I’m Andrew Ellard. ASK ME ANYTHING

As script editor I’ve worked on Red Dwarf, Chewing Gum, Detectorists, In My Skin, Intelligence.

I wrote the movie AfterDeath, an ep of Doctors, Outsiders for Comedy Blaps and now a CBBC sitcom.

I do #Tweetnotes.

Married, dork, one dog. AMA!
#writing #WritersCommunity #PipelineWritersUK #pipelinewriters @ScriptPipeline https://twitter.com/ellardent/status/1312793321912311813
Forced story turns - where you can feel the cheat.

Empty episodes with big cliffhangers - Netflix Marvel shows got bad for this.

Flash forwards to start episodes that don’t add tension - done just cos we’re short an interesting opening. https://twitter.com/curiousiguana/status/1312793554805313536?s=20
Watch stuff. The books can clarify, but the best thing is to watch good TV, good moves, read good books, then pick them apart.

The best way to learn how to build a car is to methodically take a car apart. https://twitter.com/bronactitley/status/1312794109199953922?s=20
Money.

I wish it were more complicated. But if channels can pay x per script, rather than salaries to a room, they will. Teams happen, but they’re discouraged through economics. https://twitter.com/PeaJay18/status/1312795056881963022?s=20
I think the lack of collaborative rooms is horribly damaging. What a great training ground for a new writer to be around ten other writers, seeing how problems get solved.

Instead you get your first small commission and...we send you home, alone, to do it. It’s harsh.
The Alma’s Not Normal *show* went though various iterations prior to drafting. A Red Dwarf bottle ep got huge with Samsara. We took Chewing Gum’s pilot back to core basics after it had been led off on tangents by bad notes.

https://twitter.com/MaxCCurtis/status/1312796314023976965?s=20
Big change is a beneficial part of the process. Don’t fear it.

New writers struggle to write second drafts that really embrace change. I often suggest opening a new doc, start again. Use the first draft as a step to stand on, to reach the new draft...
...A good story passes the anecdote test. You can tell it without dialogue and detail and it’s compelling.

If you typed up your first draft of a holiday anecdote, would that be the best version? Nope, you tell it again and again and it gets better.
It’s harder to improve an anecdote if it’s on paper. It starts to solidify, calcify.

A fresh page isn’t throwing the old draft away. You remember the good bits, and you can always paste them in again later. But why not try that scene once from a different angle?
That’s Bertie. He’s a cockapoo, two and a half years old. Very human-needy, dislikes being left alone, despite a lot of training.

He’s a very serious soul - so every big grin you get, you feel you’ve really earned it. https://twitter.com/jennimi/status/1312798559297777665?s=20
I’ve been posting Bertie #pupnotes since we got him. This thread goes all the way back to day one. https://twitter.com/ellardent/status/1309248559418671105?s=20
There is no point pretending that some part of writing isn’t plain magic.

I can bang on about structure and character and clarity all I like, and even the more elusive idea of tone. But a percentage will always be something in the gaps between those. https://twitter.com/Mitch_Al/status/1312798065439518722?s=20
I wish more people had seen The Great Outdoors, cos Cecil and Riley nailed a tone and a format there that could have run a long time.

And I wish more people remembered Nightingales, which mean near the invented 90s Channel 4 surreal sitcom. https://twitter.com/Will_S_7/status/1312794509344940033
It’s a sci-fi comedy. I didn’t create the show, but came on as head writer. I’ll talk about it loads, I promise, once the company have released more details. https://twitter.com/dmoranscripts/status/1312795802222366726
Save The Cat. Not because it’s the best, but because it’s the shortest. You realise this is all the same advice, sold with different methods and terms.

Save the Cat, under its bluster, says “watch movies and see what works”. Do that. https://twitter.com/jtopper/status/1312795967738052609
I believe strongly in good structure. But good structure is different for different projects.

Big Bang Theory doesn’t have a third act. Which is weird, but works for them. Many Moffat Who eps are all set-up and pay-off, no middle, and some of those are glorious.
So when it comes to writing books, find the fun ones, take what’s useful, ignore the rest.

Me, I like a strong midpoint. Most bad scripts I see can be half-fixed by that one note alone. A strong turn or escalation in the middle that generates both ‘more’ and different’.
“Is it interesting?”

Be harsh with yourself. Are those old lines, old scenes, has it been done before? Then seek new ways. Is its predictability an asset (it can be) or a flaw? If you were watching, would you be enjoying it? https://twitter.com/UBUWriter/status/1312796088743718912
Get paid to write a bible. If the spec interest is real, they’ll find a few quid.

A 2-page doc with a paragraph about what happens in each ep of the series? Fine. Anything deeper, get paid.

But still, write as little that isn’t actual script as possible. https://twitter.com/Drizzleman313/status/1312796855168905216
This surprises me - streaming has gone big for end-of-ep cliffhangers. But they sure can skimp on mid-episode shifts and become...monotone. (Hello sexy midpoints!)

Cliffhangers can be an artifice for ad breaks. But *shifts* are story. https://twitter.com/DavidLemon777/status/1312796926274928641
I feel like we all forgot that boxset binging came from shows like Friends and West Wing. Dynamic episodes. Start, shift, shift, climax, end.

I’ve said it before: at its worst, streaming TV feels like chewing the same steak endlessly. Episodic TV should be a Chinese takeaway.
(This is why I’m loving Lovecraft Country, Ted Lasso and Cobra Kai, I think. There’s huge movement in every episode. Each one satisfies, so you immediately want another.)
Having thus far failed to do this myself, I think the truth is sadly simple: if your stuff is so good, so compelling, entertaining and accessible, you end up with your days filled with chances to write for money.

If they’re not, you’re not that good yet. https://twitter.com/drwhodan/status/1312797452005670925
If I’m brutal with myself, AfterDeath was the first actually good thing I wrote. The first that deserved to be shot.

It made me realise: it was an angry script. Passionate. Mad about religion and morality, mad about toxic masculinity. Passion makes scripts exciting.
I find it almost impossible to start things on a bad day. But to continue - take an outline to draft, carry on with page 17, or do a rewrite - is near therapeutic.

It’s like assembling furniture. You can zone out, dig in. Be put design it first? Haaaard. https://twitter.com/jammywho21/status/1312798745617215489
You’re going to be too defensive to hear the best notes and take them. You’re going to be too deferential and implement notes that shouldn’t have been.

Discuss before you refute. But know that taking a note doesn’t mean obedience. https://twitter.com/David_Mac13/status/1312800581396951041
The dub. Its never done, only abandoned to production. Then you’ll cut and shuffle in the edit. And dub lines you wish you’d written.

Don’t fear that fluidity. Be glad you’ve more in your back pocket for when the changes come. https://twitter.com/denzelgodspeed/status/1312801158952620032
I write my early drafts in Slugline. On productions, I’m stuck in Final Draft (🤮).

I love Fountain as a concept. A screenwriting language where you can write in an text app at all and it formats right. Newcomers shouldn’t spend on costly software. https://twitter.com/thwphipps/status/1312802817007128577
I know this is going to seem like a pun, but: a good microphone.

Crappy picture quality is forgivable. Nobody can follow a story of the audio is poor - or at least won’t want to.

But then, obviously: say something compelling! https://twitter.com/WhoPotterVian/status/1312803964463779840
I’d ask “Is this my story to tell?” We should all be allowed to write any character - how else would your show not be all wrote dudes? - but show perspective, it seems to me, is a handy (if simplistic) metric.

And earn your take. Via undeniable quality. https://twitter.com/rufusjones1/status/1312804001080127488
I think Quantum being so direct a sequel is a mistake. Like The Last Jedi it’s a good and interesting tale in itself, but both hurt themselves by feeling perfunctory - we already thought he was James Bond, we already thought Finn had joined the resistance. https://twitter.com/The007Files/status/1312804393050345473
You know how you can predict your friends? “She’ll hate him” or “If we discuss that they’ll never shut up.”

That understanding is what you want audiences to have for your characters. What’s the killer example that sells us that personality in one scene? https://twitter.com/JurieHorneman/status/1312805379269627906
Ageing Ellen Ripley is earning a living on Earth, using her alien strength to make shit money catching bail-skippers.

But she’s always kept a watch on the Company. And now gets wind of their money-making mission - to the recently-located alien homeworld. https://twitter.com/GinBroguesHats/status/1312805540737748994
Thinking Red Dwarf: The Promised Land might be too simple to delight fans.

Totally wrong. It was a very movie-movie - villains show up, we run, then we fight; no huge new SF ideas, not much satire - but it had entertainment, laughs and heart for miles. https://twitter.com/hardy24/status/1312807377742303232
YOU DO NOT NEED AN AGENT TO BEGIN A CAREER.

This’ll take a few tweets.

Agents can field offers, but early on you have to get those offers yourself. With good scripts and tenacity.

The best route is write good, then get the script to producers. How? https://twitter.com/MilnrowShaw/status/1312807473078824961
...”No unsolicited scripts” means “stop ducking emailing your PDF to the receptionist, dickhead”. It doesn’t mean “We won’t read anything ever.”

Scenario: You have a truly masterpiece script. Who do you send it to?

Producers who make the kind of thing you write...
Find those producers through end credits. Easy. Find the company they’re attached to, or just them freelance. Everyone’s findable in 2020.

BUT BE SELECTIVE. Don’t send your audience sitcom to someone who loathes the form. What are you, an idiot?

Find kindred spirits.
And reach out. By email, by DM, a tweet. But don’t say “It’s my dream to be a writer”. Who gives a damn about making your dreams come true? They want a great collaborator to make a great show with.

“Hi. I love that thing you do. I think I might be writing something you’d adore.”
“If you were interested, I could send a current draft...?”

And if they say yes, congratulations, you are no longer unsolicited!

Don’t send scripts unbidden. Don’t target everyone. Don’t demand, and don’t try that “It’s my dream” emotional blackmail shit.
For bonus points, make the best five-minute short that sells your ability. And send that link.

I hate reading scripts. I like telly. Scripts are just the awful stage you have to suffer through. But said your shirt made me laugh or cry, I now *want* to open to page one and try.
We should start by saying the ‘script editor’ covers all kinds of versions of the job. I detailed that quickly here: https://link.medium.com/M5Yj7QpCjab 

Sometimes, like on Detectorists, I’m now story producer. But it’s all a bit semantic... https://twitter.com/wrathofgodbot/status/1312807580008407040
...But on Detectorists series 3, Mackenzie came in with a pile of ideas and a definite end image. I worked closely with him to build the story shapes for each episode. Then notes and calls on each draft, getting it all humming.

I never went to set at all. I rarely do.
On the CBBC show I worked with the production company a lot on versions of the “example episode” (a pilot, sorta, but not ‘episode one’). Once that was there, I began outline more, and we ran two writers days to brainstorm and find and build the guest writers’ episode stories...
...Then it’s all drafts and feedback. Guest writers got notes on their eps (I usually did a final pass on each). I got the notes on mine. But my head writer job was to have the overview on who the characters are, how they talk, how we tell stories, rules of the universe, etc.
Do Spider-Man: Homecoming. Just get going.

But also a) make his arrival in the story the most exciting, ground-claiming moment possible, and b) make clear this is the first episode of a series, with the promise of an arc...while feeling whole. https://twitter.com/KevR42/status/1312808537022779393
Having been a fan forever (pictured), I wanted the episodes to be consistent with the old series.

Which means being true to character & format, and only slightly caring about continuity. Lister had already had his appendix out twice by the time I arrived.
https://twitter.com/wilhelmscreamf/status/1312811018184273926
I consulted awhile on a Call of Duty. It was a real eye-opener. I rather enjoyed the challenge of helping find story material that felt true and honest but matched the demands of game mechanics. Which are the priority.

I’d like to do more in that area. https://twitter.com/IanMayor/status/1312813316398559233
Both. But you’d prefer not to rely on either. https://twitter.com/MrAlecDeacon/status/1312813742875455489
Here’s the ghastly truth: You need to deliver a script that’s a so polished it’s ready to shoot tomorrow.

AND be ready to change every single line as it gets developed.

Impress with the skill. Then impress as collaborator. https://twitter.com/TheWrittenTevs/status/1312814254987280384
Remember your aim, always, is to replicate the experience of watching the show.

If audiences should recall a familiar face, a familiar name helps. The drinks naming is great. Nicknames, too. Nobody remembers “Phil”. https://twitter.com/SandmanJazz/status/1312815896025542656
I wish the answer wasn’t sexism. But it is. Big issue is at a commissioning level, where “Female led” is somehow a genre...?

Female writers get fewer jobs to hone their craft. It’s why I take so many female-led projects - to protect and lift those voices. https://twitter.com/JillOHalloran1/status/1312816537728888832
Cos dozens of people make it. The miracle, not the norm, is when it all works.

But flaws are the result of trade-offs. To get a more exciting finale, you may trade some logic to get it. To cover an actor being sick, you write them out of their big scene. https://twitter.com/richardearls/status/1312817262496305158
I should say: I *really* want to get this Kickstarter backed!

If you’ve found this useful, imagine how compelling this series of story-analysis videos could be!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamesbondvideonotes/videonotes-a-james-bond-video-project
You can follow @ellardent.
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