I’m really lucky to be able to work across development and production, and the Script Editor role for each of these can be quite different.

If you’re in development you’re sourcing new projects and working with writers to come up with ideas for shows. So this involves reading lots of books, new ideas, sample scripts, meeting different writers and thinking about what the audience and commissioners are looking for. For me, meeting writers and chatting about new ideas is the best part of the job – anything is possible at this stage! You’ll also be developing ideas with writers and supporting them through the (sometimes long and arduous) development process.

A Script Editor isn’t there to write the script, it’s about being a fresh pair of eyes on things like character, story and structure, but mainly it’s asking questions to help the writer shape a project. And also, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking about what similar ideas are out there, how you can make an idea stand out and how you might pitch it to commissioners and production partners.

The Script Editor job on a Kids & Family production can vary depending on the show, but it’s all about getting lots of scripts to be the best they can be within pretty tight deadlines. So, you’re giving notes and asking questions to help the writer develop their script, but as they could be writing one episode in a 10, 20 or even 52-episode show, you’re also thinking about continuity across the series, the production or financial implications of scripts, consistency of characters and tone, series arcs and links between episodes. On a production you might be doing research into certain activities or themes and looking for compliance issues (so in Kids & Family making sure we don’t glamourise or encourage dangerous behaviour that might be imitated at home is important). And as a show starts shooting, you’re the link between the writer and the wider crew - answering questions about the script, managing schedules to hit deadlines, involving the writer in any changes, making script amendments and generally trying to wrangle Final Draft into doing something it doesn’t want to do!

How did you get into script editing for Kids & Family content?

When I was looking for jobs I’d never even heard of a Script Editor. I was working in my local hospital but knew I wanted to tell stories so initially I studied to be a journalist. It was only when I realised I wasn’t confident enough to talk to people and would therefore be a terrible journalist that I took a course in TV writing and learned how scripts and stories work. I applied for loads of jobs as an Assistant Producer thinking this was an entry-level assistant role (spoiler – it’s not) and eventually got a job at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ recruiting and managing staff for CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ were developing a sketch show called Class Dismissed and some very kind people let me sit in the writers' room where I met some brilliant writers and producers, saw how a show was developed and even wrote some sketches myself. After that I started to read more scripts, meet more writers and it only took me another 5 years asking myself "can I do actually this?" before I got my first script editing job. So it takes as long as it takes.

What skills do you need to be a Script Editor?

You do need to be able to understand and analyse scripts and stories and how they work. You can get that from courses, websites and books, but also from just reading loads of really good scripts (and some not so good ones). And just think about what you like, don’t like, what works well about a script and how you might communicate that to a writer. Those communication and people skills are really important. There is a lot of trust between a writer and a Script Editor, it can be personal and exposing for a writer to constantly be showing their work and getting feedback, so it is important to be honest but supportive. You could be writing anything from book reports to script notes to pitch documents so writing skills are also handy. And then it’s definitely the ability to juggle lots of things at once with a real attention to detail, even a tiny mistake in a script can cause massive headaches for the cast and crew!

Do you have any advice for people looking to get into script editing?

There isn’t a ‘right’ way into script editing. So whether you start out as a runner on a show, an assistant at a production company, script reading for a theatre, recruitment (like me) or any of the thousands of other jobs that exist in TV, all that experience can be really valuable as a way to learn about the industry and can often lead to opportunities that might help you move towards script editing.The team I work in all have different backgrounds and experiences and it just makes us better at looking at a wide range of ideas and perspectives I think.

My main advice would be to read loads of scripts – good ones, not-so-good ones, TV, radio, theatre, experienced writers and less experienced writers. You’ll start to get a sense of why some work and how you’d change others, but you’ll also build up your knowledge of the brilliant writers out there and who you might want to work with one day. The other thing is to try and understand the market. Before you approach any producers or companies, look at what they’re making, who their competition is and what else is out there. Kids & Family content and what our audience want is changing all the time, so when we meet people we want to know that they understand what we’ve made, what shows they think are missing and what our buyers might want from us.

Read more blog posts about Script Editing

Explore our online Script Library

I worked in book publishing for years. When I was a book editor I assessed, commissioned and edited promising manuscripts across genres and formats. Being inquisitive and interrogating writing choices with love and care was my favourite part of my job – making stories the best and the most emotionally impactful they can be.

Before I made the leap from the book industry to scripts via the incredible training of ’s , the gulf between industries seemed insurmountably large. But I knew that on a core level, my role’s end goal remained the same; asking the public to spend their little free time with characters I help shape and worlds I help build. Supporting writers and shepherding new, impactful stories into the world is a joy!

Attending Duly Noted’s Script Editor Forum in the autumn, hosted by and Eleven Film, reminded me that script editors are the custodians of the story. It is our job to remain unflappable under pressure as the bridge between the writer and the production company. It is important to measure the success of an editorial project in not only the final product but in how seen, supported and held each writer feels throughout the process so that they can move on to their next project with more confidence than the last.

Creating books and scripted content is a very similar creative process. Both mediums require intense collaboration and, therefore, stamina – being a writer’s cheerleader through many notes and rewrites and staying true to the original vision is a huge part of being both a book and script editor.

IP development in TV often starts with brilliant source material, and I have found that my foundation in books has helped me understand the adaptation process and what needs to change on a structural level when translating a story across formats. In prose, we can often crack open our protagonist’s head and learn their wants and desires through reading their inner thoughts and learning how they act alone. On screen, we don’t have the luxury of living inside a character.

Working in publishing also exposed me to literary trends. I saw everything from vampires coming back in a huge way (though this time they weren’t sparkly), to themes of ambivalent motherhood, to waves of mythology retellings. Because TV shows and films are, with a few notably huge exceptions, quicker to make and produce than books, being on top of new publishing is a great way to predict the next big thing in TV and film. I’d recommend reading all the major publishers’ catalogues to stay on top of what’s releasing in the next year and a half – most catalogues can be found on each publisher’s website – and to do some research to figure out which publishers and imprints are building a list that aligns with your interests and needs. Interested in prize-winning literary fiction? Try . Looking for quality commercial fiction and non-fiction? Try .

A huge difference between the book world and the scripted world is that in TV the roles of a development script editor and commissioner are split across different parts of the industry. When I was a book editor, I was both the commissioner and the editor, so I was thinking simultaneously creatively and commercially from the very first read. Which books would this sit beside in a bookshop? How will it stand out in an impossibly saturated market? Which trends can I spot simmering under the surface, waiting for the perfect story to catch and fling them into the mainstream? I think this vigorous and often ruthless assessment criteria has helped me in TV and film to always place the projects I work on in a cultural context.

New visual content in the age of streaming is now competing against the greatest TV shows and films of all time – viewers have the choice between trying a new release that hasn’t yet been reviewed or revisiting something they know. As creators of TV and film, we are competing for people’s time against classics, as they are just as accessible and often just as culturally relevant. Viewers are no longer tuning in to whatever is airing on a Saturday night – everything is accessible, and everything can be revisited.

This is a dynamic book editors know well. I have met so many readers over the years who proudly declare that they only read the ‘classics’ and non-fiction books about self-optimisation – particularly as our education system so often sucks the joy out of books for reluctant readers. Reading is often seen as worthy, and something that we should be doing to grow, so when editing and developing fiction I knew I was competing for people’s time against the Brontës, Austen, Orwell – even though, of course, books can and should be everything from laugh-out-loud funny, to smutty, to gentle, to profoundly moving – so no pressure! The bar for excellence is higher than ever, and helping writers craft the very best version of their idea is a skill set I am very grateful to have honed in publishing and transferred over to TV and film.

Developing a manuscript that will jumpstart joy and create lifelong readers was an amazing part of being an in-house book editor. My years in publishing were accidentally wonderful training for my current role as a script editor because both roles demand a huge amount of emotional intelligence. Writing is hard! And so being a supportive and understanding voice in a sea of rewrites and drafts is essential. Giving notes to a writer that might be challenging to receive requires a deep understanding of the manuscript and how exactly the notes being given will change the story being delivered. Some writers want solutions; some just want a kind but firm nudge in the right direction.

1) CULTIVATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

You want to be developing a deep love and understanding of story, and this means watching loads of TV, and devouring books, plays, and films.

Watch the great classic TV shows and movies from the past as well as the present, so that you can understand where the language of TV has come from. This is especially important if you want to work with writers, who are often voracious readers, and fans of films and TV.

If you can afford it, go to the theatre, especially theatres that showcase lots of new writing. To work in TV development, you will need to start thinking about the writers whose work you love and admire, and who are the new, exciting writers coming up. TV is different from film, in that we are ALL about the writer.

2) MAKE CONNECTIONS

This probably feels like the trickiest part. If you can, you should attend any networking events that you can manage. Ask people already working in the industry if they would be kind enough to have a coffee and a chat with you. (They should be kind enough incidentally, as we all had people help us too when we were new!)

Look people up who have the kind of career you might be interested in, and when you write to them, use their first name, rather than anything more formal. We’re pretty informal as an industry.

You want to start building a network of contacts, over time.

3) WHEN YOU MEET PEOPLE, DO YOUR HOMEWORK

If you have a meeting with someone, it’s always wise to look them up, and find out what they personally have worked on, and what their production company has made. Remember that it’s a small industry, and lots of people know each other, so if you’ve impressed one person, they’re likely to mention you to other people they know, and to recommend you for opportunities.

4) FIND YOUR TRIBE

Potential mentors are great, but so too are your peers – it’s a brilliant idea to start cultivating a network of people who are also starting out, because you will come up in the industry together, provide invaluable support to each other, and often become great friends.

5) GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA

There are quite a few Facebook groups advertising TV jobs, and it’s definitely useful to see what the community is discussing on sites like X, Threads, and Bluesky. Jobs are mentioned on these sites too. It’s also helpful to look at trends, and what’s happening in the States, as the USA and UK are closely linked when it comes to television. One recent example is the Writer's Guild of America writers’ strike in the USA, which had a big impact over here too.

You should create a LinkedIn profile for yourself and start adding connections as you make them.

There are great resources for those looking for entry-level jobs, such as , Creative Access, apprenticeships with , and of course the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s early career schemes like . Look for schemes, and also check out organisations championing greater diversity in TV, like (the Disabled Artists Networking Community).

6) BE PERSISTENT AND TENACIOUS

You might find it takes a while to find your way in, and that is completely normal. The big thing is to be persistent and keep trying.

7)    ACQUIRE PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON SKILLS

As a new entrant to the industry, you can best recommend yourself to potential employers with a great attitude and an eagerness to learn. You also want to start gaining skills as soon as possible – creative skills like understanding how to read and analyse a script, practical skills like how to use Final Draft, and how to take great notes in meetings, and administrative and organisational skills like how to manage a diary. Be prepared to work very hard!

8) GET YOUR HEAD AROUND ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS

Your first step in an editorial career in TV drama might be in one of the following roles:

• As a runner in-house at a production company.
• As a freelance reader of scripts for a company or a broadcaster.
• As an assistant at a production company (a Team Assistant, Development Assistant, or a Personal Assistant).
• An assistant at a Literary Agency (e.g somewhere like or ).
• As a runner or Production Assistant on a show.
• As a researcher, although these roles are few and far between.
• As a Trainee, when this kind of role is offered by a TV company.

9)    START UNDERSTANDING THE MORE SENIOR CREATIVE ROLES, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION 

When you’re building an editorial career in TV drama, it’s critical to understand the more senior roles, how you fit into the company structure, and the kinds of jobs you might be aiming for in time. 

A great start is understanding the difference between development and production. 

Development is when you’re pitching projects to broadcasters, networks and streamers, when you’re storylining and developing scripts, and very often, when you’re working in-house at a company. 

Production is when the project is actually getting made. Production work is often freelance, or PAYE on fixed-term contracts. 

IN DEVELOPMENT: 

In-house at a company, the most senior jobs are usually Head of Drama, Creative Director, Executive Producer, and Director of Development. These people set the creative direction of the company, run the development slate, pitch to broadcasters, and usually Executive Produce shows. There are also Development Producers, another senior role, where people work directly with writers to progress projects, and might manage their own slate. 

Mid-weight roles include the role of Development Executive, whose responsibilities include looking for new talent and developing projects with writers. 

Junior roles include the roles of Development Assistant and Development Coordinator. 

IN PRODUCTION: 

On a show, the Executive Producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing and delivering the show. (N.B there are often multiple Exec Producers). The Producer is the person responsible for the show’s day-to-day management, and for managing the budget, alongside the Line Producer.   

There will be a script team, led by the Story Producer, who manages the creative process, and who will work closely with the Showrunner and other writers to deliver the scripts. There is usually a Script Editor, who manages the technical side of the scripts (what we call the ‘amends’, i.e live changes to the script that are made throughout the shoot), and may also give notes to the writers (more on this below!), as well as liaising closely with other departments in Production, for example, the Art Department. You can also be a Script Executive – similar to a Script Editor, but more senior. 

Sometimes there will be an Assistant Script Editor too; this is great entry-level creative role in Production. 

The script team are the guardians of the story and are responsible for the integrity and good health of the story and the scripts. 

In time, you’ll need to start understanding how the work of the script department dovetails into the wider production process on a show. As a creative, you should definitely aim to get as much production experience as possible, because this will enable you to come up with brilliant story solutions in high-pressure situations.

10) WORKING WITH WRITERS AND SCRIPT NOTES

Working with writers to develop stories and scripts is a huge part of any creative role in TV drama. This includes giving script notes, which means feedback on the latest outline, treatment, or script draft the writer has been working on.

My advice on notes:

• Tell the truth, but be positive, and always say what you like, and what you think is working, as well as the things that need sorting out.
• Understand that it’s a process, and that it takes time to arrive at a finished script. Most scripts go through multiple rewrites.
• Developing a relationship with a writer is also a process. It takes time to develop the trust that is at the heart of a writer/script person bond, and it’s normal to experience some resistance from writers when you’re first getting to know them!
• Notes form part of a conversation in a wider collaborative process between you, the writer, and often many other people, such as studio execs, commissioners, etc. Notes are for another human being, so they should not be your lit crit essay on the script, or your musings on the state of the universe. Great notes are respectful, actionable, and specific. You are there to champion the writer, and to help them realise what they are seeking to accomplish creatively.

And with all of this in mind…

11) BRUSH UP ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS, TACT AND DIPLOMACY

You will need these skills to pursue a creative career in TV drama, and they will help you to create fantastic, long-lasting professional relationships, and to diffuse tensions with difficult personalities.

12) BE A GOOD HUMAN

It’s no secret to say that TV hasn’t always been the easiest industry to work in. I’m so encouraged to see how many of the young people coming into our industry exemplify the kinds of values we need more of - integrity, generosity, and kindness.

Alexis Hood is an experienced story producer, who has headed script teams on award-winning projects for traditional broadcasters and streamers, and who has worked in development and production for numerous companies. Her most recent credit is A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW for Paramount Plus and Showtime, starring Ewan McGregor.

The Voices writer development programme runs once a year and lasts for about six months. The aim is to offer an insight into how the television industry works, providing participants with the core tools and knowledge to begin their TV writing journey. The writers who take part are mostly identified via our annual Open Call opportunity plus some additional scouting work (for example at the ). We run six Voices sub-groups from six hubs across the UK: Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England - North, England - South and London. Each of these groups is managed by the staff who are based in each of our hubs. There are normally around 12 writers in each sub-group, so around 70-72 writers in total.

Voices sessions are a combination of local sessions (with the other writers in your hub) and full-cohort sessions. We usually try and bring the local groups together in person at least twice, with the majority of the rest of the sessions taking place online. Sessions generally run weekly over lunchtimes or in the evening to fit around the group members' other commitments, be that work, childcare or other factors. During their time on Voices, writers develop a television series outline which involves some homework, alongside viewing recent TV dramas for discussion and analysis during the sessions. Writers are not paid to take part but the programme is completely free, plus we cover any necessary travel and accommodation costs. 

We are currently finalising the writers who will take part in Voices 2024, which will kick off in January. These are writers who submitted scripts to our Open Call which closed back in December 2022. Due to the number of scripts we receive (over 4000 in each Open Call), the reading process takes around six months. We firstly determine the writers who we want to consider for the Scripted group before moving onto Voices, so interviews for Voices take place in the autumn ahead of the writers beginning the programme in the following January. 

 

Sessions

 

(Based on Voices 2023, this is just an outline and will vary depending on the availability of guest speakers etc.)

Week 1 (Local): In Person - Meet the writers who are part of your local Voices hub. These meet-ups are at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's various offices across the UK (London, Belfast, Cardiff etc) The group get the chance to introduce themselves and find out about the other writers in their hub. We explain the Voices programme and what is expected from the writers. There is also the chance to find out more from alumni from previous years.

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork to start thinking of 3 ideas for a TV series that you want to develop.)

Week 2 (Full): Big Ideas 1 - What Works on TV.

Week 3 (Full): Big Ideas 2 - What Works on TV (with a presentation from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Audiences Team).

Week 4 (Local): Sharing ideas with your local hub.

Week 5 (Local): Sharing your initial ideas with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Writers' team in your area and receiving feedback to select one idea to take forward.

Week 6 (Full): Story & Structure 1, Introduction

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork - some viewing of recent TV drama)

Week 7 (Full): Story & Structure 2, Unpacking a First Episode (following viewing homework) 

Week 8 (Full): Focus on Characters in Drama

Week 9 (Full): Story & Structure 3, John Yorke's 10 Questions (following viewing homework)

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork to apply the 10 Questions to your chosen development idea)

Week 10 (Full): An introduction to TV Drama Development documents and Writing a Series Outline

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork to start working on a Series Outline)

Week 11 (Local): Story & Structure 4, Peer Group sessions on the 10 Questions

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork to work on the first draft of your Series Outline, 2 weeks writing time during the Easter holiday.)

Week 14 (Full): Pitch to Production with Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Commissioning Executives

Week 15 (Full/Local): Guest speaker and first feedback session on Series Outlines

Week 16 (Full/Local): NFTS Working with a Script Editor and feedback sessions on Series Outlines

(Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔwork to work on second draft of Series Outline)

Week 17 (Full): Script to Screen, Getting your Script Made (with a guest writer and producer)

Week 18 (Full): How to Get an Agent (with guest speakers)

Week 19-21 (Local): Writing weeks and online drop-ins

Week 22 (Full): The Business of Being a Writer (with guest speakers)

Week 23 (Full): What Makes a Good Spec' Script & Writing the Pilot Episode

Week 24 (Local): Meet Local Producers and final farewell session (In Person) 

 

Working with a Script Editor

 

Through our relationship with the (NFTS) a sub-section of the Voices writers also get the opportunity to work directly with a Script Editor from the NFTS Script Editing course to develop their series outline idea and write the pilot episode as a spec' script. The writers retain all rights in the resulting script and can submit it into our next Open Call or send it, as an example of their work, to agents or industry ahead of general meetings if they wish. The script will not be considered by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Drama Commissioning who only accept projects via an attached production company.

We asked several of the former Voices writers to describe the experience and what they gained from it.

I was paired with Camille following on from London Voices and had the chance to develop my script from treatment to draft and series outline with her. I found that she 100% understood the story I was trying to tell and over the course of working together we really discovered the core of the idea.

Nailing the premise in that way allowed us to streamline the series arc so that we told one narrative elegantly. She also gave me invaluable guidance on stuff I wouldn’t have seen for myself, like holding back on character introspection early on - ‘we still have a whole six eps for them to discover that!’

Most of all, I loved being part of a two person team. Writing and hitting deadlines can be an isolating experience and being accountable to not only myself but someone else who knew and cared about my story was great. I came out the other side of the process with a spec script I’m very proud of and a view of the series that I’m really excited about. I was able to craft my story in ways that I’ll take with me into every project.

Being on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Writers/ scheme was a pure joy! Scripts need support to emerge, and the scheme offered me incredible support. I love the script I created.

The process was robust and collaborative, full of respect and flexibility. My script editor was creative, enthusiastic, and open-minded. Despite us coming from different backgrounds the script benefited from this, he helped me see how some moments could be interpreted differently by demographics outside my awareness and vice versa (there’s nothing worse for a script than an echo chamber).

My editor’s ability to listen and be curious enabled trust and this meant we could interrogate the work without fear, all ideas were welcome until collectively discarded. We also had fun, plotting, playing, laughing, and worked fast (around my crazy day job hours) which helped the script grow stronger, it’s always best to strike while the iron’s hot.

Once the script was pitch ready, it was then snapped up for further development with , and I know the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ/NFTS scheme played a role in getting me there. I’ve often said that great scripts need great teams and I’ve been fortunate enough to have great teams throughout the script’s whole development. The NFTS scheme was truly life changing and I only wish I could do it all again!

After finishing London Voices, I had the opportunity to work with a script editor from NFTS to build my pitch into a full pilot and series treatment, and it turns out writing is a whole different ballgame when you’ve got someone else on your team!

My script editor really took the opportunity to get to know me and my writing (she even came to a playreading of mine to further understand my voice!), and helped me execute ideas that I wanted to try but wasn’t quite sure would work. She gave me assignments and exercises to explore these and to flesh out my characters and their journeys. It was great to have a partner who was really rooting for my script and keeping me accountable, while offering insightful feedback and acting as a sounding board throughout. Not to mention, our notes sessions were always a great excuse to meet up and eat!

It was the first time I’d worked with a script editor, and it offered me a new, more structured way of writing as well as the experience of receiving and incorporating feedback in various forms during the writing process. It’s also been very helpful when in meetings with development execs to be able to say that I’ve had a really positive, collaborative experience working with a script editor, preparing me for what’s to come!

Before being paired with my script editor, my TV drama idea was a grizzly, absurd, cheesy and contradicting fatberg. Then here comes NFTS student Henry Holmes. Henry translated all the cryptic industry spiel and pretentious auteur jargon (that us writers hear so bloody often), and shared clear, practical opinions throughout our time working together.

Despite Henry was a friendly and patient script editor, the miserable git in me was preparing for him to contort my rumpled fatberg into a sterile, vanilla, TV-friendly script. We’ve all heard those anecdotes before. Thankfully, I was wrong.

The grizzly got more grizzle. The absurdity was raised and praised. Cheesy scenes evolved into sincere moments of fidelity, and contradicting genres were shamelessly elevated. Henry understood what interested me as a writer. We recognised the potential of my show and leaned in further and further and further.

I’d absolutely recommend this NFTS pairing to other writers. My idea still rumbles with its grizzle and contradictions, but this fatberg is now a beautiful and titillating fatberg; a show which is an accurate representation of my voice, and a calling card script that’s secured multiple meetings with production companies.

Find out more about our Voices development group including the writers who have taken part

See details of all our development groups

Find out about our Open Call and submit your script before noon on Tuesday 5th December

Notes from friends

When starting out, asking friends to read your work is the most accessible way of getting thoughts on your script. This can get you used to the idea of other people looking at your writing, which is an essential psychological hurdle to get over. However, hopefully your friends are nice people who are fond of you and want to encourage you. (If not, maybe get some better friends?) This can mean their responses may be limited to, “I liked it!” The fact is that most people are not used to reading scripts - they undoubtedly watch TV, films and theatre, but that is a very different experience, so their thoughts may be an emotional rather than analytical response.

You can guide friends to give you more useful criticism by asking questions about areas which are causing you doubt: Was the story clear enough? What did you make of that scene? It is also possible to take a seemingly innocuous comment, such as “I really liked that character”, and then apply your own analysis - does that mean that character deserves a more pivotal role? Or do you need to do more work on the other characters to bring them up to the same level? Over time you can train friends to be more critical, but obviously that requires willingness on their part. It’s certainly wise not to exploit anyone’s kindness by incessantly bombarding them with your latest piece and having the dreaded elephant of “Have you read my script yet?” constantly trumpeting in the room.

Kindred Spirits

Consider finding other writers to read your work, as they will have artistic leanings and are more used to looking at scripts. Such people may be found in local writer’s groups or through online resources such as Twitter, or maybe you could locate someone right here in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Writersroom comment section! I see you all down there - get chatting! One important thing to remember though is that if you are seeking criticism you should be prepared to receive it and endeavour not to take any negative points personally. This is not only for the sake of your relationships, but also because when working in the industry you have to maintain professionalism and cannot afford to be offended or upset when critiqued. On the flip side of this, if you do get praise and encouragement, that’s great and you should definitely use it as motivation, but don’t rely on it to the extent that you think, “My friend liked it, so everyone else should too.”

If you end up reviewing other people’s scripts, think of the type of notes you would appreciate receiving, not cruel or condescending, but not vague or pandering either. Remember you are offering perspective and possibilities. Always avoid telling people directly what they should write or even rewriting it yourself, and resist receiving that kind of feedback, as you should always want to maintain authorship unless you’re co-writing. Essentially notes from friends and peers are the first step on the journey of a script. They allow you to believe in its potential and do preliminary improvements, but with the aim of getting professional feedback, which we’ll move on to now.

Rejection Notes

The harsh reality is that a lot of responses new writers will receive are rejections. . Sending your scripts to competitions or open submissions, many examples of which you can find in our Opportunities section, are great avenues for new writers, but highly competitive. Quite often a rejection will be a generic message, or no notification at all. This can be very disheartening, but it is a matter of dusting yourself off and trying again. 

If you progress to the later stages of a competition you can potentially receive a rejection with notes. These tend to come in the form of what we’ll call a Sh*t Sandwich. This means a positive introduction, a lot of criticism about the areas which aren’t entirely working, and then a bit of encouragement to say “Keep going though!” at the end. These kind of notes can be tricky to take at first because it can be tempting to focus purely on the negativity and feel you’re not good enough. But use any disappointment as fuel to fire your efforts to improve your work. And remember that the mere fact that you are getting those notes demonstrates that the reader has seen potential in you and they think you can learn and develop by focussing on particular areas that you can strengthen. 

In this situation, look for these specifics and then consider how you can work on them. If it is something technical like structure or clarity, these can be learned through training courses, lectures, books or , or many useful features on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Writersroom website. If it is something more artistic, such as voice or originality, these are things you need to develop personally. Explore ways of giving your characters more defined identities, or create concepts which are more unique or perhaps personal to you. Hopefully these kinds of notes should also push you to think of your script in a more holistic way, such as your overall intention and how you expressed it. Bear in mind that even if you end up a finalist or winner you would still receive these kind of critical notes. You can also obtain notes by using a script consultant, but these are generally paid services, and it is a matter of deciding whether they would be suitable for you or not. 

Hey Mr/Ms Producer!

Outside the world of competitions, it is possible to make contact with a producer and persuade them to read your script, a tricky but not impossible undertaking, which relies more on making a personal connection through networking. However, this will also often result in a rejection and does not guarantee significant feedback. Producer notes can be quite vague and not particularly constructive, such as, “It wasn’t for me.” This can be frustrating because it doesn’t give you anything tangible to work on and improve. It can be tempting to try to push for more detail, but be very cautious about this. It really depends upon the relationship you have with the producer, and the fact is that often if they wanted to give you more specific notes, they would have done so already.

Sometimes you may simply be told that something very similar to your idea is already in development, in which case it’s a matter of moving on to another concept, while recognising that you still have a sample of your writing in your pocket. Most of the time it’s best to thank them for reading the script and then asking if it’s okay to send them future examples of your work, thus maintaining a positive relationship.

It’s important to note with these kind of rejections that, unless the reader specifically asked for it, you should not send them a rewrite of the rejected script. Instead take the pointers they have given you and apply them to the next thing you write. That doesn’t mean that you can’t take this free advice, rework the script and then send it somewhere else. Doing a rewrite may seem like hard work, but it can be good practice, and eventually if you have a script which is being developed you may get to a point where you are receiving notes for multiple rewrites. Speaking of which...

Development Notes

So if you find yourself with a producer who is asking you to rewrite a script, you may believe that you’ve finally made it and all you really need to worry about is what you'll wear to the . But this is not only where the hard work begins, it’s also a test to see how you respond to notes and what a working relationship with you would be like.

It may seem like an obvious point, but don’t be overly argumentative or belligerent. Our scripts are our precious babies, and at times it can be too tempting to protect them from any perceived attacks, like a mother bear savagely mauling a hiker who inadvertently got too near to her cubs. If you say no and disagree with every suggestion a producer makes, it not only suggests that you would be really difficult to work with, you’re actively devaluing the other person’s opinions. It is best practice to be open to suggestions, to think them over and respond with possible solutions rather than road blocks.

If something isn’t clear you can ask for clarification, if you need more time to consider it you can respond by saying you’ll take a look at it. Of course if you powerfully believe that a suggested change would fundamentally damage the script then you have the right to argue your case. As with many things in life it is about how you express yourself. If you come across as aggressive, while you may think it seems strong, it could be that the producer sees you as uncooperative or even arrogant.

At the same time don’t try so hard to be agreeable that you’re giving the thumbs up to notes you don’t understand or have no intention of implementing. Otherwise when you submit the next draft and you’ve apparently ignored points that you’d agreed to it will give the impression that you don’t really listen. It can be helpful when sending follow up drafts to summarise what you have done to address the notes you received, as well as acknowledging any that you didn’t follow and why.

Cutting and Editing

One area that writers can be particularly defensive over is the idea of cutting material. Early drafts are often longer than necessary and so it is important to cut them down for time and to ensure there’s a good pace to the story. You may well feel that everything that is in your script is there for a reason, the primary one being that you like it. But if a scene, character or plot strand doesn’t serve a clear purpose you do need to either strengthen its reason for being there or be prepared to remove it. The idea of ‘killing your darlings’ is well established, and it’s important to remember that, since you really liked that element which you created you are able to create other elements that you will like just as much. Also there is always the potential to recycle what you have removed for a more suitable purpose, even in a different script. And if you don’t make the cuts at the script stage they could potentially be removed in the edit, where you have less creative control.

A similar note that may be tricky to adopt is the idea of moving around scenes and altering the time line. This can be intimidating if you feel you have a clear structure in your mind, but it can be as simple as cutting and pasting scenes into a different order. It’s a matter of looking at your script not as a sacred tome which can’t be adjusted, but something flexible and organic which can go through many iterations. You can even try alternative drafts to see which feels the best.

Thinking Practically

Be aware that there’s a high chance that praise will diminish even more at this more practical stage of development because people are essentially getting on with it rather than pandering to your ego. They will potentially only focus on critiquing what isn’t working rather than complimenting what is. A wise producer once told me, “If we don’t mention something that’s because it’s good. We’re only giving you notes on the parts which need to be as good as the rest.” With this in mind, don’t be tempted to rampantly rewrite an entire script because of a couple of criticisms. You could inadvertently throw out good material in your fervour. It’s about remembering that no one is trying to demean or belittle you, they are trying to help you improve and strengthen your work.

Every once in a while it is possible that you may get notes that you simply do not agree with. Obviously this can be difficult, particularly if you feel this is a rare opportunity for you to progress, and it requires personal strength and resolve to see if you can find a way to work through it. But sometimes it may be necessary to recognise you and your producer have completely contrasting opinions, and doing what they ask would result in writing something you don’t want to. But hopefully if someone likes your work in the first place they would never be offering destructive notes!

Seeing the Trees in the Woods

It’s important to remember that whenever you get a note there is always something there to be considered. The reader may not express it properly, or they could offer a solution that you don’t care for. But the point is that they responded in a way where they felt something wasn’t quite right and it is your task to figure out appropriate ways to fix it. Sometimes they can be small and simple. If you are told that a character isn’t likeable, that doesn’t mean you need to get rid of them or drastically alter them. Rather look for moments where they can show their humanity and behave empathetically, so the audience can better understand them. Other times they may be a bigger undertaking. If the conclusion of the story is seen as unfulfilling you may have to go back to the very beginning and rework every step of the plot, or even replace it with a whole new idea.

At times you may get a note where you think the reader has simply missed important information, and maybe they have, but remember that you know this story inside out. It is possible that while you know what is happening you may not have made it entirely clear, and maybe you need to add in little moments to increase clarity. While your brain is full of backstory and character details, if it isn’t apparent on the page then it isn’t evident to the reader, and an audience would share this confusion. This is the benefit of notes, as they offer an outside perspective which can express what someone coming to your work with no prior knowledge would experience.

So, what have we learned?

In summary, the key factors to remember are openness, compromise and a balanced attitude. Creating a script may feel like a solitary activity when you’re writing away on your own, but to produce something from that script is a highly collaborative process. In a production there will be all sorts of people and departments with concerns and requirements. It is therefore advantageous to know how to cooperate with others and respond effectively to notes as early as possible. With that in mind, hopefully you'll be inspired to get a kind soul to give you some notes, or offer some thoughts to a fellow Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Writersroom user, and continue to develop your writing!

What was the origin of the drama Keeping Faith? How did the commission come about?

Matthew Hall (writer): Co-founder of , and I have known each other for 15 years. It was a weird and fated coincidence. I was writing an episode of the ITV series, and Pip was appointed director of my episode. We had both moved to Monmouth in the summer of 2003 and found that we were neighbours as well as colleagues.

When in 2013 Pip set up Vox Pictures, she asked me to come up with a few ideas to pitch to television. I had been for a few years and so turned my mind back to small screen ideas. I wrote the pitch document for Keeping Faith very quickly - in a day or two. A character sprang into my mind. She was a very warm, very maternal, very emotional woman who was a friend and mother to all but who had somehow failed to realise her true potential. This was Faith. The principal elements of Faith’s character and the basic spine of the story were all there in that document.

Pip took it to a number of broadcasters and it was the Welsh language station, , who showed interested and commissioned all eight scripts at once. Then began what would become three years of writing, which I threaded between books. It was also a tough time for my family. My son was very ill for a long period, I was running out of money, we had to sell the house for a smaller one but the house took nearly three years to sell …. Persisting with Keeping Faith became a metaphor for our lives over that period. It seemed for a while that everything might collapse and I got to a point where I was quite prepared for that. Many writers will tell you a similar story of events in their lives. It sometimes seems that you have to go to the brink of disaster before dawn breaks.

Dawn did break in early 2016 when firstly agreed on the fourth time of asking to accept the role and showed interest and wanted to invest in the project. . A project that had almost sunk and taken us with it suddenly sprang to life. I wasn’t going to be starting a painting and decorating business, which was my brilliant plan B.

How did you find the story and your characters? In particular the character of Faith.

Matthew Hall: The best characters sort of descend on you unprompted, which is what happened with Faith. Her voice – the unselfconscious ability to express what’s going on inside in expletive-laden speech – is something of an amalgam of various women I know. Not all of them Welsh, but several of them are. The people I warm to most are those who take themselves least seriously, that’s perhaps Faith’s chief quality.

There was also a very serious aspect to Faith’s character, which is that like so many women I have known since I was young, she has not fulfilled her potential in the world but is a brilliant mother. It is so common among women - they start out on high-flying careers then veer off in their 30s and have to juggle children, elderly relatives and all sorts of things as well as what they can salvage of their careers. This happened to my wife. It wasn’t so much a choice as a fait accompli. She was a barrister, had two young kids and her health collapsed under the strain of trying to keep it all together. More significantly I could see that she was being forced to a choice - be the nurturing mother she desperately wanted to be or be a successful high-earning lawyer who doesn’t see much of her kids. There was really no middle way. It’s a painful thing to watch and I guess this experience fed into Faith.

It was important that Faith’s commendable choice to put her children first and stay home for an extended period was the catalyst for the disaster that ensued. This fact dramatises the sheer impossibility of the dilemmas so many women face in their lives - they cannot please everyone no matter what they do. I wanted her husband to be supportive of her choices but at the same time to be suffering the consequences. Faith’s absences pushes him to the brink of financial disaster and leads him into a secret criminal life.

Did you have a specific brief for a Wales-based drama? How important was the location in the generation of the story?

Matthew Hall: I live in Wales, was raised more or less bang on the border and have wanted to write a series in Wales for years. There was no thought to commissioners’ requirements when I wrote the proposal. Faith was Welsh, she lived in a small Welsh town. I wanted a story set in a very specific, identifiable and real place as I knew that would lend greater authenticity to the emotional stories. Most of my family is Welsh, all through my childhood I was surrounded by Welsh relations and especially in South Wales there is something very emotional about the way people behave. They’re like Italians – warm but volatile, clannish but generous. This makes for a lot of colour in speech and behaviour and makes Welsh characters huge fun to write.

The landscape was always going to be a silent character in the drama. Welsh landscape is wild and untamed in places so there is always a sense of the elemental - a reminder of the deep rhythms of life and death - in the background. Against this backdrop human beings are thrown into starker relief than they are in an urban landscape; somehow they become more sharply defined.

I was also very keen to subvert the usual TV portrayal of the British countryside as a rather idyllic and uneventful place. My many decades of living in the country has shown me that everything that can happen anywhere else can happen here, and often does!

How does the scriptwriting process work? Do you write a treatment first before any drafts of the scripts? If so then how detailed does this have to be and do you get notes on it which you have to respond to?

Matthew Hall: As a writer I have been lucky in this process in having very few note givers. I worked closely with Pip the producer/director and Joe (Williams, the Script Editor) later joined the process. Pip took notes from the various commissioners and executives and filtered them before handing me the good ones! As with nearly all TV, the process began with a series proposal which set out principal characters, backstory and the broad narrative arc and themes of the series. Next I moved to a detailed treatment of each episode in one large document which ran to about 20,000 words. Stage three is a scene breakdown of each episode. Stage four is drafting scripts.

Notes come at every stage of the process. The ability to negotiate notes is perhaps a skill every bit as important as being able to write. The writer has created the soul of the series and must never lose it. Some notes are very good and spot on, but often notes have diagnosed a problem or possibility for improvement but haven’t necessarily produced the right answer. So you have to respect notes, consider them, question them and act on them in a way which preserves the essence of what you are striving for.

At what point did Joe come on-board as Script Editor?

Joe Williams: Aside from script editing ‘Keeping Faith’ I also work at Vox Pictures, so it’s a project that I’d had some involvement with for quite some time before the series received the greenlight. I’ve known and worked for Pip Broughton for many years, so my attachment to the project came fairly organically. Script editors are usually brought on once the series has been greenlit. By that point, the writers and producers have a good sense of who the characters are and where the story is going. There may be a few plot specifics that need to be ironed out but by the greenlight stage you typically know where you are going. But because I was at Vox I was able to watch the series taking shape from when it was in a more embryonic stage.

How does a Script Editor work with a writer? Do you meet in person? Over the phone? How often and what sorts of notes do you give?

JW: It really varies depending on the project, the writer, and the producer. Pip has a long-standing creative partnership and friendship with Matthew, so my work on the series was very much carried out through her. Typically, Pip and Matthew would work on the gestation of the series together and I would join slightly later in the process. Due to our time being spent between London and Wales, there were a combination of face-to-face, Skype, and telephone calls. From Vox’s point of view, Pip is very much the creative drive on the series but both she and Matthew are very open to thoughts and suggestions. You don’t simply have to just sort out the admin side of script editing and there is a spirit of collaboration that I know isn’t always there in the development process.

The notes we would give on the series could focus both on individual episodes as well as macro notes for the entire series. Some of the notes are of a more practical level, such as looking into the procedural qualities of the story or double checking that the chronology of the scenes work. Sometimes there would be traditional development questions, such as examining how intriguing the central mystery is and if there’s room to tease the audience further in terms of finding out what has happened. We had a number of discussions regarding the finale for the series. We always knew what the final scene would be but the critical few steps that get Faith there were discussed a few times. Ultimately, it came down to dissecting who Faith really was as a character and how ‘Faith the Lawyer’ and ‘Faith the Mother’ come into conflict and ultimately resolve themselves. Once viewed through that prism the series gradually fell into place. We would also spend a lot of time talking about TV programmes we love; Matthew knows the medium of TV writing so well and I’ve had lots of engaging conversations with him dissecting the appeal of programmes and their characters.

What other functions does the Script Editor perform? Are you the point of contact between the Producers and the writer? Do you have to look out for the writer’s best interests in the development process?

JW: The job of Script Editing is an interesting mix of both inspiring creativity and occasionally mind-numbing administration! Again, it depends on the nature of the job - some Script Editors are hired simply to carry out the admin side and to collate notes, while others have much more creative engagement with the series and the writer. In this case, there was a good mix of both. Creatively, you tend to ask traditional ‘large’ development questions - what are the stakes of this episode; does this storyline make sense; is the mystery intriguing enough - alongside narrower points - plot specifics; whether a line of dialogue works; or whether a character is acting in a credible way. The important thing to remember, though, is that you’re not the writer. Your job is to enable the series to be the best it can based on the writer’s creation.

The admin side of Keeping Faith was particularly intricate, as we had to deliver both . This involved keeping on top of all the current drafts, ensuring the latest versions were properly signed off and distributed when they needed to be. There are also more simplified tasks, such as proof-reading and standardising the formatting to ensure continuity between drafts. Your work on the series also extends beyond the scripts themselves, as you find yourself writing summaries for the series and drafting straplines used for the show’s promotion. Then, you have to be on hand to answer production-based questions: how much of a certain character is in an episode; how much night there is; how many scenes are in a certain location etc.

Script Editors are traditionally the middle-men between the writers and the producers, though in my case it was different, as I already worked for the production company. It’s a tricky question, as the producers are ultimately the ones who pay your salary! That said, I think your loyalty should try to be towards the series itself and helping it along to be the best that it can be. This can mean fighting in the corner of the writer, the producer, or even for your own thoughts in relation to the script.

Did you ever strongly disagree and how do you resolve any disagreements?

JW: Personally, I don’t think I had any bust-ups with Matthew on the making of Keeping Faith! Much of my work was carried out via Pip Broughton but I personally found him to be open and very perceptive to thoughts from the team. He’s certainly not a pushover though and will fight for elements in the series that he truly believes in, as all writers should.

Ultimately, unless you’re talking about story practicalities and ironing out procedural details, much of the work put into script development is inherently subjective. So, of course, most of what you say is an opinion but it’s an opinion that you have to back up, otherwise why should anybody take it on board? I once saw do a brilliant talk when he said, “the best note I can be given is a question”, which I think is excellent advice. It means you are not being prescriptive and are framing your thoughts as something of a puzzle to engage with.

MH: I second Joe’s comments here and am glad that I’m not a pushover! I think the point is that if you care deeply about what you are writing you will firstly defend what you have written but secondly also want it to be as dramatically effective as possible. The process of dramatising is a hugely complex one involving thousands of decisions in a single script. It takes several sets of perceptive eyes to get things sufficiently polished. Writers have to be strong and also humble and receptive and eager for constructive criticism. Too much ego as a screenwriter will soon derail you!

I must also add that Joe is an excellent note giver. He’s forensic and thoughtful and takes any potential emotional heat out of the situation. You always have a calm and productive discussion with Joe, which is exactly what you need.

Who else gives notes during the scripting process?

JW: In the early stages, it will be the producer and their development team with the circle gradually widening to include the commissioners. When the production process begins, members of the team will also give their thoughts - whether it is the actors on their characters or the script supervisors critiquing logistics. As the script editor, it’s also your role to help balance these things and collate them together.

What’s the final point of your work together? Is it the creation of the shooting scripts ready for production or does the work continue through the actual shoot? Are either of you on-set?

JW: Keeping Faith was unusual in the sense that we had the eight scripts written at the start of the filming process, so my job was not quite as intense as it tends to be with other series at that point. That said, there is still a fair amount of work to do, though largely more on an admin scale. Often it’s things like changing character names, place names, or locations, usually because we can’t clear the original ones.

You also need to be responsible for overseeing any revisions and issuing changes to the cast and crew. At the start of a shoot, you ‘lock’ the scene and page numbers before issuing a shooting script to the cast and crew. If there are any revisions during the filming process, these are then re-issued as ‘pink pages’ - named because the pages are printed in pink paper and inserted into the script traditionally to prevent you from printing out the whole thing again. If there are further changes, they are issued on blue paper, and a colour sequences carries on after that. You also need to write a list of amendments in a separate document for the team’s benefit.

Casting can also play a role in the revision process. The unhinged dentist, Dr Meral Alpay, played brilliantly by was not originally written as being Turkish, so the character was slightly re-calibrated when she came on board (I believe the character was ultimately named after Pinar’s mother). A few other characters even changed in regards to gender. We also made minor amendments to the script based on how it sounded in the read through and how the first block (episodes 1-4) was coming along. Nothing enormous, mainly revolving around dialogue, pacing, and plot clarification. As a script editor, I’m not particularly needed on set, though it is necessary for me to be in close contact with the production team.

Are you surprised by the reaction to Series 1 of Keeping Faith? Why do you think audiences responded so positively?

JW: Personally, I knew the series was going to be good and hopefully connect with those who saw it, based on the quality of the scripts, as well as the terrific team that was assembled behind and in front of the camera. Even so, it was still a non-network regional programme, so it felt like there was more of a hill to climb in terms of actually reaching nationwide audiences in comparison to other drama programmes. So, yes, the reaction across the country has been surprising, though more because of the series’ platform, as opposed to its artistic qualities, which I always had faith in. If the series came out five years ago, maybe even less, I’m not sure it would have taken off in the same way, simply because of how much viewing culture has changed in the post-Netflix landscape. It’s also unusual for elements beyond the show’s story and characters to have taken off the way they have done, from Faith’s yellow coat (with its own ) to . I think its success particularly came home for me when my wife was recently considering buying one of the coats, which would have been a bit strange!

I think probably at the heart of why audiences responded positively towards the series is the character of Faith - her relatability, her enjoyment of life, and her dedication as a mother. So many people have Tweeted saying it’s one of the best and most accurate depictions of parenting they’ve seen. The triple whammy of Matthew’s writing, Pip’s directing and, of course, Eve’s powerhouse performance all perfectly came together to bring Faith to life.

MH: Pip and I are both parents of young adults and have gone through the cycle of parenting from start to finish. From the first proposal I was very keen to have three young children - a real overwhelming handful so that the audience could never forget for a moment that Faith is first and foremost a mother. Most shows try not to have kids on screen for too long, especially babies - the hassle! - but we were determined for them to be a huge presence. We simply haven’t had that level of family intimacy with young children depicted in quite that way before. Our female audience, in particular, really seemed to appreciate that. It was their lived experience on the screen.

‘Intimacy’ was a watchword Pip and I shared throughout the development process. My favourite shows - usually American, but also the French Spiral - are incredibly intimate. You are intensely close to the characters, you hear them breathe, you smell them. That’s what we wanted to achieve, so that every turn of the story was an intimate emotional and physical moment. This meant lots of layering at the script stage. We made sure the story was always told through Faith’s eyes so that the audience were feeling things at precisely the moment Faith was. We included moments that involved us with Faith in as many sensory and emotional ways as possible - eating, drinking, showering, crying, laughing - so that you ended up feeling that you could almost touch her.

I tried to write the scripts in as naturalistic a way as possible and Pip took that further in the directing process, encouraging a hyper-real and very spontaneous style of performance. I think we were hugely helped by the fact that many of the cast knew each other well, understood each other culturally and intimately understood the nature and foibles of the kind of small Welsh community we were depicting. This led to little spontaneous moments that kept adding to the whole. For example, there was a wonderful moment when (playing the petty criminal Arthur) pats , playing Terry the local constable, on the head at the police station and asks after his wife. This came from the actors on set and brought in another layer of intimacy showing that all these characters knew each other inside out.

Somehow the cumulative effect was to break down the distance between the drama and the viewer. Keeping Faith can’t be watched at arms’ length. You either switch over to the snooker or allow yourself to become completely immersed. There is no middle way.

Watch Keeping Faith on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One from Thursday 12th July 2018 at 9pm and on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer

What made you return to working in the medical profession after your screenwriting took off?

I realised that working part time as a doctor gave me fresh experience and fresh ‘input’ that I needed as a writer. Also another income took the pressure off having to say yes to every potential writing job. It gave me the space I needed to write original material. That was a key choice in my career. I took a break from writing on other people’s series and wrote an original spec' pilot. That got me original script commissions.

You’ve written for many different kinds of shows including medical but also others like , and . What made you want to return to the medical world for Trust Me?

grew out of trying to find a fresh take on a ‘medical show’ and also wanting to write about the kind of flawed protagonist that US cable shows were making work so well. It seemed an obvious thing to do but there was a lot of resistance about whether we would ‘like’ the character of in Trust Me. I thought this was the wrong question. For me, the way POV (point of view) works in writing forces you into the mind of the protagonist. You can’t help identifying with them. Then they do something bad and things suddenly get interesting. This idea has compelled audiences all the way from Macbeth, via to and . With Cath, the idea was similar. What happens if a good person starts to lie?

What’s the development process for a show like Trust Me? Did you have to write a pitch or treatment first?

I wrote several treatments and pitches, at least two ‘bad’ versions that didn’t get traction. However useful notes from production executives shaped it along the way. But it wasn’t until and at got hold of it that it moved forward. They could both see the potential in what I had always thought was a very strong hook - a medical show where the doctor isn’t really a doctor. at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ liked it too and commissioned a script for the first episode. He had interesting thoughts on the subtle class differential between nurses and doctors. The process really started from there.

What’s your working process? Character or story first or are they indivisible?

For Trust Me it was immediately clear that the character of was going to be a ‘good’ person who did a bad thing. So her character and background were constructed to make her virtuous, long suffering and almost a little self righteous. A ‘black and white’ thinker was going to be cast into a world of grey areas. Someone who trusts the system and who is devastated when the system betrays her. A naive woman. Everything else spiralled from that.

Do you plot out the storyline for the whole series before working on the individual episodes?

I always knew the end would involve moral compromise for Cath. She would end up trapped into lies and deceit, becoming part of the corrupt system when she’d previously stepped outside and tried to change it. It was always a ‘tragedy’. Although the ending I think is surprising, it is in my mind still a tragedy for the character. However the exact details emerged after we had the green light to make the show. The process was pretty smooth despite that. The main challenge was seeing how long you could hold tension and play the ‘will she get found out’ card. For me the mid point twist of having the Andy character find out the truth and then offer to help her is the key point in the story. At that point, she’s doomed as a character, but you still want to know how her fate will play out.

How many drafts of the script do you write?

That depends. I always write every draft expecting it to be shot. There are no ‘rough’ drafts. Notes come and they are discussed and the script is changed. Usually things get better. As I’ve become more experienced I’ve realised there’s always a new way which will work better, or at least just as well. On Trust Me we pretty much filmed the story I wrote, but certain beats were moved around to good effect in the script writing process. It was refined rather than re-thought. We were working to a tight delivery date for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and I think in retrospect we had just enough time to deliver a good show.

What’s the script-editing process like and how do you deal with notes? What do you find most or least helpful from a script-editor?

A good editor/producer saves you time - in fact they make it possible to deliver - because they can see stuff that you are too close to see. It’s never ‘easy’ to take notes, but if you’re working with someone you respect and trust, you find it easier to believe them. Having said that, there are a minority of people who make scripts worse and the best course of action is just not to work with them again.

Script Editor is a weirdly anachronistic role in British TV. In effect when you are changing story structure, you are writing. Screenwriting is story and structure, but thanks to our history in radio and theatre, many people are obsessed with dialogue and see that as ‘writing’. So in effect I believe script editors are working as co-writers. Perhaps the key difference is that a writer needs to have some bigger idea about what they want the final work to be. So a good script editor/producer is always collaborating on the question - what effect are we trying to achieve? Is this happening? Can we make it better, tighter, cleverer? Will the audience feel what you want them to feel? What you don’t need is someone trying to create a different show. If they want to do that, they should go and write it themselves and good luck to them. They’ll find it’s hard!

My personal bugbear is the idea that something ‘works’ or ‘doesn’t work’. Good writers are like character actors. They use different performances, different voices to achieve an effect on the audience. They make choices. There’s not one ‘right’ way. Writers must be free to try things. I find the idea that a writer is limited by a ‘voice’ unappealing. I think it can sometimes be a way of placing a writer in a box. For me growing as a writer is not developing a voice but disappearing from the work.

The idea that someone - an exec' or an editor - ‘knows’ the right answer is corrosive. A writer is constantly challenged with the idea that what they are writing might not be the best version of the story they are trying to tell. Non writers need to be humble enough to go on the same journey when it comes to their own ideas.

Do you write with specific actors in mind or have a say in casting?

I don’t but I do get involved with casting. It’s important to have a voice in that discussion but also be open to how a clever bit of casting changes a character for the better. Also hearing an actor read always inspires me because I automatically hear their voice and can write stuff I know they’ll do well. Working with Red was great because I was across all the casting choices and had a ‘vote’ (if not a veto!). You don’t always agree but to be honest there are so many great actors around you’re usually rejecting very good people. I sort of want to write to them all and tell them, but that would probably be weird.

Do you go on set?

I do go on set, especially on my own shows, and when I have a good relationship with the director. However it’s a tricky balance and you need to make sure you’re helping! Directors need the actors to trust them. Sometimes a writer can help on set by clarifying motivation or character. What I find works best is to have time to sit down with the director before the shoot. On and I spent a lot of time going through the script, discussing the shots I’d seen in my head and how she saw it. By the time the cameras rolled we both knew what we wanted and it worked really well.

Have you got any advice that’s been particularly useful to your writing or that you can share for other writers?

The one thing no-one seems to do is read books. Maybe it was my medical background but I read every screenwriting book I could find, comparing the ‘systems’ and looking for common ground. There’s so much experience there. If you think that a deep understanding of narrative and story is limiting, then you’re frankly delusional. Reject it if you want, but don’t reject what you haven’t understood. Whenever I work with someone who rejects structure, I find they simply take much longer to get to a story which ultimately displays a form of recognisable structure. Writers (and editors/producers) need to speak a common language of narrative. If you want to leapfrog fifty percent of the writers in the UK, read a book!

As I’ve got better at writing (and you do get better, and it takes a long time) I’ve realised that one of the key ideas is to create strong characters and place them in an interesting dilemma. That sounds obvious, but often isn’t done. Then challenge them with incident. Something has to happen. And then be utterly ruthless in pursuing what you believe that character would actually do in response. Not what moves the plot in a way you find convenient. What would they do? The same goes for the other characters. Each one has to have their own mind, be starring in their own movie. Each must pursue their own rational self interest. They all want something. When those paths clash, you’re getting somewhere. Repeat the process.

Two ideas clash here. To get a compelling narrative, something extraordinary has to happen. This challenges suspension of disbelief. To sustain it, you need to make the subsequent actions completely believable in terms of human psychology. I was interested that some of the critique of Trust Me was ‘how does she get paid?’ ‘What about her ID?” As a writer I knew the answers to these question but didn’t choose to show it. Clearly some people found that challenged their suspension of disbelief. But would more exposition have turned off more people than it helped? It’s a very difficult call to make.

With Trust Me, Cath loses her job in a way she finds deeply unfair. She’s got no money, she’s got a dependent daughter, a demented father and a dead beat ex. But more than that, she’s suddenly lost her faith in the fairness of the world. Her friend throwing away her career (perhaps a little too literally!) is the final straw. She has been challenged (ejected from her comfortable existence) and then she takes extreme action - she - steals her best friend's identity and goes to Edinburgh to pretend to be a doctor. That’s less than 15 minutes on screen but by that time (whether you buy it or not) something interesting has happened. Almost every other beat of the plot is a response to that character trying to make that deception work and avoid being found out. The other characters have their own needs and pursue them. Brigitte needs a friend and this challenges Ally. Andy seems like the perfect man but has he got a dark, obsessive side? They have wants - they are their own characters. When I read a script that gets to fifteen minutes and it’s just been pretty chat about not very much, I’m tuning out. In theatre people have bought a ticket, they're probably going to stick it out, at least until the interval. The emperor’s new clothes factor helps as well. Maybe the reason this is boring is that I’m not clever enough?

However on TV, it’s a blood sport. Every second of an audience’s attention is lent to you grudgingly. There’s no sunk cost commitment, just a finger on a button. There’s always something better on the other side. Now there are hundreds of other sides. Your seconds are ticking away. You cannot afford to waste any of them.

1. An understanding and appreciation of the craft of story-telling and screenwriting.

As script editors, we need to be interested to the point of being obsessed about STORY, how it works, and thinking about what it is that makes the good stories good.

In my experience most meetings with writers start off with the foreplay of discussing what you’ve been watching on TV the previous evening, what you’ve seen recently at the cinema, the theatre, or on Netflix. This often leads to bonding over how wonderful / horrible the latest TV show is, and why – before getting down to consummating your relationship with the negotiation of script notes (OK, that’s enough of the sex analogy).

 You’ll find that one of the things nearly all of the most successful TV dramatists have in common is a voracious viewing appetite. Quite a few writers and script editors will pride themselves on watching all new TV drama (or at least the first episode). As the range of TV drama on offer increases almost monthly, this gets harder and harder. But everything you watch will teach you something and make you think about how story-telling works at its best.

We need to be watching everything – on TV but also on other platforms and in other media – theatre, film, online, documentaries (so many of the best documentaries use similar narrative tricks and techniques to the best drama, and there is so much to be learnt by fiction story-tellers from documentary film-makers – and vice versa), short films, novels, news stories.

Are script editors also screenwriters? Sometimes - but very often not. Some of the best script editors I know have no pretensions to be able to write themselves. BUT I do think it’s really valuable for script editors to try writing – even if it’s only to experience first-hand the exquisite pain of someone carelessly but accurately ripping your script (metaphorically) to shreds in front of you. The experience will be embedded in your psyche and will teach you to treat the writers with whom you work with respect and sensitivity – writers are brave!

2. Ideas

Story ideas are a major part of a script editor’s currency – whether you’re working on a long-running series, or in development.

The producers you’re working for will be constantly looking to you for a never-ending stream of cutting-edge, sellable stories. So script editors need to think like writers in the way they generate ideas. As script editors, we need to be constantly looking outwards at all of the extraordinary, amazing, horrifying things that are happening around us – this is where stories come from (not from sitting staring at your computer screen!). We need to be people-watching and stealing / borrowing ideas from wherever we can find them – and taking these ideas to writers and producers.

3. Relationships with and Knowledge of WRITERS

But we should also be open to listening to ideas from writers. What a producer / production will often be looking for from you is a knowledge of the writers out there. Contrary to how it may appear to those on the outside, one of the main parts of a script editor’s job is sourcing new talent – discovering exciting new writing voices and bringing them into the industry and into paid writing work.

So it’s absolutely vital as script editors that we keep our ears to the ground, go to as much new writing theatre as possible, watch short films and constantly read scripts. As well as what we learn about the craft from reading scripts, the process of seeking out new writing talent should be a never-ending part of your job. You will stand and fall as a script editor on the quality of your database of the available screenwriting talent. So – you need to be very dedicated to reading, reading, reading; and you also need to be organised (keeping lists of writers) and pro-active. Not only do you need to constantly read, it’s also about the relationships you form with writers.

Part of this is also down to your relationships with literary agents. Literary agents are a key source of new writing talent – and you need to work through the process of discovering which agents you rate and which you don’t. OR, more particularly, the agents with whose taste you most concur (at the end of the day the whole process of assessing the quality of a script is ultimately subjective!)

Script-editing (indeed the TV drama business as a whole) is a very social and sociable business (despite the many hours you must spend reading by yourself!) We all – writers, script editors, producers – want to work with people with whom we get on. Because, as a script editor, when you work with a writer it can often be intense and demanding. You spend a lot of time talking to your writer and, through the stories you weave together, often get to know people very well, very quickly. We all prefer to do this if it’s with people we like and whose company we enjoy. Obvious really but, as a prominent literary agent put it eloquently to our 12 Channel 4 screenwriting writers on our weekend two weeks ago, ‘Don’t be an arsehole’! 

PHILIP SHELLEY runs the script consultancy and initiated and runs the annual (4Screenwriting, part of 4Talent, now in its 7th year).

He has worked as script editor and producer for many companies including the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, ITV, and several indies. He has taught sessions in screenwriting and script-editing for, among many others, the Indie Training Fund, Northern Ireland Screen, Screen-Training Ireland, Bath Spa University and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action in Cambodia.

His new venture is a series of dramatic monologue podcasts by new writers