I researched many articles on writing a traditional television show. They all varied depending on the show. Some involved a writing room and others, surprisingly, involved no group writing sessions at all, but the head writer simply assigned episodes for writers to go off and write on their own. For comedy, though, they almost always had a writing room and more writers than any drama. Why? Because comedy is hard, it’s subjective, and the more opinions on what’s funny the better the chances you’ll actual create something funny. At least the audience you’re after will have some chuckles. All this research came in handy when I had to head the writing team for the web series my Fiance and I are creating, “Newlywed and Broke”!
One thing I learned was to be open and encouraging to others’ ideas. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to be impartial, that I would always love my ideas more and may not be open to other ones. I know that sounds egotistical but hey, I’m human and have to be honest. Make sure you do the same. In the end, I surprised myself and realized that the project always comes first before any egos. I now like to call the project “The Child”, and everyone who is involved in its creation are the parents or guardians of it. No matter how you feel, you must always do what’s best for the child. This encouraging nature allowed my writers to feel free to project any and every idea out. We found ourselves rolling around in laughter a number of times over the four-day session.
But being encouraging is not the same as accepting every idea that comes down the pike. You must also have the strength and vision to know when an idea doesn’t work and be courageous enough to speak up. We had a lot of great ideas, some not so great, and more that just didn’t work or would take too much time to set-up for a web series. Some of those ideas were my own. Guess I’m not perfect =) Being in charge means you have to be the one to yay or nay the ideas and articulate why they don’t work. My writers trusted me to make those decisions and, usually, didn’t question me after I explained why. I knew what the web series was supposed to be. I understood my characters and exactly what other- current, on-air- shows I wanted to emulate (I describe our web series as “I Love Lucy” meets “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”). I had done my research. I became an expert on my web series and, by the end of the four-day session, they were experts too!
Also, make sure to contact those you trust for guidance. I sought out the advice and knowledge of fellow writers and friends in the Biz beforehand. One suggested having tons of food, another said to have video games and things to play with on breaks to keep everyone happy and relaxed. I followed all the advice. I was recommended tools to use as well. In a typical writing room there is usually a white board or cork board that ideas are written on. Being that we didn’t have the luxury of being in an office space designated for this type of activity specifically, I looked for the helpful apps available on my iPad. One was aptly named “Index Card” and supplied a virtual cork board and as many virtual index cards as I needed that could be arranged and color-coded and you could flip them over to write more detailed notes about the scene. It was also easy to e-mail them to myself in text or PDF form to print. For only $4.99 it was a good deal and served it’s purpose well.
Another app that came highly recommended was Scrivener. Now, I have not had the privilege to use this tool, as you have to download it first on to your MAC then sync it with your iPad etc. It also costs more at $45, but one of my fellow writers swears it is a writers’ true best friend. In the development stage of either a script or novel or essay or other, this can help organize all ideas and research. You can outline through charts or on corkboards. It can combine several texts into one document for editing. You can even take pictures for reference and place them on the page. It does so many things and I am excited to get it and apply it to my next project. Though, for now, I’ll wait.
So, snacks bought, research done, lunch planned for, we were ready to get into it. When the writers came in and sat down, I first had everyone introduce themselves and their writing backgrounds. Because I had met with every writer prior to hiring them on, I had a good feeling about how our chemistry would combine and very well it did. We got along so well that one writer expressed how he was surprised by it. We melded into a mastermind brought together under the one purpose of making a gut-bustingly funny web series! There were differences in opinions here and there, but, being in charge, I was able to make an executive decision quickly and efficiently that settled any disputes. Over the course of four days we broke and beat out six complete episodes of our web series as well as brain stormed four more “back-up” ideas with time to spare. We ended our last session with beer and a double feature of “Wrath of Khan” followed by “Star Trek: Into Darkness” with a nice discussion on how they differed. Now, begins the real work: writing all six episodes! I’ll let you know how it goes next time so stay tuned and cotinue to follow my journey into creation! =)