creative essentials CE Writing for TV.indd 1 4/23/14 3:09 PM YVONNE GRACE WRITING FOR TELEVISION: SERIES, SERIALS AND SOAPS creative essentials CE Writing for TV.indd 2 4/23/14 3:09 PM YVONNE GRACE WRITING FOR TELEVISION: SERIES, SERIALS AND SOAPS creative essentials CE Writing for TV.indd 3 4/23/14 3:09 PM First published in 2014 by Kamera Books, an imprint of Oldcastle Books, PO Box 394, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 1XJ www.kamerabooks.com Copyright © Yvonne Grace 2014 Series Editor: Hannah Patterson Editor: Anne Hudson The right of Yvonne Grace to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the publishers. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-84344-337-7 (print) 978-1-84344-338-4 (epub) 978-1-84344-339-1 (kindle) 978-1-84344-340-7 (pdf) 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Typeset by Elsa Mathern in Franklin Gothic 9 pt Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4YY CE Writing for TV.indd 4 4/23/14 3:09 PM To my dad. For all those Sunday dinner times; plates empty, we'd play 'Family Dictionary' – he'd get the book out – we'd all have to guess the word he was describing. To my mum. For cooking all those Sunday dinners. CE Writing for TV.indd 5 4/23/14 3:09 PM CE Writing for TV.indd 6 4/23/14 3:09 PM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the people who have influenced, helped, encouraged and inspired me along my career path: Helen Greaves: for giving me my script editing break on EastEnders. Hilary Salmon: for inspiring me, at the BBC, to work with writers. Clive Brill: for allowing me creative reign as a development script editor at the BBC. Tony Wood: for giving me my introduction to the Granada Television powerhouse. Carolyn Reynolds: for teaching me how to be both creatively and commercially minded within ITV drama. Russell T Davies: for teaching me how to construct, control and handle a storyline. Kieran Roberts: for showing me how to be a good producer and believing in me. Mal Young: for giving me responsibility, and then letting me lead, on the second series of Holby City. Jonathan Powell: for showing me how to tackle the job of executive producer. Here’s to the writers that I have had the pleasure of working with and learning from: Tony McHale, Tony Jordan, Russell T Davies, Joe Turner, Sally Wainwright, Cath Hayes, Ashley Pharoah, Matthew Graham, Jeff Povey, Julie Rutterford, Jan McVerry, Jonathan Harvey. And those that inspire and entertain me with their work: Lucy Gannon, Barbara Machin, Kay Mellor, Paul Abbott, Heidi Thomas, Ruth Jones, Chris Chibnall, Toby Whithouse, Bryan Elsley. CE Writing for TV.indd 7 4/23/14 3:09 PM Thanks to William Gallagher for giving me the idea of writing a book about television writing in the first place, and then reading my early drafts. And a special thanks to Jeff Povey, Debbie Moon, Glen Laker, Pete Lawson, Damon Rochefort, Lisa Holdsworth, Sally Abbott and Robert Goldsborough for their time and for sharing their television writing experiences with me. CE Writing for TV.indd 8 4/23/14 3:09 PM CONTENTS Introduction .............................................................. 11 HOW IT ALL STARTED ................................................... 13 KEY PEOPLE TO KNOW IN TELEVISION – AND WHO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU ......................... 17 AGENTS: WHERE TO FIND THEM AND WHAT THEY SHOULD DO FOR YOU ... 23 THE DNA OF A TELEVISION WRITER .................................. 29 THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BE A TELEVISION WRITER .............. 37 BE A STORY CONTROL FREAK ......................................... 47 IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STORY ............................................ 53 AND IT'S ALSO ALL ABOUT THE STORYLINE ......................... 57 THE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SCRIPT EDITOR .................... 65 DEVELOPMENT: EMBRACING THE ZEITGEIST ........................ 69 WORKING WITH DOCUMENTS ......................................... 79 MISTAKES TELEVISION WRITERS MAKE ............................. 85 WRITING UNDER COMMISSION ....................................... 89 STAY POSITIVE ........................................................... 95 TELEVISION WRITERS TALK ABOUT TELEVISION WRITING ......... 99 THE BBC SHADOW SCHEME, WITH GLEN LAKER ................... 115 YOUR STORY, ON TELEVISION – TALKING WITH DEBBIE MOON ... 121 THE CONTINUING FORMAT: WHAT IT TEACHES WRITERS .......... 127 MY EVERGREEN LIST FOR TELEVISION WRITERS ................... 131 CE Writing for TV.indd 9 4/23/14 3:09 PM