So I know a good pitch when it rolls into the room, and I have developed a sense of an impending bad one, as it edges through the door.

I have sat in a room listening to a writer get so wrapped up in his story that getting to the denouement, he burst into tears. This does not, in actual fact, convince me that the story is so emotional, so moving, that I too, (and indeed when we have made this drama and it is transmitting on BBC1) that our audiences are all in bits and reaching for the tissues, no, it meant the opposite. Having ascertained that he wasn’t actually ill, or bereaved, I came to the conclusion that he had got rather too taken up with his ending, (which would in screen time be approximately 5 minutes) and failed to deliver a genuinely engrossing storyline, apart from the (obviously tear jerking) ending.

Tears are not appropriate in a pitch – after it, in the pub, maybe, but not in situ.

Neither is having a few drinks before you pitch. I have been at a pitch (thankfully on the side-lines and not in the main firing line) when a writer actually threw up on a Producer’s shoes.

So here is my mini guide to doing it right, and my no please don’ts to avoid you doing it wrong.

And just before that: here are some easy to remember pointers:

Prepare for it.
Relax during it.
Listen to the reaction and also watch the reaction.
Enjoy yourself.

A Development Script Editor, Television Drama Producer, or Drama Commissioner, is looking for the same thing, no matter how high up the food chain they currently sit when you pitch to them.

They want a great story.

They also want to be able to package that story in a compelling sales pitch to their Producer, Executive Producer or Channel Controller, (depending again on where they sit in the hierarchy).

So you need to provide not only a must-have idea, that delivers an engaging story, with appealing characters, populating an entertaining, and/or challenging world, but you need to be able to present all these factors in a single, distilled, intense shot.

That is where preparation comes in.

If you have got to the stage where you are pitching your story, you most likely will have written a treatment that works for you; that you feel describes your idea and which covers all the territory you intend to cover in your script. By that I mean you will be clear about the following areas of your story:
The ‘World’ in which it is set
The Main Through-line – the narrative in broad strokes over the length
The Characters
The Message.

Now you need to get the essence of all this into a tasty paragraph that has the following elements in it:
What it is about
Who is/are the main protagonist/s
What/where is the jeopardy
How it resolves

Next you need to get that paragraph down to a couple of sentences and this will be your opening gambit at the pitch. It really helps, in my experience, to ask a question that points to the meat of your story as it’s answer. So, for example:

Q: What happens if your husband dies, leaving you with debt and a great big house to pay for? A: You open a B and B.
Welcome to the world of Full English. A 6 part drama serial set in Cornwall, which raises the net curtains on the cut and thrust industry of the Bed and Breakfast.

Being asked to pitch your ideas is a Drama Producer’s way of saying that you are interesting to them and want to learn more about your ideas and the sort of drama you want to write. So when you get to meet face to face, remember that this is both an informal and formal arrangement.

Pitching is the profession’s way of getting ideas aired, and the writer’s way of getting their voice heard, so in many ways it is a business meeting you are about to have. It is also an informal chat, a meeting of minds and definitely a time to have creative fun and relax.

There are many different reasons why a Producer may invite you to pitch and most, in my experience, are to do with a Producer’s need to know who is writing what out there, and whether they would benefit the show they are currently making, or suit another show. In some cases, Producers are looking for fresh and new ideas and for similarly, fresh, new voices to tell those stories.

The scenario for a Producer may be something along these lines:

* I have read/seen your work and I want to know more about what you are working on at the moment.
* I have not seen/read your work but you come recommended by my script editor and I am interested enough to meet you to find out more about you and your work.
* I have read a spec from you and am looking for writers for an established show that I think you may fit.
* I met you at a festival/gathering and enjoyed meeting you. I am doing this to follow up what I promised to do, and to find out if you can deliver the sort of script you talked to me about.

In all cases, whatever the scenario, remember, this is essentially an opportunity for you to open up the box on your exciting idea, the story that is engrossing you at the moment and your opportunity to share the reasons why this is such a consuming idea, and why you want to write it.

Be prepared for the following sorts of questions:

* Why do you want to tell this story?
* Why do you think this company/channel would want to make this?
(Research the demographic you know the channel caters for and research their output)
* Who do you think will watch it?
* What is the main appeal of this story?
* Why tell this story now, what makes it so right for current audiences?

Once you have done your pitch, had your say, done your best, let the Producer/Script Editor have the floor.

I have been on the receiving end of very passionate speeches delivered by writers totally not convinced that I have heard their pitch correctly, or fully understood it. Some writers make the mistake of going over territory already discussed; back-tracking, in an attempt to re-ignite a conversation about their idea that has already been had. Obviously, this is a big, fat no. no.

Do listen to the reaction – it will be what it is, and I obviously hope it will be a positive for you. If it isn’t, move on. You have other ideas and you will no doubt pitch them to this Producer, given the chance, but do not, under any circumstances, try to pitch another idea if you have not been asked to do so.

If the reaction is mixed, then say a cheery farewell, and rework your idea, following the lines suggested in the pitch meeting. It is important the Producer feels you are a collaborative, team player, albeit one who has an individual voice and is not afraid of using it.

And before I go, another morsel of advice to make your pitches go smoothly and without blood (or worse!) on the floor…..

Leave your ego at the door and let your idea have centre stage.

I help writers write better scripts – see if I can do this for you at:
http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk

And this is what I was doing today. Writing a treatment for a children’s animated series, making a papier mache alien for my five year old, and servicing the requests and questions I get from my website.

I was denied the joy of being able to blend together these three important facets of my life by telling a writer how to make a wobbly alien with shiny antennae, but no writers needed to know about that – however, if anyone had asked me, I would have been there like a shot with the Prit Stick.

So like so many of us these days, I multi-tasked; constructing an alien (no takers as to how I did this apparently) but also constructing a story for my treatment and this is what a lot of you seem to want to know about.

Having spent a large part of my career script editing and producing television drama; ostensibly telling writers how I would like them to change their scripts to fit my slot or show’s requirements, I am now attempting to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. I write stuff too. The project on the go right now is a children’s idea that I am aiming at pre-schoolers. This is partly because (via being a mum for the past 5 years) there is no cranny of the Cbeebies output that I have not poked around in and also because I genuinely love children’s drama.

I produced in 1998 an award winning drama for CITV entitled My Dad’s A Boring Nerd by the marvellous Joe Turner. We won best children’s comedy with it for that year and at the LWT award ceremony, I met Tom Jones and he shook my hand in a very manly way and said ‘hello lovely’ which was just about my highest point until having my son nine years later.

The most important thing I learned then, producing a children’s drama, and going on to work on a number of popular ‘grown up’ dramas like Holby City, is that there really is very little to separate telling children’s stories from those transmitted way after the Cbeebies Bedtime Hour has been and gone.

Toby’s Travelling Circus (Channel Five Milkshake!) and Holby City have more in common than you might expect.

Both are ensemble pieces, where we see a returning regular cast of characters that we have grown to love lots, or not so much, and both have a familiar backdrop, or precinct to their worlds.

The place, or precinct in which the weekly stories are played out, determines the type of stories that are told there. So in Toby’s Travelling Circus, Toby and his circus gang have circus-related problems (the metal Strong Man is rusted, the naughty monkey has stolen Toby’s Ringmaster hat) and these have to be fixed before their nightly show in the Big Top. Of course, the stories in Holby City are life or death in many cases; the stakes are high and there is always the miasma of the medical world to circumvent in order that the stories feel ‘true’ but in the main, the essence of both are the same.

Toby and his gang are a warm, flawed, talented group of characters who suffer divisions and mal-practise in their ranks on a weekly basis. Their goal is the same, they are ultimately from the same tribe and for this reason, the show has a real soul and a truth that not only my five year old resonates with. His mum does too.

I believe the first series of Holby City was 1998 (the same year My Dad’s A Boring Nerd was winning its award and I was beaming at Tom Jones) now, fifteen years later, their stories have really come into their own and the structure of the episodes is now pretty much flawless week on week. The characters, like those under Toby’s Big Top, are flawed, talented, intelligent, risk-taking people who care and who aim for a single goal. Their precinct (the hospital) both protects and challenges them and the same applies to the rather more flimsy Big Top in Toby’s Travelling Circus.

Each episode holds at it’s centre, a key story; (the A) and one that will colour and affect the storylines around it. The tone and theme of that episode is directly influenced by the content; ‘the meat’ of the story. There can be up to five or six storylines running at any particular time in an episode of Holby City which form the narrative through line, or serial element of the episode and the series as a whole, and it is around these that the A, B and C storylines are wrapped. Toby’s Travelling Circus has less story material to construct, (in that the format is 15 mins as opposed to the juggernaut that is Holby and it’s 60 minute format length) but the construction remains the same. There are serial elements that need threading through each episode and there is a story of the week (the A) with smaller stories (the B and C; usually a comedy storyline) running parallel to it.

The construction of a storyline differs little in both types of shows, mainly because both are ensemble, precinct and serialised.

But what about the emotional stuff? A good story has to have both a solid construction and a heart. The human quality is very strong in both shows. And it is the constant interplay between what the heart feels and what head says, that makes Holby City and Toby’s TC essentially human and ultimately engaging.

Toby’s Travelling Circus has a single, older mum character; a Barbara Windsor crossed with June Whitfield. Dolores is non-judgemental, sometimes forcibly jolly and a worrier. She frets a lot about Toby and flirts in a ‘aren’t you strong?’ type of way with Thor the Metal Strong Man. Her subtext is love her text is fretting and talking too much. Holby City has a stony faced, ice maiden type character called Jac Naylor. She is pushes away soft emotions, and batts off closeness by flinging acerbic one liners at her co-workers. The episode where she reads an ailing ex-newspaper reporter’s subtext and subtly gives him a newspaper scoop that would momentarily give him a lift, is touching and delicately written.

Watching these women tackle their daily lives, battling both with their natures as well as the jobs they have to do, seems to me to encapsulate the essence of what a really good story is about.
Because ultimately, good story telling is a combination of two things: structure and understanding what it is to be human. The head over the heart stuff.

Television dramas express and explore this constant state of being with varying degrees of success, via numerous vehicles and following several formats, the attraction, the engagement, the resonance and the enjoyment of millions (in the case of Holby) means that we all at the end of the day, want to learn more about what it is to be flawed, kind, sad, funny and well, human.

The alien’s name is John Alien by the way.

Here is my website: http://scriptadvice.co.uk/
Here is my Script Advice Writer’s Room on Facebook – please join us!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/237330119115/

Here I am on Twitter – follow why don’t you?

https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1

Your script all planned out, you’ve done the leg work, you have a wall/floor covered in post it’s or postcards, or with pieces of paper festooned with asterix and some doodles. You’ve even written a treatment; the idea is solid – you have the characters and the plot, you think, has no feasible holes. But, a little way through the script, you come to a shuddering halt.

Why is it that although you may have written several painless, fun, exciting, successful scenes all of which push the story on, explore your characters, are literally bowed down with subtext, you suddenly here, for no reason other than a dark and mysterious one, stop writing? There’s a wall. Your brain has frozen. And it is then that you start to think that the fridge needs a clean out and you ought to put a wash on.

Stop. Leave the mucky fridge. Do not put a wash anywhere. There’s a script problem and procrastination doesn’t sort it, it makes it worse.

Plot?
The first question to ask yourself is; where in the structure/layout of my script have I become stuck?

The usual problem area is what can loosely be called ‘the middle’ it may be your second act (if you are following a traditional framework) or approximately half way through the body of your story. This is the yawning pit that appears in many plotlines if the centre is not as strong as the introduction or the ending. In nine cases out of ten, if the narrative flow is getting jammed here, then it will be a lack of plot (things actually happening) that is the problem.

The lack of text is an issue; more storylines, more tangents, more development of your original idea is needed to fill this gap. Go back to your characters; look at their motivation, look at what drives them through your script and what message you want them to convey. What they do, as well as what they say, is essential to a well-balanced story. What a character does is your plotline – why they do it is your subtext. Revisiting your characters, will produce more plot – should you need to fill a hole.

Subtext?
Does this all feel a bit – forced? Do you feel you are working too hard to get your meaning across? Is there too much action and not enough intrigue? Are you spoon-feeding your audience? Your problem could be subtext (or lack of it) .

This is the subtle art of clever screenwriting and without it your story falls flat. So make sure you have underpinned the text of what is said and done with that which is not said (the elephant in the room) or that which is not shown, but suggested, and any sagging narrative problems may well be cured.

If you get stuck again, ask yourself: ‘what is it that I want the audience to know, or feel here, that I don’t want my character to say out loud?’ Remember, you are dishing out this storyline in bite size morsels, don’t go heavy handed, don’t state the obvious and if it’s shown on screen, don’t feel you have to tell it as well. Subtext written right can be delivered with a light touch, but holds a deeper meaning.

Structure?
Plot, subtext, characterisation, are all linked. Structure is the framework you put in place to hold it all together.

If you are finding it hard to continue along the plan you originated, it could be that there are scenes you thought you had nailed, that you placed earlier in the script, or you may have planned for later on in your narrative structure, that are in fact in the wrong place and so are now thwarting your writing progression.

You are an innate story teller – your urge to tell stories and get them down in script form is what makes you a screenwriter, so listen to that nagging sensation, even if you are motoring, through what you envisaged was a coherent, well planned script, because this doubt crawling into your line of vision and spoiling what you ‘see’ as you write, means there could be something wrong with the order in which you are choosing to tell your story.

Structural decisions are not just about where you have decided to place your scenes, they are also dictated by how you have linked storylines and therefore character arcs in your script. Structural problems then are also connected with characterisation, and how you allow them to appear and what you allow them to do within the script framework you have established. So perhaps you have a structural problem that may be solved by picking apart a particular character (or characters’) storylines and re-weaving them together in another way.

Characterisation?
Being able to create believable, credible, engaging characters is one of the skills every screenwriter should have in their lexicon.

The people we see on the screen will carry your story to the wider world and so you must make them ‘live’ on the page to your best ability. That is to say, dig deep when you create character. The people you chose to populate your screen world, have to be as real to you as the people you see in the real world. They all must have motivation at their base root, desires and needs to be met, goals to achieve, flaws to show or to hide and every last one of them must be able to do a specific, (in writing terms) clearly defined, job on the page, which will inevitably translate on to the screen.

If you are finding, in this place of stasis you have reached, that writing for a character is difficult that can be due to several things:

i/ a lack of motivation for the character – subtext comes into play again here. Consider both the surface action that engages this character as well as the below surface stuff we don’t see but we ‘know’.

ii/ a lack of connection with the other characters – in story terms, who do they link/clash with?

iii/ a lack of a specific job on the page – are you duplicating this one with another character?

iv/ a lack of credibility – is this character under-developed? Is this character two rather than three dimensional?

v/ is this character a cypher for the storyline rather than a character in their own right? Often, characters that are created to carry information or establish plot connections between other characters suffer by the nature of their on-screen ‘job’ – make sure you don’t have any ‘vessels,’ only people in your scripts.

Dialogue?
Strongly linked with characterisation; the ability to write cracking dialogue is a gift given by the screenwriting Gods. If you are a natural dialogue writer, then you are very lucky indeed. This is the hardest skill to acquire if you don’t have an innate ‘listening’ ability.

As much as possible, dialogue should be credible and informative at the same time. Use the visual skills at your creative fingertips as well as your verbal ones, to create layered, interesting scenes and avoid always, stating the obvious (talking the text) and over-emphasising plot points or bits of linking information (often called ‘on the nose’ dialogue).

If it’s an uphill struggle writing for a particular character(s) and you can’t make their scenes work, it could be because you don’t ‘hear’ them and your inner ear is not tuned in to how they would talk. Try to make a connection with a real person you know, to get an angle on how they sound and feel to you. If they have a specific role to play in your story, then there is a legitimate place for them. Who do they remind you of? Their voice is as important on screen as they way they look.

Both the visual and the aural elements need to work together in a scene for it to feel right.

Pace?
Linked to plotting and structure, the pace of your script could be a problem for you if you have become entangled in reasons why your script isn’t working.

Keeping the over-view ‘flow’ of your story in your head as you write is a great skill to have and if you are one of those lucky writers who do this instinctively, then you will be able to recognise when your script starts to feel stodgy and will do something about it. If you don’t have this ability, fear not, re-visiting your step by step scene outline (or beat sheet) that you wrote when planning your script, will re-familiarise you with the ups and downs, ins and outs of your various plotlines.

Looking at the way your story progresses (the narrative through line) you will be able to see clearly where you can up the ante in terms of energy, or chose to dip into a quieter atmosphere, or mood. Some sequences you have created will demand a gentle touch, others will take a faster pace, so you must make that decision and get the scenes down accordingly.

Re-reading your script, you should be able to feel when the energy dips and when it increases – always remember your audience will feel the same ebb and flow too – and in this way, you will be increasing their connection with your story on screen.

I help writers write better scripts – you can find me here, read my blogs, follow me on twitter and join my face book group all from here: http://scriptadvice.co.uk/

 WOOLLY WRITING

As much as possible, screen writing is best kept clean, clear and simple. If the story line is convoluted, labyrinthine, moves across time zones, or periods in time, has many layers of plot that weave in and out of each other, it is very important to keep your layout, your script language and your telling of the story as simple as you can. The more complicated the storyline, the more transparent should be your script layout.

 Why? Because a script is there to be read, understood, interpreted and made into something else; a piece of television, a short, a play for radio or theatre. A script therefore has to be easy to follow and easy to understand.

Take it from one who knows, there is literally nothing, (bar childbirth) as painful as ploughing through a script that is dense, over-written, confusing, woolly, and ill planned.

ILL-PLANNED SCRIPT = BAD STRUCTURE

Get your homework done before you get creative. Plot out all your storylines for each character (each character arc) and also plot your main throughline (your central narrative) and make sure each plotline has a clear, separate and interesting journey through your script, from the first to the last scene. Use what ever method suits you best, post it notes, a white board, a big sheet of paper that you can cut up, do it the old fashioned way or use a spread sheet, whatever it takes. Don’t begin your script until you know where the plot is going, where the big moments are, how each plotline reacts and interacts with another and the overall shape of each character journey. To do this properly you will need to produce the following documents before you write your first script draft:

 A TREATMENT

A BEAT SHEET/or STEP OUTLINE

AN EPISODE OUTLINE

TREATMENT

Usually between 4 and 6 pages, this is a succinct, detailed, visually written, descriptive introduction to your story and is written entirely to clarify character, storyline, tone, genre and format in order for potential producers and commissioners to ‘see’ your drama and to understand it as a piece of workable film or television. It is in short, a selling document and I have written about treatments before in newsletter 11 and from that blog I add here the basic outlay of a treatment again:

 Treatment General Layout:

 Title: 

I love titles. Make yours really sell your idea by being the best you can make it. Favourite Titles? ‘Strictly Ballroom’. ‘A Matter Of Life Or Death’. ‘Call The Midwife’. ‘Roger and Val Have Just Got In’. Sometimes, it’s better that the title describes what’s in the tin so to speak, but also being succinct and summarising either the plot content; ‘In The Line Of Fire’ or giving a sense of the tone and style of the piece; ‘The Unbearable Lightness Of Being’ works better. And a title from my own stable? ‘Full English’ – a comedy drama about running a B and B in Cornwall.

 Format Description:

Is your idea A Comedy Drama? A 4 or 6 or more parter? Is this is a serial or a series? Is it a one off or Single? Action, High Concept, Character driven? Say so here to give the reader a clear idea of what to expect straight away.

There’s a lot on the Net about the difference between series and serials and you may get conflicting opinions on this one, but the definition for me and how I have used it in my career of 20 years (so far!) in television, the definition stands as I set out below:

SERIES:

A drama that is open ended. A core cast of returning characters. The backdrop remains the same and is returned to each week. There may be  several stories per episode which are resolved, but the series storyline; that which is carried by the core returning cast, remains open ended. Eg: Holby City. Coronation Street. (all of the Soaps in fact) Hustle. Merlin. Spooks.

SERIAL:

A drama of more than one or two parts, which has a serial element; a core cast of returning characters and an over-arcing storyline, but in this case, the storyline is ultimately resolved. Eg: Jane Eyre.  State of Play.  A Passionate Woman.  The Lost Prince.

Logline:

Make these as tasty as you can. I like to add a quotation from each character under their name; something they are most likely to say or something that alludes to their particular storyline. Eg: In a treatment I wrote ostensibly about The Eternal Quest For Mr Right entitled ‘A Man For All Seasons’ (another not bad title!) I created a character called PLUM; her quotation was ‘Plum is looking for a man she can spar with; so far, she has only dated those that shop at Spar’. 

Character Biographies:

In each character biog, give a suggestion of the over arc of their storyline across the number of episodes or across the span of the script you are intending to write. Make these people live on the page.

 Episode Outline:

I think this is self explanatory – but be exacting and succinct in your language whilst being as interesting as you can in your outlay of the storyline.  Give the main thrust of the A (or the main) storyline with the smaller, B and C stories if you have them, running parallel.

Main Story Arcs:

Each character has a journey and here you outline what that is in story terms. Again, pithy, evocative language is what we are looking for.

The Central Message:

This will be alluded to in your pithy Logline at the top of the treatment, but here you can extrapolate a bit more and dig a bit deeper.

The Tone:

Throughout the writing of your treatment you must also pay attention to the style and tone of your writing and as much as possible, evoke for your reader the flavour of what they will ultimately be seeing on screen when your Must Have Drama is produced.

BEAT SHEET / STEP OUTLINE

In film; a beat sheet, in television; a step outline. This document is both to use as your reference, to keep you on track as you write your script, and also to show the ‘business end’ (the producer/commissioner) of the writing process, that your script has enough drama, twists and turns, intrigue and interest to hold an audience. There is no need in this document, to go into great detail, but it is important to block out the main beats of the storyline and to mark the major twists and turns of the plot and to note the key interactions between plotlines. Also, to clarify the ending!

A SCENE BY SCENE OUTLINE

Here it is necessary to go into detail.

This is the blueprint for your script. Each scene, as you see it, should be outlined in simple terms, so at a glance, you (and the producer/commissioner) can see how the scenes interact and are juxaposed together. Literally, via this document, you can see how the script works. The scene by scene outline is essential in my view, to get right before you start the business of writing. This is the skeleton of the script, the bones of your story and will reveal it’s overall shape.

It’s also a really useful document to use as you write your drafts, as each scene can easily be referred to and can just as easily be cut or extended as your writing progresses.

 3/ SCRIPT LAYOUT:

OVER DESCRIPTIVE SCENE SETTINGS:

Short, simple, to the point and exact, these are the words that should come to mind when reading a scene setting. There is no good reason to go into any detail here, except to say where we are, whether it is day or night, and if it’s pertinent to the plotline, what year it is. Ext. Int. Time. Place. Year. That should do it.

FLASHBACK:

If you are writing a flashback sequence, or a flashing forward in time, then make this clear here by stating FLASHBACK and when the sequence is over, state END FLASHBACK. Sounds simple enough but you will be suprised by the amount of scripts that confuse the reader for the lack of these simple directions.

MONTAGE:

The same applies to the use of Montage. State the begining of the sequence and the end point. As much as possible, keep Montage sequences to a minimum and make sure they are visual and clearly carry the storyline forward.

OVER-DETAILING THE ACTION IN A SCENE:

Avoid getting too hung up on every action a character does in a scene. Keep in mind that if it does not highlight character, or add a dimension to the atmosphere, tone or story content of the scene, then it is not important to mention. Keep the scene moving – avoid internal observations (that we will not see on screen) and prose-like descriptions. Remember to use the camera as our eyes, and do not stray into novel territory by leaning on description (telling) in your narrative and forgetting the camera (showing) aspect of the story.

 4/ GETTING ADVICE AND TAKING IT WELL

Well I would advocate getting advice wouldn’t I? But it really is worth doing and once you have settled on your script editor, writing mentor, tutor, take their advice with good grace and at all times, avoid taking any of their comments personally. It’s a tough call, but taking notes is hard as it exposes the writer and their vulnerablilities. However, a good script editor will not be afraid to expose their opinions to the bright light of your response so remember that all script edit sessions with your editor or tutor, are an exchange of their creative and professional responses to your work and your reaction to their comments. Both should be delivered with respect and received in the same vein.

 Nothing separates the professional writer from the amateur as quickly as a writer who doesn’t take advice well.

 I help writers write better scripts – check me out here www.scriptadvice.co.uk

Lots of innovations have come and gone in television production since then, but the way stories are constructed for the screen has not changed.

Here is my Evergreen list for television writers:
1/ Story telling is innate and natural to you because you are a writer. You must learn the craft of how to shape and construct your stories so the industry understands you and wants to work with you.

2/ Set clear goals to achieve within your writing journey. Aim at one single goal at a time; portion off your daily goal, one step at a time and stick to achieving the end result.

3/ Always be open to criticism as you progress through your writing career. Not everyone will share your opinion of your work, but television is essentially collaborative so giving and receiving criticism is necessary in order to progress. Time will teach you not only how to receive criticism well, but also how to give it.

4/ Be pragmatic in the face of success and failure – it’s the only way to be; in private you can gloat or grin inanely at yourself in the morning mirror, but to your public you are a professional writer who fights to keep standards high.

5/ If someone in the Industry has given you their time in what ever that way is, for however long it may be, never take that for granted. Always thank those that help you or work with you. Being curteous and considerate even under pressure makes a world of difference to those who’s job it is to make your script camera ready.

6/ You write alone, but it takes a whole team of people to make your script part of the on-going story you see on screen. Make this transition every time you leave your desk and come to the production office.

7/ Believe in yourself. Learn from those around you and stay in touch with what makes you want to write in the first place.

8/ Always find a way to have a laugh at least once a day. Do not get too hung up on your script. It’s very important but so is keeping sane when you are under deadline pressure from the production. Keep a balance in your life.

9/ Do not compare yourself to other writers. Writing is exposing. All writers have insecuritites and that goes for the successful ones too. You are different, and all writers learn and grow at different paces. Believe in your own talent.

10/ Television drama reaches millions of people like you, every day, day after day. To be part of this national process of story telling takes serious craft, self-belief and an appreciation of what makes us tick as people. Television writers are a solid, gifted, inspirational breed and if you want to join them, I sincerely hope there is a seat waiting for you around a Story Conference Table somewhere soon.

I help writers learn their craft here: http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk

“We can heartily recommend Yvonne’s workshops – she unravels television like no one else! www.scriptfactory.co.uk

Find out if I can help you with your current project@http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk offering writers mentoring, training and script editing services in order to develop their work and talent.  Please pass on this link to your fellow writers.  Or you can join SCRIPT ADVICE WRITERS ROOM@http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237330119115&ref=mf SAWR is all about writing and writers. Here you can share your thoughts about writing, the creative process, the highs and lows of it all. You can also access this group for information about writing workshops that I am currently running, also script editing and mentoring services that I offer. My expertise lies in Television drama but any writer is welcome to share their experiences and their aspirations here.  I am on TWITTER here: https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1 Or to see my newsletter online, access my Blog here: http://scriptadvice.wordpress.com/

 * HELLO AGAIN

* CRITICISM AND HOW TO TAKE IT

 HELLO AGAIN

Well it’s still not quite Spring yet, so am following my Nanna’s maxim; ‘don’t cast a clout till May is out’ and putting on a cardi.

Following on quickly from my last newsletter of March, I felt the need to write to you all about criticism and how important I think it is in the development of any creative individual.

CRITICISM AND HOW TO TAKE IT

Those of you who are members of my group on facebook The Script Advice Writers Room will know that I started my career in television as a Script Editor on Eastenders and that I am passionate about the job that got me there in the first place.

Talking to writers via my job at Script Advice Towers and on Facebook and Twitter I often declare Script Editors to be the unsung heroes of drama and at every turn will champion their place on any drama project.

 Those of you that have used my Script Editing, reading and report services via http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk will also be familiar with my approach to this delicate, taxing, rewarding job of helping you write better scripts, one draft at a time.

 The process of working with a Script Editor should never be:

Negative.

Scary.

Depleting.

A waste of time.

Lousy value for money.

 Of course, non of the above apply to working with me(!) I enjoy the work and that comes across to my clients. They enjoy the process of having their work analysed by someone who clearly gets a kick out of bigging up the great bits of their script and sorting out the not so great. And they know they are in safe hands because I have done this before and know what I’m doing. This is key. You have to trust the person script editing your work. They must come up to scratch in your view too. This is a symbiotic relationship – it should never be toxic and never be parasitic.

 And I am not talking exclusively here about the script editor/writer relationship; when I talk about criticism I also mean all criticism. Any criticism. The feedback that you get from having your script read by a professional reader, or the opinions you garner from having your script read by someone close to you, or a friend of a friend who is somehow connected to the industry. However you chose to expose yourself to criticism, when it comes, (which is most certainly will) you must be prepared for it.

 This whole business of combing through a body of creative writing ultimately aimed at a critical, savvy audience; of pitching your lot into an already teaming pool of writer talent, can be and often is, very galling. So it is not lightly that I say, if you want to be a happy, productive, successful writer, start growing a second skin. Now.

 Taking criticism is a really hard thing to do well.

You need broad shoulders. Strong chin. Thick skin. Not a good look, admittedly, (unless you’re Robert Downey Jr’s understudy) but still, those qualities will hold you in good stead when you have opened your work up to scrutiny from the outside world, and are standing on the crumbly bank of the River Criticism as it flows swiftly by.

 Come to criticism in the same way you came to the writing process in the first place. Open minded. Without agenda. Positively. Ready to do good work. With a smile. With a bucket of energy. And take the highs with the lows. Always remain open to suggestion and when you don’t agree with the opinion/note (which will most certainly happen) do not take personal offence.

 Hard not to. I know. I have been on the receiving end of good and bad criticism in my time both as a Producer and as a Script Editor. And believe me, when you have a body of people decrying the work you put your spine and most of your blood count into, (whom you are never likely to meet, but who still feel they have the right to get personal about your abilities) it’s a tough call. It’s also quite difficult to find your ‘happy place’ when you have a disgruntled, sleep-deprived writer querying whether you have a brain at all between those ears – but taking it personally never works. Get clever instead. Get critical. Get tough on your script and on yourself. Get up, keep doing it and firmly request clarification on what you don’t agree with from your reader/script editor. Without swearing. (Not always possible.)

 Why open yourself out in this way? Because it is a necessity for all creative types to have at least another opinion on the work they produce. Look at the work of now famous writers and performers that has been allowed to go unchecked. Uncriticised. The work suffers. Ego takes over. The craft of what they once did, is lost in a destructive sense of ‘knowing’ that dulls the original wit and drive of what they used to stand for.

 Most of us don’t have this problem. We are not surrounded by yes men but are struggling on a daily basis with this ‘stuff’ this writing business, that needs sorting. So you need someone to fight your corner or to face you with some criticisms.

 Without this un-biased eye, this un-emotional, critical pass over the work you bled for, you will never know if it is truely what you meant your work to be. Because you wrote this script to communicate something – didn’t you? And by definition, this script needs another (several others in truth) opinion to get it right for what it is intended to be for.

 A commissioned television script will have to go through several layers of criticism, opinion and ultimately, drafts,  before it becomes the ‘thing’ you envisaged when you started your outline all those months ago. You may fear it will not be what you set it out to be, but if you want to get your work seen, appreciated, talked about, you need to be open to all that criticism and that change.

 Your spec script, the one that isn’t commissioned, but may get you through Producer doors, is also open to criticism. There will not be as many critical layers here – money, in this case, is not the issue – but your voice is. Here again, you may find you have to listen to someone young enough to be your off spring say something nebulus like ‘I’m just not feeling empathy here’ and bite back your knee-jerk response; ‘give it time, you’re still growing’.

 Criticism can be direct and personal (see above). Can be general, unfocussed, and faceless (see above). It can be well-intentioned, it can be down right bitchy. Negative and positive. But in all cases, criticism is what makes you grow as a writer, as a creative individual and ultimately into someone who can not only take criticism well, but give it too.

All thanks to your kind heart, your writing talent and of course, your thick skin.

 Join me on Facebook at the Script Advice Writers’ Room; http://www.facebook.com/groups/237330119115/

Here’s what Phil Gladwin of http://www.screenwritinggoldmine says about it:

‘It’s run by Yvonne Grace, a seasoned BBC producer, and her … incredible energy, passion, and dedication (in true, old school BBC style) means new links, new resources, and a very nice community  of like minds on a daily basis.’

I hope I can help you with your writing; be it a television script, short or full length film or screen play, treatment or outline, novel or radio play, I read and script edit them all and can definitely help improve yours.  Drop me an email@Yvonne.grace@scriptadvice.co.uk and let’s get working!

 BYE FOR NOW AND HAPPY WRITING!

YVONNE GRACE APRIL 2013

I also tweet a lot of important help and advice in the form of blogs, links to websites and information on initiatives for writers from the world of television, radio, theatre and film. Here I am on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1 please follow!

HERE FOR EASE AND TIDINESS, ARE LINKS TO THE SITES THAT I MOST OFTEN USE IN MY DAY TO DAY ROOTLINGS….

A good source of film and tv scripts that have been transmitted.
TV WRITING – DOWNLOADABLE SCRIPTS

https://sites.google.com/site/tvwriting/

These guys run a well oiled organisation delivering a great annual festival for writers of film and televison. Good speakers, lots of networking opportunities too.
LONDON SCREENWRITING FESTIVAL

http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/

Regularly throughout the year, the LSWF people hoast this great initiative; where Industry folks deliver talks on various aspects of writing and making drama happen on screen.
THE BREAKFAST CLUB

http://www.londonbreakfastclub.com/

Register here and get your work seen by other professionals. Look out for tips and writing assignment opportunities too.
INKTIP

http://www.inktip.com/sa_services_products.php?cat=sa&scat=services

The BBC get behind new and emerging writers via this scheme. It’s a good website to bookmark too – you can download scripts from their library too.
BBC WRITERS’ ROOM – SHADOW SCHEME

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/about/the-writers-academy

A brilliant, exciting company which runs an annual writing competition.
RED PLANET PICTURES

http://www.redplanetpictures.co.uk/

Taking this from fellow script editor/mentor Hayley McKenzie’s site: great one to bookmark
COMPANIES ACCEPTING UNSOLICITED SCRIPTS

http://scriptangel.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/production-companies-uk-accepting-unsolicited-scripts/

I love the quirkiness of this writing blog – very useful and practical (if eccentric) advice on writing for the small screen
THE WISE SLOTH

http://wisesloth.wordpress.com/

I regularly find this site useful and informative on issues pertaining to writing
THE SCRIPT MAG

http://www.scriptmag.com/

Danny is a mine of information on film and tv writing craft.
SCRIPTWRITING IN THE UK

http://dannystack.blogspot.co.uk/

This is a solid, professionally run script related site with a great annual screenwriting competition.
BLUECAT SCREENPLAY

http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/

Another quirky offering – but a good website for writing craft postings.
HORRIFYING HORROR BLOG

http://thehorrificallyhorrifyinghorrorblog.com/author/adrianchamberlin/

Run by a fellow script mentor/writer, Phil Gladwin and his Goldmine regularly offers writing competitions, newsletters and ebooks on writing
SCREENWRITING GOLDMINE

http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/blog/fearless-pitching-mamet/2013/03/15/

I like the cut of this fellow Twitter-user’s jib
JAMES AND THE BLUE CAT BLOG

http://jamesandthebluecat.blogspot.co.uk

A lady with opinions on screenwriting and story telling that I endorse
JULIE GRAY – JUST EFFIN ENTERTAIN ME

http://www.justeffing.com/blog/

This woman really knows her stuff about the art of screenwriting
LINDA ARARONSON

http://www.lindaaronson.com/

A great new writing organisation and website to bookmark – runs regular writing competitions
BAFTA ROCLIFFE NEW WRITING FORUM

http://www.rocliffe.com/

So that’s it – for now, I will update again when my ‘links library’ gets too full.

Here’s my website again, if you need a professional script editor look no further.
http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk
Happy Writing!

“We can heartily recommend Yvonne’s workshops – she unravels television like no one else! www.scriptfactory.co.uk

Find out if I can help you with your current project@http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk offering writers mentoring, training and script editing services in order to develop their work and talent.  Please pass on this link to your fellow writers. Or you can join SCRIPT ADVICE WRITERS ROOM@http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237330119115&ref=mf

SAWR is all about writing and writers. Here you can share your thoughts about writing, the creative process, the highs and lows of it all. You can also access this group for information about writing workshops that I am currently running, also script editing and mentoring services that I offer. My expertise lies in Television drama but any writer is welcome to share their experiences and their aspirations here. 

I am on TWITTER here: https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1

Or to see my newsletter online, access my Blog here: http://scriptadvice.wordpress.com/

 * HELLO

* DIALOGUE – THE MAGIC ELEMENT

* USEFUL LINKS

 HELLO

Spring came for a bit, kicked a few crocus bulbs out of her muddy bed, shined wanly over the rooftops and buggered off again. It’s raining here at Script Advice Towers as I type this, the Spring Edition of my Newsletter. It’s the sort of rain that lands daintily on your hair and makes a natural curly haired sort like myself, opt for a coat with a hood – better, in my world, to look like a Hobbit than a woman with pubic hair on her head.

It’s been busy at Script Advice since January. I have been head-bent over your scripts, helped some of you towards stronger next drafts and as Spring rolls on, I hope to help more of you get the most of your current project.

I am also currently writing a book. And it is because of this undertaking, that this Newsletter is a slighter sister to the usual, beefier missives I produced quarterly.

 I hope to be announcing the availability of ‘Television Writing – What You Need To Know’ (catchy it’s not, but essential to say what it does on the tin, I am told) in the near future.  I decided I needed to write a book because although I blog about television writing, give lectures about the various disciplines it involves, and generally make a nuisance of myself on Twitter and on the Script Advice Writers’ Room page on Facebook, where I post links and information about writing in general, I always seem to have something more to say on the subject of crafting drama for a wide audience.

So a book it is then, and one that had to be written. I write from the point of view of a Script Editor, Producer and Executive Producer of tv drama that has rather been around the block and worn out a few t shirts in the process. So you will find it more ‘chatty’ than the usual fair of information heavy books on the market. Watch this space for further info.

 DIALOGUE – THE MAGIC ELEMENT

The Dead Poets’ Society

Visual imagery, music, lighting, camera craft, they all add up to a great script if used properly. The story needs all of these components in order to really leap off the page (not so much music in television, but it does, if used sparingly, add a certain frisson to scripts.) But without a steady, confident, relevant, textured, real, dose of dialogue the script will ultimately fail. Film relies less heavily on dialogue, but the best film scripts in my view, are those that take the theatrical premise that all story begins with character, and all character is lit from within by dialogue.

Here is a beautifully crafted, dialogue-led film script which has the perfect balance of visuals and dialogue. The dialogue is aided by the visual – there is a symbiosis between these two vital screen writing elements. The script is parred down to the essential dialogue; that which exposes subtext at it’s most economical and it is all the more powerful for this. The characters are informed by their subtext, which is in turn, reflected in their dialogue. There is no over-laden emphasis on text here, no ‘on the nose’ observations, the viewer is allowed to put together a picture of each character’s personality and personal drives, by what they say and what they do. Perfect story telling. Perfect dialogue. Screen magic.

THE DEAD POETS’ SOCIETY http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/dead_poets_final.html

 Last Tango In Halifax

Television now. Episode one of the highly engaging, beautifully crafted serial Last Tango in Halifax. The first scene, as in all television scripts worth their salt, draws you in by the sheer clarity of character observation. Not much is actually said, but the subtext is so solid, so there in the scene, sat under the table as it where, that the merest line spoken by Celia, in reference to her dead husband, drags to the surface decades of resentment and long-buried disappointment. The way the dialogue is paced too, in this small, domestic, but highly portentous scene alerts the audience to the fact that Celia and her daughter Caroline, do not see eye to eye and again, through subtle, but non the less powerful dialogue, we understand in this first, vital scene, that Caroline really does not now, nor ever has, really understood her mother.

All this knowledge is given to the viewer because of the layers of intrinsic understanding the writer clearly has for her characters. This knowledge the  writer shares via her skill in writing just what needs to be said, and marrying this with a deft control of pace, and of attention to small, characterful nuances. So in a 3 minute scene, we can not only see, but also can understand how a frustrated professional mother and daughter (Caroline) relates to her rather meandering, unfocussed, elderly mother (Celia). Dialogue perfection. Magic on the small screen.

LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/last-tango-in-halifax-s1-ep1.pdf

 USEFUL LINKS

In my last Newsletter; link here: http://scriptadvice.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/newsletter-15/, I talked about the need to be clear, structured and coherent in your planning of a television drama. I covered treatment writing, plotting your story using an episode outline and also using a beat-sheet or a step by step outline to really nail the dramatic narrative of your script. I do not mention television Bible writing. I am leaving that to Mike Jones.

Originally from Danny Stack’s marvellous blog site, dannystack.blogspot.com/ I have taken this article by Mike Jones who writes here all about how to put together a series bible for television. If you follow this, you won’t go far wrong.

http://www.mikejones.tv/seriesbible

I found this link recently and just love it. Here you can download and read a healthy selection of tv and film scripts. Some have been removed from the site (Casablanca, I was disappointed to realise has been taken down) but most are still there for you to read and study.

http://www.dailyscript.com/

Join me on Facebook at the Script Advice Writers’ Room; http://www.facebook.com/groups/237330119115/ here’s what Phil Gladwin of http://www.screenwritinggoldmine says about it:

‘It’s run by Yvonne Grace, a seasoned BBC producer, and her … incredible energy, passion, and dedication (in true, old school BBC  style) means new links, new resources, and a very nice community  of like minds on a daily basis.’

I hope I can help you with your writing; be it a television script, short or full length film or screen play, treatment or outline, novel or radio play, I read and script edit them all and can definitely help improve yours.  Drop me an email@

Yvonne.grace@scriptadvice.co.uk and let’s get working!

 BYE FOR NOW AND HAPPY WRITING.

 March 2013 – Script Advice. http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk

Mal was instrumental in shaping my approach to the scripting and storylining side of the process and I was glad to learn at his side as it were, because coming from Brookside, as he had, there was nothing much he didn’t know about series drama and about long running story telling.

So I thank him here, for what he taught me, and now, 13 years later, I still use the basic facts I learnt then about making great, popular television drama series.

Holby City had already proved itself in terms of it’s healthy, strong, returnable premise or as it’s known in telly circles, the Precinct. This clearly was a great backdrop to the sort of stories we wanted to tell, given that the sister show Casualty, was doing (and still does) great storylines and delivering repeatedly solid ratings.

Holby had to be the same, but different. A conundrum definitely, but not an insurmountable problem.

Series 1,thanks to Tony McHale and his collaboration with Mal Young, had made sure this new kid on the medical block was up to the task, but I had to make sure I didn’t do the unthinkable, which was fixing something that wasn’t broken in the first place.

So, the precinct was in place. We also have a solid core of characters to which we return on a weekly basis to pick up their particular on-going storyline in conjunction with the story of the week, which is brought in (often at speed) through those increasingly familiar double doors.

But I needed, (with the help of my talented script editors and team of writers that I had managed to create in record time), to come up with storylines and characters that not only fitted the established formula, but ones that gave a fresh approach to the new series aswell.

I also had another problem. Quite a big one. This series, the BBC had ordered 16 x 60 mins. Series 1 of Holby had been 9 x 50 mins so I had a lot more drama to create and for 10 minutes longer per episode. 10 minutes. It’s a life time on screen.

And there are two major elements of each episode we had to keep in control of as the series progressed. 1/ The on-going series element 2/ The story of the week.

Taking the series element first, here are the 3 main questions I constantly asked myself, my script editors and writers as we began the process of creating story for this unwieldly drama beast.

1/ Is the storyline Dramatic?
2/ Is it engaging?
3/ Does it allow for character growth and development?
The storylines that did not deliver all three and did not immediately strike as ‘having legs’ or to put it another way, to be able to go further than one or two episodes, was rejected at the Story Conference.

Character was a major factor in determining whether the story made the cut or not. Holby City 2 had great characters, my favourite being the arrogant Surgical Consultant Anton Meyer (created by Tony McHale) and played by George Irving. Then there was Michael French as Registrar Nick Jordan and Lisa Faulkner as senior house officer Victoria Merrick. Angela Griffin as Jasmine Hopkins and Nicola Stephenson as nurse Julie Fitzjohn. The girls in particular presented a raft of great storyline possibilities and even though Michael French rather infamously left the series half way through, we felt he was a great character and delivered some lovely emotionally real scenes. Michael came back to Holby but a little later on. Perhaps it was something I said, but I know that it probably wasn’t. (!)

The story of the week was where we made the most difference to the series format.

This time, what concerned me more when coming up with story of the week ideas, was what not to do. We mustn’t therefore:

1/ Repeat the same operation in the hope it was dramatic (like too many prosthetic heart ops).
2/ Chose a storyline too reliant on medical voracity to make it dramatic (too much ‘medi-speak’ in the dialogue that only managed to ostrocise, not include the audience. Also a storyline would be rejected if we had to bend too many medical rules to fit the story we wanted to tell).
3/ Exclude the series storyline and create a story ‘bubble’ that had no connection with the rest of the hospital.
Finally, after much walking around the carpark at Threshold House (I used to smoke in those days!) I hit on what we should do in order to guarantee a different take, but still deliver a solid story of the week.

I told the writers they were in fact writing a single piece of drama. They had to fill 60 mins of television with a truely resonant, layered, emotionally engaging story. I suggested they look to favourite films. Look to fairytales. Look to folklore. Look to popular music and the stories told in songs. We, the Holby City team, I said, would wrap the series element around the central A story that they, the writers, created.

Their choice of story had to resonate with a least one member of the regular nursing or surgical staff, and it must also bring out elements of the characters involved that we hadn’t seen before.

I also said that the medical side of the storyline, had to be maliable enough to create a relevant, human storyline and not be reliant on merely the condition to create drama.

Maybe this doesn’t sound so revolutionary now. But then, Producers were pretty much fixated on creating storylines that presented the opportunity to blow something up, or rattle a few cages by featuring a risque kiss, or making the storyline Issue, rather than Emotionally, based.

And so Holby City Series 2 featured stories about isolation and fear of the unknown via the interaction of an Aspergers boy and Nick Jordan as he proposes to leave his beloved hospital. ‘Faith’ was written by the late Al Hunter Ashton and delivered a whopping 9.8 million rating. We did a Holby City take on the story of the Nativity ‘Tidings of Comfort and Joy’ by Tony McHale which easily brought home 9.64 million.
It wasn’t the fact that we chose to do a story about Cystic Fibrosis that was important. We chose it because the need to find a blood match in either parent so they could donate a part of their lung to their dying child, ultimately revealed the mother’s infidelity.

The medical story of the week had to have resonance with the fraility of us, as people, as flawed human beings.

If the job is too create popular (and by that I mean audiences in their millions, regularly watching the show; making an ‘appointment to view’ it, then the following elements must be there in it’s makeup.

1/ Relevant to a wide audience base. (the ‘what would I do in that instance?’ factor)
2/ Engaging on an emotional and or an entertainment basis.
3/ Contain enough jeopardy to engage initially. (not necessary edge of the seat tension, but ‘what’s going to happen next?’ factor has to be there)

There was quite a lot of negative press at the time regarding the forumlaic quality of the show, but there was also a ton of great responses to our intensely researched, emotionally engaging, relevant and above all dramatic storylines which explored the human condition at it’s most vulnerable.

I am a fan of structure. I am a fan of pattern. I am a fan of commerically viable, dramatically engaging storylines. I am not a fan of something formulaic without a soul, but I am most defintely 100% behind a formula that works, time and time again. Year on year. Series after series.

Holby City series 15 is currently airing. Holby City series 2 was a wet baby compared with the lively young adult it now is, and although some changes have had to happen to it’s forumla, the overall shape and tone of the episodes remains the same.

Back in 1999 we were creating a blue print that is still used today. Love it or hate it, formula has won out.

“We can heartily recommend Yvonne’s workshops – she unravels television like no one else! www.scriptfactory.co.uk

Find out if I can help you with your current project@http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk offering writers mentoring, training and script editing services in order to develop their work and talent.  Please pass on this link to your fellow writers. Or you can join SCRIPT ADVICE WRITERS ROOM@ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237330119115&ref=mf

SAWR is all about writing and writers. Here you can share your thoughts about writing, the creative process, the highs and lows of it all. You can also access this group for information about writing workshops that I am currently running, also script editing and mentoring services that I offer. My expertise lies in Television drama but any writer is welcome to share their experiences and their aspirations here.

I am on TWITTER here: https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1

Or to see my newsletter online, access my Blog here: http://scriptadvice.wordpress.com/

AND INTRODUCING MY NEW BLOG; GEORGE, THE BLOGGING WRITER. Read all about her rocky journey towards television writing enlightenment here – http://yvonblog.wordpress.com/

CONTENTS:

* HAPPY NEW YEAR

* WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO

* WRITING MISTAKES YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE

* WRITING RESOURCES

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Another year gone and a new one beginning. It’s a cliche, but like most cliches, it is true to say that life really does go quickly. It doesn’t seem five years ago that I got married, moved out of London to the country and gave birth to Michael our son. Script Advice is as old as Michael and like our five year old, it is time consuming, enjoyable and hard work.

I hope you will hunt me out via my website or facebook group or twitter account (all links above) and that we can work together in the New Year.

 And because it’s the new year…..I am offering a reduced price of £150 for a professional, constructive script report on your 90 – 120 screenplay from me. Usually charged at £175 that’s got to be the bargain of 2013! Check my site for other rates on hour long screenplays and treatments.

 WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO

Last year, Script Advice has helped a good many of you through the drafting process and I am really pleased to say that some of you have even gone on to gain representation and won writing competitions with a bit of help along the way from me.

My writers’ group Script Advice Writers’ Room on Facebook grows daily and it is fast becoming one of the best places on FB to get advice and share experience with fellow writers.

 In the Autumn 2012, I did a bit of lecturing and a lot of laughing at THE LONDON SCREENWRITERS FESTIVAL http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/ and enjoyed presenting my talk HOW TO GET INTO TELEVISION AND STAY THERE at their Breakfast Club and also at the festival itself, chairing THE SHOW MUST GO ON – WRITING FOR SOAPS with Tony McHale, Tracy Brabin and Damon Rochefort.

Email me here: yvonnegrace@scriptadvice.co.uk (or from my website http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk) to get my notes for £7.99 from my talk HOW TO GET INTO TELEVISION AND STAY THERE - informative, fun and useful to know if you are serious about writing for television.

 I also I met and decided to work with writer and publisher William Gallagher. We are enjoying putting together a book (yes! another book!) about scriptwriting for television; pulling together my experiences over the past 20 years of making drama for television and working with writers as both a script editor and a producer. It will be out in the early part of 2013 and I will keep you posted.

 WRITING MISTAKES YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE

I’ve been helping writers via SCRIPT ADVICE since 2007 and it feels the right time now to collate the most oft-made mistakes I see in scripts, to start the new year as we all mean to go on, in a positive, professional way. Hope you find the don’ts useful to know and do’s easy to apply to your own writing.

 1. WOOLLY WRITING

As much as possible, screen writing is best kept clean, clear and simple. If the story line is convoluted, labyrinthine, moves across time zones, or periods in time, has many layers of plot that weave in and out of each other, it is very important to keep your layout, your script language and your telling of the story as simple as you can. The more complicated the storyline, the more transparent should be your script layout.

 Why? Because a script is there to be read, understood, interpreted and made into something else; a piece of television, a short, a play for radio or theatre. A script therefore has to be easy to follow and easy to understand.

Take it from one who knows, there is literally nothing, (bar childbirth) as painful as ploughing through a script that is dense, over-written, confusing, woolly, and ill planned.

 2/ ILL-PLANNED SCRIPT = BAD STRUCTURE

Get your homework done before you get creative. Plot out all your storylines for each character (each character arc) and also plot your main throughline (your central narrative) and make sure each plotline has a clear, separate and interesting journey through your script, from the first to the last scene. Use what ever method suits you best, post it notes, a white board, a big sheet of paper that you can cut up, do it the old fashioned way or use a spread sheet, whatever it takes. Don’t begin your script until you know where the plot is going, where the big moments are, how each plotline reacts and interacts with another and the overall shape of each character journey. To do this properly you will need to produce the following documents before you write your first script draft:

 A TREATMENT

A BEAT SHEET/or STEP OUTLINE

AN EPISODE OUTLINE

TREATMENT

Usually between 4 and 6 pages, this is a succinct, detailed, visually written, descriptive introduction to your story and is written entirely to clarify character, storyline, tone, genre and format in order for potential producers and commissioners to ‘see’ your drama and to understand it as a piece of workable film or television. It is in short, a selling document and I have written about treatments before in newsletter 11 and from that blog I add here the basic outlay of a treatment again:

Treatment General Layout:

Title:

 I love titles. Make yours really sell your idea by being the best you can make it. Favourite Titles? ‘Strictly Ballroom’. ‘A Matter Of Life Or Death’. ‘Call The Midwife’. ‘Roger and Val Have Just Got In’. Sometimes, it’s better that the title describes what’s in the tin so to speak, but also being succinct and summarising either the plot content; ‘In The Line Of Fire’ or giving a sense of the tone and style of the piece; ‘The Unbearable Lightness Of Being’ works better. And a title from my own stable? ‘Full English’ – a comedy drama about running a B and B in Cornwall.

 Format Description:

Is your idea A Comedy Drama? A 4 or 6 or more parter? Is this is a serial or a series? Is it a one off or Single? Action, High Concept, Character driven? Say so here to give the reader a clear idea of what to expect straight away.

There’s a lot on the Net about the difference between series and serials and you may get conflicting opinions on this one, but the definition for me and how I have used it in my career of 20 years (so far!) in television, the definition stands as I set out below:

SERIES:

A drama that is open ended. A core cast of returning characters. The backdrop remains the same and is returned to each week. There may be  several stories per episode which are resolved, but the series storyline; that which is carried by the core returning cast, remains open ended. Eg: Holby City. Coronation Street. (all of the Soaps in fact) Hustle. Merlin. Spooks.

SERIAL

A drama of more than one or two parts, which has a serial element; a core cast of returning characters and an over-arcing storyline, but in this case, the storyline is ultimately resolved. Eg: Jane Eyre.  State of Play.  A Passionate Woman.  The Lost Prince.

 Logline:

Make these as tasty as you can. I like to add a quotation from each character under their name; something they are most likely to say or something that alludes to their particular storyline. Eg: In a treatment I wrote ostensibly about The Eternal Quest For Mr Right entitled ‘A Man For All Seasons’ (another not bad title!) I created a character called PLUM; her quotation was ‘Plum is looking for a man she can spar with; so far, she has only dated those that shop at Spar’.

Character Biographies:

In each character biog, give a suggestion of the over arc of their storyline across the number of episodes or across the span of the script you are intending to write. Make these people live on the page.

 Episode Outline:

I think this is self explanatory – but be exacting and succinct in your language whilst being as interesting as you can in your outlay of the storyline.  Give the main thrust of the A (or the main) storyline with the smaller, B and C stories if you have them, running parallel.

 Main Story Arcs:

Each character has a journey and here you outline what that is in story terms. Again, pithy, evocative language is what we are looking for.

The Central Message:

This will be alluded to in your pithy Logline at the top of the treatment, but here you can extrapolate a bit more and dig a bit deeper.

The Tone:

Throughout the writing of your treatment you must also pay attention to the style and tone of your writing and as much as possible, evoke for your reader the flavour of what they will ultimately be seeing on screen when your Must Have Drama is produced.

BEAT SHEET / STEP OUTLINE

In film; a beat sheet, in television; a step outline. This document is both to use as your reference, to keep you on track as you write your script, and also to show the ‘business end’ (the producer/commissioner) of the writing process, that your script has enough drama, twists and turns, intrigue and interest to hold an audience. There is no need in this document, to go into great detail, but it is important to block out the main beats of the storyline and to mark the major twists and turns of the plot and to note the key interactions between plotlines. Also, to clarify the ending!

 A SCENE BY SCENE OUTLINE

Here it is necessary to go into detail.

This is the blueprint for your script. Each scene, as you see it, should be outlined in simple terms, so at a glance, you (and the producer/commissioner) can see how the scenes interact and are juxaposed together. Literally, via this document, you can see how the script works. The scene by scene outline is essential in my view, to get right before you start the business of writing. This is the skeleton of the script, the bones of your story and will reveal it’s overall shape.

It’s also a really useful document to use as you write your drafts, as each scene can easily be referred to and can just as easily be cut or extended as your writing progresses.

 3/ SCRIPT LAYOUT:

OVER DESCRIPTIVE SCENE SETTINGS:

Short, simple, to the point and exact, these are the words that should come to mind when reading a scene setting. There is no good reason to go into any detail here, except to say where we are, whether it is day or night, and if it’s pertinent to the plotline, what year it is. Ext. Int. Time. Place. Year. That should do it.

FLASHBACK:

If you are writing a flashback sequence, or a flashing forward in time, then make this clear here by stating FLASHBACK and when the sequence is over, state END FLASHBACK. Sounds simple enough but you will be suprised by the amount of scripts that confuse the reader for the lack of these simple directions.

MONTAGE:

The same applies to the use of Montage. State the begining of the sequence and the end point. As much as possible, keep Montage sequences to a minimum and make sure they are visual and clearly carry the storyline forward.

OVER-DETAILING THE ACTION IN A SCENE:

Avoid getting too hung up on every action a character does in a scene. Keep in mind that if it does not highlight character, or add a dimension to the atmosphere, tone or story content of the scene, then it is not important to mention. Keep the scene moving – avoid internal observations (that we will not see on screen) and prose-like descriptions. Remember to use the camera as our eyes, and do not stray into novel territory by leaning on description (telling) in your narrative and forgetting the camera (showing) aspect of the story.

 4/ GETTING ADVICE AND TAKING IT WELL

Well I would advocate getting advice wouldn’t I? But it really is worth doing and once you have settled on your script editor, writing mentor, tutor, take their advice with good grace and at all times, avoid taking any of their comments personally. It’s a tough call, but taking notes is hard as it exposes the writer and their vulnerablilities. However, a good script editor will not be afraid to expose their opinions to the bright light of your response so remember that all script edit sessions with your editor or tutor, are an exchange of their creative and professional responses to your work and your reaction to their comments. Both should be delivered with respect and received in the same vein.

 Nothing separates the professional writer from the amateur as quickly as a writer who doesn’t take advice well.

 WRITING RESOURCES

Julie Gray runs this very informative and inspirational website Just Effing Entertain Me and is opening her doors to her 2013 Script Competition – worth entering and keeping this website bookmarked for future ref: http://www.justeffing.com/2013-just-effing/

This podcast features interviews with directors and producers in the film business and discusses screen writing using John Truby’s Anatomy of Story and Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat to illustrate various techniques.

http://officialscreenwriting.com/category/the-official-screenwriting-podcast/

 Linda Aaronson talks a great deal of inspired sense about story structure, story telling and narrative techniques in screenplay writing. I think this website is invaluable and recommend you bookmark it http://www.lindaaronson.com/

 Debbie Moon, professional writer and all round good egg, blogs regularly on her blog Never Get Off The Bus – I always like what she says and in particular, her inciteful pre-christmas musing below…

http://debbiemoon.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/five-things-that-separate-professionals-from-amateurs/

Danny Stack and Tim Clague are funny, clever, informative and experienced writers and film makers and their podcast and website Script Writing in the UK is a regular source of all things good in scriptwriting -

http://www.dannystack.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/uk-scriptwriters-podcast-planes-trains.html

 ————————————————————-

Many of you will either know of, or be a member of SCRIPT ADVICE WRITERS ROOM on FACEBOOK, but if you haven’t yet joined, please do, it is a vibrant lively community of writers, trainers, learners, moaners, growers and doers and I would love to see you there! Here is the link again – so get clicking!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237330119115&ref=mf

I am always chuffed to get more followers so here’s the link to me on Twitter again:

https://twitter.com/YVONNEGRACE1

 I hope I can help you with your writing; be it a television script, short or full length film or screen play, treatment or outline, novel or radio play, I read and script edit them all and can definitely help improve yours.  Drop me an email@

Yvonne.grace@scriptadvice.co.uk and let’s get working!

 BYE FOR NOW AND HAPPY WRITING.

 copyright Yvonne Grace Script Advice http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk January 2013