"My dream is to be a screenwriter (especially for Doctor Who). Do you have any advice?" Yes it turns out I do.
Sarah Dollard
Writer
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Editor's note: Sarah Dollard @snazdoll is a screenwriter with credits including Neighbours, Being Human, The Game and Episode 10, Series 9 of Doctor Who "Face the Raven". She had previously published this post on tumblr, packed with useful advice for writers. We've shared it here with her permission.
rowlingandmoffat asked: My dream is to be a screenwriter (especially for Doctor Who). Do you have any advice?
I tried to answer this concisely. I failed. Please excuse the rambling screed that follows…
Write. Write every day, in one way or another. If you don’t love writing, then choose another dream. Sometimes writing is hard. Sometimes it’s the worst and you hate it and you hate yourself, and you think you should probably stop for the good of all humanity and maybe make cabinets instead because at least cabinets are useful. Those feelings are normal, don’t worry. But if you go through all that guff and still wake up the next day and love writing all over again, then you’re a writer. Congratulations/commiserations.
Eavesdrop. Wherever you go, listen shamelessly to people talking. Soak up the rhythms of speech. Collect idioms and slang. Relish the different ways that people lie, flatter, disparage, condescend, flirt, threaten and divert. Think about how people’s words would look on the page as dialogue. Has someone used a word or turn of phrase you’ve never heard before? If so, leap upon it. Note down scraps of dialogue that particularly delight you (I store quotes in the notes app on my phone). Even if you never look at that note again, by writing it down you’ll have filed it away in your brain for another time. Listen for what people aren’t saying. Can you sense when someone is deliberately holding back? How? What are they revealing about themselves and their motives without realising it? Does their tone of voice or their body language contradict their words? If so, how would you succinctly express that on the page of a script so that your reader understands what isn’t being said? Basically be nosy as hell. It’s fun.
Read scripts and screenplays. Read as many as you can get your hands on. Read a script, then re-read it while watching the finished product on screen. Learn how screenwriters put words on the page in a very different way to prose writers. Get to know the styles of different screenwriters, and develop your own opinion of what works and what doesn’t. You can find a whole library of TV scripts at the BBC Writersroom, and there are loads of feature film scripts to be found free online. Also, you can usually find published screenplays going cheapish at second-hand bookstores – they’re often stashed in with the plays.
Doctor Who "Face the Raven", written by Sarah Dollard
Learn about the industry. If you’re lucky enough to have IRL (In Real Life) access to someone who works in TV or film, pick their brains. If you don’t, then check out blogs and podcasts from industry professionals to build up a picture of what your dream job entails. Make sure it’s the right world for you. I highly recommend the Children of Tendu podcast from TV writers Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The Middleman, Helix) and Jose Molina (Sleepy Hollow, Agent Carter, Firefly). Javier and Jose share a wealth of advice and experience from the world of TV writing in the US, most of which is still relevant for those of us in other countries. The Nerdist Writers Panel is also great if you want to hear from a broader selection of writers, but I think the best thing about Children of Tendu is that Javier and Jose seem like genuinely nice humans who value working with other genuinely nice humans. They talk a lot about how to remain a good person while working in TV – a vital subject for every writer or would-be writer at any stage in their career.
Consume stories in a thoughtful way. Watch TV, watch movies, read novels, read fanfic, read non-fiction, read the news. Obviously you do all of that stuff already, but if you can, try to do it with an awareness of story and craft. Think about how each story is told. Where it begins, how it ends, what voice is used to tell it. You know, all that fun stuff from English class at school. If a story was well told, think about why it worked. If it was unclear or unsatisfying, think about that too. I’m pretty sure the bulk of my education about film and TV has come (and continues to come) from passionately dissecting stories with my friends after we exit the movie theatre or switch off the TV. If you’re enjoying a story so much you forget to think about the storyteller’s choices, odds are they did a really good job. So, watch/read that story again. This is where being an obsessive fangirl really pays off and puts us ahead of the pack. :)
Be critical of film and TV, even the stuff you love. One of the things I love most about tumblr is the widely accepted truth of the problematic fave. If you want to be a truly good writer, you can’t have sacred cows. If other people think an episode of your favourite show is sexist or racist or short-sighted in some way, hear them out and consider their point of view. You can enjoy a piece of media while also acknowledging its shortcomings. However, if you hold your favourite writer or producer above criticism, then you’ll likely fall into the same traps as they do, and you too may alienate or hurt people with your work. Accept that no one is perfect, not even your hero. Accept that no one’s writing is perfect, even if it’s hugely entertaining; we all have unconscious hang-ups and prejudices, and many of us write from a position of privilege. One of the best things you can do as a writer (and a person) is to listen to the way other people receive stories. Tumblr is brilliant for this. Accepting that your fave might be problematic is hard, but doing so won’t negate the things you still love about that episode, or that show, or that creator. On the other hand, being a good listener and practising empathy will make you a better writer and a better person.
Learn how to accept criticism of your own work. This is hard. If you’re a writer, then odds are you’re probably the sensitive sort. We pour our hearts into our stories, and make ourselves vulnerable when we give them over to an audience; of course it’s going to sting when we receive criticism. But know this: how you take criticism is going to define you as a writer for the rest of your career. Writing for TV involves working in a team, which means getting regular professional feedback on your ideas and your writing. If you fall apart every time your pitch doesn’t fly, or get defensive at every note on your script, your career is going to grind to a halt very quickly. No one will want to work with you, and your writing will stagnate. Of course, not every note you get is going to be helpful; a big part of the job is sorting the good notes from the bad, and learning how to react to both with equal grace. Not everyone you work with will be smarter than you, but if you’re really lucky they will be. Stick to the smart people like glue, listen to their criticism, learn how to respond to it, and let it improve your work. Even when it hurts.
As for writing for Doctor Who specifically… There’s no simple advice for that. Um… get some other TV writing credits under your belt? Live/work in the UK. Show aptitude for writing sci-fi/fantasy TV. Have a good spec' script to showcase your skills. Be chock full of Doctor Who story ideas and Very Strong Opinions about the show, so that when someone asks you why you’d like to write for Doctor Who you can chew their ear off for hours until they cry mercy and give you a chance at a script.
I hope that helps! Good luck with your writing.
Postscript:
My dear and clever friend Justine Larbalestier pointed out that the advice “write every day” kinda sucks. She said it more politely than that, but I totally agree with her and should’ve been more clear.
When you’re an aspiring writer (or any kind of writer), being told that you have to Write Every Day can be daunting and off-putting. Plus, unless you’re lucky enough not to need a day job, it’s usually unrealistic. My day job is writing and I still don’t literally write every day.
I said “write every day, in one way or another” and I should have underlined the second part. Writing need not mean putting pen to paper (fingers to keys) on your screenplay or novel or whatever your current project is. Justine is right - a huge part of writing is thinking. By writing every day, I mean daydream about your character’s back story while on your commute. Nut out a plot problem when you’re cooking dinner. Chew your friend’s ear off about that final scene you’re really excited about.
Or don’t! Take a day off and do other stuff and don’t think about writing at all. I’ve been told that leaving the house and talking to irl people can be beneficial (citation needed).
Anyway, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t Write Every Day. And ignore w*nkers who tell you otherwise.
If you want to be a writer and you write and you think about your writing, you’re a writer.
Follow Sarah on Twitter @snazdoll