Ever dreamed of writing a TV show but didn't know where to start? Now's the perfect time to pick up your pen (or keyboard) and dive in - no experience needed, just your imagination.
In a new series, screenwriter Ray Lawlor - creator of RTÉ's popular black comedy series Obituary - offers some tips for the budding TV writer...
As we've discussed, writing a TV show isn't a solo act; it’s a conversation. Once your first draft is on the page, the next step is collaboration, and this usually begins with a script editor. On Obituary, my script editor, whose role is to be both a mother and a drill sergeant, would take notes from everyone involved in the development process (producers, broadcasters, script editor), then weed out the silly or obsolete notes before combining them into one cohesive document that felt as if it was coming from a single person. This meant I didn’t have several voices in my ear, but one person who knew the notes inside out and could answer any queries I had within minutes.
Physically, notes can run for 20 pages. It can be daunting, but great notes have a logic and flow that lend themselves to box-checking. Fix one note, and then the next makes perfect sense to tackle. Regarding those notes, they would challenge me on pacing, on whether a scene earned its place, or if a joke landed in the right moment or was in bad taste. They’d ask: Does this reveal enough about the character? Will the audience care? But most importantly, is this true to the character? You’d be amazed at how often you can invent characters and yet other people know them better than you do. How you can try and force a character to act a certain way to help the plot, and how a great script editor can spot this a mile away and call you out on it.
Remember: the clearer and more detailed your script, the more freedom your team has to elevate it.
A good script editor helps you see the bigger picture: which arcs need more room, which subplots are distracting, and where the story engine might stall. But most of all, if you trust your script editor and form an honest and open relationship with them, fixing scripts can happen in hours rather than days. And in this business, time is precious.
Then comes the director, who interprets your script visually. One major lesson I learned in TV writing is that they will shoot everything you write in the way you write it. A director may have eight days to shoot 45 pages and doesn’t have the time to figure out on set whether something works or not. They are paid to complete their days so the budget doesn’t spiral out of control, so you need to impart every idea and nuance in your script to the director before they shoot, or you end up pulling your hair out when you watch the show on TV and realise: That wasn’t what I meant.
A director isn’t there to rewrite your dialogue; they’re translating your words into images, performances, and rhythm. Your job as a writer is to make their job easier: clear stage directions, strong character motivation, and emotional beats that actors can play. It may sound crude, but your job is to write a script that is fail-safe, can only be shot in the way you intended, which anyone on set, from the runners to the drivers, can pick up and understand without having to read it twice. Remember: the clearer and more detailed your script, the more freedom your team has to elevate it. You likely won’t be on set, so you don’t want your actors figuring things out; you want them figuring out how to make your words really sing. That’s the magic of TV: it’s a story made by many hands, powered by one vision. In our last article, we’ll see how that vision is expanded over an entire season of TV.
Season 2 of Obituary is on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from October 14th - catch up with both seasons here
