主播大秀

So the 主播大秀 Drama Room class of 2016 has just graduated with an awesome evening of talks by grand dame and new kid on the block . It’s inspiring to observe the different generations. Abi’s traditional route from theatre to TV is a contrast to Sophie’s apprenticeship in US-style writers’ rooms. Each writer’s journey is unique… and that’s very good news, because when I walked into the Drama Room last summer, my route there had not been in any way straightforward.

I’ve always been a writer, but lacking confidence I fell into commercial publishing, editing magazines that analyzed the beauty retail sector. If you want to know how many units of Matey Boots sold in 2002, just ask. Suddenly, I awoke from a horrifying nightmare in which I had just spent 15 years writing about eyeliner… only to realise it was true. So, despite the look on my partner’s face, I gave it all up to follow my dream.

What happened next was a drama in itself. While staging plays at a community theatre, studying for an MA in screenwriting and despite only having written about bubble bath, I landed a job writing documents and speeches for the Cabinet Office. It was like an episode of . I had no idea what I was doing and still can’t say for sure I didn’t start the war in Iraq.

Luckily, I met Black Mirror director and over seven years working together we wrote numerous film scripts including the psychological thriller released in 2011. I was finally a produced screenwriter. By now, pacing a story from start to finish over 90 pages was second nature, but I was no nearer my dream of writing for TV.

I would love to say I sent a script to the 主播大秀 and they whisked me in to say how keen they were to work with me. Nope, didn’t happen. I must have sent at least five spec' scripts in as many years and entered every writing scheme and competition I qualified for. And some I didn’t. NB if the prize includes ‘sports equipment for your school’ don’t enter it. I wrote more specs, watched shocking amounts of TV, learned to create episodic stories and tried to forget it had been over a decade since I left my publishing job.

Yet steadily things happened. An independent production company optioned my sitcom, while another optioned and developed a TV drama script. I kept writing short plays and regularly contributed to drama nights on the London new writing circuit.

Then last summer my latest TV drama spec' script finally made the cut and I joined 14 other writers in the first ever 主播大秀 Drama Room. I wasn’t the youngest there, but no one put the defibrillator on charge when I walked in or asked if I’d prefer burial to cremation. We were all at different stages in our lives and careers, yet we were all in the same place. It was like coming home.

explored story structure courtesy of . We learned that if we want to write for TV we have to grasp the timings and turning points that make each drama format a gripping experience for the audience. You can never know too much about structure because it underpins the whole writing process. It was nerve-wracking to create and pitch our stories in front of other writers we’d only just met. But pitching is an unavoidable part of being a writer and therefore crucial to the Drama Room.

Taking our structure class on board, our next Drama Room day covered radio. This was fascinating and unique: the 主播大秀 is the only significant producer of radio drama in the world. As Commissioning Editor said: ‘writing is the currency of radio drama’ and a platform to reach audiences the size TV can’t guarantee any more. We’d submitted our ideas in advance and 主播大秀 Writersroom Development Producer discussed why some might work and others wouldn’t. Brutal but vital, and a reason the Drama Room isn’t a place for beginners. Finally, the best part of the day: a speed-pitching session in which we presented our ideas in super-quick time to a queue of radio producers. Rest assured I would never have described a pitching session as the best part of any day before the Drama Room.

Radio drama is a route into writing for TV many new writers don’t consider and the same goes for the theme of our next Drama Room day: Children’s TV. Whatever genre you write: sketches, comedy, drama… there is a demand for it in child-friendly form. Of course, you have to cut out the violence and tone down the swearing. What’s that? Of course, I mean cut out the swearing too. Our pitching session proved a sobering experience for me when I mentioned Enid Blyton as integral to my children’s TV idea. The stony silence that followed could have brought down the walls of Jericho. Apparently, when it comes to respected children’s authors she is right up there with the Marquis de Sade. Oh well, better stick with sex and violence.

Continuing Drama, or ‘soaps’ as they are never called, is an important part of the 主播大秀’s drama output and, until very recently, vital to the careers of most TV writers. Our CD day took place at the , home of and . It was surreal wandering through the Holby wards and corridors, while production staff who had very kindly given up their lunch hour, explained how writers must take into account the technical aspects of filming on a permanent set. took us through the that select writers for 主播大秀 continuing dramas and rounded the day off with a very entertaining account of the job itself. I left determined to apply.

So over six months we have been introduced to the 主播大秀 as much as the 主播大秀 has been introduced to us and in that short time we’ve become a very close and supportive team. I hope to stay in touch with the other writers as much as any of the producers I met along the way. While the Drama Room is no guarantee of anything, I know it will be an important step for us all.

I hope my experience shows there is no time limit to honing your skills as a writer, as long as you love what you do. ‘Breaking in’ is a process, not an event, and 主播大秀 Writersroom remains the best resource writers have, wherever they are on their journey. So now, as the inaugural class moves on, the Drama Room is empty once more, ready and waiting for this year’s intake…