Watch the July 2016 Winning Short Screenplay Reading.
Story performed by actor Julian Ford
STARMAN – LIFE ON TRAPPISTONE by Dermott Hayes
Get to know the winning writer:
1. What is your Short Story about?
Suppose a person from another planet discovered they were from Earth, that their planet was colonized by aliens? And discovering this, how would it reflect on the world in which they lived? Does history repeat itself and are we always destined to repeat our mistakes
2. What genres would you say this short story is in?
Science fiction, mystery, a moral tale
3. How would you describe this story in two words?
Begin Again
4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
High Noon
5. How long have you been working on this story?
1 day, for this story and 10 weeks, since, 9 new episodes.
6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
7. What motivated you to write this story?
I read a news story about three planets, 20 light years away, orbiting a dwarf star, discovered by astronomers working in a deep space observatory in Chile. I was listening to David Bowie while I read it. That same day I responded to a WP blog prompt, called Writers’ Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. The verbal prompt for that week was ‘obsession’ and I chose David Bowie’s ‘Starman’ as my ‘writer’s quote’.
8. What artist would you love to have dinner with?
James Lee Burke
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Cinema
10. What influenced you to enter the 1pg. Short Story contest?
It came up in a Film Freeway email notice on the same day I finished writing it. I thought it was serendipitous.
11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Write short and true, so readers can walk with you, in the same world.
If anyone wants to read the ensuing eight episodes – the last one has yet to be written – they’ll find it on https://dermotthayes.com/
Novel Writing Festival 