Nutty Natter Chatter

Script Reader Gripes: #2 A little goes a long way.

2011-08-02T13:28:00.005+01:00

Sometimes in life it is the little things that matter - cream with strawberries, your boyfriend emptying the cat litter tray, your mate making you a cup of tea while you're in the middle of Donkey Kong Country about to beat the evil dancing pirate crabs. The thing is, sadly it is easy to get complacent and take the little things for granted until the one day they aren't there; you get put off your strawberries after digging through cat poo and in the mean time your monkey has been pinched to death by the crab pirates.

So I'm wibbering on (this is unusual how? Cheeky!) and you are wondering what cat poo has to do with scripts. Often in scripts the little things get over-looked but when you add them all up those little things become big fat hair-pulling things of super annoyance. This is my own personal list of 'little things' that get in the way when reading scripts. You may have written the best script the world has ever seen, so please don't blight it with the following...

1) NAMES IN DIALOGUE
I'm starting with my biggest 'small things' gripe; character names in dialogue. Obviously sometimes you need to have a character name in your dialogue but please don't over do it! The more you use names in your dialogue the more contrite and unrealistic your dialogue sounds;

Dan: Oh Mary, will you ever forgive me? I'm still the same Dan you fell in love with.
Mary: I don't know Dan, so much has happened.
Dan: It's not my fault Mary, your sister came on to me.
Mary: (upset) Dan shut up! I can't take this.
Dan: Please Mary, listen to me.
Mary: I've heard enough Dan. You won't change, you don't know how.
Mary grabs her coat and goes to exit.
Dan: Mary, Mary, Mary wait. I love you.
Mary: (pained) I'm sorry. I can't love you Dan. I can't.

Re- read that without all the names:

Dan: Will you ever forgive me? I'm still the same man you fell in love with.
Mary: I don't know, so much has happened.
Dan: It's not my fault your sister came on to me.
Mary: (upset) Shut up! I can't take this.
Dan: Please, listen to me.
Mary: I've heard enough. You won't change, you don't know how.
Mary grabs her coat and goes to exit.
Dan: Wait. I love you.
Mary: (pained) I'm sorry. I can't love you. I can't.

It's not the best dialogue ever written I know, but it makes such a difference not having the names in there don't you think? It feels more realistic, has more weight to it and its much easier to read because it flows. Just take a quick look at how many times you have a character name in your dialogue and ask yourself if it adds anything and if you really need it. Can you use a stage direction or an action to point towards a particular character instead?

2) SOMETHING LIKE THIS BUT BETTER.
This is an actual line I once read in a script, it was put in brackets underneath a line of dialogue that had some police jargon in it. Hey, if you can't be bothered to write lines of dialogue you like, don't expect me to write it for you! Although this is a more extreme example, this throw-away attitude to lines of dialogue or stage directions is more common than you might think. Its a small thing and it might just be me, but when I read things like:

DAN PICKS SOMETHING OUT OF A DRAW, IT MAKES HIM SMILE, A NICE MEMORY. HE HEARS A NOISE AND QUICKLY PUTS IT BACK.

I want to know what that 'something' is! Is it a photo? Of what? What does the photo reveal about character? Dan's back-story? Is the 'something' an item? Perhaps a medal that tells us Dan is a proud person and has positive memories of a particular time in his life that he harks back to. WHAT IS IT? TELL ME! And if you don't know or don't care what it is - then cut it.

The old lady wanted something like this to get about in, but better.

3) FORMATTING AND SPELLING
Ah yes, the classic. Lots of sites talk about the importance of formatting and spelling and we all know how relevant it is to get this right so I won't bang on about it too much here. Just to say that despite everyone seemingly knowing the rules, scripts still come through full of spelling mistakes and horrible formatting errors. A script reader has to read a lot of scripts - your eyes cross at the best of times but when lines of dialogue are all over the place and teh speleing taks a lott of consitration ot reed it, it becomes more of a chore than a pleasant reading experience. The only thing worse than bad spelling is repeated bad spelling of the same word.

If only they had.

Also, I never find the spell checker in Final Draft very reliable and so I always get someone else to read the script when its finished. They don't have to be a writer, they just have to be good at spelling!

4) JUST REALLY VERY WELL
Along the same lines as having character names in dialogue...

Dan: I'm really very very sorry. It's just that... well, how can I explain this. When you use too many just really very well words in a sentence it just, well, can get very annoying. Really they could all just be cut out of the sentence and then the dialogue would read just really very well.

The zip worked just really very well.

You get my drift. Only use these extra descriptive words when you really (*snigger) need them to add emphasis. Otherwise consider cutting them or find a better word that is more suited to your character perhaps. There are other words that could be added to these four and some writers tend to have a word that they overuse, their own personal version of 'just really very well'. Keep your eyes peeled on that final read through, that's all I ask.

Those are my list of the little things - the things that pull me out of the world you've worked so hard to create. These things aren't deal breakers but add them all up, pay them a bit of attention and you will help make the lives of anyone who is reading your script that bit easier. :) Now, how do you like your tea?

Keep writing, reading and eating strawberries with cream.
@NuttyNatter

Script Reader Gripes: #1 What does your character want? Apart from a re-write.

2011-06-20T10:41:00.000+01:00

Ask any script reader and if they are being honest they will tell you that the majority of scripts they read are poor (read like first drafts and by page ten the reader wishes they had been good at maths at school), the rest are average (readable, competent but dull) and the small minority are works of genius. Script readers read a lot and they can go months without reading a script that stands out; in this time the script reader becomes a frustrated angry person to be around - just ask my boyfriend and he will confirm this.

Get a group of script readers together and it doesn't take long for the gripes to come pouring out; as a rule script readers are solitary creatures so it's always fun to share the voices in your head with fellow readers who understand your pain. Before the writers among you see us script readers as the enemy and a whiny bunch at that, remember this - as a writer you should also be a script reader. If you don't read and analyse other peoples' scripts, (whether you are getting paid or not) you are doing yourself a serious injustice.

You can learn from the good scripts but I always think you can learn much more from the bad - and that is what these 'Script Reader Gripes' posts are going to aim to achieve; an insight into the lessons that can be learnt from years spent reading those bad/average scripts.

#1 WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT? APART FROM A RE-WRITE.

The classic 'All good stories start with character' is true. Which is why it is extra-frustrating when the majority of scripts I read suffer from being event-led and not character-driven, but what does 'event-led and not character-driven' even mean?

There is a big difference between a script that reads like a series of events and a script that is driven by its character making tough choices. An event led script is exactly that, it's when a character goes through a series of events and not much else; these events are often thrown in for shock value, you've seen them hundreds of times before and they feel like they have no real impact on the main character; car crash, bomb explosion, relationship ends, fight scenes etc: it can be anything you want that will look pretty when shot and feel dramatic (deceptively so) ... an on-the-nose example of this is as follows:

EVENT LED: Ben lives at home with sexy wife and young kid, his wife is angry at him for spending all his time at work. Ben goes to work as a police officer, he catches a criminal, gets in to a fight, the criminal escapes via helicopter, Ben does a high speed car chase, he catches the criminal again, another fight, Ben discovers lots of drugs in criminal's den, arrests criminal, wins an award, goes home to happy sexy wife and kid - he is a hero. The end.

Lots of stuff going on but do you know who Ben is? Do you feel empathy for him when he gets in a fight? Do you want him to resolve his relationship with his wife? No, me neither, I couldn't give a rat's arse. Booorrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggggggg. The world is happening around Ben, Ben is not making the world happen around him. (And why are the wives always 'sexy' - that's another blog for another time...)

An exciting script to read (of any genre) is always a script that is character driven, where the character has decisions to make, these decisions have consequences and the stakes are high - the character has a lot to lose both materialistically and emotionally (you would be surprised how often the emotional stakes are forgotten). To write a script that is character driven is damn hard but absolutely imperative if you want your audience to feel empathy for your character. So how do you write a script that is character driven and not fall in to the events pit of doom? The best place to start is to ask yourself:

What does my character 'want'? Followed quickly by...
What does my character 'need'?

Look at these questions on both an external and an internal level: the external level is about the materialistic things the character wants and what the character actually needs to overcome to achieve their want/goal. The internal level is emotional and is what motivates them. The internal levels are the emotional qualities that the character needs to overcome if they are to achieve their goals - in my humble opinion the great scripts know how to work this internal level. For example, let's make up a character, hell, let's use Ben the police officer again, it's not like he's busy:

Character of Ben
EXTERNAL: Wants: a promotion. Needs: to catch a notorious criminal.

The want is your character's goal and their life desire - here Ben 'wants' a promotion, he 'needs' to catch a badass criminal if he is going to ever get his 'want'. The criminal is the obstacle, the promotion is the goal.

INTERNAL: Wants: love Needs: humility

Your character's internal wants and needs should oppose each other in some way. Here Ben wants to be loved, this is his motivation in life, he can't stand it when he thinks somebody doesn't love him and every decision he makes is based in his want to be loved. But sadly Ben will never fully achieve real love if he does not learn to conquer his 'need', in this case, humility. Ben could be arrogant, full of himself, prides himself on status - thinking these are the things that will get him love and he can't understand why it doesn't work - it doesn't work because he hasn't learnt what he really 'needs' to make himself a better person. If he 'wants' to find true love, he 'needs' to learn humility. There's a journey to be had here...

Now you can give your character some mighty obstacles to over come - let the story begin. You know what emotionally drives Ben and we are willing him to show a bit of humility but of course he never does. We see him struggle with himself in his quest for love that always fails - we empathise with Ben, we get behind a character when we know what they are emotionally struggling to overcome because as human beings we all deal with our own emotional good and bad points everyday too. We want Ben to find it in himself to swallow his pride, to take that leap of faith and do what comes hardest to him, we want him to learn something about himself so that he can lead a happier life. Most importantly - we feel we know who Ben is. You still have all of your car chases and fight scenes but now events will feel dramatically heightened because we want Ben to have a chance to learn humility so he can find love! We don't want Ben beaten to death so he never gets his chance at love - unless it's a tragedy.

Yes alright Debs, but what do you really need?

You can watch films and try and work out the character's external and internal wants and needs, look at people you know and write down theirs, write down your own! It's a simple starting point but you might be surprised where it will take you. I've lost count on the number of stories I've read that are based purely on a character's external wants and needs, completely lacking emotional drives of any kind. There are of course lots and lots of expert advice and web resources for character development and you should probably read all of them. But as an absolute basic remember...

If you don't know what your character wants, he needs a re-write.

Keep writing, reading and eating (in your face Jerry Springer)
@NuttyNatter

BBC Writers Academy 2011 - Full Reads

2011-05-31T18:02:00.001+01:00

Hello! Coffee to hand? Cafetiere none the less, check you with the saliva and the boogley eyes!

Last week I helped out with the BBC Writers Academy Full Reads process and a few people have been asking what happens next. So because my last 'blog' was a giant tweeting exercise, I have written down a bit about it here instead. Please bear in mind that I am a freelance script reader and for obvious reasons I cannot go in to individual details on scripts. It is a broad overview from my personal perspective, a snap shot and I hope that it helps give you a taste of the next stage. :) Here goes...

This year saw 156 writers get picked so far from 495 entries for the BBC Writers Academy 2011. With the overall standard feeling high this year it has been a tough competition, so congratulations to those that have made it this far. :) To those of you that were not fortunate enough this time round, you know what I'm going to say - keep writing! I guess when it comes to all competitions and writing opportunities like the WA, it can feel scary to feel like you are just a number, that a script you have put a piece of your soul in to is being judged and you are up against hundreds of other entries - but as someone who is about to send her own script out in to the world soon (*gulp) I look at it like this - rejection is a big part of the life of a writer and frankly the more doors you knock the more doors will open. I always think my job as a writer is to make that script the best it can be and get it front of people that matter. Darn hard! But often being a writer is more than just writing... as I am constantly learning! *eek!

Okay, back to script reading... The next stage sees every script have two full reads, by two different script readers/editors. This is the fairest and most effective method of marking the scripts. It is also the time when I hope that those first ten pages that got these scripts this far, really do pay off throughout the rest of the script! There is only one way to find out...

1) THE SCORE SHEET: Stapled to the front of every script is now a new sheet of paper; it has two columns on it - one for the first reader to put their marks and another for the second reader to put theirs. Unlike the ten page tick sheet in the initial sift, this sheet is much more detailed in its criteria and it really aims to break the script down so that by totalling the scores it becomes clear where the scripts strengths and weaknesses lie. Marks are scored out of 5 for each category and there are eight categories in total.

What is always interesting about this part of the sift, is that every year I trick myself in to thinking that full reads are going to be very difficult to mark-up; if the scripts got past the initial ten page read then they must all be really good, right? Wrong. Every very year I am surprised how once I get past those ten pages and delve deeper in to the story, the structure, the dialogue, the characters - how a brilliant script really shines out against a good/average script. One day, for example, I read eight scripts and I only really remember one of them thinking about it now. None of those eight scripts were particularly bad scripts, but one of them was brilliant. It hit me emotionally - it made me feel something. I scored it highly.

2) CRITERIA: You will not be surprised that the score sheet asks for what anyone of you would ask from a TV show, radio play, film or theatre piece that you are giving up time in your life to watch. There's no secret BBC conspiracy theories or extra special weird and wonderful requirements from your script. It is simply the basic requirements of all great scripts...

Is the dialogue naturalistic? Are the characters well defined? Does it have emotional appeal? Does it make you feel anything - from laughter in a comedy to scared in a horror? Does it have a defined narrative structure and pace? Does the writer have a distinctive voice? Did it keep your attention? Or were you bored and uninterested as the script went on?

I sit in a quiet room with a ticking clock and give the script a flat read. I get through the opening act and start to predict in my head where I think the story is going and who I think these characters are. I can hear the clock ticking. Will I be surprised? Will I be drawn in to the world? Will I want to read on to find out what happens? Does the dialogue grip me? I get to the second act; have I noticed the passing of time? Can I still hear the ticking of the clock? Are my thoughts drifting to coffee or am I now invested? When I turn over that last page in the final act, do I feel like I have just finished a chore or am I buzzing from just experiencing a journey with a character I could empathise with? I mark up the score sheet and move on to the next script... and the next one... and, you get the picture.

3) FINALLY: I am just one reader of many who has the job of getting 156 scripts down to 30 for the long-list. Scripts that have had their first read get passed on to another reader/editor for their second read. The totals are added up and the high scorers will get picked for the long-list. I can truly say I have read some great scripts this year, there are some fab writers out there among you and I wish you all the best of luck.

Now forget about all of this until you hear from the powers that be or you will drive yourself mad! ;)

Keep writing, reading and eating.
@NuttyNatter

BBC Writers Academy 2011 - The First 10 Pages

2011-05-28T16:09:00.002+01:00

So here is my first blog post, which strictly speaking isn't my first blog post. It belongs to the lovely Charlie Boddington (@CharlieWarley8 twitterers). A couple of weeks ago one fine sunny day, I thought I would post a couple of thoughts up on twitter about my Script Reader experiences with this year's BBC Writers Academy. A couple of thoughts. But before I knew it I'd typed an essay which Charlie copy and pasted in to a blog for me - and let me tell you, I was more than happy to let him do it!

The fact is, I've always felt that I could be doing better things with my time than writing blogs. Like many aspiring writers (by aspiring I mean making a full time living out of writing - the big dream) I too am trying to break in to writing and I always thought that time spent blogging could be put to better use. Like writing a script or writing up a storyline or washing up or playing with the cat or doing anything other than writing... Hmmmmm.

But, having been inspired by quite a few great bloggers of late I have crumbled and given in to blog land. So far it hasn't been too painful (HOW MANY TEMPLATES?!?!) but time will tell... So here is my not first blog post. Enjoy and be sure to follow http://charlieboddington.blogspot.com/ Take it away Charlie...

Script Reading for the BBC Drama Writers Academy with Katie B

The following post is an UNADULTERATED, UNCENSORED (you've got to sell it, haven't you?) twitter-feed stream from Katie B (follow her at @NuttyNatter) on her experience with reading for the BBC Drama Writers Academy applications. It's a truly fascinating and wonderfully simple list on what she found and provides a fascinating glimpse into what can make a script stand out from the rest of the pile.

So, with copy and paste at the ready, here goes nothing...

Been giving some thought about posting some thoughts and general observations I've had on this year's #writersacademy as a freelance reader. Bear in mind that I was 1 reader of ten and there were hundreds of scripts, so these thoughts are just a snap shot of the process. :)

1) Reading for the #writersacademy - day 1 is always a mix of excitement of dread, you know somewhere in giant pile of scripts are some very talented writers, but you also know that there will be a large amount of writers who have not yet reached their full potential and are not ready for the #writersacademy, and then there are the writers (thankfully in the minority) who write the kind of scripts that I want to hand over to the police - more about those scripts in a bit! It is as you would imagine, we sit down with a cup of tea, a biro and take a handful of scripts from a giant, alphabetised pile of entries. Each script has a tick sheet stapled to the front and we read the first ten pages only. I mark up the tick sheet and move on to the next script... for three days. It's intense and I always have crazy dreams when I go to bed that night - my head filled with the beginnings of loads of stories!

2) What do we look for? There are lots of good blogs about this on the BBC site, but ultimately in those first ten pages we look for strong dialogue - it flows, it jumps off the page, it's believable, natural sounding, witty, it's character driven and it is emotive. Dialogue, in my mind, is the most important thing. Of course it also needs to make sense and tell a story but when I read a script where the dialogue grabs me I am much more likely to tick those boxes and recommend it for a full read.

Am I interested enough to read on? - This is another big tick box for me. If in those first ten pages I am drawn in and want to read on then this is actually quite frustrating because I'm not allowed! :) There is in fact a tick box on the sheet especially for this.

Are the character's engaging? - There is nothing more disappointing than reading a script that has clichéd characters in it... The standard of scripts was most definitely higher than in previous years (whoop whoop!) but I personally felt let down by the number of female characters I read that were merely just sex objects. I got the impression from the other readers I was not alone in feeling this. I looked for characters that had clear wants and needs, emotional depth. I got put off by characters that were 'John - handsome, arrogant'. Or 'Jane - 20, pretty, sexy'. You would probably be surprised by the number of characters I read that were similar sounding and unoriginal. An engaging character really stands out from the pile and makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens to them! You want to see that character succeed and win against the odds and I definitely found some scripts that gave the promise of this happening. :)

Is there a sense of structure? - Structure is important for obvious reasons, but strong dialogue and a distinctive voice are more important. Structure can be taught, dialogue is a skill. At least I think this is the case!

3) This year's trends - every year there are normally trends in what we read. If knife crime is in the news, we can expect a percentage of scripts on knife crime. This year I expected the trend to be all about the economic downturn, but was surprised that this wasn't the case. As far as trend's go, this is probably the first year I haven't seen a definite trend - which was great! With the scripts I read I found 3 mini trends shall we say... bullying, opening scenes of running through woods and women being sex objects (as previously discussed). Last year I read a lot of scripts submitted by actors, this year there were a lot of scripts written by lecturers and speakers.

4) The good, the bad and the average - when I get home after a day reading, I remember the good scripts for all the reasons already listed [above]! I remember the bad scripts, for their 'shock value' scenes, their amusing titles that often sadly go no where and their sometimes odd dialogue / stage directions. Such as 'something along this line of dialogue, but something better' as read in one script. :/ And the average scripts, the competent but sadly just lacking that special spark that takes them to that next level, those scripts I forget.

I read a lot of scripts that were average, you know the type, the characters were ok but nothing original, the dialogue did its job but didn't shine and the story was there and made sense but I felt like I'd seen it before somewhere. These scripts, the ones in the middle, the ones that with a bit more work 'could' be good, the writer 'may' have potential, these scripts are the most frustrating to read and unfortunately often end up in the no pile. :(

5) Take heart! - This year I can say with conviction that we all agreed that the standard was high and more scripts got through to the next stage than in previous years, which is great! I wish all of you that entered the best of luck and for those that don't get through this time I would recommend the following...

KEEP WRITING! Never let rejection stop you from honing your writing skills! READ SCRIPTS THAT AREN'T YOURS - there are lots of really good websites where you can read scripts - check out BBC Writer's Room links to see how the pros do it. Join writing groups in your area, read good scripts, read first drafts, read your friends scripts, read for England! It will all help with your writing - I promise. And while you're at it, get people to read your script! :)

Right, that's me done. I have my own script to battle with now! If any more thoughts hit me I'll post them up, in the mean time you may want to follow @cerimeyrick development producer for BBC drama who is tweeting #writersacademy updates and bakes a great cake. :)

So there we are - an amazing insight into the process of reading Scripts. And when you think that all of that was originally written on twitter in tiny segments, all of which are to the point and fairly brief, it shows how much gold is there for the taking really! So many things stand out at me. I've always been a firm believer in strong dialogue and agree with Katie that it can really bring a script to life and provide the edge that you need to read on. Also, Katie's segments on clichéd characters is highly informative. This debate on bad writing with female characters never fails to show itself and clearly it's a problem that needs to be addressed. Though I like to think starting with fixing quite simple issues like 'don't write women as sex objects' SHOULD be simple enough to take in. As Writers, do we not have a LITTLE BIT more imagination than this?

I also think there's a lesson to learn in making sure your script isn't average. Don't rest on your laurels and accept something that's 'good' and 'does what it needs to'. That's clearly not enough. You should make sure your script isn't just 'good' but 'FUCKING BRILLIANT' - make sure it stands out and is exciting and fresh. And, of course, keep writing and reading other scripts. Advice that's always appropriate.

A HUGE thanks to Katie B (@NuttyNatter, in case you haven't added her already) for allowing me to post her words of wisdom on here. Inspiring stuff.