HOW TO WRITE A DRAMA SERIES TELEVISION OUTLINE

I am fresh back from an amazing time at The London Screenwriter’s Festival, where I did four things of note:

1/ Run my session ‘Sizzle and Substance’with Bafta winning writer and show-runner Barbara Machin and Series Producer of Holby City Simon Harper, about how to navigate the hinter lands between commercialism and creativity in writing and creating series television drama.

2/ Contribute to the session run by the life force that is Pilar Alessandra about how to manage the work/family/life balance.

3/ Flash my cleavage to about 200 people as I clumsily navigated my bra; clipping on my mic before my first session.

4/ Wish Hollywood Legend Joel Schumacher luck, until I realised who he was and attempted to remedy this by adding, rather breathlessly, ‘but you; of course, don’t need it’.

So it was, all round, a rather lovely time.

But what I discussed, with the Prince of Holby City and the Queen Bee of Waking the Dead; the knotty issue in popular television long-form drama, of how to strike a balance between the art form of story telling and the need to keep feeding the ratings machine, still remains fresh in my mind.

For those of you that weren’t there, I wish to share with you some thoughts.

At the Sizzle v Substance Session, we discussed, amongst many other questions:

* What makes a successful drama series/serial?
The answer in a nutshell is the show that has at the point of its creation, the right balance between fresh, creativity and hard-nosed commercialism.
Scott and Bailey.
Shameless.
Broadchurch.

* What works best – pure art or artifice?
Plunging into the nut bowl again; the answer is a combination of both. All successful long form dramas, (essentially those that are episodic and repeating) need a big fat dollop of juicy story at their centre and living in this world, there must be credible, developed, three dimensional characters. They also need a structure, a framework, the scaffolding in place to hold up the creative components of the drama.

Long-form television drama is that illusive hybrid of hard-nosed commercialism and genuine artifice.

With the need to combine the artist and the artisan in mind, when writing successful television drama, here is a story for you:

Back in 1999 I was asked to Produce Holby City series 2. It was expected of me to turn this show around. Holby was then (and still is) a great show, but it was not getting the projected ratings expected of a prime time drama scheduled in the family slot. So I did what any sane producer would do in the circumstances. I appealed to the writers to give me great story.

Within the medical remit of the show (then solely Cardio Thorasic so any condition pertaining to the upper body and heart) writers had to come up with story lines that made a wide demographic sit up and take notice. Cynically, I said we would ‘wrap the medical around’ the essential drive of the stories I was looking for. That is, those that had an emotional heart (forgive the pun) and truth about them. This, in the most part, worked.

But the best episodes of my series, those that gained a 9 million rating and peaked at 10 million at Christmas, where the ones where I had managed to engineer stories that were essentially medical in nature, but those that resonated wider; caused emotional ripples through a variety of characters’ lives.

The example I can give here is the story about a young girl who, suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, had to have both her parents donate a portion of their lung to save their daughter’s life. The father, it turned out, could not contribute. He was not a blood match. And so this story ballooned from a standard ‘I will save you in this medical emergency because I love you’ to a story about long kept family secrets, betrayal and ultimately a fragile re-union between the girl and her real father.

This is an example of a story that has a commercial appeal, and also an emotional root. The Sizzle is there, (the dynamics between a family at war whilst a daughter is dying) but also the Substance (the story ticks all the boxes of a long running drama with a medical precinct).

It’s a knotty problem this. The dual-need to create something fresh, new, different, creative, from a genuinely artistic, credible foundation and that need to also to make this new thing, this new dramatic idea, into a saleable, water-tight, competitive format.

Writers of television drama, have to be multi-facetted by nature.

They are both the creator, or artist, and then the draftsman; they must draw up a blue print for this drama series; make sense of the original artistic splurgings. Then they don the Plumber’s hat. Because they also need to be a hands on practical sort. The sort who can work out all the interconnections between story lines and know how best to maximise the junctions of all those story pipes laid down.

If need be, a television writer needs to know how to make their drama series – flush – or actually work.

You are Jackson Pollock – you splash paint around – but you are also required to bring a bit of Escher to the table; clear thinking, good with line, expert at someone who knows how the bigger picture fits together and to know how to disguise; like all the best craftspeople do, the joints, the joins, the ugly interiors of the drawers and secret compartments of the piece you are crafting out of thin air.

So we need structure as well as innovation in our work as writers and producers of television drama.

Those of you that have bought/shared/looked over someone else’s shoulder whilst they read my book on writing for television; not surprisingly called 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 that in those pages I go into detail about treatments, story line documents and story lines. I go on a lot about using documents and how to do so to make your stories sing as you write your television scripts – I mention the Series Outline, but I do not go much further than that.

I am remedying this here.

How you write a good SERIES OUTLINE for television:

This document is not a dry thing. It is an exciting, vibrant, layered piece of writing that shows, without the use of mirrors or smoke, what your series drama is all about.

It is a microcosm of all your musings; a distillation of the series as a whole. Like the treatment that goes before this, (in terms of your long running story’s development) it condenses the themes, messages, tone, characters, world, main narrative arcs and episode content down to a manageable number of pages.

It is an extension of your idea, but it is not a sentence by sentence, beat by beat description of your series drama.

Do not confuse your SERIES OUTLINE with an EPISODE OUTLINE or, what is called A BEAT SHEET in feature film circles. We use Beat Sheet too now, more often, in television, (trying to keep it real you know) and I like the term because it does what it says on the tin. A Beat Sheet is just that. Story; laid out, beat by beat.

Producers don’t need to see this in your Series Outline.

They want to see and understand and know the following things from your document:

1/ What is the world in which the story is set? Is it an engaging world and how is it so?

2/ Who lives in this world and what are the characters about? What makes them tick? Are these people identifiable? Who will we love? Who will we hate? Who will we hate loving?

3/ What is the content in broad strokes of the first (pilot) episode? What is the content (again, excitingly, enticing told, not beat by beat) of the middle episode and what again, is the end episode’s content? How does this start? How does this series end?

4/ SET PIECES. Producers of tv drama LOVE a set piece. What is the image, the exchange, the moment, the climax of a story line in each of the episodes you are outlining here?
In every episode, in every long form drama format worth its salt, there will be one moment, one image, one sequence that sticks in your mind, while the credits roll and beyond.

Similarly, having read your Series Outline, there will be (if you get it right) at least one singular, memorable moment, or series of moments that stay with the Producer/Commissioner. You need to make sure you have these in your Series Outline.

We are dealing with images, albeit ones told in words; black and white on the page.
Visualise your stories and your Series Outline will come alive and sell your series for you.

There are practical elements to get across in this document too:

1/ Setting 2/ Number of characters 3/ Period or no? 4/ Genre 5/ Episode numbers/format length

Tone. Use the hybrid terminology here. It always works. Sci Fi / Peaky Blinders (that would be an awful show but you get the idea) Downton Abbey/Rom Com (similarly; bound to be terrible, but we know what it is about in two five syllables.)

If, in the development process, you have got to the Series Outline stage, chances are, someone with potential money to make it and a potential route to transmit it, is interested in your idea.

Don’t give them a reason to say no.

Make them fall in love with the sheer story content, the characters, the set pieces, the tone and the overall message of your drama series/serial.

They will, from this moment on, try to make their budget fit your ideas.

Get busy.

Get writing.

My group Script Advice Writer’s Room is great resource for writers of the big and small screen. Writers all actually; there are poets and novelists amongst us – writers who write or radio, theatre as well as television and pen screenplays. Join me and them, here https://www.facebook.com/groups/237330119115/

Twitter: YVONNEGRACE1

Script Advice is here to help.

THE WORK/LIFE BALANCE BLOG

Via 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

CONVERSATIONS WITH A STORY TELLER

Canadian 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.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

 

 

 

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/

AT THE BBC WRITERS’ FESTIVAL 2014 – A WRITER’S PERSPECTIVE #2

I 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

THE BBC WRITERS’ FESTIVAL 2014 – From a Writer’s Perspective

I asked Jayne Lake; writer, twitterer, facebook member of my group Script Advice Writer’s Room and all round good egg, to pen me a blog about what she took from the BBC Writers’ Festival 2014. Here it is….

<img

The fifth BBC TV Drama Writers’ Festival came to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, a one-time Victorian wheat store transformed into uber-cool lecture rooms and rubber clad studios for arty types, it’s industrial strength air con much needed – by me.

Kate Rowland and her team sprinkled fairy dust over the unrivalled schedule, I made a point of selecting all the available sessions about ‘women on the box’. Apart from the short notice withdrawal of doyenne Sally Wainwright, this year’s strong female line-up would not disappoint.

Keynote If Content is King, Where’s our Crown? – Like an entertaining fruit and veg wholesaler Tony Jordan outlined established and newly forming markets for drama output and gave us his rally call to feed the ever-hungry story beast. A community of writers drawn together to listen, learn, share and contribute, we are all connected, he tells us ‘[by] story struggling to tear itself from our souls’. Feeling a smidgeon taller, I floated off to my first sesh, my life’s goal to: ‘create something extraordinary’ tucked under my heavy-duty bra strap. Can-do-will-do-stuff indeed.

Developing Your Character – Writer Danny Brocklehurst discussed his writing process behind Exile and disgraced journo Tom Ronstadt (John Simm) – a character who returns to his backwater hometown to discover his once brutal father in the grip of Alzheimer’s. It’s the way his character relates in any given moment that hooks his audience Danny argues. There is a mystery to solve – why did a once beloved father violently banish his son? But whilst plot is crucial, for Danny character always lies at the starting block and at the heart. In Barbara Machin’s long-runner Waking the Dead the emphasis shifts. Character is the ‘elephant in the room’, what’s not said speaking volumes about protagonists the audience comes to love over time. Her characters develop in ‘slow burn… [they] occupy a deeper emotional place… [big] event moments allow new and exciting chinks in character’. Danny talked about writing self-indulgent ‘physical’ directions in the first draft to inform himself as much as anything else. Subsequent drafts stripped back to allow the actors and director to do the work. Someone asked Danny and Barbara to name memorable leading female characters in British drama. Time was up, a session for next year, or the year after, perhaps.

Women in TV: Unfinished Business – Head of Drama Scotland Chris Aird chaired a superb discussion on women in TV. Pier Wilkie and China Moo Young (Director/Producer-Director) and Sally Abbott (Writer) talked about working at the BBC and in the independent sector, giving anecdotes about obstructive others and critical selves. Sally described her early battles with self-confidence until a cathartic light bulb moment freed her from a creative cul-de-sac. Although her juggle with deadlines, kids and a rescue dog is not easy, she knows the value of her own voice now and rightly excels in it with the support of her family.

Pier Wilkie talked about the huge financial pressures on drama production. When she’s looking to hire the stakes are enormous, she needs ‘experience’ first. Conversely women can’t get experience as writers, producers and directors unless someone is prepared to take a financial (and I might argue here) conscious punt on an unknown quantity. There was a rumbling anxiety in the room – won’t moaning about inequality alienate the powers that be? To be valued in the industry, women need ‘an assured and calm and measured’ outlook – nothing divaesque!

Do women only write ‘domestic’ or are there any opportunities in genre? A mixed response from the panel but isn’t domestic writing just screaming babies, preeclampsia, dirty nappies? Is it that little show with nine million viewers Call The Midwife or maybe it’s Pier’s much acclaimed BBC 3 Murdered By My Boyfriend – both dramas depicting the stuff of life and death and everything in between. More next year on what women write/want to write. Maybe.

Do We Need Treatments? – A blessed rest from all this angsty feminist malarchy! Bryan Elsley’s entertaining take on the writer’s roadmap, he argues we need treatments to encapsulate the semi-coherent ‘idea’. The first draft treatment is the ‘what if’ document, the blueprint created by the ‘organized magician’ within. This is the place where Bryan feels most confident but for the production company the fully worked version is the solid thing that says this is ‘our property’, our development ‘asset’. Bryan’s advice is that the exec wants pure story. Some shot based treatments work well but may be too directorial? The exec’s bus or tube ride is a finite thing so as a guide; fit your story into his/her journey to work. A narrative based approach enables a quick read. For series treatments each ep should imply a defining event best embedded in its title. Set out the arc, the movements and connections between the episodes. Name characters with a brief description and how they relate to one another. Write the ‘out’, or in other words: Why you are the writer for this project and where your work sits in the market. Clarify the thing that is worth the money creatively and spiritually, then reduce the entire document by 10%! Don’t reference other shows – your story is ‘unique’. Be illusive. Tonal. Box clever.

Keynote The Two Tones – Tony J in relaxed conversation with Director General Tony Hall who affirmed his commitment to creativity, diversity and risk taking across drama at the BBC. Did you know that, despite his previous gig at The Royal Opera House, Tony Hall’s a real man of the people now he’s binge watched Happy Valley? Yay! The ‘Two Tone’s’ conversation flowed, Liverpudlian roots and regenerated accents made them blood brothers right? Tony J slipped comfortably back into expletive heavy. Tony H didn’t seem to mind and I felt assured this effusive, passionate bloke liked what we do and he wouldn’t let us down.

How I write – Sarah Phelps’s research task for BBC 1 six-parter The Crimson Field was gargantuan, not least because much of what we think we know about The Great War is so misshapen by the ‘heroic lies’ of history, mediated accounts of the men and women on the Western Front. Sarah’s main resource came in the form of Lyn MacDonald’s The Roses of No Man’s Land, a contemporary account of the women who volunteered to serve in the medical tents not a stones throw away from the trenches. So much material was handed over to Sarah that she was oftentimes overwhelmed, she made hard decisions about what to read and what to include whilst still staying true to her raw writers voice and trying to keep her sanity! For an hour Sarah had us spellbound as she recounted anecdote after anecdote about these brave women and men’s lives, many of whom found themselves transported from their genteel Edwardian British society into the bloody heart of the first world war. Off by heart, Sarah concluded her talk with Thomas Hardy’s 1916 poem In Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’. Beyond moving.

Face to Face with Abi Morgan – I wanted to know every juicy detail, who, after all, wouldn’t want her life? Abi left university and got work imputing data about the building she worked in. Aside from the computer, she was entirely on her own in this empty office block; her employers didn’t seem to care what she did or how long she took to do the job. She wrote her first screenplay and didn’t input data. She got paid. For FIVE YEARS. It was great, she achieved tons. She was horrendously lonely. Today Abi has a partner and two children. When the children were small she worked from home but they’re older now, more distracting. Abi is currently working in an office at Kudos. Undisturbed. Abi’s working day is from 9 – 7. Sometimes this is filled to busting writing and sometimes she gets distracted by Solitaire Blitz. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Abi writes what she finds ‘profoundly moving’ and advises writers to ask of themselves always: ‘what is this story about?…[And] give something of yourself’. Have an outline, keep poetics minimal, tone is paramount. Abi doesn’t read back her early drafts she just clicks ‘send’! An audible incredulity (on my part covetous!) spread amongst the audience, this writer obviously is self-aware, majorly confident (not arrogant, I did not find her so) and brave. In the Q&A someone asked what work she was most proud of writing? And I was knocked sideways by her response…. introspective for a moment: ‘pride is something I find hard to associate with what I do’. What!? With such an influential body of work behind and undoubtedly in front of her how on earth can this possibly be? I may have misunderstood my heroine here but why the hell shouldn’t she be proud of what she’s achieved? It seems that women writers, even at the very pinnacle of the industry recoil from publicly blowing their own trumpet. Love her.

Keynote Unstoryfiable – Documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis believes story is in mortal decline, news on a continuous loop, nothing resolves. Google, Facebook, Twitter and Cisco reducing everything to a manipulated, homogenous stream, the worlds financial markets unelected and unchecked. Curtis calls this the ‘algorithm loop of news, power, money, media and [subsequently] STORY’. I understood in principle where this guy was coming from, I felt for him – for us, but rather than be gloomy I should go do something about this heinous state of affairs shouldn’t I? I mean I should write something… write something really ‘extraordinary’.

Adjusts bra strap. Clicks send.

Thank you Jayne for sharing your experience of the Festival with the Script Advice readership.
Contact me: http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk for help with your television writing and buy my book on the subject 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

THE AMBER BLOG – How To Break The Rules And Get Away With It

Amber Ending Has Viewers Red With Rage: How Not To Break The Rules!

I have Charles Harris, writer-director and director of Euroscript, on my blog today. Charles has made award-winning programmes for TV and cinema. His blog is at http://www.charles-harris.co.uk

You may have noticed a great noise on social media over the ending of RTE’s successful mini-series, Amber, which finished on UK TV last week. And here’s a massive SPOILER ALERT. Because many people took great exception to the ending of an otherwise powerful four-part series about a missing teenager, while others (the producers included) defended it strongly as being a refreshing change, and to discuss it properly I’m going to have to refer to what happened and what didn’t happen. So, if you haven’t finished the final part yet, you may not want to read the rest now.

For those of you who are still with me, Amber broke one of the fundamental rules of crime drama. It didn’t solve the mystery. In episode one, 14 year-old Amber Bailey goes missing, sparking a nationwide search, and episode four ends with no further understanding of what happened to her.

Red with rage

Cue general outrage. One reviewer was “red with rage” at the non-ending. http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/columnists/daragh-keany/amber-ending-has-me-red-with-rage Many viewers felt they’d invested four weeks in the story, only to be cheated. Many asked for their licence fee back, one asking RTE if they wanted to pay “in one lump sum or weekly or monthly payments”.
However, cast and crew defended the lack of ending as being refreshing, with RTE tweeting “So Amber was never found. This is the reality for many families. Sometimes there are no simple answers.” http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/twitter-erupts-over-vague-amber-ending-as-stars-defend-it-for-being-real-to-life-29943468.html
True. But only half the story. Because a TV series is not real life, and a drama makes a contract with the viewer. That contract says there will be an ending to the mystery. If you break that contract, you risk having your head chewed off.

Can’t you be fresh and different?

But, hang on a minute. Surely there’s room for fresh and different endings. Does everything have to be fixed and formulaic in TV? Surely there are screen stories that don’t have a neat ending?
Yes, no and yes. The great Kurosawa movie Rashomon told the story of a killing from four angles, and never said which, if any, was true. The TV series The Shield ended without bent copper Vic Mackey getting arrested. The true crime story Zodiac didn’t end with the killer getting caught.

But here’s the thing. You can’t just cut out the expected ending and expect the audience not to get annoyed. It’s like shoplifting in front of the closed circuit cameras and expecting not to be caught. You have to be a bit cleverer than that. This is where RTE and lead writers Rob Cawley and Paul Duane made their mistake.

How to break the rules and get away with it

So how do the others do it? If you’re going to break the rules, you need to (a) know the rule exists in the first place and (b) work hard to defuse the audience’s objections. Here are a few ways the great writers do it:

1. Tell the audience up front.
Rashomon, written by Ryûnosuke Akutagawa and Shinobu Hashimoto with Kurosawa, tells you right at the beginning that this is a perplexing mystery. The film starts at the end, and is told to us in flashback by a woodcutter and a priest who tell us in advance that the story is a confusing one that tests the priest’s faith. When that turns out to be true, we are not surprised or annoyed – it was what we bought into from the first.
Indeed, the whole story is about the impossibility of ever knowing the truth. In the same way, it wouldn’t have been difficult for the Amber writers to have made the impossibility of closure a central motif of the story all the way through.

2. Give the audience something better
We know that the story of Vic Mackey in The Shield is not going to end well. However it would be too neat for him to be killed. Too limp for him merely to be arrested. And too disappointing for him to get away scot-free. In event, what happens to him is worse that being arrested or killed would ever have been. (If you want to know, watch the series – it’s great. Or email me!)
Rashomon too would be too neatly tied up if we were ever told what really happened. The mystery is better.

3. Make sure there is a climax even so
Zodiac was based on the true story of unsolved serial killings. However, while it can’t tell us who the serial killer was, it can build to a satisfying emotional climax, which it does.
The big mistake the producers of Amber made IMHO is not so much not giving a neat ending as not giving us a climax at all! There is an attempt at a climax, when the distraught father risks his freedom to track down an Eastern European crime ring who’ve been kidnapping Western teenagers and using them for sex.
However for some impenetrable reason (artistic? financial?) the entire climax happens off-screen, while we wait for a phone to ring. Four dramatic episodes end with a damp squib.

The problem with Amber is not that it has an unconventional ending, it’s that the director and writers don’t know how to sell an unusual ending to the audience. Overall the series is excellent (aside from a rather silly subplot in episode three about a mobile phone) and well worth watching if you haven’t.
But a bit of understanding about how to break the rules could have made it historic.

If you enjoyed this article you can follow Charles at
Website: http://www.charles-harris.co.uk
Twitter: @chasharris
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlesharris008
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/charlesharris01/

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF …… A SCRIPT EDITOR ON EMMERDALE

Regular 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.‭

Contact me for script editing help and editorial advice on your work here http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk
Follow me on Twitter: YVONNEGRACE1
Join my writer’s group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/237330119115/

Get in touch and happy writing!

ONLY CONNECT – MAKING CONTACTS IN THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY

Writing is a solitary exercise. But the business of getting your writing read, talked about and appreciated is just the opposite. You need to be a focussed solitary scriber, and then morph when the time dictates, into a sociable, approachable type who is more that happy to talk about your work and ask questions of those that are experienced and able to help you get in and get on in the industry.

Even if you have a writing partner; someone with whom you work to create and construct your drama scripts, there is always that point in the creation process where you must turn the collaboration switch to ‘off’ and get on with making your part in the writing process your own. You need to get your head down and start writing.

If you work solo, (like most writers in my experience do) then it can be really hard to put on a convivial face and go off to rub shoulders with, most likely, writers like yourself, who work alone and then feel they have to socialise for the good of their work.

 But I think its important that you do this.

The television industry dictates that writers be both disciplined (in terms of getting the pages done in a structured, accessible time frame) and also able to turn on the sociable charm when the time is right.

 I have had the pleasure of working with some great writers who are now at the top of their game and showing by the sheer calibre of the work they are now producing, the way forward for lesser experienced television writers, making their way up. Writers like Russell T Davies, Sally Wainwright, Jonathon Harvey and Tony Jordan. If you were ever in a position to ask any one of them if they, as they were starting out, had a champion, or if there was a person they felt they could point to that helped them, when they needed it, I believe each writer could come up with more than one name.

 I had my champions too.

 We all need at least one.

 So where do you find your champion? The person(s) who may turn out to be the people you, when asked the question, sometime in your future you happily name as the individuals that helped you most?

 There are many ways you can potentially meet like-minded writers and also connect with professionals that can either champion your work themselves, or suggest others that can.

 I suggest you spread your area of connection wide.

 Initially, I would encourage you to join a good writer’s group. I run a very good one on Facebook. My members come from all over the globe and represent all levels of writing experience. Many are professional writers who, like myself, genuinely enjoy sharing their knowledge of the industry. It’s a great place to start.

 The Script Advice Writer’s Room:

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

Another good way of opening up communication with others in your chosen field, is to use online forums. Phil Gladwin runs a great one here. His organisation the Screenwriting Goldmine also runs writing competitions and workshops:

http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/forum/

 In general, the BBC website for writers is a good place to bookmark. You can download scripts and keep up with the initiatives they run.

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

 Attending workshops on writing and those that teach the skill base needed to work in television as a writer is a good way of making contacts and building useful friendships with other writers.

 I run workshops for the Indie Training Fund regularly and throughout the year.

http://www.indietrainingfund.com/courses/production/how-to-storyline-a-series-for-television/

 Euroscript is very good for writers wanting to connect with others and they also run courses throughout the year:

http://www.euroscript.co.uk/

 Engineering meetings between writers and Producers, Commissioners and key players in the Industry is a central aim of the Rocliffe Forum:

http://www.rocliffe.com/index.php

 Attending festivals and specific events aimed at networking and sharing of information related to screenwriting is a great way of building your connections and making potential key connections with useful to know people.

The London Screenwriters’ Festival is a brilliant, exciting, informative and genuinely friendly event run by people passionate about the business of writing for the big and small screen. This link takes you to the page showing some of the speakers of this year’s event. You will notice I am there and very pleased to be so!

Speakers

 Raindance run both a film and television festival:

Home

My book attempts to bridge that gap between you, the solitary writer who wants to get in to Television and stay there, and the Industry itself; comprising of important people you need to get to know and to make them aware of your existence.

Here’s a lovely review on Amazon by writer Mark Davies. I add it here because he highlights my intention when writing it, which was to metaphorically hold the writer’s hand through what can be the labyrinthine nature of the Television Industry.

 ‘Rather than a dry how-to style text book, reading this book is like being invited to spend the day with an expert and having her take you by the hand for a tour of Television Centre, and being introduced to everyone you could ever need to know in the process. Then imagine someone following you the whole day with a camcorder and giving you all the footage afterwards so you can rewind to your favourite sections and live them all again. And again!’

Follow me on Twitter: YVONNEGRACE1. Here too, it is almost too easy to hook up (in cyber space) with a whole new strata of writers, producers, script editors and agents who may well take up a big space in your future.

 You don’t know who’s out there till you get your sociable coat on and venture outside…..

 Check out my website for my script reading and script development services and to access my blog and find out what I am up to over the year.

Home

 I hope to be able to help you in the future.

 Good Luck and Happy Writing.

 

STORY STRUCTURE – CREATING STORY LEGS – PART TWO

Here I am guest blogging for writer/director Charles Harris. Part 2 of my musings on story structure.

The concluding part from guest blogger Yvonne Grace on story structure for TV series and serials, Creating Story Legs. Yvonne is an experienced writer, script editor and producer of TV series and serials, and the author of a brand new book on writing TV series – details of the book and her own sites at the end of the blog.

Read Part 1 here…

Along each episode story line – or story arc, there are ‘jagging points’. Here there can be a reflection made by a character; it could be a mini flashback we see, or an aside from another character that leads to a tangental moment or two between the protagonists that teach or suggest to us, something new about the character we are currently investing in.

This is also where Back Story is often used to promote further understanding or create more questions in the mind of the audience, to be resolved later.

The Back Story

This to my mind, is the accumulation of moments and events; epic and miniscule, that form the person we see here now, on our screens.

Everyone has a history; their own story; the individual beats of which informs and influences the person we grew into. Dramatic characters are no different. This back story is not a dry list of historical facts and information such as where they were born and what school they went to; we have character biographies for that, and biogs have no place in the drama on our screens.

The Back Story is used to dramatically inform the audience about something we need to know now, about a particular character and it is also synonymous with that character’s subtext. For what is in the past often forms that which drives a character through their present day; and will form the motor which pushes a character along their storyline.

Examples of Back Story Informing Character

The structure of Orange is The New Black is shot through with Back Story.

Each episode has a non linear story line structure; flipping backwards and returning to the present day, bringing information about each individual cell inmate to the fore.

A defining moment for scary prison cook Red is framed nicely for us, as we see in flashback her chagrin at being rejected from her tight-knit Ukrainian female walking group.

We are told, that Piper likes keeping clean. The present day image of her in the shower in prison cuts quickly to two flashbacks (one flashback further back in time than the other) here Piper is getting clean; one with a woman in a shower (whom we don’t know yet) and the second with her established boyfriend in a bath. The fact that she likes being clean is obviously secondary to the fact that her sexual orientation is intentionally being kept unclear.

Examples of a ‘jag points’ or moments in a story line

Jag points add texture to a character’s story line and also to the scene in which the story sits at this given point:

Celia in Last Tango In Halifax ignores the presence of her grandson as she shares personal information about her dead husband to her daughter Caroline. The fact that she does this is not alluded to in the dialogue, it is just there, in the scene, for us to note and from which draw a conclusion.

Piper’s friend worries that Piper will not be able to keep her eyebrows shapely in prison. This is both flippant, but also intentionally telling about her present high maintenance life and friends.

These ‘jag points’ are not new acts, or plot twists, they are moments that add detail, they add layering and they add complexity and clever television writers use them all the time.

The milestones in an episode mark the big changes in your story line. They add weight and they will stretch your story line too. Here the plot goes off at a tangent for a good many scenes, or turns back on itself and we go to flashback, or we jump in time and the story line becomes non linear  and jumps between time frames.

Story Milestones mark something changing, something ending, something beginning. They mark the journey of your protagonist(s) as clearly as the moments (those smaller, jagging points in the story line) mark that journey with texture.

Examples of a Story Milestone

The Syndicate – Kay Mellor.

When the Syndicate wins  the lottery, this is their first milestone (and is also the jumping off point/The Inciting Incident for the series.)

In Happy Valley, the moment Tommy learns where Ryan lives. In Catherine’s house. This changes everything.

Each episode of television needs to have a story line  that delivers:

* At multi-act format

* A story line that contains multi plot  twists

* A story line that contains big milestones of change, deviation and revelation

* A story line that is peppered with moments of interest, observation, reflection and suggestion.

That way, you ensure you have created a story line that can carry. A story line that has ‘legs’.

Back to Part One

I hope you enjoyed Yvonne’s guest posting. If so, please post a comment or question. And if you want to write for television and learn more; there are a few ways Yvonne can help you:

Check out her website

Like her business page on facebook

Join her excellent group on facebook

Buy her book: Writing for Television; Series Serials and Soaps from Amazon

Follow her on Twitter: @YVONNEGRACE1

STORY STRUCTURE – STORY LEGS – HOW TO CREATE THEM

Here I am: on Charles Harris’ blog:

Today we have the first of a fascinating two-part post from guest blogger Yvonne Grace on story structure for TV series and serials, Creating Story Legs. Yvonne is an experienced writer, script editor and producer of TV series and serials, and the author of a brand new book on writing TV series – details of the book and her own sites at the end of the blog. 

Everyone has a story. Whether you believe your story is mapped out at birth – by a higher Deity; God. The Universe. Your Mum. Or if you believe you are in control of your own personal life path; so it begins when you take your first breath and every thing that happens to you and every choice you make alters and changes that life path as you go through your days, Season by Season.

Whether you control this or Madam Betty or Jesus or Jiminy Cricket – it matters not in my analysis here because I can say categorically that there is a beginning, there will be a mid point and you will have your ending. You will ultimately get there. To that end point. To the point where you (unless you have a sudden death – which is a no no in a writer’s opinion, as this does not leave room for reflection and sage reminiscences) where you – get to say a few sage reminiscences, or maybe emit a line or two from your heart which may go viral – later – when you won’t care and may well be circumnavigating the globe as a gas.

Everyone that has been and gone before us shows us – the story tellers of the now, that there is a path to be trod. The beginning, the middle and the end. And that is called the 3 act structure. In most screenwriters’ parlance. But that is too simple for us television types.

We do not, as a rule, hold with the restrictive 3 act structure mantra.

We like things much messier than that.

Episodic television often has a multi-act structure. Anything from five acts upwards; depending on the length of format (30/60/90 mins).

Plot Twists and the Penultimate Out Point.

In television it is often easier to think of splitting your story line into the bigger act chunks (say 5 for the sake of argument) and then dig into each act giving at least 3 twists per act. Then at the mid point of your act structure (act 2/3) there are a couple more plot twists, and by the 4th and 5th act, your storyline will begin to feel properly expanded, explored and layered. In the final act, you will come to the Penultimate Scene before the End Scene.

Penultimate Out Points are very important in television – writers need to plot and plan the lead up to The Out Point – or end. The scene before the final scene is often just as compelling as the end scene itself. It feeds the final scene. It leads us there.

Example of a Plot Twist;

Last Tango In Halifax by Sally Wainwright

Caroline, the professional, slightly icy, permanently preoccupied 40 something mum, is, in the mind of the audience, a character that knows exactly what she is doing from the minute she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed. Her story is one of control and also having to be the coping grown up adult. Not least because her marriage is a failing shambles; largely due to her failing, shambolic estranged husband.

So when we see her drop her guard and in fact fall in love with someone it is a surprise and doubly so because the person she falls for is female. Ball breaking Caroline we expected. Lesbian Caroline who has to learn to let go, we did not.

Example of a Penultimate Out Point;

Happy Valley (again co-incidentally, penned by Sally)

The scene which leads us to the long-awaited confrontation in the narrow boat between Catherine the beleaguered, take no prisoners Cop/Grandmother, her vulnerable grandson Ryan and the psychopath Tommy, is an exterior of that volatile, tense internal scene, shot in the boat, where Catherine attacks Tommy and rescues Ryan from his clutches.

This ultimate confrontation is set up subtly by Sally. Catherine, the Cop and her long suffering sister Clare, rush down the steps to the canal path below. Clare tries to slow Catherine down; she doesn’t want her rushing in where angels fear to tread. Catherine couldn’t care less. They both stumble and fall. Catherine hurts her still bandaged arm. It looks bad. This scene sets up the preconception that things could only now, go from bad to worse.

The Story Necklace, Moments, Milestones and Back Story

Across the Series or Serial (The Long Form Format), writers creating story legs for their storylines need to think in the following way;

Firstly, that your storyline – the main throughline of the series you are writing – otherwise known as the Serial Story Arc, is a string on which you hang the beads of each separate episode in the serial as a whole.

Example of Series Story Arc

The Series Story Arc is that which is summed up in the logline, or selling paragraph of a series idea; it is what the drama (enfolding over a number of episodes) is actually about.

Orange is the New Black:

Piper Chapman’s wild past comes back to haunt her, resulting in her arrest and detention in a federal penitentiary. To pay her debt to society, Piper trades her comfortable New York life for an orange prison jumpsuit and finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates.

There is a shape to each episode, set by the tone and style of the Serial Story Arc. Each episode reflects that story and the style of writing within it. Also, each episode is defined by the characters within and the stories they push and develop through the episodes.

In this way, each episode gives the Series or Serial as a whole, a cohesive, ‘branded’ quality that reflects both the creative, dramatic intention of the Producers, but also the expectation of the audience. (And so, this cohesive product, is delivered to the right demographic who accept it willingly, and expect more).

Secondly, that within your Long From Format, each episode also has a strong narrative throughline that pertains purely to that episode. This is often called The Story Of The Week. This story is introduced and resolved in each episode. The serial element of the format being carried by the core returning cast. And this serial element is what links each episodic ‘bead’ to the next one.

Example of a Long Form Format show with a story of the week structure:

Taken from the BBC website, here is a précis of a Doctors episode. To illustrate the A and B story line point, I have split their logline into two.

The A story: After discovering their shocking secret, Niamh faces a race against time to save the lives of three young men.

The B story: Karen rediscovers her fearsome maternal instinct.

Not all Series and Serials have a story of the week format. Broadchurch, for instance, does not. The Serial Story Arc; the search for the killer of the dead boy found in Ep1, forms the backbone to this show. But each episode does rest and focus for longer, on the particular players in this story of a community torn apart by a child murder.

In this way, each week we have an A story that focuses on the motivations/actions of for example, DCI Ellie Miller. The next instalment’s A story line is focused on that which drives DCI Alec Hardy.

In each Long Form Format show, there will also be a sister story line that runs parallel and concurrent with the A story line, so for example, we see how Alec Hardy’s behaviour affects and influences Ellie in a B story.

A smaller, less significant but non the less colourful story line will under pin ‘the big guys’ (the A and the B) and form the C story line. In a series like Holby City, or Doctors for example, this will often be a more comedic story line; one to add light to the darker elements of the episode.

To be continued in Part Two…

If you want to write for television and learn more; there are a few ways Yvonne can help you:

Check out her website

Like her business page on facebook

Join her excellent group on facebook

Buy her book: Writing for Television; Series Serials and Soaps from Amazon

Follow her on Twitter: @YVONNEGRACE1