Thread by @greglevine

So you've just become a Writers’ Assistant. In honor of the #WGASolidarityChallenge, I thought I’d give some unsolicited tips. THREAD. #TipsForWAs

A Writers’ Assistant (WA) is a court reporter, a researcher, a proofreader, and a sounding board all rolled into one. You’re expected to do all these tasks perfectly. Every single day. You’ll get to work before the writers and leave after them…

…So take a moment to appreciate how far you’ve come in your career. Getting this job wasn’t easy, and you worked your ass off to get it.

Tips 1-9: NOTE TAKING

1) Create three folders on your computer:

Notes by Date
Notes by Story
Notes by Character

You’ll understand why in a minute.

2) Every day of notes is its own document. Title each with the date in this format: YEAR-MONTH-DATE. So for example today is 2019-05-23. Why? This way you can sort the folder by name, and it’ll always be in chronological order.

3) Keep a running log of the entire convo in the room. And if you’re on a comedy, make sure you record joke pitches and alts. They might not be funny to you—hell, they might not be funny at all—but you never know where inspiration will come from.

4) Don’t zone out. When a writer turns to you and asks “Did you get that?” The answer better be yes. If it’s “no,” admit it right away, so they can recreate it and you can get it down.

5) And don’t be annoyed when they ask if you got it. They’re not doing it because they don’t trust you, they’re doing it because that was an important thing that was just pitched.

6) Try as best as you can to bold anything the showrunner (SR) says. All notes are important for a writer when they go off on outline or script, they’ll always want to know what the SR said.

7) At the end of every day, proof and organize your notes. I know it’s late and everyone else went home and you’re alone in the office. But do it now to save yourself hours and hours later on.

8) How to organize, you ask? Here’s where Tip 1 comes in handy. At the end of each day, copy the notes that are character-specific and put them in their own document titled with that character’s name.

9) Do Tip 8 but for every story discussed that day. For the first month or so, you’ll be creating a lot of documents. That’s ok. But do this every day so that when the SR or writer asks for the notes on a specific story or character, that document is ready to go.

Tips 10-13: ROOM DYNAMICS

10) For the first month or so, focus on your job… which is to record the room’s convo, not to join it. Of course if someone talks to you, converse; I’m not saying be silent. But these early days are about the room finding its pulse.

11) You’re listening to every convo in the room. You know most of the stories and pitches better than the writers do. You’ll get annoyed when they talk in circles. You’ll get annoyed when they stare off into space for what will feel like hours (it’ll be minutes). Have patience.

12) You’ll want to pitch an idea. If you followed Tip 10, this means about a month or so has gone by. Good! But time your pitch right. Don’t interrupt the room’s flow. Don’t speak over someone else. For the first time, you might want to ask, “Is it alright if I pitch something?”

13) If your pitch lands, congrats! If it bombs, don’t sweat it! You’ll be thinking about it for days, trying to re-write history in your brain, but the writers have already forgotten about it. (They’re likely busy stressing about their own pitch that bombed.)

Tips 14-21: MISCELLANEOUS

14) Go easy on the Writers’ PA. That’s a tough job, too, and chances are that was you not long ago. One day you’ll be staffed and you’ll turn to the WA and ask “Did you get that?” Life is weird.

15) Speaking of the Writers’ PA, give him/her a chance to cover for you in the room. This is invaluable experience for them, so pay it forward. For the first few times, sit there with them when they do it to make sure it’s all going well.

17) Use this time to stretch your legs. Go for a walk. Get some Vitamin D. Swing by production to make sure they’re up-to-date on how the draft is going, on big changes to story, etc.

17) And most importantly, visit the soundstage if you have one. Sometimes with the long days, the exhausting tasks, the endless note taking, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that you’re making television. So go to set. See it all come to life. This is why you’re doing it.

18) And while on set, visit Crafty. (Probably the most important tip.)

19) Lastly, don’t forget that you’re doing your dream job. Doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to get frustrated, or complain, or feel like giving up. But give yourself a pat on the back. I repeat: getting this job wasn’t easy, and you worked your ass off to get here.

20) So keep your eye on the prize. You’re learning more about story breaking, outlining, writing, and rewriting than you could anywhere else. Soak it all in. Because one day it’ll be your show, and all these lessons learned along the way will pay off in spades.

21) And when it is your show, give your Writers’ Assistant a damn script. That was you not long ago.

Been a Writers' Assistant yourself and have tips to share? Tweet them using the hashtag #TipsForWAs