Sunday
Jul042010
Making a good script greater – the answer is Linda Seger
July 4, 2010
It has been an interesting few months (you know the Chinese curse – may you live in interesting times?) in which INNOCENT, the film I exec produced, was completed against the clock (accepted for the National Arts Festival in SA) and without the money to pay for it. The Festival was amazing! Don’t ask but do check the website www.innocentthefilm.com.
Having decided that the scope for new writers, especially writing television drama, was contracting I started taking on book writers at about the same time as the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, which caused publishers to cut back on their lists just as the broadcasters had cut back on the number of soap and series slots that were available (Brookside, Family Affairs, Crossroads, The Bill). So like others in the industry, we are all having to run in order to keep walking.
Then the WGGB had the drama luminaries from the BBC for a session and while the BBC does produce some outstanding drama, it would appear that more of it is being written by fewer writers.
The BBC Writers Academy is an excellent idea for the BBC and for the writers who are fast-tracked. But there is a problem rising rapidly that confronts all of us who write or work with writers: it is a question of supply and demand. The Academy writers get a significant number of episodes at the same time as the film schools and universities are turning out increasing numbers of graduate scriptwriters looking for works, fuelled by Skillset’s own Academies.
There are too many people trying to get work as writers; agencies are reeling under the weight of submissions; so I suppose are the broadcasters? What can writers do to overcome the problems (and the competition)? Five ideas come to mind:
1. Make sure you have some talent. This is boring but helpful since if you find that you do not you can ignore the next four points.
2. Choose the right genre and stories to write: too many writers either indulge in semi-autobiographical backstories or write in the genre they like reading or watching even if they have no real talent for it. What are you best at?
3. Do you need the discipline and networking camaraderie of a degree course? Not all writers do and some degree courses are better than others. But for many the right degree is a serious advantage if only you knew which course was right for you.
4. The wonderful Cheltenham Screenwriters’ Festivals will not take place this year so whether you went or not, don’t miss the new scriptwriting festival in London at the end of October. It will be three days of very intensive networking and expertise that should help you answer some of the questions above. www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com
5. If you don’t want to wait that long you can do something about it this coming weekend. In a rare and very welcome visit, Linda Seger will be doing one workshop in London on Saturday. Linda has an extraordinary clarity in the way she enables writers to see how to make good scripts better or good characters great. Her approach tends to be more psychologically-based than structurally-based and when I first heard Linda teach and read her books it was as if much suddenly became clearer. You will get a great deal from a day with Linda and you could find the answers that will make a difference in the very competitive world we are all in. Even better news, the costs are far lower than usual for someone as significant as Linda!! Don’t miss it. http://gettingitoffmychest.co.uk/making-a-good-script-great/
Having decided that the scope for new writers, especially writing television drama, was contracting I started taking on book writers at about the same time as the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, which caused publishers to cut back on their lists just as the broadcasters had cut back on the number of soap and series slots that were available (Brookside, Family Affairs, Crossroads, The Bill). So like others in the industry, we are all having to run in order to keep walking.
Then the WGGB had the drama luminaries from the BBC for a session and while the BBC does produce some outstanding drama, it would appear that more of it is being written by fewer writers.
The BBC Writers Academy is an excellent idea for the BBC and for the writers who are fast-tracked. But there is a problem rising rapidly that confronts all of us who write or work with writers: it is a question of supply and demand. The Academy writers get a significant number of episodes at the same time as the film schools and universities are turning out increasing numbers of graduate scriptwriters looking for works, fuelled by Skillset’s own Academies.
There are too many people trying to get work as writers; agencies are reeling under the weight of submissions; so I suppose are the broadcasters? What can writers do to overcome the problems (and the competition)? Five ideas come to mind:
1. Make sure you have some talent. This is boring but helpful since if you find that you do not you can ignore the next four points.
2. Choose the right genre and stories to write: too many writers either indulge in semi-autobiographical backstories or write in the genre they like reading or watching even if they have no real talent for it. What are you best at?
3. Do you need the discipline and networking camaraderie of a degree course? Not all writers do and some degree courses are better than others. But for many the right degree is a serious advantage if only you knew which course was right for you.
4. The wonderful Cheltenham Screenwriters’ Festivals will not take place this year so whether you went or not, don’t miss the new scriptwriting festival in London at the end of October. It will be three days of very intensive networking and expertise that should help you answer some of the questions above. www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com
5. If you don’t want to wait that long you can do something about it this coming weekend. In a rare and very welcome visit, Linda Seger will be doing one workshop in London on Saturday. Linda has an extraordinary clarity in the way she enables writers to see how to make good scripts better or good characters great. Her approach tends to be more psychologically-based than structurally-based and when I first heard Linda teach and read her books it was as if much suddenly became clearer. You will get a great deal from a day with Linda and you could find the answers that will make a difference in the very competitive world we are all in. Even better news, the costs are far lower than usual for someone as significant as Linda!! Don’t miss it. http://gettingitoffmychest.co.uk/making-a-good-script-great/
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