by Paul Ashton
Not every new script will be an original signature piece. If you’re
extremely lucky (and brilliant) then there will be commissions to briefs, or
gigs on shows, or ideas to develop from scratch with a producer, or other and
new mediums and formats to explore. But in a sense I think every new
script is a statement of who you are at that point in your life and develop -
ment as a writer. Every script is a kind of calling card script.
IT NEVER GETS ANY EASIER
At this point I should fill you with an inspirational hope, like a coach push -
ing his team to get that winning goal, no matter what the odds against it
THE END 227
may be. (‘Come on, you can do it! I believe in you! You can be a contender!’)
But in writing there is no full-time or winning goal as such. It’s a game you
just have to continue playing.
It never gets any easier. I heard Russell T. Davies say this at the
absolute pinnacle of his spectacular roll with Doctor Who and its spin-offs.
Looking back, he was able to say that every new script offers the same diffi -
cult challenge. At one time he thought success and experience would soon
make writing easier. But it doesn’t. It makes him more experienced and prac -
tised, more confident, resilient, understanding, knowing, insight ful, ready
and prepared. But that doesn’t make the moment at which the writer must
write, and the instinct and voice must speak, get any easier. It’s always
hard. It’s meant to be hard. If it were easy, your script wouldn’t be any good.
But if you’re willing to embrace this, to keep writing, keep working,
keep improving, keep thinking, keep developing, keep expressing, then you
will have mastered the use of one of the most important tools in your tool -
box: perseverance. Without it, all your talent and potential will never be ex -
pressed and realised. So make a virtue of ‘difficult’. Relish it. Use it. Embrace
it. It will help you be a better writer.
No short cuts. No tricks. No easy ways out.
Just the sheer difficult wonder of the act of telling a story that other
people might want to hear.
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Appendix
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SCRIPT READING AND VIEWING
There are some works to which I refer regularly and which I recommend
heartily. Many are available in script form; some you’ll just have to watch
and wonder what the script looks like . . .
A Number by Caryl Churchill (Nick Hern Books)
A Room for Romeo Brass by Paul Fraser, Shane Meadows (Screenpress)
Being Human by Toby Whithouse (BBC Writersroom website)
Betrayal by Harold Pinter (Faber)
Billy Elliot by Lee Hall (Faber)
Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall (Methuen Drama)
Bodies by Jed Mercurio (BBC)
Children of Men (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
Chinatown by Robert Towne (Faber)
Closer by Patrick Marber (Methuen Drama)
Comedians by Trevor Griffiths (Faber)
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
Criminal Justice II by Peter Moffat (BBC Writersroom website)
Dead Man’s Shoes (dir. Shane Meadows)
EastEnders (‘Pretty Baby’) by Tony Jordan (BBC Writersroom website)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman (Nick Hern)
Fargo by Joel Coen (Faber Reel Classics)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Hidden (dir. Michael Haneke)
Hustle by Tony Jordan (BBC Writersroom website)
Let the Right One In (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
Life on Mars by Matthew Graham (BBC Writersroom website)
Memento (dir. Chris Nolan)
Moon (dir. Duncan Jones)
My Summer of Love (dir. Pavel Pawlikovski)
Oh Brother Where Art Thou? (dir. Joel Coen)
232 THE CALLING CARD SCRIPT
Othello by William Shakespeare
Saved by Edward Bond (Methuen Drama)
Seven Streams of the River Ota by Robert Lepage, Eric Bernier (Methuen)
Shameless by Paul Abbott (Channel 4)
Spoonface Steinberg by Lee Hall (Methuen Drama)
Star Wars by George Lucas
State of Play by Paul Abbott (BBC)
Talking Heads by Alan Bennett (BBC Books)
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter (Faber)
The Colony by Dennis Kelly (BBC Writersroom website)
The Crying Game by Neil Jordan (Vintage)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (BBC)
The Incomplete Recorded Works of a Dead Body by Ed Hime
(BBC Writersroom website)
The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco (Penguin)
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright (Methuen Drama)
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, trans. Christopher Hampton (Faber)
The Sopranos by David Chase (HBO)
The Station Agent (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
This is England (dir. Shane Meadows)
Twin Peaks by David Lynch (ABC)
When You Cure Me by Jack Thorne (Nick Hern)
BOOKS ABOUT WRITING
There are a million and one other books you might read and they all have
a worth and a use – even if just to confirm that you disagree with every -
thing they say. But here are some that are either favourites of mine or ones
that have become common currency and therefore you ought to know about.
Alexander Mackendrick, On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of
the Director (ed. Paul Cronin) – not on scriptwriting, but full of insight
from a writer and maker of films who truly understood screenwriting.
Robert Towne, Film Makers on Film Makers (ed. Joseph McBride) – a
brilliantly insightful interview-chapter on film with a master screenwriter.
APPENDIX 233
William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade – also not a book on
scriptwriting, but one on what it was like to be a scriptwriter during a
remarkable period in movie history.
Frederick Raphael, Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of Stanley Kubrick – again
not a book on scriptwriting, but on developing a script for a famous
director.
Aristotle, Poetics – don’t read this if you are hoping it might help you
write your script, but do read it if you want to see the first extant piece
of writing about drama.
Dominic Dromgoole, The Full Room – a brutally honest, devastatingly
entertaining view of modern British playwrights.
Paul Schrader, Schrader on Schrader (ed. Kevin Jackson) – not just about
writing, but a great insight into the man behind some great films.
Robert McKee, Story – love it or hate it, it is a Hollywood industry
standard and an essential read.
Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey – an essential read for anyone
with an interest in the power of story archetypes.
Syd Field – has written various books and is the master of handy, punchy,
practical tips on developing a screenplay (for Hollywood).
Dara Marks, Inside Story – an intense book for anyone who wants to dig
deeper and deeper into film characters’ stories.
Adrian Mead, Making it as a Screenwriter – a brilliantly handy take on
how to create a career out of scriptwriting from someone who did just
that.
Julian Friedmann, How to Make Money Scriptwriting – it�
��s no fun being a
writer if you can’t make a living out of it . . .
William Smethurst, How to Write for Television: A Guide to Writing and
Selling Successful TV Script – a no-nonsense overview of writing for
television.
Val Taylor, Stage Writing: A Practical Guide – full of sharply intelligent
and practical insights.
Philip Parker, The Art and Science of Screenwriting – likewise full of
sharply intelligent and practical insights.
234 THE CALLING CARD SCRIPT
RESOURCES
There are all kinds of resources, but the important ones are those where
you can read produced scripts, get up-to-date information on how to get
your work considered, find opportunities to apply for, or find writer
networks. The BBC writersroom is a first point of call for all these things –
explore the links section for other useful places to go.
BBC Writersroom: www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
Writers’ Guild: www.writersguild.org.uk
Twelve Point: www.twelvepoint.com
Simply Scripts: www.simplyscripts.com
Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook: www.writersandartists.co.uk
Index
Abbott, Paul 66, 69, 98, 221,
Agincourt 211
Authenticity 5, 52, 205, 208,
232
Aging 42
209, 214
Abbreviation 26
Agon 88, 127
Autism 206
Abigail’s Party 37, 123
AI (Appreciation Index) 33
Abilities 12, 82, 83
Alien(s) 20, 29, 57, 70, 133, 141,
Background 26, 41, 147, 205
About Schmidt 91, 123, 124,
154
Backstory 82, 86, 87, 98, 105,
188
Alienation 126, 127, 189, 190
107, 140, 141, 158, 213
Abstract alternatives 138
Allen, Woody 23
Baddies 82, 130
Absurd endings 194
Ambiguity 76, 104, 185, 186,
Badlands 148
Absurdist /s 58, 167, 183, 194,
189, 194, 215
Balance 40, 41, 96, 112, 162
211
Ambition 19, 22, 39, 63, 168
Barret, Keith 201
Abuse 37, 182
American Beauty 29, 58, 193
Bartlett, Mike 70
Accents 207
Amores Perros 31
Barton Fink 49
Acoustic environment 21, 24,
Anagnorisis 78, 133, 134, 139,
Bassey, Shirley 206
169
144, 165, 180, 186–189
Battleship Potemkin 29, 57
Act 1, 2, 8, 30, 31, 41–43, 51,
Angel Heart 186, 187
BBC xi, 32, 38, 65, 235
100, 103, 104, 114, 119, 124,
Animation 61
BBC Writersroom xi, 234
127, 129, 137, 144, 147, 166,
Antagonist 88, 127
Bean, Richard 19
185, 197, 204, 227
Anti-heroes, -ism 88, 89, 182
Beats 162, 163
Action thriller(s) 169, 215
Anticipation 15, 43
Beauty 29, 58, 69, 193
Act One 31, 100
Arabia 29, 58, 70
Beckett, Samuel 49, 101, 120,
Action 8, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21,
Arc 42, 112, 122, 123, 139, 163
217
25–29, 61, 69, 77, 81, 91,
The Archers 71, 202
A Bed Among the Lentils 201
93–95, 97–99, 102, 104–110,
Archetypes, -typal 55, 56, 57,
The Beginning 5, 6, 19, 38, 41,
112, 126–128, 130, 131, 135,
80, 81, 100, 161, 164, 217
45, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59–61,
141, 149, 150, 157–159,
Aristotle 233
63, 65, 67, 69, 71–73, 75, 77,
161–163, 165–167, 169, 170,
Armour 79, 92, 132
79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93,
191, 210, 215, 216, 224
Arnold, Andrea 74
95, 97, 99–113, 115, 119, 120,
Actor(s) 11, 14, 16, 18–21, 29,
Art 30, 32, 33, 39, 56, 61, 147,
122, 124, 125, 128, 131, 134,
51, 61, 65, 77, 81, 92, 106,
163, 211, 231, 234
138, 143, 145, 147, 148, 151,
130, 134, 157, 167, 168, 200,
Arts Council xi
155, 156, 162, 171, 172, 174,
203, 207, 214, 215, 220, 222
Attitude 54, 65, 85, 127, 129,
177, 182, 187, 188, 190, 192,
Acts 87, 91, 103, 144, 161, 163,
130, 154
206, 220, 226
217
Audience(s) xi–xii, 4, 12, 14–18,
Behaviour 88, 92, 129
Actuality 122
21–27, 29–40, 42, 43, 47–49,
Being Human 34, 63, 66, 79,
Ad breaks 8
51–53, 55, 56, 59–62, 64–66,
127, 137, 186, 187, 195, 231
Adams, Douglas 56, 232
68, 69, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 83,
Being John Malkovich 67, 138
Adaptation(s) 32, 34, 39, 52, 69,
85–87, 89, 93–95, 97, 99, 103,
Bennett, Alan 200, 232
148, 202
104, 107, 119, 123, 134, 137,
Bereavement 83
Addiction 55
139–146, 157–161, 163–168,
Bernier, Eric 232
Adventures in the Screen Trade
180, 181, 183, 186, 187, 193,
Betrayal 59, 103, 231
234
195–197, 200–203, 213, 214,
Bible 57, 57, 75
Aeneid 55
217
The big picture 26, 115, 135,
Aeschylus 55
Audio 21, 22, 70, 158, 168
171, 172
Afghanistan 205
Auditions 53
Big idea 64, 65, 69
Afro-Caribbean 208
Auditoria, -um 15, 22, 27, 33
Big screen 26, 27, 29, 31, 37,
Afternoon Play 7, 48
Auschwitz 181
69, 78, 89
Aggression 92
Austen, Jane 39
Biographical 61, 62
236 THE CALLING CARD SCRIPT
Billy Elliot 78, 83, 91, 102, 107,
158, 161, 162, 171, 179, 187,
Coda 179–184, 192–194, 197,
110, 129, 135, 151, 179, 231
189, 191, 192, 194, 198, 205,
226
The Birthday Party 89, 138,
208, 219, 223, 225
Code(s) 29, 84, 87
188, 210, 232
Chaos 17, 55, 104, 119, 148
Coen, Joel 231
The Birth of a Nation 57
Character(s) 16, 19, 21, 24, 25,
Cohen, Leonard 53
Blackout 184, 185
28, 29, 36, 41, 42, 50, 52, 60,
Coherence 63, 114
Boys from the Blackstuff 39, 63,
65, 67, 68, 71–93, 97, 100,
Cold-case 42, 62
166
101, 108–111, 114, 119, 120,
The Colony 96, 232
Bleak House 34, 38, 39
122, 123, 125–136, 138–144,
The Comedians 199, 231
Blick, Hugo 201
146, 147, 149–153, 155–162,
Comedies, the comic 56, 58, 59,
Blocking 16
164–166, 168, 169, 172, 179,
63, 64, 78, 95, 119, 130, 143,
Bloggers 208
180, 186, 188–191, 196,
160, 165, 166, 181, 186, 189,
; Blueprint(s) 3, 100, 103, 104,
198–209, 211–218
196, 207
115, 171–173, 198, 220
Characters’ journey 133, 139,
Comedy of Errors 186
Blue Remembered Hills 37
152
Comfort zone 126, 127
Bodies 35, 54, 151, 178, 195,
Characters’ voice 25, 198, 206,
Coming-of-age 61, 102
231
207, 216
Commissions 47, 53, 222, 226
Bond, Edward 142, 232
Character and action 135
Company, -ies 16, 17,19, 219,
Book(s) xi, xii, 1–6, 8, 12, 13,
Character and medium 92
221
23, 33, 51, 89, 90, 100, 119,
Character-driven 91, 187
Competition 11, 68
177, 198, 207, 232
Character-shaped 109
Complaint 23, 119
Brand 34, 37
Core characters 41–43, 57
Completeness 38, 177, 189
Braveheart 58
Chase, David 232
Complex/ity 3, 5, 16, 19, 31, 39,
Brayfield, Celia xi
Chekhov, Anton 21, 221, 232
60, 64, 65, 69, 76, 83–85, 89,
Breaks 40, 77, 97, 104, 147
Childhood 63, 123, 182
90, 100, 103, 108–110, 120,
Breaking the Waves 102, 166
Children of Men 67, 89, 170,
124, 125, 127, 129, 130, 134,
Brecht, Bertolt 54
191, 193, 231
135, 139, 142, 144, 148, 153,
Briefs 222, 226
Chinatown 165, 182, 183, 186,
162, 170, 172, 179, 180, 184,
Broadcaster(s) 8, 33, 34, 104
187, 192, 213, 231
207, 212, 221
Brook, Peter 16, 17
Choices 7, 18, 55, 168, 174
Compulsion 79, 95, 159
Brookside 36
Chronology 59, 60, 74
Computer(s) 49, 125, 224
Budget(s) 18, 169
Churchill, Caryl 204, 210, 231
Concept(s) 66, 105, 167, 180
Cinema 26–31, 70, 76, 143,
Conclusion 86, 136, 137, 155,
Caine, Michael 196
180
156, 166, 167, 179, 180,
Calling card passim
Cinema of the airwaves 22
182–184, 192–198, 225
Camera angles 28
Cinema scope 22, 27
Conflict 87, 102, 103, 159
Campbell, Joseph 80
Cinematic canvas 26, 93
Confusion 25, 90, 94, 104, 153,
Capabilities 83, 85, 126, 129
Circularity 58, 59, 103
188, 220
Captive audience 99
Circumstances 130, 131
Consciousness 37, 108, 128
Car chases 91
Citizen Kane 123
Consequences 59, 68, 74, 96,