now than ever - and thus there is a ready made audience out there.

So today, along with a more recent effort of my writing & illustrating a children’s story, I’ve bundled up my labour of love and despatched to a worthy (and ethical) publisher, in the hope of future glories (and animated series royalties).

Consider backside kicked.

Hopefully you’ve got people like this in your life, people to spur you into action. Because we’ve all got stuff in mothballs in the closet or under the bed. And providing they’re not monsters or sexual depravities, perhaps it’s time to dust them down?…

Stay creative.
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