JaneEspenson.com
Home of Jane's blog on writing for television
-
December 19th, 2007Friends of the Blog, From the Mailbag, On Writing, Spec Scripts… I tackled a question about spec scripts for highly-serialized shows. A Gentle Reader wanted to know if they should include a sort of “previously on ___” for the top of their script, to help place the episode in context. I came down against anything but the briefest of place-setters, and threw open the question to anyone in a position to know the answer, especially someone who knew how the readers at a writing fellowship would approach the issue. And… ta da… someone stepped forward. This is the response I got from Friend-of-the-Blog Derek Olson, who is part of the team over at the ABC/Disney fellowship. Take it, Derek!
Hi Jane,
I was just catching up on your blog and I saw an open question you posted about the best way to inform readers of when a spec takes place in the world of a serialized show.
In speaking for our Fellowship readers, we do our best to make sure that readers only evaluate specs of shows they are very familiar with. So they are pretty good at stepping into a serialized spec and knowing exactly when it takes place. All it takes is a reference to a landmark event in the series or even just opening on a logical next step in a storyline. As I’m sure you know there are lots of cues you can give someone who follows the show.
It’s definitely a muddier situation when we are on the other side of the fence. Once Fellows enter the program, we begin submitting their work to executives, showrunners and agents. Of course they all have varying degrees of familiarity with specific shows.
The catch-all solution is to have the writer assume the reader has very little knowledge of the show. And as much as it might seem like a good idea to cheat the traditional format and slap on a “Previously On” segment or TV Guide-like blurb to get the reader up to speed, it just never really feels right. Somehow it always feels as if the prologue was meant to spackle over cracks in the script that weren’t addressed the first time through. So we avoid it altogether when sending out Fellows’ work. Not to say we’re 100% correct and it’s always the wrong idea, it’s just our philosophy that we never want a Fellow’s script to get a ding before the reader hits page one.
So most of the time we leave it up to our writers to use their normal devices. Slipping exposition into an argument between two characters, having a character bring a lesser-informed character up to speed, etc. It can be cumbersome but the best writers can pull it off beautifully.
One exception however, is that if I know the person we are submitting to is a fan of the show, I will let the writer know that they have the greenlight to submit an “expert” version of the script. The writer can then feel free to remove exposition from the top of storylines or trim some over-explaining that happens along the way.
Hope this helps…feel free to summarize, paraphrase, chop and mangle if you would like to post this.
Derek
No mangling necessary. I hope that answers any questions out there. Looks like you should ditch the “previouslies”!
Lunch: a Baby Ruth bar eaten during the substantial wait at City Hall today between meetings to discuss the financial impact of the AMPTP’s absence from the negotiations. Baby Ruth is a fine product.
-
December 16th, 2007On Writing, Spec Scripts
Strike Update: Tomorrow (Monday), I will be picketing at the Universal Barham gate from 9 to noon instead of from 6 to 9, due to a reconfiguring of the picketing patterns. As always, anyone who wants to come out and join the line with us will be welcome. That will be my final day of line-walking before the holidays, although I’m sure I’ll stop in at other strike-related events and will continue to put in shifts at Guild headquarters. If more picketing is required in the new year, I will let you all know where I plan to be.
And a small writing thought: here’s another reason to rely on scripts, as opposed to produced episodes, when analyzing television shows. Sometimes when a show is rebroadcast with different time requirements (on cable, for example, or in daytime slots), the show has to be cut down to allow for extra ad time. Sometimes, even, a commercial break will be added where there was none in the original broadcast (and obviously, in the original script). Don’t be misled by this. Act breaks are essential to creating a strong spec script. Make sure they’re involving and suspenseful.
Lunch: poached eggs, rye toast
-
December 11th, 2007On Writing, Spec Scripts
Strike Update: Oh, we had a good pencil harvest this year! I got to the park by NBC in time to see the half-million pencils still in their boxes — impressive, but packed so tightly that you didn’t get a real idea of the sheer crazy volume of them. When they were dumped out into rolling bins, they seemed to expand enormously, like the late Winston Churchill being too quickly removed from a snug waistcoat. It was really wild — a huge frakkin’ cascade of pencils. It was a real, physical reminder of your support that we won’t ever forget. Thank you, television fans!
Tomorrow, I’m back to my normal 6-9 a.m. shift at Universal’s Barham gate, although it’s hard to call it normal when I almost never get there anymore. I’ve done a lot of guest-picketing lately, but home is home. Then, Thursday, we’re opting for a slightly later schedule. You’ll find me and the rest of the Battlestar writers at Universal’s Barham gate from 9 to 12. I will also be at the Guild later that day, making signs. Not working is hard work!
And there are two recoveries to note… I send “get well soon” wishes to our own Michael Trucco (Sam Anders on Battlestar) and to Alex Trebek. I’ve seen Jeopardy writers out picketing, and I hope for a speedy recovery for the sake of that whole family.
Lunch: Cup O’ Noodles with added shot of lemon juice — it really is the only way.
Clarification: I recently related an anecdote about a Buffy spec being submitted to Buffy. It was actually submitted to Angel. Observant readers correctly noted that a spec script for a specific show is rarely, if ever, submitted to that show.
-
December 2nd, 2007Friends of the Blog, From the Mailbag, On Writing, Spec Scripts
UPDATE: I almost forgot to ask. Does anyone out there want a hot towel? Follow the link to find out about a possible benefit of buying pencils. Tell your friends!
It’s an all-strike update entry today, Gentle Readers. There’s just so much to cover!
First, I bought more pencils today. If you haven’t bought your limit yet, might I suggest something? Let’s see how many we can buy before the big Mutant Enemy picket day at Fox on December 7. This action won’t last forever, and it’s nice to have a goal-date, don’t you think?
Second, I’m going to have a very busy picketing week this week. Look for me at the Universal Studios Barham gate early tomorrow morning, then at Paramount at 9 AM on Tuesday to walk with other women Sci Fi writers (look for the group with the pink hats), and then on Wednesday morning, I’m participating in a special walk-with-the-bloggers picket at Warner Brothers with John August, Craig Mazin, and Josh Friedman. Come by and collect us all!
Third, I had a thought today. (No, really.) While the rest of the viewing public is having to withdraw from their shows as, one by one, they slump into reruns, you writers don’t have to. Write your spec scripts (you lucky non-WGA guys, you), and you’ll still get to commune with the characters you love. If you’re going to need a spec of an existing show for next year’s fellowships, this would be a grand time to write one. (Remember not to pick a brand-new show, and also remember, a script is always a more valuable research tool than a completed episode is.)
Lunch: bagels, cream cheese, fruit and teeny-tiny cream puffs
-
November 22nd, 2007On Writing, Pilots, Spec Scripts
Happy Thanksgiving! Are you full of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes? I know I am. Mmmm. So sleepy. And there’s still pumpkin pie that needs to be eaten! (By the way, the pie is entirely homemade. By this I mean that I mixed the spices and eggs into the canned pumpkin myself instead of buying the pre-mixed kind. So superior.)
So, I was sitting here, slipping quietly into a food coma, and I started randomly thinking about the nature of competitions. Every entrant in the Miss America competition wants to win, right? But do you root for all of them? Do you root for any of them? It’s not enough for someone to want something, or even deserve something. To really make us pull for someone, it helps a lot if they’ve overcome something. If a contestant can weave a compelling tale of childhood tragedy or mild disability, we root for them. We want them to be compensated.
This can tell us writers a lot about how to create characters that audiences root for — a crucial ingredient in populating your spec pilot. Just making a “good” person or a “deserving” person isn’t enough. A person with impeccable morals who has never had them tested isn’t that compelling. I’ve written here before about how Dr. House and Starbuck are both wonderful characters despite not being “likable” in the traditional sense. We understand them, and the tragedies that have led them to be the wonderful prickly souls that they are, and we want them to accomplish their goals as a result.
So give the main character in your spec script something that they want. Absolutely. But also give them a nice juicy obstacle to getting it. The audience will love them.
And allow me to particularly recommend the application of a special case of this — unrequited love, which instantly wins over any reader/viewer with its power. Got a character who’s a hard sell? Having a rough time in the swimsuit competition? Try a little fruitless yearning. Great stuff.
Lunch/Dinner: You know how it goes: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and an experimental liaison with a broccoli salad that no one liked.