"The Room" (and no, not the tommy wiseau one)

“Every writer's room is its own city,” said my mentor, Wendy West.

The dynamics, the process, the style, and the showrunner, are all different with each writer’s room. That being said, Wendy proceeded to describe the general processes of the typical “room.” First, the room breaks down the season arc(s) together. Typically, this step would involve physically placing the story beats/cards on a board, but during these socially-distanced times, must be typed-up over Zoom. Wendy described the difficulties of building a story vertically online, rather than horizontally/linearly like she’s used to. I was also interested to learn that the story beats are broken down by character. The personal/emotional arcs are plotted first, and the story is formed around it. Next, the writer’s move to their episode’s outlines, given notes on that, then go to script.

“You don’t say ‘go fuck yourself’ no matter how bad you may want to,” advised Wendy.

The note-giving and note-taking process is rigorous. The script is subsequently given notes by: the showrunner, Studio, Network, Standards & Practices, and finally by Production. For example, Wendy described how production may not be able to secure a location, so the scene must be re-written accordingly. As a writer/director myself, I was especially interested when Wendy was describing the “tone meeting” between the writer and the director of the episode. The writer gives context, answers questions, and emphasizes the important beats of the script. When asked “what qualities make for a good director?” Wendy answered, “The ability to listen.”

Next week we'll be discussing some of my own work!