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Screenwriting is a live medium. Unlike a novel, you depend on actors to perform it. You are creating a blueprint for others to be inspired. I think of my scripts like a muse for the collective mind of the cast and crew, that together they will bring to life.
There is no hard and fast rule to good writing. Most of it is being a magpie. The greatest thing you can do is listen and watch. I don’t go back to anything too didactic, I just watch films and television that I love, and pay attention to everything that is going on around me.
Listen out for material
You can hear the most intimate details on the bus as people talk to each other or on their phones. I saw the most amazing scene recently. A girl on the bus was on the phone while pushing her baby back and forth in its pram. The conversation she was having was so explicit and shocking, and the visual rhythm was incredible.
You might overhear anything from someone discussing a break-up to a foot fungus infection. All it takes is one line, and I’ll think: right, I’ve got you.
Dialogue comes last
I tend to write around a theme or story first, and then think of a character before I get to dialogue. And when the dialogue doesn’t work, I know I haven’t got the right character.
Energy over details
I’m not fan of over-characterisation. When preparing a character I would never list “Michael, red T-shirt, yellow boots”. I’d say: “Michael, coolest kid in his class”. It’s about capturing the energy of the character, not every last detail.
Be authentic
The ebb and flow of human traffic is vital when trying to capture people and dialogue authentically. I’m writing a show set in London, and the collision of conversation and noise in the city is so incredible. You can hear a snippet from a car radio passing, slicing in with a raging drunk, slicing in with someone on the phone. It’s something I try to tune into as it sounds familiar but is also original. Listen to the white noise and see what jumps out.
Less is more
Good drama is sometimes what you leave out, as opposed to what you put in. A tutor once said to me: “Take out every third line.” When I’ve written 10 lines, I always reduce it to five. If I’m writing a monologue, that character really has to earn it. Having said that, Freddie Lyons from The Hour never shut up. Also, in real conversation, things aren’t always neat. People finish each other’s sentences, or finish a sentence halfway through, or the other person knows what they are going to say so they don’t need to finish at all. Once you’ve cut your script down, you might need your dialogue to be a bit more ragged up.
Decide your genre
I often write a hybrid of genres because I don’t feel confident enough to pull one off straight. I’ve just done a re-telling of Little House on the Prairie. I could have written it as a children’s script, but I thought of it as if I were writing The Grapes of Wrath – they’re both about a family trying to survive depression-era hardship in the American West.
Be inspired by the greats
I have so many heroes, and I always return to their work. If I had to list a few of them, it would be Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, Paul Schrader, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Sarah Phelps and Tina Fey. Nora Ephron was hugely important to me because she was the first prolific writer who spoke to me as a woman. And Lena Dunham – her scripts are sublime. Elaine May goes uncredited on Tootsie, but as my favourite film, and as the lone woman writer among a gang of guys, she definitely deserves a mention. You can really hear her voice in there.
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