My Mad Fat Diary - interview with screenwriter Tom Bidwell

The TV tie-in edition of My Mad, Fat Teenage Diary

In my former life as an editor, one of the books that I was proudest of publishing was the wonderful My Mad, Fat Teenage Diary by Rae Earl. When I heard that it was being made into a TV series I was thrilled but also nervous: would it do the book justice? If you’ve seen the E4 series you will know that the answer is definitely YES.

It is a fantastic show: it captures the beating heart and humour of the book while creating a new and brilliant thing in its own right. There are several differences between the TV series and the book – from the title to the way it deals with issues like the main character’s experience of mental illness. I was lucky enough to chat to Tom Bidwell, the brilliant writer of the TV script (and currently working on the second series!) to ask him more about the process of bringing the book to screen.

1 First of all congratulations on My Mad Fat Diary, which is one of the best things I’ve seen on TV in ages. How did you get involved in the show?

TB: I got involved in the show quite a while back now. About two years ago in fact. Jude Liknaitzky and Roanna Benn at Tiger Aspect brought me in for a meeting and mentioned they had optioned the book. I liked the sound of it and read it. It seemed to me to be the perfect book for adaptation - tonally brilliant, great characters and only a little narrative (which lent me the space to tell my own stories (hopefully) without betraying the source material.)

2 I was really intrigued that while the book skims over the darker aspects of Rae’s story – the spell in the psychiatric hospital, and the background to it – the drama absolutely foregrounds them. It’s the opposite to what often happens in TV adaptations. Can you explain why this was? Did it make the show harder to pitch or easier?

TB: Again, as above, it was a blessing to have almost a blank page to work off as it meant I didn't have to retell very personal aspects of the real Rae's story. We were all very eager to explore the dark/real aspects of teenage life and I really think that's what drew everyone at the channel towards the project too. We felt like we were looking at something very important, not just for teenagers, but for everyone who ever felt lost. The invention of her therapist, Kester, allowed me to not just try and get inside the head of a teenage girl, but to also psychoanalyse her. Not just what she's thinking and feeling, but what that could mean. I live with a doctor of clinical psychology so he gave me an insight into how I could go about it.

3 What lay behind the decision to change the setting of the TV from the 1980s to the 1990s – was it because it felt more current, or is everyone sick of 80s stuff, or does it reflect your own background?

TB: I think I pitched it in the 1990s for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was the music I listened to when I was 16 and an incredibly rich time for tunes. I know every generation says this but I think it was the last great era. You listen to the soundtrack and realise how lucky we were. Secondly, no-one had done the 90s yet. It felt right from a commercial and marketing point of view (felt like we could stretch our target audience by ten years!) and when marketing and creative agree you know you're onto something good. Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne have their brilliant series This Is England, which is set in the 80s, so I guess that was another reason we chose to move it.

4 One of the things I love about your script is Rae’s voice including her sex thoughts - one of my favourite lines is ‘I’d shag him till there was nothing left, just a pair of glasses and a wet patch'!! It's so similar to Rae's voice in the book - did you consciously 'mimic' it or did you tap into your own inner teenager, or both?

TB: Hah! Well, yes she's kind of lusty in the book so there is certainly an element of getting inside Rae's head and just letting her speak. But I see the way she speaks in this sense as a kind of game of invention. There's play in it, a love of words and life. So I don't think it comes from a place of being overtly sex mad so much as a place of trying to create a vivid, imaginative picture of the strong feelings she has. She is being creative with her words (in her diary) and I'm trying to do a similar thing as I write her. It's an overlap that makes your head spin if you think about it too much.

5 Sometimes, aspiring writers think quite rigidly in terms of writing A Novel, but from the start of your career you’ve done very well in the sphere of film and drama. Did you make a conscious choice to focus on script writing or was it just what seemed natural at the time?

TB: I think there's a big discrepancy between what I thought a writer was when I first started out and what I've experienced it to be. Aspiring writers should really be looking at all disciplines because you learn so much about the form of prose through poetry and about drama through keeping a diary etc. The first few years of any writer's career are an undergoing of such great development. Without knowing it, the more you write the more you learn and the stronger your writing gets. I wish that when I'd started out I'd have relaxed about not getting the breaks in the knowledge that if I kept on working hard on my writing they'd come when I was ready. It's an exciting moment when you realise you'll always be learning, always be surprised by something. I fell into script writing because I've always had an interest in television, theatre and film. I felt more confident in that world than in the world of The Novel.

6 Lastly I’m intrigued that the TV series dropped ‘Teenage’ from the title – why?

TB: Good question. The Channel moves in mysterious ways. I guess they thought that a show for teenagers with "teenage" in the title was slightly patronising. I agree in some respects. It seems to shrink the show a little, makes it seem more limited.

Thanks, Tom!

The final episode of My Mad Fat Diary is on E4 tonight at 10pm. You can catch previous episodes on 4oD.

First person versus third person narrative: how to choose

Should you write in the first person like Helen Fielding?

I love it when I receive queries from readers about writing. Here’s one I got recently: is writing in the first person (ie narrating ‘I woke up’ instead of ‘Clare woke up’) better for chick lit?

The first thing I’d say is that there is no ‘better’ way. It’s a question of which comes naturally to you and which seems to suit your story. I chose to write in the first person when I began my first book, simply because it seemed like the least daunting thing and most familiar. After all I write emails, blog posts etc in the first person. As I went on, I discovered that I liked it because it allowed me to present my character’s thoughts directly – so it brings her (hopefully) closer to the reader.

There is something about chick lit that does seem to lend itself to using the first person. Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffen, Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding and Gemma Burgess all use the first person with great success. It’s informal and direct and confessional – like having a drink with the character, or being inside their head. For example I love this scene in A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess, when you get the heroine Abigail’s nervous chatter on her date, alongside her inner thoughts:

‘So. How was your day?’ I ask when Paulie returns. Is that a good question? I don’t know. My mum would ask it.
‘Scintillating,’ he replies crisply, leaning into me. Cripes, he is definitely hot. Very dashing eyebrows.
‘What do you do?’ I am trying to smile and look interested and nice and pretty, all at the same time.
‘I work for a branding agency,’ he says. ‘I’m head of account management.’
‘Oh, how interesting,’ I say. Wow. I really do sound like my mum. ‘Where is your office?’
‘Farringdon.’
‘How long have you been doing that?’ But I can’t seem to stop.

It’s great because you have her external dialogue where she’s asking endless questions and her internal one where she’s kicking herself for doing that (been there.) First person also allows you to talk straight to the reader which Gemma also does to great effect in A Girl Like You: ‘I’m sure you’ve already come to the same conclusion: it was a bad date.’ I like this device – it’s sort of like talking to camera, breaking frame? – though I’ve never been bold enough to use it myself (it's easy to get it wrong).

Having said that, first person isn’t essential. Third person allows you a bit more distance from your character, which you might want, and it allows you to show different perspectives a little more easily. If you’ve got more than one main character, for instance, you probably need third person – so for example The Devil Wears Prada is narrated in the first person, whereas Chasing Harry Winstone, by the same author, has three main characters, and we see all their different perspectives in the third person. In Jilly Cooper’s short romances (all of which are brilliant – read them immediately if you haven’t already) her dreamy, romantic, shy heroines, like Harriet and Imogen, are narrated in the first person, whereas for her feisty troublemakers (Octavia, Prudence, Emily) she uses the third person. I’m sure this choice wasn’t completely conscious, it probably just had to do with how Jilly Cooper felt she could best portray the character. Maybe she’s a feisty troublemaker herself, or maybe she just likes getting in character as one.

In conclusion though I’d say it doesn’t 100% matter which you choose, as long as you're comfortable with it. Writing is all about finding your voice, and figuring out which style of narration suits you is a part of that. Just pick the one that seems to work for you, and you’ll probably find it was the right decision.

The tyranny of the 'perfect' wedding outfit

About a week ago, I suddenly became stupidly stressed that our wedding was 6 weeks away and although I had my dress, I still hadn’t located a shrug/jacket, shoes, underwear or accessories. So I started looking online for a suitable jacket or wrap. Not perfect – that word is banned from our wedding – just suitable. And (this year’s mantra) affordable.

But, oh. Soon I was seduced by all the pretty, pretty things out there. What about this?

It was pretty expensive for something that wouldn’t even keep me warm in the March wind, but oh so delicate and lovely. Or this?

It’s stunning. I even love that the product name means ‘smoky’.
Yes, it costs nearly the same as my dress, but I could sell it after the wedding – right?

And then I saw this. My heart hurt with how pretty it is:

So, so, so exquisite. So, so much more than I can afford, given the huge tax bill I just paid, my overdraft and the fact that we still haven’t paid for our honeymoon.

I was very tempted – but then I thought, really? All of that, for something I’m going to wear once? It’s not worth it. There is so much hype surrounding weddings, that the temptation is to throw caution to the wind and spend more than you can afford to look ‘perfect’ (that word again). But the sad fact is, no matter how much I spend I’ll never look perfect. And it won’t matter. A. won’t love me any more than he already does because I spent £300 on a fox fur. People won’t have any more fun because I’m in a velvet wrap for an hour. Of course it would be very nice to own one of those things - but they're not the things that will make our wedding special.

So I took a trip down to the shops on my lunch break and located a cream fake fur jacket from Coast, reduced to £45. I probably could have found something more special, more perfect, etc etc, but I don’t really care. And on the day, I don’t think anyone else will either.

Anyone else out there having trouble resisting the tyranny of the 'perfect' wedding outfit?

Beyonce dance class ... the verdict

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to a Seen on Screen class on Saturday and Sunday (!) in order to learn the Single Ladies dance routine. It was so much fun - and an amazing good workout. I find when I think about exercise I overlook dance, thinking it's too much fun to really be effective. And it's true that the time goes really quickly and you don't really notice how hard you're working but I was pretty stiff after both sessions.

I went with a different friend on both days, and we were a bit nervous, going in, that everyone else would be a real pro, prancing around in leotards. The ability did range a bit but most people were just there to lumber around and have a good time. Plus, everyone was too busy staring at the instructors and trying to figure out what to do, to notice anyone else in the class. Our teachers were brilliant, broke down the moves into remedial sized bites, and kept reminding us to relax and not beat ourselves up if we didn't get it. They were right because at the end of the day, when you're doing dips and running around like a swan, there's no point taking it too seriously. 'Dancing is acting' Eliot our instructor kept telling us, which made me hope that what I lacked in co-ordination I made up for by getting into the spirit of it.

So did it work? Well, at the end of two sessions, I would say I was about 60% there in terms of remembering all the moves. That sounds impressive until I tell you that we only learned the first half of the routine. Which means it took me 3 hours to almost-learn about a minute's worth of dance. But hey, who's counting.

In summary, it was loads of fun and at £18 for an hour and a half it's good value. They are doing loads more Beyonce classes including Crazy in Love and Run the World. So if you want to unleash your inner Sasha Fierce and have fun on a grey day … I’d highly recommend it!

Now put your hands UP

Don't laugh, but I have always wanted to be able to do the Beyonce Single Ladies dance (or a non-professional approximation of):



Today I am going to a class that's going to teach me just that! It's part of an entire Beyonce Dance Series run by a crowd called Seen on Screen Fitness. I am more than a bit nervous because aside from a stint of Bollywood classes, I've never done any dance classes - I was never one of those kids who went to tap and ballet - and while I like to think I'm pretty good at 'freestyling' I'm really bad at learning routines. However the class promises that they 'break routines down so you can go at your own pace.'

Full report to follow. Wish me luck!

On not reading reviews

(My book cover, complete with moped)

I chuckled today when I read this very funny post by Lisa Jewell. When I saw it was about readers’ reviews I HAD to read it. I really admired Lisa's honesty and I felt for her as she engaged with a reviewer with disastrous effect. For me, undoubtedly some of the best and worst experiences of being published have come from reading readers' reviews (which is why I don’t do it any more, but we’ll come to that later).

When my book first came out I was very excited to read my reviews, and went impatiently onto Amazon every day to see if I had a new one. The first few were lovely, and I was thrilled and naively assumed that they would all be nice, maybe with the odd 'meh'. I mean, it's just a harmless rom-com, right? Nothing to get your knickers in a twist about? But then ... hoboy.

I can still remember the first really mean reader review I got; it was very early on. I don't remember it word for word but I do remember that she used the words 'blah blah blah' to sum up my narrative style ... she also implied that the positive reviews were fake, which really upset me, but in a rare moment of wisdom I decided not to engage. But I read the review several times, and it made me doubt everything and wonder if I was secretly a loser with no talent who’d inflicted an awful book on the world. I went back and read MORE reviews to try and take away the sting. But even the nice ones began to upset me, if they implied the book was a guilty pleasure (which it totally is! I know!) or if they made even the tiniest criticism. The negative ones also make SO much more impact that it took several nice ones to drown them out ... and eventually I just decided the whole emotional rollercoaster was unhealthy. Now I do not look at my Amazon page, ever. I believe Marian Keyes does the same so I’m in good company.

But I still continued reading blog reviews (I don't any more). I gave them a quick peep through my fingers to check they were OK first. Mainly they are nice and constructive – though again, sometimes the smallest things can get to you. One reviewer, who was generally very smart, fair and balanced, was nonetheless very put out because the publishers had compared me to a well-known author on the book proof, and wanted to make it clear that while I’m quite funny I’m in no way as funny as said well-known author. She also didn’t like the fact that there’s a moped on the cover but NO MOPED APPEARS IN THE BOOK. It’s true! And I was worried about that too, but sadly, I don’t have control over the cover.* I was though amused by her suggestion that ‘surely Doherty could have inserted a moped’ in the story. I don’t know why I found it funny, I mean it’s a valid point, it was just the idea of ‘inserting a moped’. Unfortunately by the time the cover was designed, the text was finished and typset, so it was too late to insert mopeds anywhere.

Anyway, I've stopped reading reviews of all kinds now. Don't get me wrong; reader reviews and blog reviews are fantastic and provide an invaluable service both for readers or writers. But really, reviews of any kind, whether by bloggers or anyone, should be a dialogue between those who've read the book - not between readers and the author. The worst thing would be if there were no more honest reviews because people were worried about upsetting the person who wrote the book: the author should not be invited to that particular party. So for the sake of my mental health, I should concentrate on writing, listen to my agent and editor, and leave the reviews to be read by the people they're meant for: readers. There is one exception though: I LOVE it when people contact me on Twitter or here on the blog or on Facebook, to tell me they enjoyed my book. It literally makes my day. That is one kind of review I'll never get tired of reading.

* There’s a very nerdy point to make here too, about the fact that Italians generally don’t ride mopeds on the autostrada, because it’s dangerous and they’re not fast enough, but, you know, let’s not go there because in that case why is there a moped on my cover?

Woooooohoooooooo!!!!!

I've been keeping some very exciting news under my hat for a week or two but it's just been officially announced ... The Out of Office Girl has been shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2013, in the Romantic Comedy category!!!!

I never win anything. Once my friends and I thought we'd won a pub quiz but then the organisers counted the scores again and it turned out to be a mistake, so we had to give our winnings back ... we were crushed. So to be shortlisted for a prestigious award like this - previous winners include Rosamunde Pilcher and Joanna Trollope .. is AMAZEBALLS and I never say that.

There are 5 different categories and the winner in each category will be announced by Richard and Judy on 26 February at a, I quote, 'glittering reception' in the RAC club in Piccadilly. Outfit shopping begins now.

I am looking forward to reading the other books on the shortlist ... one that jumped out at me is Adorkable by Sarra Manning which I loved and I'm delighted to see it shortlisted for the Young Adult Romantic Novel Award.

Seriously, it's pretty grey and cold outside and everything, and I'm in the midst of doing my taxes, and I still have a bit of a cold but so far 2013 rocks.