Writing for the BBC

As I said in a previous post the BBC has a very comprehensive website regarding their requirements for script submissions. I think that it has altered some what since I first looked into it years ago. It must be the sheer volume of unsolicited scripts that they receive which has now made it necessary for them to accept such work in "limited windows", ie they open the doors for a month or so at particular times of the year.
However they appear to be encouraging and are on the look out for new talent, these are some of the main points that they have listed for would be scriptwriters.


. Developing your idea, all ideas are only as good as the characters that drive them. All good ideas need to be dramatic.


. Action, what is the central dramatic action in your idea?


. Form and format, knowing what you want to write. Strong scripts know what they are and what they are trying to do. Great writers master medium and form and manipulate it.


. Character, bringing your words to life. Great characters are active not passive. They are always on some kind of journey, physical, emotional or psychological. Great characters are distinct.


. Beginnings, hitting the ground running. Knowing where to start with the story that you tell is inextricably linked to the ending you are trying to reach.


.Plan the story, beginning, middle and end. But stand back, look at your characters, and ask whether they are driving it forward.


.Middles, you need to be in control of the middle. Surprise the audience.  Don't let the story flat-line.


. Endings, great endings somehow feel inevitable they are what should follow on from everything that has gone before. Yet they must not be predictable.


. Dialogue, dialogue is not just about what characters say- it's about what they express by what they say. Strong character voices are authentic, be sparing and specific with slang/dialect.


. Rewriting. Scripts aren't novels, or short story, or poetry or rhetoric. Make sure that you give your script the time and space it needs and you need to get it as right as you can.  The industry wants to see the best, most developed script you think you can write. And they want to see what's different and unique about what you can do.


 I may well have a go in the New Year.