By Claire Ingham

1. Write about what makes you passionate, enthusiastic and excited. Don’t just try to copy the latest ‘craze or format’. Producers/Development Executives want to know about your ‘voice.’

2. If you like something you see on television ask yourself why you like it. Is it the dialogue? The story? How many characters are there? How is the story structured? Become aware of what attracts you to good writing.

3. Watch TV often – and try to catch the first episodes of any new drama programmes. It’s a great way to see what is being commissioned – and what audiences like.

4. Is there something that feels as if it’s missing from TV? What kind of stories are absent? Are there enough stories about your age-group, location, culture? Is there something in your experience that deserves to be shared with other people?

5. Learn how to format a script properly, so that you’re writing to an accepted industry format.
The BBC has some script software you can download at www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
There are also examples of Hollywood scripts at www.dailyscript.com

6. Think about the kind of audience you are writing for and make sure your language and subject matter are appropriate – eg. don’t use bad language or too much violence if you are writing for children or a family audience.

7. Think about what makes your idea a TV script, rather than a radio or theatre script. What makes it perfect for the small screen? Do you have visual action as well as dialogue?

8. Listen to how people talk – in the street, on the bus, at school and at work. Keep a notebook handy for ‘magpie quotes’ and snippets of fantastic dialogue. Try to incorporate the words, slang and rhythms of everyday speech into your work so that your dialogue sounds natural.

9. Don’t finish your script and send it out to a broadcaster straight away. Ask people who will give you genuine, constructive criticism to read your work – and then try and improve it. You only get one chance to make a good first impression!

10. Keep writing. Writing for TV Drama is competitive, but the rewards can be very good. Don’t wait to see what the reaction is to a script before you carry on. Write something else!

Good luck!



Claire Ingham runs Midlands Production Company Red Room Films. She is a producer, writer and development consultant for a number of film and television companies including Impossible Pictures, Swish, Leopardrama and Sly Fox Films. She leads workshops/development initiatives for the regional screen agencies in the East and the West Midlands - trains production companies in drama development through PACT and the IPTF and is a visiting lecturer and mentor to De Montford University's MA Television Scriptwriting Programme.

Claire's film, 'Hearing Things', won the 'Spirit of Moondance Award' for best narrative short film by a female filmmaker at the Moondance Festival in Hollywood in 2006.

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