For today's How To Write, RNZ’s Perlina Lau talks to Jesse Mulligan about how to write a fictional television series script.
Lau, who is one of the creators behind the Creamerie series, says firstly it’s important to get the storyline evolved enough for an actual script for characters to be written.
Creamerie cast (Perlina Lau 3rd right) Photo: supplied
Lau starts with a word of warning that writing TV scripts is not for people wanting a quick hobby.
Creamerie took three years to be developed and written, she says.
“We started in June 2018, came up with the idea and hashed it out as best we could which was ‘dystopian, all those with Y chromosome have died, what happens now, what are the central questions, what are themes, do a mood board, what are you inspired by’.”
She says they were inspired by The Handmaid's Tale and the parallels with the political turmoil in the United States.
Once you’ve got your idea, you can go in for public funding but applying for it takes time, she says.
“It’s such a long process up until that point, so you go in for your development funding and you say ‘what we can do with this money is get a pilot script’.
“But before that part, you’ve got to come up with a ‘mini-Bible’, so it’s like your manual, your map. So everything about the show, about your idea is in this Bible.”
The ‘guide’ is to show funders why the series should be made and why it’s worth making it, she says.
After that, the writers and producers come together to spitball all the ideas, with one person being the notetaker.
“Then it’s a lot of talking, it’s weeks of talking, writing on whiteboards, typing on laptops, and you’re going through all ideas.
“We had four different versions of an opening scene. You start with really basic things like ‘in a world with no men what would you do?’
“Then from there, you work out okay, in that sense, what’s going to happen with each episode … down to sort of the scenes. And then only then really, do you have someone write the first draft, and what ends up being the pilot script probably goes through four to six versions, or for us it did.
“But at that point you need to know, who your characters are, where they’re going, what’s their background, because otherwise if you don’t have that roadmap, it’s very hard to write the details.”
Lau say the build-up towards the script is the crucial stepping stone to know how to add colour when it comes to the dialogue.
