During our life writing class today we were split into groups of three, given about four of five pages of work written in the first person and then sent off for 20 minutes to analyse our piece against some given criteria. We looked at whether we liked the character or not, and why; the tools and techniques used by the author etc.

Our group was given the introduction to Withnail and I, The Screenplay 10th Anniversary Edition. Copyright ©1985 Bruce Robinson

I do not usually put myself in the role of the mummy (shudder) or the hall monitor but I suggested to my two colleagues that perhaps we ought not to spend the whole 20 minutes quoting Withnail at each other. There was wholehearted agreement so we quoted for around five minutes, worked for about 10 and then the other lady in our team who is I think in her very early 20’s continued to quote not just memorable lines but entire scenes! Most impressive. And I found this – Withnail and I