Writing Television Drama
Nicholas Gibbs
This book is dedicated to my fellow writers Natalie Cheary, Paul Fleming and Carol Kearney.
It is also dedicated to my family, Gaynor, Stevanie and Skye.
And finally it is dedicated to all those writers who write or want to write television drama.
Writing Television Drama
Nicholas Gibbs
Acknowledgements and credits
First I would like to thank everyone in the television drama industry who advised me and provided me with information during the writing of this book including Paul Ashton (BBC Writersroom), Caryl Benee (ITV), Laura Brown (BBC), Natalie Cheary, Rachelle Constant (BBC), Victoria Fea (ITV), Amy Gill (Red Productions), Eleanor Goldwin (BBC), Simon Harper (BBC/Holby City), Lucy Hay (Bang2write), Estelle Hind (ITV), Lisa Holdsworth, Francis Hopkinson (ITV Studios), Charlotte Jones, Tony Jordan (Red Planet), Bryan Kirkwood, Nicola Larder, Beth Levison (BBC), Hayley McKenzie, Marc Pye, Lisa Regan (Lime Pictures), Jenny Robins, Leah Schmidt, Emma Smithwick (Lime Pictures), Ben Stephenson (BBC), Ben Stoll (Channel 4), Sally Wainwright and Kirsten Wardlaw (ITV), plus the many more who have chipped in and helped facilitate research and interviews.
The author and publisher would like to thank the following companies for permission to print the following extracts:
Figure 6.1: From the pilot episode of Harry’s Law © Bonanza Productions Inc.
Figure 7.1: From Hustle, Series 1, Episode 1 © Kudos Film and Television
Figures 10.1 and 10.2: From ‘The Flasher’, episode of The Street © ITV Granada
Figure 10.3: From ‘The Socrates Method’, episode of House © Universal Television
Figure 10.4: From Hustle, Series 1, Episode 1 © Kudos Film and TV
Figures 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3: From ‘Left Field’, episode of New Tricks © Wall to Wall
Contents
Meet the author
Introduction
1 What is a script?
Physical elements of a script
The script layout: on the page
Script elements
2 Television drama formats
3 What is a spec script?
Be original
Writing time and space
Industry interview 1: the script reader
4 Preparing the script
The idea
The logline
The title
Industry interview 2: the script editor
5 Creating characters
The protagonist
Introducing characters
Wants
Needs
6 Dialogue
All dialogue is lies
Speech patterns
Verbal ticks and context
The voice of the show
Industry interview 3: the scriptwriter (i)
7 Creating a world
8 Structure
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
9 The story
Industry interview 4: the scriptwriter (ii)
10 Storytelling techniques
Dramatic tension
Everything happens for a reason
Plot twists
Exposition
11 The scene
The basics
How long should a scene be?
Scene description
Scene action
Industry interview 5: the scriptwriter (iii)
12 Writer’s block
13 The outline
14 Rewriting
Look at your script from every angle
Now rewrite… and rewrite
Script feedback
Finally…
Industry interview 6: the scriptwriter (iv)
15 Where to send your script
BBC Writersroom
Competitions and other scriptwriting initiatives
Agents and literary managers
Industry interview 7: the executive producer
16 Continuing drama
Coronation Street
Doctors
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks
Casualty
Holby City
17 The broadcasters
The BBC
ITV
Channel 4
Sky
18 TV scriptwriting in the United States
Overview
US broadcasters
Taking it further
Glossary
Meet the author
Welcome to Writing Television Drama!
Fellow writers, I have felt your pain and your frustration. I have experienced script readers read the same script where one has praised and loved the beautifully executed characterization and another has said the characterization wasn’t rounded enough! I have been long-listed, short-listed, not even listed (for the same piece of work). I have had scripts championed by producers. I have had projects miss out through timing, budgets and the very system itself! So has every credited writer whose work ends up on screen.
I am a writer and BBC-trained script editor who is asked to read and provide feedback for scripts. I get asked to run scriptwriting workshops and do the occasional lecture on the subject. I love stories and always have done – from writing my very first tale about astronauts meeting dragons on the Moon at the age of six to my more recent forays into journalism, theatre and radio. My first love, though, is television drama and the people who want to and do make it.
I hope this book is useful to you, the writer.
Nicholas Gibbs
May 2012
Introduction
Everyone loves stories. Everyone loves stories told on television – from the wonder of the childhood years through the rebellious teen stories to the ‘big themes’ as the world opens up to adulthood. These are stories that tell us about lives beyond the walls of our home, our street, our town, our nation, our planet, our time or even our universe.
All stories, all dramas, tell us something about the human condition. About what man was, what man is, what man will be, what man could be. From gritty social dramas such as Jimmy McGovern’s Accused, to the splendour of Julian Fellowes’ Downtown Abbey, the comic fantasy of Toby Whithouse’s Being Human, and the intensity of Neil Cross’s Luther.
We root for the cops and private detectives that seek to solve crime in their own inimitable way from the marvellously reimagined Sherlock to the old school of New Tricks. We delve into lives of the medical profession in shows such as Monroe and Casualty.
Casualty, of course, is what the industry terms a ‘continuing drama’ series. The ultimate continuing drama series is one that has seen more than half a century of stories told about the residents of a little fictitious road in the northern English city of Manchester called Coronation Street.
From the United States, we see the cream of American television that elevates the drama bar even higher, with shows such as House, about a maverick genius doctor who solves difficult medical cases; Dexter, where our hero is a serial killer; Ugly Betty, about the girl who dreams of being a writer; and Battlestar Galactica, a space opera about mankind in the universe.
These are the shows that have set the bar and with which you, the new upcoming scriptwriter, has to compete – compete with your unique voice, your unique story and your distinctive characters and through a standout good-quality script that has to impress people within the industry.
Aside from the established writers – some of whom are mentioned above – you are also competing against all the other newbie writers. The BBC Writersroom alone receives more than 10,000 speculative scripts a year. The Writers Guild of America registers around 50,000 television
and film scripts per year.
This book is designed to help you write the best possible script that you can before you send it off to people within the industry. Within these pages there will be insights from writers as well as interviews with the people you will have to impress with your script – from script readers to commissioners and all points in between. We will reference helpful resources to which you can turn for extra information and advice.
We will also examine the various avenues that are available to get you noticed as a writer – whether you are a novice or someone who has found their ambition stalled. In the second half of the book we will take a snapshot of the industry as it is today and the opportunities available.
There are two elements, however, about which I cannot make any promises, and these are luck and timing. No matter how good your script is, you need both these things. Even established writers need these two elements to coincide for their next project to happen. However, if these two ‘gods’ do their bit for you, let’s make sure that you have your work in the best place it can be.
You do need a completed script and in all probability a second completed script and loads of ideas. An unfinished script is of no help or interest to anyone.
Scriptwriting is not an easy task. What you are aiming to do is to create and present a piece of work of high quality and potential. It will require perseverance and resilience because the road is a tough one. As a minimum, you have got to like your own company and, more importantly, enjoy the actual process of writing. The more you do, the better you will get at it.
Good luck!
‘Be dedicated, write regularly, see as many films and as much TV as possible and above all finish something.’
Adrian Hodges, writer (Primeval, Rome, Survivors)
1
What is a script?
In this chapter you will learn:
• how to present a television script
• about the basic elements that make up a script on the page
• that scriptwriting software can save writers a lot of time.
To a writer a script is the encapsulation of all their hopes and dreams, something that tells a moving-picture story of wonder, emotion and excitement. Your script is a creative endeavour in which you have made a deep emotional investment and whose passion you hope to convey to others.
For those in the industry, however, a script is an instruction manual. An instruction manual for producers, directors, actors, costume designers, composers and so forth on how to turn your £2.50 worth of printed paper into a multimillion pound/dollar/euro drama for television. Or, in the case of the spec script (aka sample script), something to get you noticed.
Physical elements of a script
So what are the physical elements of a television script? First of all, scripts come in an A4-page layout (width 210mm × length 297mm). The pages of the script are bound together using a Twinlock fastener – which is essentially a two-piece fastener which holds a double hole-punched set of papers together. The fastener is positioned on the left side of the script. These types of fasteners are available from stationery shops.
Font
The industry accepted choice of font for your script is Courier 12 point. On no account use any other font no matter how flashy or pretty the font is. Do not use any point size higher or lower than 12. And please, don’t send your script in handwritten. Think about the people who have to read your script. Don’t make it hard for them. Later in the production process – if it gets that far – a timing estimate for your script, for each scene and so forth, will need to be made and using Courier 12 point on A4 makes those timings universal.
The script layout: on the page
The script format presented here is a generic one and will be what is expected for your original script. Individual shows (and established writers) have their own script foibles while things such as continuing drama such as EastEnders and Coronation Street have a different layout for production reasons.
MARGINS
The left margin should be positioned 27mm from the edge of the paper.
The right margin should be positioned 25mm from the edge of the paper.
THE HEADER
The header, which should appear at the top of every page, should include:
your title
the episode title (if applicable)
the page number (at the far right).
For example:
THE FADES: Episode One 1.
Or
RINGER: Pilot 1.
The header will, of course, also appear as the introductory heading on the first page of your script (see Figure 1.1).
Script elements
The basic elements of the script are:
scene heading
action/description
character
dialogue.
1 SCENE HEADING
The scene heading, also known as a slug line, marks up the start of a new scene and a change in place and/or time of your story. Generally the scene heading, which is written all in capitals, needs to contain three pieces of key information:
1 Whether the scene is an interior (INT.) or exterior (EXT.) – that is, whether the scene takes place inside or outside.
2 In what location the scene takes place. For example:
if it is an Exterior, it may be something such as a house or street or car park or forest;
if the scene is an Interior, it may take place in a workplace or house or sports club or car.
If it is inside a particular building you may need to identify a certain room within the building. For example, in a house a scene may take place in the living room, or kitchen, or bedroom. In a workplace it may be in someone’s office.
3 The time of day – usually depicted simply as DAY or NIGHT. Sometimes the nature of a script may require more specific times, say, if there is a countdown involved or the time of day is important (although this type of specific information can also sometimes be conveyed in the action/description – see below).
Below are two examples of scene headings:
EXT. ADAM’S FLAT – DAY
INT. ADAM’S FLAT: KITCHEN – NIGHT
There are variations on this, but essentially you want a clear, succinct heading.
2 ACTION/DESCRIPTION
The scene action and scene description are written below the scene heading or between dialogues. It is written in normal (non-capitalized) type, starting at the left margin, and in non-justified paragraphs.
For example:
EXT. THE STREET – NIGHT
Brian and Ann walk down the street. Chris and Stella enter their house on the other side of the street and wave goodnight.
3 CHARACTER
The character element refers to the name of a character written above each piece of dialogue they speak. The character names are written in capital letters and are positioned 88mm from the left edge of the paper.
4 DIALOGUE
Dialogue is the words that your characters speak. The words are in normal, left-justified type and start 56mm from the edge of the paper written below the character name. In any physical line of dialogue there should be no more than 35 characters (including punctuation and spaces between words) before continuing on the next line.
As with all the elements above no justified text is used. For example:
NICHOLAS
Remember that scriptwriting is fun.
Don’t do it if you don’t enjoy it.
Figure 1.1 shows you how a couple of pages of script should look, though remember the actual script should be A4 size. Look at the BBC Writersroom website or any copy of a script for more examples.
Figure 1.1 Sample pages from a television drama script
There are other elements of the script that may be utilized and we will look at them (and how to use them) later in the book. We shall also return to location, action, description, character and dialogue in more detail and how to use them.
It is important to emphasize that your script
layout must be correct. Script readers – the first port of call for your spec script – are predisposed to say no, and an incorrect or poor layout could result in your work not even being read. The best recommendation is to purchase scriptwriting software that takes the pain out of the formatting process and allows you to concentrate on the all-important content of your script.
‘I once worked for an agent who told me to reject any script that wasn’t formatted properly. I said that we might be missing a gem. The agent told me: “Don’t worry, so will everyone else.” ’
Lucy V. Hay, Bang2Write, Script Reader
Electronic scripts
Electronic versions of your script (rather than a hard paper copy) may also sometimes be submitted using industry software such as Final Draft or as a PDF file or Word file. Make sure, however, the script format is adhered to. Final Draft and similar software packages do all the above automatically and save a great deal of time, and so are well worth the investment.
Key advice
Always use 12 point Courier as your font.
Scripts should be printed on A4 paper.
Buy Final Draft or similar scriptwriting software.
Print on one side of the paper only.
Use Twinlock fasteners to bind your script.
Do not use fancy fonts or fancy covers.
2
Television drama formats
In this chapter you will learn:
• about the main drama formats found on UK and US channels
• that writing to fit such formats is not only vital but creatively useful.
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