{"id":1106,"date":"2015-11-25T10:50:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T10:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.city-academy.com\/news\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2023-09-25T15:38:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T14:38:41","slug":"how-to-write-a-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/how-to-write-a-script\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Script – Top 10 Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Be it a blockbuster movie, an indie gem, a play on The Fringe or the West End - scripts are where it (usually) begins. Scriptwriters not only get to watch loads of TV and call it \u2018work\u2019 \u2013 they get to create new worlds, re-invent old ones and give life to new voices.<\/em><\/p>\n

Playwright and Scriptwriting<\/a> Tutor, Frazer Flintham, gives us his top ten tips to get you on your way, showing us that you don't necessarily need to spend ten years in the British Library - you can sometimes just grab a script and a bag of crisps and start munching...<\/em><\/p>\n

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1. Finish your script.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is so important. So many people spend years tinkering over one idea and never move on. The more work you complete, (no matter how toe-curlingly bad) and move on, the better you\u2019ll be.<\/p>\n

2. Read along as you watch.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Choose your favourite TV show or film. Get a copy of the script and a grab-bag size of your favourite crisps, and read the script as you watch. It\u2019s a great way to decipher what the writer intended and what the director bought to the piece.<\/p>\n

3. Inspiration can come from anywhere.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Run out of ideas? Listen to a piece of music, put a random name into a search engine and see what images come up. Pick a story from The Metro, and use these as starting points for a character, a scene, a story. And let your imagination go.<\/p>\n

4. Make sure your characters want something.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From your protagonist, to the waitress in the caf\u00e9 serving tea. When you know what your characters want, your next job is to make it hard for them to get it.<\/p>\n

5. Show. Don\u2019t tell.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whatever a character wants or feels, it\u2019s always more interesting to learn this through their actions, as opposed to dialogue.<\/p>\n

6. Write to your strengths.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re naturally funny \u2013 then bring that into your work. If you\u2019re not a fan of research then don\u2019t start with something that requires 10 years in the British Library.<\/p>\n

7. Starting out - write about what you know<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Work. Family. Childhood. Or things that get you excited. Things that make you so mad you want to throw bricks. Write the script instead.<\/p>\n

8. Free your characters from clich\u00e9<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Worried you\u2019re writing a clich\u00e9d character? Characters we may have seen before? Then switch an element of that character around. Change their sex, age, class, occupation. This can often turn a clich\u00e9 on its head and lead us to something interesting.<\/p>\n

9. Make mistakes, and learn from them.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u2018Writer\u2019s block\u2019 is mostly \u2018writer's fear\u2019. The fear of getting it wrong. That nobody will like it. The idea that any writer sits down at their laptop one morning, and by 5pm they have a hit on their hands is nonsense (or luck).<\/p>\n

10. Less is more.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My top tip for scenes\u2026 \u2018start late, and get out early\u2019. Scenes don't need to be fully-realised stories - don't worry about describing how we got here, just get on with it!<\/p>\n

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