Writing Is Like Having A Poo...

...it's really hard if you don't want to go. But there comes a time when you have to go...and if you're ready, that's when it should be right (to write, as it were). Where some people falter is when they start writing too soon..."

"Finish it. It's not a script until it's finished. Let's be blunt, you're not a writer if its all in your head, or if you've only written two pages...shut up, stop wasting time, and finish it."

"Characters should be three people in one. I mean, most characters should be a good three people you know...and you don't literally pick, but, like Frank, is like four people from my family...both male and female, but they'll never know which bits are them."

"Good screenwriting means accepting it's better if the audience is confused for ten minutes than bored for five seconds."

"The thing about writing is that first draft is so hard...it's so hard you think, I don't ever want to do that again. And what people don't realize is that the difficulty of that first draft, it's only for the first draft....the second draft will become easier. And the third draft easier still..and by the fourth draft you'll be having such a good time because you've stripped away all the dead wood."

Hear these and other glorious nuggets of wisdom from several UK television writers being interviewed by Screenwipe's Charlie Brooker, Featuring: Russell T Davies, Paul Abbott, Tony Jordan, Graham Linehan, Jesse Armstrong, and Sam Bain.

Below is a sampling:




But just watch the entire episode. It's a great one hour of telly about writing for the telly (yeah, I know, an hour - who's got an hour these days...but it's really good!)

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE


Charlie Brooker. When he's not taking the piss out of TV like HE DOES HERE, he's giving us gold like this episode on TV screenwriting. I love the guy.