Inspirational, firmly assured writing from the inimitable Anne. Princess Scribe.
SERIES STORY TELLING
12 12 2014I’ve been having a very busy period here at Script Advice Towers, so for now, just a few words on shaping your series stories.
Increments…
As a long form television writer, you need to adopt an incremental approach to shaping and delivering your story lines. A story must be presented in stages, in small, significant beats, in pulses; not in a rush all at once, but over time, bit by engaging bit.
Writers of this format more than any other, need to be able to create, control and make perform on the page and thus on the screen, story lines that hold the attention, but that do not give up all their glory or show all their colours up front.
Writers must learn to structure their story lines in such a way as to present first an intriguing idea, then reveal the exploration of that idea in – increments.
The series through line of your story is the thread on which you will hang your story line bead by bead – adding to the detail, the depth and the intrigue of your story line as you go.
The traditional three act structure does not apply to series story telling.
Series story tellers need to keep adding to the story pot in tasty bite sized chunks so a four act or five act structure is more frequently adopted.
Use the over all structure of your series to shape each individual episode; so if you are writing for an established ITV series for instance, you will be able to use the ad breaks to help you shape your story.
A typical series episode structure may look more like this:
Act One – Ad break.
Act Two – add an element/twist Act Three – Ad Break.
Act Four – add an element/twist Act Five – Cliff Hanger – Final Ad Break.
If you are not writing for a commercial channel; use the episode length to help you divide your story line into interesting segments.
Here’s my book on writing for television series and soaps. It’s a must if you want to get your head around what is required of you as a writer for long form television drama.
Coming Up:
I will be talking about series storytelling and more at my popular Story Lining for Series TV workshop December 13th/14th. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-storyline-for-tv-series-with-yvonne-grace-13-14-december-2014-tickets-14297930495
Thanks to Creative Skillset; Script Advice and Skriva Writing School will also be hosting a five month tv script development programme. Here, I am your personal script editor and will be taking writers through their drafts. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/write-a-tv-pilot-script-5-monthly-workshops-tickets-14261641955
Get in touch via my website.
Happy Writing!
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Tags: acts, advice, career, character, characterisation, characters, cliff hanger, commission, connect, creative, describe, developing, drama beats, dramatic impact, episode, episodic, long form, series narrative, storylining
Categories : audience, long form, serials, series, soaps, STORY STRUCTURE, story telling, television drama
THE WORK/LIFE BALANCE BLOG
2 10 2014Via my Script Consultancy Business http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk I work with a lot of writers, mainly via email or Skype, from my desk here at Script Advice Towers aka My House. I also have a child to raise and to make sure he doesn’t become feral and a house to run. Not as many plates as some professional parents, but still a plate juggling exercise non the less.
Just as well that I am a goal orientated person. One who needs deadlines and sights to be firmly set on the target in hand, otherwise, completely zero gets done and absolutely nothing is achieved.
Writers and those that work from home beware, The Island of Self-Loathing is not far away and there, on the shore, lie the bulky forms of Laziness, Procrastination and Indolence, shading themselves under the ominous shadow of Day Time Television. Not a nice place. To be avoided at all costs.
I thrive on Lists. Lists are good. Lovely Lists.
If I don’t make a list, then the following scenario can, in extremis, unfurl.
7am – Woke by sense of a warm presence in my room. Unstick eye to find son 2 cm from my face, holding a Lego policeman. ‘He says get up or else’. I do.
7.30am – Breakfast on the go. Must make a list for the day. Stand in bare feet on sharp edge of Lego brick stuck in the rug. Swear. Try to hide the swear, by sneaky segue into a sing along to Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom on the telly.
8am – Finally the threats have worked and son is upstairs, getting into his uniform. Must make a list – got so much to get done today. Son can not find his school Polo shirt. I know where they are. In the dirty laundry basket. Assess the level of dirt/disease of Polo shirts. Chose one that sports Marmite stain but unfeasibly enough, under the arm pit. Hope it won’t present as Mange or worse.
8.15am – Wash, dress, attempt to apply mascara in 5 mins flat. Manage it. Although I am aware I have the appearance of Malcolm McDowell in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ due to the over application of one eye and the under of the other.
8.20am – School bag on his back, shoes on his feet, jettison Son out of the house, remember car keys just in time before slamming the door. ‘Why is my bag so light?’ Son’s question reminds me I haven’t made his packed lunch. Fly back into the house and make sandwiches, find a yoghurt, some fruit and a biscuit and then spend another agonised five minutes trying to find his Darth Vader Sandwich box. It’s in his school bag. Empty except for the wrappers of yesterday’s packed lunch; made without guilt and more time.
8.45am – I drive up to the school 10 minutes later than yesterday, that day when the sun shone and I was a perfectly sane, balanced working mum of one. So now, today, the day from Hell when I look like a Droog and son’s shirt smells of 3 day old Marmite, I can’t find a parking space. Find one – it’s small. More a gap between cars rather than an actual space. Learning to drive in London finally paid off. I park within a micro particle of the bumper in front and the radiator behind. No way can I open the door. Wedged between a garden fence and a hedge. The hedge being more porous, encourage son to clamber over the gear stick and out the driver’s side.
8.55am – Just before school gates shut, son waves goodbye and runs past Head Mistress with Privet in his hair.
9am – Essential food shopping. Get distracted by non essential shopping. Get talking to friendly mum I know from school run. We both buy a jug we don’t need.
10am – Home to make my list. Do not make my list but spend 2 hours on Social Media Networks. Some of it productive. A lot not. But I have seen some engaging pictures of disastrous weddings and a Meerkat that looks like Nigel Farage.
Lunch. Each mouthful tastes like sand. I truly hate myself.
1pm – I make a list. That feels very good. I put the kettle on to celebrate.
2pm – 3pm – I work. Hard and productively.
3.10pm – Flying out of the door, I am determined not to be late for son’s school pick up.
Son is pleased to see me. I am not late. I have done some work. I am ok. I can do more when we get home and we neither of us care I have Privet in my hair.
So, to avoid sailing one’s rickety craft towards Self Loathing Island, here is my rough guide to a smooth passage and productivity on a daily basis.
1/ Proportion off your day.
Write this stuff down. Holding a piece of paper with your tasks and your responsibilities outlined in your own writing, honestly has a calming effect. Then, when you have achieved one of these things, you get to tick it off and feel a sense of personal achievement.
2/ Be Flexible.
Some of the day is child related, some work. Sometimes work has to over lap child duties. That’s why DVD’s were invented. I used to feel guilty about letting my son watch a programme, or play Super Mario on the laptop while I beavered away on my computer, but not any more. I have to be flexible in my work/mum rota, otherwise I will snap and that only serves my Osteopath.
3/ Tea is good.
Take a break regularly through the day.
4/ Do watch the clock.
Apply a rough time frame to each task and try to stick to it. Leave enough time to get from A to B if you have to leave your desk.
5/ Leave your work in a good place so you can come back to it without dread and the threat of distraction.
6/ Ease up on yourself.
You can do a lot if you stick to a time frame and an achievable number of tasks in the day.
7/ Only manageable bite-sized chunks of Social Media Time is allowed.
I encourage my writer clients and members of my writer’s group on Facebook Script Advice Writer’s Room; https://www.facebook.com/groups/scriptadvice/?fref=nf to use Social Media to get in touch and stay in touch with like-minded types and those actually working in the industry. But do this in very strict time allocated bursts either throughout the day (to mix things up a little) or in sections of time in the morning or the afternoon. Never over do the internet trawling thing. It literally eats your time. You will be cast away on that flippin’ island before you know it.
Sizzle or Substance? Creativity v Commercialism in Series Television Drama – is my session for the London Screenwriters’ Festival in October. I would love to see you there. Come and hear me, Waking the Dead creator and Bafta winning writer Barbara Machin and Executive Producer of Holby City Simon Harper talk all things story related for series television.
http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/whats-on/sessions/sizzle-or-substance-commercialism-vs-creativity-in-tv-drama-series
My book, Writing for Television, Series, Serials and Soaps is getting five star reviews and lots of nice comments on Amazon and Twitter. Follow me there https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1 and buy your copy here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Television-Yvonne-Grace/dp/1843443376/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400840643&sr=1-7&keywords=writing+for+television
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Tags: advice, creative writing, industry, media, plotting, working with writers, writers, writing
Categories : collaboration, development, failure, networking; connections; teamwork;, producing, SCREENWRITING, script editor, script reading, script writing, soaps and tv writing, success, televison writing, useful writing links, working from home, writers, writing, writing tips
CONVERSATIONS WITH A STORY TELLER
4 08 2014Canadian J Lynn Stapleton is a writer, photographer and Geriatric Care Nurse who follows me on Twitter. She also loves to blog and interview when she can. Here is her recent interview with her friend, the American tv writer Jill Lorie Hurst.
‘Guiding Light’ was the world’s longest running soap opera until it was axed in 2009. Jill, like so many television writers, learnt her trade and honed her craft on the show. I have EastEnders to thank for my baptism of fire. So here, in solidarity, I post Lynn’s interview.
I particularly like what Jill says about the collaborative process of television series writing. Thanks Lynn for a great interview and insight into the working life of a talented writer and also for allowing me to share it here.
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In the several months previous to the American soap opera, Guiding Light, being cancelled and subsequently going off the air, I made friends with numerous other fans of the show, resulting in meeting in a large fan gathering in New York City to celebrate the final official fan club luncheon with the cast. It would also be the start of a wonderful friendship with one of the head writers of the series very soon after.
Holding various positions within the Guiding Light family from Assistant to the Writers, Scriptwriter, Assistant Head Writer, Story Producer and Co-Head-Writer, Jill Lorie Hurst has won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Writing (2007), and a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Writing (2004), along with several nominations in both awards ceremonies over the years.
Over the past few years, we’ve talked on-line and in person about just about anything that strikes our interest, from soaps, to photography, to life in general. For a long time, I’d felt a bit odd asking a friend for an official interview, primarily about scriptwriting, but decided just to go with it and I’m glad I did.
Lynn: What got you interested in working in television as a writer when you were starting out?
Jill: I never thought about television writing until I started working at the front desk at the studio where Guiding Light was taped. You get to know about people when you wait tables or work at a front desk. The quality of people and storytelling at GL made me want to stay forever! I’d grown up writing, loved theater and I watched the [Proctor & Gamble] P&G soaps, but had no career plan. I left college in 1982 and moved from Detroit to New York City. I waitressed for 10 years and my life was pretty full. Full of theater going, travel and friends. And it was the 80’s – NYC was crackly and crime filled. A number of good friends were dying of AIDS. There was a lot going on, but I loved the restaurant, my co-workers, the customers. Luckily, one of my customers, Grace Bavaro, loved me enough to send me across town for a tour of the GL studio. A year later I started working part time at the front desk. I was in my early 30’s then. I didn’t officially join the show til I was almost 35, and I was close to 40 when I became a staff writer! A late bloomer by TV standards. I never thought of myself as a WRITER. I just wanted to be there and be part of the storytelling process and help put out the “product” on a day to day basis. If the environment at GL hadn’t been so amazing, I might’ve gone back to the restaurant business. I like working with good people, doing work I care about. Thanks to the generosity of some terrific people I got the chance to do that at Guiding Light for many years.
Lynn: When you look for inspiration for stories or dialogue, what are things that grab your interest/attention?
Jill: I’m not a big picture story teller – I tend to think in scenes and characters. I am inspired by people I see on the street, conversations I listen to on the bus, looking in windows as people live their lives. My husband, friends and family inspire me. Sometimes a really basic challenge or thought grabs you – like when Ellen Wheeler challenged all of us to come up with stories that would use P&G products. My choice of product turned into an idea that I still want to produce. A place – like the 24 hour laundromat in my NYC neighborhood – can get things going. I think writers need to look around and listen – that’s one of the reasons I don’t wear ear buds and listen to music on the street – or watch TV on my phone – I might miss a good character or setting!
Lynn: Creating storylines for groups of characters in a soap drama involves a lot of planning, organization and development before it even gets to the writing stage. What was your favourite aspect of storylining an idea for a group or for an individual? And conversely, the worst part?
Jill: I love being in a room with a group of writers when someone first mentions a new idea for a storyline or a couple – that moment when everyone stops for a split second to take it in – and then starts talking and tossing their thoughts into the pot. Story stew! I like story boards – using different color markers and squares of paper to lay out days/weeks/months of story. There’s something kind of intoxicating about moving the people and the scenes around, then finally coming up with the day, the week, etc that you’re happy with. I like having the end of the story up there first, so that we know what we’re writing toward. My other favorite job is script editing. It’s a great job. The best part was having the opportunity to assign a day to the right script writer, cheering them on through the week as they write and then, getting a beautiful script handed back to me. I can rewrite a not so good day if I have to – but I get no thrill out of the rewrite. I think I’m kind of good at knowing who’s good at what – who’s funny, who’s heartbreaking, who’s good at killing off characters (really) – and assigning accordingly! My least favorite part of the process is breakdown writing. Glad I had to do it. Don’t like it. Not very good at it.
Lynn: Have you ever had characters that get stuck in your head, demanding their stories to be told? Or had a particular scene becoming very vivid in your head and then have to write it down?
Jill: When you work on a show, the characters live with you and they tend to be a chatty group. If you listen to them, a lot of the story will unfold. Telling a story you love is so uplifting and fun. You can’t wait to get into the meeting, or sit at the computer (or grab your legal pad in my case) or get on the phone with the other writers. It just…bubbles. And when you’re telling a story you don’t believe in – it’s very upsetting. I used to carry on conversations with characters, other writers, the network in my head as I walked to work and I’m sure my facial expressions and mumbling scared a lot of people. Once someone actually stopped me to ask me if I was okay and I blurted. “No! We’re killing Ben today and we’re doing it for all the wrong reasons”. Yikes.
Lynn: What are some favourite pieces of writing advice given to you when you were starting out, that really stuck with you throughout your career?
Jill: Here are a few –
“When you’re writing the emotional/relationship stuff, keep it tight, contained. If the show is long and those scenes take up too much time they will be the first scenes cut and often that means losing the best stuff in the day. Protect those moments”. – From actress/director Lisa Brown
“There is no such thing as a stupid question. Ask the question.” – From producer Mary O’Leary
“Can we tell that story (write that scene) in 9 lines?” – From actress/executive producer Ellen Wheeler
“Don’t tiptoe into your scenes. Walk in, you have the right to be there.” – From writer/producer Claire Labine (when I asked for breakdown writing notes)
Lynn: Following Guiding Light’s cancellation, you had joined up writing for former GL actress, Crystal Chappell’s two-time Daytime Emmy Winner, ‘Venice the Series’ web soap for seasons three and four – and currently fifth season – of the series. What’s it been like switching from writing for a network soap opera to writing for a web platform soap opera?
Jill: Network vs. the web – It’s still serial storytelling, which is the great thing. I love the Venice characters. I’m more of a writer on this show and not part of the rest of the production team, which forces me to use different muscles. I’ve learned to collaborate on the phone, which has always been hard for me! I’m still wrestling with technology and realize how spoiled I was at GL, when I could scribble a scene on a legal pad and stand there looking crazy til Amanda took it away from me and said “That’s okay, Jilly. I’ve got it.” I’m glad our characters can swear and kiss and make love if the story calls for it! I love the freedom, but I miss some of the checks and balances that come with working for the network – they force you to try harder and find different ways to tell the stories you care about. Life is all about picking your battles. When I was on GL and we were answering to both P&G and CBS, we won some important battles, which was great – and we lost some fights that broke our hearts, both as writers and people. I learned a lot from all of those experiences.
Lynn: Are there any other series, either television or web, that you’d love to work on/ work with? Or have you any of your own projects that you’d love to start/continue with?
Jill: We just sent Venice 5 to Crystal and will start the edit as soon as we get her notes this week. I love working with Penelope [Koechl, co-writer] and we have a few ideas we’re discussing. I have to finish my book and there’s another project that needs to be attended to! I don’t think about writing Guiding Light any more – but the Guiding Light actors are so talented and inspiring that whenever I am working on anything, their beautiful faces and voices float through my head. I’d like to write them in very different roles. They are a great rep company. Mostly, I’m looking to tell stories that mean something and work with people I enjoy. That’s the plan. Hey, you made me come up with a plan! Thanks, my friend.
Well, I wish I had a lofty answer, but truth be told, we are sitcom junkies at our house. Modern Family saved our lives this year, along with Frasier, Roseanne and Cosby Show reruns – but sitcoms are serials too – family relationships, overcoming obstacles, love stories! I also love Orange is the New Black, The Good Wife and I think House of Cards is fascinating. Still like Grey’s Anatomy. Catching up on Parenthood, Last Tango in Halifax. I miss Friday Night Lights and Gilmore Girls. I like to think, but I like to laugh and cry and connect when I watch a show.
If you would like to see the interview on Lynn’s blog here it is and a couple of lovely pics to boot of Jill and Lynn in NYC Central Park. http://celtic-dragon.me/2014/08/03/conversation-with-a-storyteller/
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Tags: advice, characterisation, characters, creative writing, drama, episodes, industry, long running, media, narrative, plotting, producer, production, scene, screenplay, screenwriting, script, script editor, series, soap, story telling, storylining, structure, subtext, television, writers
Categories : acting, american soap opera, audience, casting, characterisation, collaboration, commission, development, dialogue writing, directing, executive producer, networking; connections; teamwork;, pitching, plotting, producer, producing, SCREENWRITING, script development, SCRIPT EDITING, script editor, script writing, soaps and tv writing, story boarding, story ideas, STORY STRUCTURE, storylining, structure, subtext, success, television series, televison writing, text, treatment writing, writers, writing, writing tips
AT THE BBC WRITERS’ FESTIVAL 2014 – A WRITER’S PERSPECTIVE #2
25 07 2014I am pleased to give you another writer – Nicholas Gibb’s view, on the recent BBC Writers’ Festival. He is also a member of my group on Facebook; The Script Advice Writer’s Room. Join him and me there if you haven’t already. Here’s Nicholas’ take on that packed and exciting day….
I was one of the writers who went to the TV Drama Writers’ Festival to listen to and engage with some of nation’s top writers, producers and the Director-General of the BBC.
Tony Jordan gave the opening Keynote speech ‘If Content is King, Where’s Our Crown?’ Everything starts with the writer but, yet, we do not wear that crown and the only way we will is by being brave, innovative and genre shaking. The truth is, irrespective of the platform by which viewers will watch drama, those platforms need content and it is that content which will help define a channel be it public service, commercial or subscription-based. Writers will have to create that increasing demand for defining content. Tony has issued a challenge to the writing community to be original and prepare for the coronation.
In Barbara Machin and Danny Brocklehurst’s session on ‘Developing Your Character’, it was fascinating to hear how these two writers work. Preparation and knowing your character before they end up on the page so that you know how your characters will behave and react in the narrative is important. Then there was the puzzle of how your characters fit together in the narrative. In that development process, characters may change or evolve. In Barbara Machin’s Waking The Dead, the original relationship between Boyd (Trevor Eve) and Grace (Sue Johnston) was to be on equal footing but in the series, it never quite achieved that.
An illustrative 100-second clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mtTrBqXMIQ ) about character dynamics from Waking The Dead, which was a scene all about character in which Boyd has come to apologise to Frankie. Boyd, a man who does not know what to say, to a woman who is not comfortable with expression of emotion.
Danny spoke of his work on Shameless and his fondness for characters of Kev Ball and Veronica Fisher and evolving their characters and their love story at the heart of which was a secret. Giving a character a secret presents an inner dramatic tension that colours choices and behaviour.
In Writers For Sale? Bryan Elsley, Sophie Gardiner, Levi David Addai and Hilary Salmon were in discussion about the practicalities of being a writer. Bryan Elsley noted that the biggest threat to being a writer is waiting to be paid. Like everyone else a writer need to put food on the table. He also mentioned that the moment you option your script it is no longer your script but that is name of the game for a writer – selling scripts. In addition, in this session, Levi David Addai (Youngers, My Murder) spoke of how he blew a gig on EastEnders but that has not had a detrimental effect on his career.
There was also a brief discussion about the changing role of script editors. Script editors appear to be less the writer’s friend and more on the producer’s side. There was also a question over the quality of script editors.
In The Politics of Drama session, Peter Moffat spoke about his experience of being a criminal barrister. He gave an inkling of how the legal system can help to prepare you to be a scriptwriter. His experience in court was the almost the same as writing a script. Essentially, in a criminal case each side is trying to present a narrative that a jury (the audience) is more likely to believe. Before questioning a witness, he would prepare a train of thought through a series of questions that would lean towards answers that supported his client’s narrative. It obviously inspired the stories in dramas like Criminal Justice and Silk. He also emphasised the importance of research and the reality, which influences his gritty dramas like The Village.
After lunch, Tony Jordan was in conversation with the Director General of the BBC Tony Hall. It is the first time I have ever known a Director General to speak directly to writers.
In Selling Your Idea, Jane Featherstone, Chris Aird, Toby Whithouse and Peter Bowker spoke about the pitching process. In essence, it is the script, ideally via an agent but there are exceptions but the likelihood of an unrepresented writer getting their script commissioned is very small. Competitions can be a way of getting notice. Kudos has an association with the Red Planet Prize and they have picked up writers from that competition. The other thing is, and it seems blindingly obvious, watch television drama. Take note of who makes what and what is the competition.
The final session I attended was with the writer Abi Morgan. She spoke of her experience and working methods – research is important – and the less pleasing aspect of being bumped off a film and The Hour being cancelled after two series.
However, the most important part of the day was talking with other writers and being out of my writing room!
Nicholas Gibbs trained as a script editor, he has years of experience in the television industry and is a professional writer whose book on writing for television and selling your script, is a great guide to the industry. https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444167597
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Tags: bbc writers' festival 2014, forum, how to write for television
Categories : audience, characterisation, collaboration, commission, commissioning, development, executive producer, networking; connections; teamwork;, pitching, plotting, press, producer, producing, SCREENWRITING, script development, SCRIPT EDITING, script editor, script writing, soaps and tv writing, STORY STRUCTURE, storylining, structure, success, televison writing, writers, writing, writing tips
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF …… A SCRIPT EDITOR ON EMMERDALE
20 06 2014Regular readers of my blog and readers of my book; Writing For Television Series Serials and Soaps http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Television-Yvonne-Grace/dp/1843443376/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400840643&sr=1-7&keywords=writing+for+television – will know how that I started my long career in television drama production via the script editing route. My baptism of fire was on EastEnders, but here I talk to a busy script editor, working on Emmerdale.
Donna Metcalf’s route to script editing was not a straight forward one. Like anything worth having in life, she had to work hard to get the gig. But as I point out in my recent blog about making connections in the Television Industry – only-connect-making-contacts-in-the-television-industry – every one needs a champion, and once you find that person, you will find doors open easier. Be ready to take the opportunity that arises for you.
Here Donna shares her thoughts about working on the show, her specific role within the production process and tells us how she got in to the business in the first place.
How did you get into script editing for series drama; was there anyone in particular who you feel helped you to get to this stage in your career?
Getting into script editing was a long hard slog! I first heard of it by seeing a job description, and thought it was perfect for me – I wanted a job where I could use the analytical skills I learnt during my English Degree, whilst working in a fun and creative environment. As I had no previous media experience, it took a great deal of hard work and persistence to get my foot in the door. I started off by working as a runner and doing bits and pieces of work experience - I took anything from audience runner on Jeremy Kyle, to script development at Lime Pictures. As these jobs were few and far between and mostly unpaid, I worked as a waitress and receptionist to pay my way. I also volunteered to script read for as many groups as possible, widening my skillset to radio, animation and TV.
I found it difficult to find out about script editor training, so did a script reading course at The Script Factory in London, and script reading and script editing courses at North West Vision, where I later became one of their script readers.
My first big break was a short contract at Emmerdale covering the Script Secretary role, however, this was only temporary and I was soon back to temping. After a pretty fruitless year, the assistant Producer, Tony Hammond asked me to come back and I’ve stayed ever since – starting as script secretary, then Emmerdale archivist, assistant script editor (a role which I created) and then Script editor. I have so much to thank Tony for, because he was always willing to give me a chance – and eventually, it paid off.
To be a good script editor, you need to genuinely love writers and working with them. How many writers do you work with regularly on the show, and what, from your experience, could you say are the best sort of writers to work with?
My favourite part of the job is working with the writers. We currently have 25 writers on the team, so we’re never short on variety! I find it really important to have a good working relationship with our writers, and the best edits are with writers who embrace the notes and want to discuss how to make the note work in the most exciting way possible. I love a good mixture of enthusiasm and creativity, and work hard to ensure the writer still feels they have their own stamp on the episode. It’s always easier if the writers are open to changes and want to have a healthy discussion rather than dig their heels in or passively take notes.
Note giving is a delicate job to do well. What are the techniques you use to get the best out of your writers and how do you handle giving tricky notes?
The key for me is to know the writer, that way I can deliver my notes appropriate to each writer’s temperament. I fully appreciate that writing is a lonely profession, and pouring your heart into something just to be given notes must be a difficult thing. So I make sure I’m always tactful and positive. I try to be as honest as possible, but also supportive and enthusiastic. If there’s an issue in the script, it’s often because the writer didn’t quite believe what they were writing, so I try to locate the problem so the next draft can be as strong as possible.
Can you briefly outline a typical script editing day for you on Emmerdale?
Emmerdale works on a monthly cycle, so for script editors, our week will generally alternate between first draft edits or publishing week. Each week tends to consist of a reading day, a script meeting where we go through scripts page by page, then I prepare edits and get on the phone to writers. A typical day would start at around 9am. I usually work on the train to Leeds, prepping my edits, then pretty much as soon as I get to work I’ll be on the phone. I chat through headline notes on story changes and character through-lines, then we go through page by page. I tend to do about three edits a day, and in between that I’ll answer my emails and get calls from set. When a script is filming, we get regular updates on timings – often having to look for cuts or add extra material, but we also have to be available for any on-set issues.
How many scripts to do edit at any one time?
We tend to work on a block of four scripts at any one time. This can mean having four at first draft stage, four at publishing stage, and up to two blocks in production, where we’re on call from 7am to 7pm every day for any on-set issues or queries.
How many writers do you work with?
25.
How many script editors are there on the show?
There are 4 script editors, 1 assistant script editor, and 2 part-time series script editors.
Does Emmerdale use storyliners. And if so, how is your job affected by their input?
Yes, we have a team of storyliners as well as a story producer and story editor. Our stories are generated at story conference every month, where the storyliners go away and write story strands and a storyline document is produced. We use their story document when reading first draft scripts – it’s important to see what the intention of the story was, as well as understanding any decisions the writer has made, and to check that all story beats are covered.
Lastly, can you sum up what it is like, working on a huge juggernaut of a show like Emmerdale?
Working on Emmerdale is a dream come true. I couldn’t wish to work with a better team of people - there’s a wonderfully friendly atmosphere here. It’s a very busy and challenging job – the hours are very long and it can be stressful. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not thankful for where I work. I’m very passionate about Emmerdale, and when you work with so many talented people, it’d be impossible not to give it 100% every day.
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