Say "hi" to Corrie's newest scriptwriter!

I am indebted to Joanne Salt at How To Books for sending me the latest edition of William Smethurst's "How To Write For Television." I confess I've had my head stuck in it all weekend - only coming up for air, food and Match Of The Day.

And this book is proving a big hit with me for several reasons. For starters, it's written it a witty, engaging style that is easy to follow. As well as leading you step-by-step through the process of writing your first script: story; style; plotting; dialogue; characterization and so on, the author introduces us to the various genres: Sitcoms; Drama and of course, Soap Operas. Did you know, for example, Hollyoaks currently pays £6300 for a single script (including omnibus repeat fee)? I didn't. There's serious money to be made in this industry that's for sure.

But what I'm really interested in, is where to send my "Calling Card" script. Again, Mr Smethurst provides plenty of sound advice, as well as a wealth of industry resources and contacts including writing courses, grants, agents and the Internet, naturally.

A really impressive calling card script can open doors, you know - even for the likes of newbies like me it seems. You can even use it by way of an introduction to your favourite Soap's script editor. So watch out Jonathan Harvey, cos I've always fancied writing for Corrie. My storyline of Gail falling for Eileen is bound to be such a big hit with the viewers . . .