it took me a while to dig it up, but i found the thread over at the anon_meme from a couple months ago here (http://community.livejournal.com/who_anon/2358.html?thread=9326646#t9326646), when a kindly mouse got an advance copy of the book and posted a few excerpts. there was some interesting stuff about his struggles with writing the beach scene in JE. here's a bit i quoted once over on lizbee's journal:
I know what's really preying on my mind, though, and stopping me moving onto the Christmas Special. Julie said, 'That scene on Bad Wolf Bay isn't working, is it?' And she's absolutely right. I love a good note, because it's like someone has articulated the voice at the back of your head. That scene doesn't work. I have always known that, from the moment I typed it out, but I don't know how to fix it. Rose has to be stupid to fall in love with Doctor #2. No matter what I do, that's not her Doctor. I can Elastoplast over it by saying that Doctor #2 needs Rose, but that's slight. You don't feel that. Why doesn't Rose hop into the TARDIS and go with the real Doctor? The walls of the universe are open enough for her to pop to and fro. She's always wanted to get him back, so why does she stay on Bad Wolf Bay? The hardest thing of all in that scene -- and Billie might yet have problems with it -- is getting Rose to walk away from the TARDIS in the first place, disguised by that funny Jackie dialogue. That, indeed, is the problem with the whole scene, that Rose has to act out of character to stay on Bad Wolf Bay. She's utterly, marvellously selfish, and would push past anyone to get to her Doctor.
I have to work out whose scene it is, too. In many ways, it's the Doctor's, the real Doctor's. David thinks it's a tragic scene, because it's all about the original, but that's exactly what has reduced Rose's intelligence; she's doing what the plot demands, not what she'd demand. That's always wrong. But follow Rose's impulse and we're off into... well, plots that we can't shoot, pages of arguing, the Doctor denying her a life with him for no good reason other than my need to tie up the loose ends. Oh, it's driving me mad. In Doomsday, Bad Wolf Bay was the best scene ever, and now I've made it the location of the most unconvincing scene ever -- and I don't know how to fix it. All sorts of false notes are chiming. I think I hate the kiss. That's when Rose's intelligence is zero. It makes me feel nothing, when I should be feeling everything.
When I get this stuck, I start lying to myself. I tell myself that the Bad Wolf Bay scene mustn't be that sad, because the really sad scene is Donna's departure. You can't have tragedy after tragedy. Well, there's a certain amount of sense in that, but it's still a lie. I'm telling myself that to soothe myself for not getting the scene right in the first place. I'm supposed to be thinking about [the Xmas special], but this Bad Wolf Bay scene has become a logjam in my head. It's all I can think about. Julie first made her comment about five days ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. One thing I do know: this isn't a couple-of-lines rewrite. It's more fundamental. Julie keeps e-mailing with suggestions, like Rose saying to the original, 'But he's not you', which only makes me say, 'So why stay with him?!' This isn't a dialogue problem. There's no sentence that will paper over the cracks. It's a plot rewrite. I've got the story wrong. And that's massive, potentially. In an episode that's already over-length (it's been timed at 67 minutes, damn it -- this is getting ridiculous) and over-budget, how do I think of a new story?!
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part one
Date: 2008-11-19 05:18 am (UTC)I know what's really preying on my mind, though, and stopping me moving onto the Christmas Special. Julie said, 'That scene on Bad Wolf Bay isn't working, is it?' And she's absolutely right. I love a good note, because it's like someone has articulated the voice at the back of your head. That scene doesn't work. I have always known that, from the moment I typed it out, but I don't know how to fix it. Rose has to be stupid to fall in love with Doctor #2. No matter what I do, that's not her Doctor. I can Elastoplast over it by saying that Doctor #2 needs Rose, but that's slight. You don't feel that. Why doesn't Rose hop into the TARDIS and go with the real Doctor? The walls of the universe are open enough for her to pop to and fro. She's always wanted to get him back, so why does she stay on Bad Wolf Bay? The hardest thing of all in that scene -- and Billie might yet have problems with it -- is getting Rose to walk away from the TARDIS in the first place, disguised by that funny Jackie dialogue. That, indeed, is the problem with the whole scene, that Rose has to act out of character to stay on Bad Wolf Bay. She's utterly, marvellously selfish, and would push past anyone to get to her Doctor.
I have to work out whose scene it is, too. In many ways, it's the Doctor's, the real Doctor's. David thinks it's a tragic scene, because it's all about the original, but that's exactly what has reduced Rose's intelligence; she's doing what the plot demands, not what she'd demand. That's always wrong. But follow Rose's impulse and we're off into... well, plots that we can't shoot, pages of arguing, the Doctor denying her a life with him for no good reason other than my need to tie up the loose ends. Oh, it's driving me mad. In Doomsday, Bad Wolf Bay was the best scene ever, and now I've made it the location of the most unconvincing scene ever -- and I don't know how to fix it. All sorts of false notes are chiming. I think I hate the kiss. That's when Rose's intelligence is zero. It makes me feel nothing, when I should be feeling everything.
When I get this stuck, I start lying to myself. I tell myself that the Bad Wolf Bay scene mustn't be that sad, because the really sad scene is Donna's departure. You can't have tragedy after tragedy. Well, there's a certain amount of sense in that, but it's still a lie. I'm telling myself that to soothe myself for not getting the scene right in the first place. I'm supposed to be thinking about [the Xmas special], but this Bad Wolf Bay scene has become a logjam in my head. It's all I can think about. Julie first made her comment about five days ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. One thing I do know: this isn't a couple-of-lines rewrite. It's more fundamental. Julie keeps e-mailing with suggestions, like Rose saying to the original, 'But he's not you', which only makes me say, 'So why stay with him?!' This isn't a dialogue problem. There's no sentence that will paper over the cracks. It's a plot rewrite. I've got the story wrong. And that's massive, potentially. In an episode that's already over-length (it's been timed at 67 minutes, damn it -- this is getting ridiculous) and over-budget, how do I think of a new story?!