Screenwriters looking for betas

Am reading "Crafty TV Writing"
Am up to the section on rewriting
he's talking about how to get feedback on spec scripts:

I'd recommend seeking out intelligent fans and writers on the Net. Fans are better than other aspiring writers because they don't want to take over your episode and won't be offended if you don't rewrite it the way they would.

Most popular shows have fan sites. Fan sites often have forums where people post critiques of the latest episodes. Many shows have their own fan newsgroups, for instance, rec.tv.buffy. Many also have Television Without Pity forums. See whose comments you think are insightful. Write to those fans, compliment them, and ask if they'd be willing to read your spec script. They'll probably be thrilled.

I had one of those oddly dizzy moments of looking at us from outside and sideways.
It's like he's recommending spec script writers to go play with fanfic and get a beta reader, only not quite getting there and not getting the terminology.
It also misses out the part where most people asked to beta will figure the result will go into the fan story-economy eventually, and since he's talking about spec scripts to try and sell... maybe not so much.
I don't know as I'd be 'thrilled' by that.

Also, and I don't say this to start wank because it's surely not what he intends, after the whole FanLib debacle I'm a bit jumpy about some ways of phrasing things.

I know what's vaguely bugging me. If someone is trying to write a spec script for a show, why do they need telling there are fan forums? Why are they not already in fandom? Well, because they're doing it for business and money and stuff. They're not actually fans. But the book sends them over to use fans to make their money-maker better. Even though spec scripts aren't actually for selling (they sell the writer's talents, not the specific story) that feels a bit wonky. Not How We Do Things?



I'm not actually saying he's suggesting something wrong, I'm poking my reaction to see why it made me thinky.

I think there are some very different basic assumptions floating around about the whole reader-writer relationship. I mean, up there? He says fans are better than writers. Which is flattering, but he's making two categories, 'fan' and 'writer', and somehow in his head they are seperate categories. Which in my experience isn't so very true, you know? I mean, it's not like fic making is obligatory, but a whole ton of people do it. Maybe fanwriters won't so much try to take over how someone else writes; maybe because if they don't like it they can just wander off and do it their way. Different attitudes of writer, not seperate boxes of non-writer. Yesno? I don't know.


I go away now.

rambly on writing

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If I Ruled the Universe was writing for TV, the main changes I would want to make would be...

Never be able to guess who turns out evil/insane/dead by their ethnic group or other minority status.

All social issues aside it's a horrible cliche. If you can see a cast of a half dozen people and only one of them is brown people then you really really shouldn't have sufficient information to know who the traitor is. There's this thing called suspense that gets completely buggered if you can think "hey, lesbian subtext! bet she's evil!"

ism based stereotypes just get *boring*.


I would want to write minority characters on a "we also cook" basis. You know, like in that crappy Under Seige thingy where he's the ship's cook but totally kick arse and special ops and all that and he's like "I also cook." So you'd have a character where you write up everything about them that's important, their part in the plot and their strengths and their flaws and all that, and then they're also (gay/minority ethnic/disabled/women/whatever). And, okay, that way around you can end up writing stuff that ignores the also, but at least you start out with a character instead of a minority.


It would also be neat to have more than one of whatever category on a show. I mean it's like how on some comics or TV shows you get a whole range of guys and then The Girl. And since there's only one of The Girl she only ever interacts with men. And that has the unsubtle and annoying effect of making The Girl only *exist* in relation to men. If there are Two Girls then they can at least have conversations with no men in them anywhere.

Watching TW1-11 there was this section that would have made me figure it was written by a guy, even if I hadn't known, because it's the only scene where the two women interact and what do they talk about? Men. Specifically the man they crush on / shag. *facepalm*

... but then I think about the rest of Torchwood and try and think of one other f-f conversation that doesn't fit that. I think we basically get the times Gwen and Suzie talk and the stuff with Tosh and Mary. Tosh and Gwen? Two regulars? ... I'm still trying to think of when they interact.



I kind of want to do something totally random like film a plot-relevant conversation in the foreground and a couple of deaf people chatting in sign language in the background. Possibly making funny comments about Our Heroes. Or something themey. Possibly just existing.

I mean if I can wander through the market place and see this, I should be able to wander around TV and see too.

Not that I can actually understand sign. It would be cool. I like it when they do sign language music videos and dance the words.


Some shows are pretty good at having people be a random mix of ethnicities and genders. Others reallreally not. It would be kind of embarrassing to write for one of those.


I think a lot of the time people just don't see it. I don't think people set out to be whatever-ist, they just don't see it. I probably don't see it a bunch of times too. I think college is really good for showing you things you wouldn't otherwise see.



So, since I'm not boss of the world, I should just write with these here words and make word worlds where this stuff happens.

Any time now.

*nods*