Language in scripts

If you hope to sell it to a buyer whose channel airs strong language, then it's no drawback at all, so long as it's well-written.

However, if they all pass, it just means that much more revision to retool it for a different market.

But like you say, you can't have your gang bangers or thugs or whatever saying gosh darn when that's not how read people talk.

So write what feels true rather than what won't offend.

Maryn, hard to shock when it comes to vocabulary

DeVon72176 said:

Everybody’s answers to the threads I started have been very helpful (I place the thank you here so I don’t unnecessarily bump my other threads). I have a few more issues to post about.

The spec script I wrote (which sits pretty at 43 pages and that is driving me crazy, as I the script is meant to be an hour long) has some questionable language in it. I wanted to target certain studios/channels (like HBO or Showtime) for the script.

I understand that cursing in a script can be avoided with smart writing (in fact, among one of my rewrites, I eliminated a lot of it). I also understand that people can’t go around saying “gosh darn,” so I guess there must be a balance. However, a few of the words/phrases are important to the characters (as far as I can see) and the others are important to the plot of the storyline.

My question is, how much am I shorting myself with such language in the script? Am I making this more difficult for myself by keeping the language in the script?

Thanks for any input into this.

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If we're talking about an hour long script aimed at TV, then you need to view this as what it is -- and that's a writing sample.

If you're harboring visions of this as a pilot episode of this or that that a cable network is going to buy and make into a series, it's frankly unrealistic.

It used to be that shows were very specific about what they were willing to look at even in terms of writing samples, but things are a bit more confused these days -- some shows want sample episodes from others series, others will look at sample episodes from their own series, others will simply look at anything that shows your writing ability.

And it's still true that the vast majority of them will only look at material submitted through an agent (not even an attorney will do, although occasionally a manager may unofficially submit -- they're actually not supposed to do it officially).

So regarding language -- you really just want to write the best version of the script that you can. If you think that best version is intended for a cable network, then write it that way. If its best destination is network, write it that way.

But something that falls between the tables, that tries to be fit both profiles, is probably not going to be ideally suited for either.

NMS

DeVon72176 said:

I was under the impression that trying to break in or get a pilot made was a good thing. I will have to check back into that.

Or maybe I'm reading to much into the "unrealistic" (ie it's okay to dream, but don't count on it).

Please don't read this as push back. I'm just trying to get the facts straight/every fact I can to get into an industry that is nearly impossible to get into (so I've heard).

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Please understand, I'm not looking to rain on anybody's parade, and I understand that I may have a bit of reputation as a curmudgeon around here.

Of course, odds are low on every front, but this is a rather different observation. It just has to do with how networks, whether cable or network, go about selecting shows. Who and how they go about looking for that product.

What they are looking for is not someone to come up with an idea for a show, whether simply in it's "idea" form or even in the form of a finished pilot -- or even take it a step further, in the form a pilot and something more.

They're looking for someone who is capable of making the show. And so they are looking for people who have experience within the business of long-standing. Show runners. Writer-producers. High level screenwriters or writer/producers or writer/directors looking to cross over from features -- or at the very least, TV writers with a lot of professional work under their belts looking to step up.

They want to talk to people who speak their language. Who understand what it takes to put thirteen or twenty-six or a hundred episodes of a TV series on the air -- to deal with staffs, with network, with budgets, with notes, with the thousand disasters that keep that from happening.

Is that you? If not, then chances are, you're not going to get into the room with your episode for a pilot -- except potentially as a writing sample that might, under certain limited circumstances, get you work on a show.

And that, in itself, is a long shot, because most writing slots, on most shows, are filled by staff writers. And while there are always a few open slots on those shows for non-staff writers -- who are competing for those slots?

Countless *professional* writers who have worked on professional shows, comedy or drama, who've worked as staff writers on other shows and happen to be between shows now, writers who are often known to the show runners on those shows, and would just love to grab any open assignments on those shows.

Those those guys have to chose between giving one of those assignments to writer X, who he's worked with before, who he knows can deliver professional work on time, can take notes, can do rewrite properly, who he doesn't have to worry about or cozy along.

And you.

So yes -- sometimes, if your work really blows somebody away, he'll take a shot on you and you'll get an episode and you're on your way.

That happens. That's how most people get started in TV.

But even that happens very rarely. For every one who gets started there are hundreds and hundreds who never get close.

And people who just write a spec pilot who've never sold anything before and it sells and gets made and gets turned into a series?

If I say it's never happened I'm sure somebody will pull an example out of the air the same way people always talk about Thelma and Louise as the great white hope of "write your first spec and it sells" -- but I've never heard of it and given the nature of the business, I must repeat, that I simply do not consider it to be realistic.

That doesn't mean that it's wrong to write it, because I don't think that any writing is wasted. I started writing screenplays when I was thirteen and didn't have my first script optioned until I was out of grad school and I wrote a lot of screenplays in between those two points and I don't consider any of them wasted. I learned things from all of them.

And obviously, we have them hope of seeing what we write realized on the screen. That's always going to be there.

But we also have to bring some kind of real expectations to what we do. If it's all going to be about the end result, then you're going to be disappointed a lot.

You have to find some joy in doing what you're doing -- in the writing itself and in making yourself a better writer. Even for people like me, who've been doing it for years, there are more disappointments than successes. Many of my spec scripts have never sold. Most of the scripts that I've written and sold have never been made.

That is the nature of the business even for those of us who have succeeded.

So if you're not going to find your satisfaction in the work itself -- you need to think long and hard about whether this is going to be the path you want to follow.

NMS

It's tough selling to HBO and Showtime, but don't go cutting language out just for the sake of it. Make sure it is well written and they won't make a problem of it.

Don't blow air into your 43 pages to make it, on paper, look like an hour.

Put it away for a week or two and write on something else. Pull it out after you've cleared your mind and figure out what's missing. The likely culprit is Act II.

I know how that is. Act two always comes to me as an accident (meaning I don't think I have it and then I look back and there it is). My problem is finding good endings that don't get bogged down in a lot of useless dialog. I understand your problem. I myself was wondering about gay love scenes, which a friend said I should just say are love scenes, not gay love scenes. I was wondering how far I could go with it. HBO might be a good option for both of ours (but mine doesn't have any language in it). Anyway, it is like Merry once said to Frodo, "It all depends on what you want". Well sometimes anyway. Don't be discouraged, I never am. Bad words are a thing of everyday life, and so that makes them real. Then again, nasty words are not an everyday occurrence. It all depends on what the word is, who's saying it, and why they're saying it. And also, is there a less harsh word I can use to get the point across.

It does say on HBO that all material should be submitted through an agent. Problem is, agents don't want you unless you've been produced (or unless you have something so mind blowing that everyone's gonna want it). Anyway, it's an ugly catch-22 and a pain in the ass (my bad word of the day) but if that's what you want, maybe it's worth trying to get that agent...Or chucking all the bad words and submitting to someone else. Who knows? I know I don't.

I think it depends on the particular person you're sending the script to.

I don't know what it's like in the US but in the UK you *can* get people to read your script even if their company policy is not to accept unsolicited scripts. Of course lots won't but if you send a decent query letter you stand a chance - if you do your homework and you can make them believe that you are sending your script specifically to them because you as a writer would fit well with their company's particular ethos.

And then if they agree to read your script you'll know yourself how coarse the language can be...

Working on the 50 posts count myself, trying to avoid fluff along the way!

Are you starting with a fresh story or attempting to write this current idea into a feature script?

DeVon72176 said:

Speaking of acts, when doing my research regarding writing scripts, I read that if you are writing a pilot (or sample), you should write it as if you are writing a spec movie script. So the script I wrote does not have any "acts" marked.

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Interesting. I was was always told to write for the act out and we were encouraged to format appropriately.

Even if you, by some freak of luck and networked relationships, managed to sell a pilot series... somebody more experienced will likely be hired as the showrunner (unless the producer's nephew is looking for a gig).

Glancing at any of the fellowships for the major networks, most require you to have at least two spec scripts for current shows on air. So, if you're trying to get your foot in the door, you're much better off showcasing your ability to adapt to somebody else's ideas and styles.

And yes, I can recall an anecdote from class about a certain series essentially being sold straight off the beachfront - but the circumstances surrounding that seemed like a bit of an oddity.