When you’re starting out as a staff writer, everyone says your job is to “just write in your showrunner’s voice!” Like that’s so simple. Great mimicry is actually HARD. I thought I would put together some tips (almost a checklist) that might be helpful in this part of the craft.
STAGE DIRECTION. Make note of detail. So... does the showrunner write like:
Maya’s lip trembles. She grits her teeth, TRYING — but she can’t stop the anguished wail that escapes her. Tears begin to pour out.
Or:
Maya tries to hide her heartbreak — but fails. She shatters.
(Advanced level shit: see if you can if this level of detail varies for the actor that the showrunner is writing for. For example, I would def just write “she shatters” for a series regular I trust, whose work I know well. I might break it down more for an unknown actor.)
TEXT SHAPES: Look at how long “paragraphs” tend to be. Whether description, direction, or monologues — some writers are inclined to break up big blocks of text. Some aren’t. If the actual SHAPES of text on your pages look wildly different from your showrunner’s, adjust.
CAPITALIZATION. Does your showrunner put every prop in ALL CAPS? Do they reserve it for particularly important ones? Do they put certain actions in all caps? (Your script coordinator is a great resource to ask about this.)
PUNCTUATION. It seems so minor, but it makes a difference. I worked on a show where the boss was not a fan of exclamation points — if someone was yelling, I’d italicize it instead, because I knew an exclamation point would risk it sounding cheesy in the showrunner’s inner voice.
An example: Ellipses in Liz’s dialogue on Roswell felt off. To me, “...” implies trailing, hesitation, meandering thoughts- stripping the character’s voice of her definitive intelligence and confidence. When I wanted to specify a pause in her dialogue, I’d write “(beat)” instead.
CAMERA moves on the page: there’s a lot of debate about this in the biz. Debate on — what matters to you at work is how your showrunner writes. So...
CLOSE ON a crayon treasure map. PULL BACK to find Joe (35) studying it intensely. RACK FOCUS TO Carrie in the doorway, skeptical.
Vs.
Joe (35) — intense — studies a crayon treasure map. Across the room, Carrie hovers in the doorway, watching him skeptically.
CHOREOGRAPHY: Take note of how your showrunner writes action scenes. Do they choreograph every punch/kick/sword clash on the page? Or maybe they only focus on characters’ emotions, not actual stunts? Do they use onomatopoeia (BAM! THUD! OOF!) or no?
Same for sex scenes. Is every kiss and touch noted, or is your show more like: “The music swells as they make love. FADE OUT.”
SETTING THE STAGE. When introducing a never-before-seen location, does the showrunner describe it in detail (art on the wall, tidiness level, the light from the window), or do they just say “INT. TAYLOR’S LIVING ROOM” and save the description for the art department meetings?
MUSIC CUES. Does your showrunner request specific songs in the script? Note whether there’s a difference between a song that characters actually hear, like if they’re playing a guitar making a jukebox selection, vs one that they can’t.
CHARACTER INTROS. You’re introducing a brand new character in your episode. So how does your show do this?
DANNY (14 but small for his age, white, acne-ridden, never not clutching his emotional support clarinet) approaches.
Vs.
BAND GEEK (14) approaches.
(Side note, showrunners: I strongly advocate giving ALL characters names, even if they’re never said out loud. It keeps their IDMBs from looking like a list of insults. Don’t let an actress’ resume be like: GOLD DIGGER / DUMB BLONDE / VICTIM #3 / DRUNK SORORITY GIRL.)
PASSIVE VS. ACTIVE VS. AUDIENCE VOICE — this difference is particularly notable to readers at the very beginning of scenes. (Idk why, it just is.)
Max is searching through his desk drawer.
Max searches through his desk drawer.
We find Max searching through his desk drawer.
COMEDY: this is so important for writing drama. It’s also a math thing. Grab a script and highlight jokes. How many per scene? Per episode? How many one-liners? How many with a setup? Who makes dark jokes? Who makes silly ones? Who makes jokes at other characters’ expense?
And some BASICS: Does your show use a lot of SAT words? Do the characters monologue or not so much? What curse words are allowed by your network? Is it okay for you to drop an F-bomb on the page if it won’t be spoken aloud? (ie “Billy gives MJ a look that screams WHAT THE FUCK.”)
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Saw a bunch of “it IS fair for a network to just decide not to air a completed TV season, because everyone who worked on it still got paid” tweets so I wanted to talk about some of the nuances of that.
First of all yes, of course it’s legal. It’s happened for decades — but it was very rare, and now it’s frequent. (It used to usually mean that a network burned off completed episodes on like, Saturday nights, but still aired them)
I’m not going to talk about how it feels to have 100s of people’s artwork thrown in the trash, because that’s just a feeling. It’s emotional. It’s the worst part by far, but… let’s talk business.
I think “I told a lie when I was 34” is the line that makes me the angriest. She told 100 lies a day. She didn’t just live a lie, she roped everyone else into living it too.
She could have “recovered” at any point if she had any kind of remorse. Instead there was this:
Still writing Grey’s Anatomy voiceovers instead of taking actual accountability.
“I don’t know why my story is on such a public-facing stage.”🤯
Most non-Showrunning writers are in the background, no press. She did interviews about cancer for huge outlets, panels at festivals, photo shoots, video campaigns. She acted in the episode she wrote about herself
And btw, while writing magazine articles (gotta get that $$!) about how tough she was to continue working "full time" during these treatments, she was taking Monday, Weds, and Friday off of the writers' room for "chemo." Interrupting everyone's work days to "throw up" regularly.
I was so worried. I don't know what she did to make her skin turn yellow and green, but every time I saw her I was scared it would be the last time. Our whole room spent hours just talking about how terrified we were. It was hard for US to do our jobs. My boss openly cried.
She'd stop answering text messages for weeks. So we'd grow more urgently worried, try to come up with creative ways to reach her and lift her spirits. And we did. We got gifts specially cleaned before we sent them. We got her favorite actors to record videos for her. Anything.
Re the new Finch article, where she wonders why people blocked her on instagram (it's me, hi, i'm the problem it's me): No "email went out" instructing me to do so. I did it bc she was DMing me about normal shit like I hadn't just learned she lied to me for a decade about DYING.
She says she started the lie because after she healed from her knee surgery, the friends who had been taking care of her through her recovery went quiet, and she didn't like that. So she never let it get quiet ever again.
Instead, we got to shoulder worry, guilt, trauma.
We thought she was a hero, working full time and managing chemo, so of COURSE WE could work full time and be 100% available to her. She loved to say how stubborn she was about accepting help, but listed preferred food items, asked us to send gifts to her stepdaughter in her stead
Still reading so many tweets/comments from people angry about the ten TikTok personalities that NBCU just announced a mentorship program for and I'm so annoyed about it.
One does comedy skits, one's a cinematographer who makes high production value shorts, one is an actress/host who analyzes pop culture, one is an academic who helps kids in need get scholarships, one is a host who does behind-the-scenes content for Hulu.
One is a lyricist/poet/musician, one is a satirist, one writes/directs original musicals, one has a million followers just from looking into camera telling wildly ENGAGING STORIES, one is a journalist/activist/host who's been in the business 18 years, one created a reality show.
Have started giving screenwriting tips on TikTok so I get a lot of DMs lately from people asking for advice. Harmless, & I like to engage when I have time.
But there’s always one guy who ruins it for everybody.
I’m going to mute this tweet ❤️.
Unfortunately the Men have arrived to tell me I was disrespectful (he was just trying to flirt! maybe he’s autistic!) and I am tired.
An abrupt 180 from professional advice to “you seem open to my hands on you” is never ok.
Here is an incredibly thoughtful thread from @MaxieMoosie, explaining in great detail why unwelcome overtly sexual advances that make people feel unsafe are unacceptable & inappropriate, even from neurodivergent folks.