Archives for March 2009

My Writing Heart

Applications for the course open next Monday 6th April. Do keep your eye on this website for details of when the online application goes live.

To give your another flavour of what the course is like, I thought we'd hear from another recent graduate. Gill Adams completed the classroom part of the course just before Christmas, and is currently writing for Doctors. She writes this about her experience....

"Firstly - I'd say make sure you don't have any other work to do before you start the course as it'll prove tricky to give time to anything unrelated to the course work - The cut and thrust of learning is fast and furious and you do have to give it everything you've got - it demands that and believe me it takes it!! BUT if you do have a deadline which is after the course, you'll feel and see a massive difference in your ability to get there much faster. I had a 2nd draft of a play for Hull Truck to deliver in Jan and it was a blast writing it a fresh knowing instinctively which direction to take it.

At times you may feel overwhelmed, maybe even a bit stupid, like a novice writer who knows nowt, but that soon passes and when it does the feeling of achievement is so worth it. I suddenly felt like everything which made me the kind of writer I am (inside me heart that is) mattered, not only to me but to John and Ceri and it's wonderful to be told finally by those' in the know' that the industry does recognise your ability to entertain people, make them think, laugh, cry and basically tell a bloody good story, I know it sounds daft but I didn't really believe in myself totally before the course, I felt like I was often busking it, now I know I'm not. (If I put the work in) I'm in control.

Towards the end of the course, I re-read a lot of my old stuff and it really helped me, it reminded me of why I started writing , where my writing heart is - that ache I seem to carry in everything I write - I know why it's there. It's painful to be honest on the page, but it's the only way to be true to your self. I tried writing other ways and it was rubbish, I know when I connect to a spark of something painful, I'm really communicating on the page. I'm more motivated and focused than before and I love getting notes! Now I can change things without it feeling like I've failed in some way and I can see where they're coming from much clearer.

It's not easy juggling course work with relationships - my only suggestion is be prepared to be totally selfish and invisible at home - it doesn't allow for any socialising really - and you WILL change. Inside and out, for sure, it's a short but massive journey and it shakes you to the core of who you are and you may well question everything around you for evermore....but in hopefully in a good way! The question at the end of the day is - How much do you want this? Let's just say that from now on I know I have to give it 100% of everything I am - that's what it takes, there's no excuses not to anymore.

The power of eight - You'll bond with the rest of the writers on the Academy and no doubt miss them afterwards; you'll share an incredible journey with them, laugh and in some cases even cry with them, and you'll feel as proud of them as you hopefully do yourself. BUT you are there to work hard and learn, don't think it's one big social club, it isn't and there's plenty of time after the course to stay in touch. Put the work before everything - it's over before you know it and you won't get that crucial 'one to one' tutorial time again. So if you don't understand something don't feel daft asking more than once! Keep asking until you do. That's what they're there for and it shows in your work when you don't.

The highlight of the Academy for me were the guest speakers.......Ohhh they'll come and they'll inspire you and maybe even scare you a bit, but most of all, their great energy, encouragement and BIG clever hearts will stay with you forever."

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Just a quickie to say that the BBC College of Comedy 2009 is now accepting applications.

The college is the Comedy equivalent of the BBC Drama Writers Academy and is run by Micheál Jacob, who has been known to post a blog or two about it here.

I'm sure he'll be around shortly to say more about it, but I thought it was worth pointing out so everyone had a chance to start polishing their scripts or sketches before the deadline, which is noon on 24 April 2009.

As with the Academy, you'll need to have had a professional comedy commission to be eligible. More details are on the College of Comedy page.

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For those that haven't yet seen it, The Wire is coming to BBC2 tonight at 11:20pm.

(Not the Radio 3 series, for those who were wondering. This is the American drama series set in Baltimore.)

Series creator David Simon came from a journalistic background originally. There's an excellent interview with him in the Guardian to tie in with the showing.

Robin Kelly has more links to interviews on his blog, and you can also listen to a piece from this morning's Today programme featuring star Dominic West on the BBC iPlayer.

The show's going to be stripped five nights a week on BBC2, so set your PVRs.

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If you're reading this entry on the website (and not via, say, an RSS reader, or telepathy) then you'll notice that we've got a new look for the blog.

This is part of a redesign to help the BBC's blogs be consistent with the rest of the site, and easier to use.

You can find out more about the redesign here.

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And here's instalment 9:

Passion

It's not an easy thing to explain, but one of the most important things we are looking for is that true, unquenchable desire in the writer to tell their story. You can tell very quickly when the writer really means it - and you can tell just as easily when they are just going through the motions. If you don't truly care about the story you are telling, then why should we? Of course, passionately believing in your story is unfortunately not going to make the script work all by itself - but I think it's an indispensable part of why we get excited about any given writer.

But what do I mean by 'passion'? Well, I mean: does your idea and story keep you up at night? Have the characters and their stories really got under your skin? And have you got under theirs? Do you feel compelled to write? Does it feel like your story is already writing itself in your head without you putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard? Do you believe your take on an idea has never quite been seen before and needs to be seen by an audience? If you don't feel any of these things, then you need to ask yourself whether it's worth persisting with an idea.

What I also mean is: don't try to be expedient. An extremely common question we hear is: what do you want, what are you looking for? What we're looking for is a great writer who does the kinds of things that I've been exploring in these blog posts. What we're looking for is something we've never seen before. You can waste a lot of time and energy trying to write the kind of script that you think you ought to write because you believe/hope/assume it will get you to whatever next stage you want to be at. But you can't be this calculating. If a script is simply there to be expedient, then it's likely it will never really, truly impress anybody.

What I also mean is: don't try to second guess what people want. Because you will almost certainly get it wrong. If people in the industry were crystal clear about they want, then life would be so much easier - but it would also so much less interesting. The truth is, we are waiting to be hit between the eyes and in the solar plexus with something that genuinely surprises us. Because if it can surprise someone who is being constantly bombarded with ideas and scripts, then there's a decent chance it will surprise an audience.

And that is what we really, truly want.

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Television's James Moran has done a Monster Writing FAQ for us all. By which I mean it's big and comprehensive, not that it has sharp teeth or tentacles or whatnot.

It covers all you need to know about how to break into writing, including The Big Secret. He's managed to get it down to four words. First answer to the first question. Ssh, don't tell anyone, or they'll all be breaking in.

What else is new? Well, we've got two new unsolicited roadshows going on. Bristol's tomorrow (26 March), and there's one in Leicester on the 7 May. More details on our roadshow page.

Oh, and there's a Q&A with Armando Iannucci in London on the 15 April. Mustn't forget to mention that.

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Apologies for the late arrival of the next instalment, it's been extremely busy here... But here's number 8:

Exposition and Expression

Or in other words: dialogue. In truth, i think it's almost impossible to teach or learn how to have an ear for characters and their voices. It's perfectly possible to learn how to edit it, improve it, polish it up and make it leap off the page - but only if you have that instinct to hear it and voice it in the first place.

I've read a lot of scripts where the structure is tight, the story is right, the genre and tone spot on etc - BUT where the dialogue is wooden and without life and personality. And I've read scripts where the structure is loose, the story quite confused and all sorts of things are wrong with it - but where the characters step off the page immediately because the writer has really caught their voice. In truth, i think i'd generally rather have the latter kind of script. Because it really takes a true writer to do the latter.

Strong dialogue expresses character. It isn't just words - it breathes life into character. It gives them lines, sayings and sentiments that we remember for life and want to say back to people in order to impress them at parties, in the playground, in the office. (Around BBC Television Centre and Broadcasting House there are numerous walls and screens with great quotes from great characters - because the currency of that great dialogue is so strong.)

The converse of this, therefore, is that poor dialogue is there purely and simply to relate and explain information for the purpose of plot and story exposition. If this is the sole purpose of your dialogue, then you need to do something else with it - or something else with the scene. Often, expository dialogue tends to mask the fact that there is no real drama in a scene - so if you can find a push and pull, a conflict, a beat of story for your scene, then there will be a better dramatic reason for the dialogue to be there. Even better, the more ways you can find to put information across through action and story, the more your dialogue will be the sole domain and medium of your characters expressing themselves.

It sounds obvious - but real people don't tell each other things they already know in obvious ways, and neither should your characters. Real people also don't always say what they mean, don't always mean what they say, and don't always know what they mean and what they mean to say when they open their mouths to speak. Ordinary conversation isn't dramatic dialogue - but good dialogue should at least be able to take on board the idiosyncracies and complexities of real, ordinary people when they try to (or try not to) express themselves. Real people say the best lines that most writers could never conjure up, which is why many writers happily steal from real people.

Subtext is just about the hardest thing you as a writer will need to master. Because subtext is what is being said and expressed beyond, behind, below and in spite of the words actually spoken. Subtext is the silent language that people use when words either don't say enough or say too much. Subtext is story and character that can't simply be vocalised. If you can work meaningful subtext into a scene, then you are doing something really quite special.

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In a rare quiet moment, I'm taking the opportunity to apologise for my lack of blogging, and to say that tonight marks the end of the first year of the College of Comedy. We're doing a live showcase here at Television Centre, we're expecting 130 people from the comedy world inside and outside the BBC, and it all kicks off at 6.30.

Organising the showcase accounts for my absence, since it has involved quite a lot of work. We're doing half a script from each of the six original projects, with three exciting young directors and a rather amazing cast, which made me feel rather privileged when we were all together for rehearsals yesterday.

The actors include Amanda Abbington, Martin Freeman, Miranda Hart, Lucy Montgomery, Simon Daye, Geraldine McNulty, Nick Mohammed and Una Stubbs, and the writers are as excited as I am.

Actually, it's excitement mixed with the fear, but that will go away once we hear the first laugh. Which I'm hoping will be in the first few seconds.

We're starting with Spilt Milk by Trippplicate, a show set in a failing cafe, followed by Not 19 Forever by Andrew Viner, about a group of 30-something friends, and then Sunday Lunchers by John Warburton, which is set in a pub with an eclectic group of characters.

Mix-Up, by Leah Chillery, is about a young woman discovering on her birthday that she is mixed race. 4x4 by Catherine Shepherd is about a 50ish woman with four children by four different fathers, and we're finishing with Daddy Cool by Rob and Neil Gibbons, which is about a man with early onset Alzheimers and a squabbling family. Dan Antopolski is compering.

It feels as if the year has gone by very quickly, and soon I'll have to do a proper taking stock. As of now, it feels as if most things have worked, and a good thing is that I have been able to recommend the writers to colleagues who are producing or developing shows. The year has made me think more deeply about comedy and comedy writing and production - generally,stuff that one does rather than stuff one meditates on - and that has provoked some interesting thoughts, which have been further stimulated by people who comment here.

I know that all the writers will go on and prosper, which is the main and best outcome. So now it's rehearsals then showtime.

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Where are they now?

The Writers Academy has been going for four years now. 32 writers have done the course, and I thought it might be useful to look at what's happened to them....

Academy writers have joined the core writing teams of all four shows... five at Casualty (including one, Mark Catley, who's now the Lead Writer), six at Holby, two at EastEnders and one at Doctors

28 out of the 32 are in pretty much constant work for the department.

One has a new series in development for BBC 3

One is developping an internet drama for the BBC.

One wrote last week's episode of Shameless

Several have kept up theatre and radio writing careers alongside their work for us.

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"Those Shows"

I was at a meeting the other day to talk about writer training (at an institution outside the BBC). I was talking about why new writers sometimes failed when writing for the shows I worked for. I suggested that it might be because they didn't like them or even watch them when they got the gig. I may even have said "You need to love them to write them". A writer who was there came in (rather aggressively, I felt) with "Well we all know that writers on 'those shows' only write them to pay their mortgages."

A little while later in the same meeting, a former writing student was wheeled into the meeting to talk about their experiences since graduating their course. He told us how he'd completed a shadow scheme script for one of the BBC Continuing Dramas, but had been told that his services weren't required and that he hadn't "got" the show. He went on to say that he had only tried out for the show because his agent had told him it would make a good career move, and he didn't really watch it. Hmm, point proven I thought -though I didn't say anything, as the first writer had been quite scary.

It's completely fascinating to me that the suggestion that writers on Continuing Dramas write them because they love them arouses such bile in some people. Or that a high volume show like Holby should aspire to create intelligent drama, should provoke such ire, as it did on this blog a couple of weeks ago. Why so cross about it?

Anyway, my point this week is to say that if you're thinking about applying to the Writers Academy next month, you'd better start working up some passion and WATCH TELLY.

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