By: Ella Henke
As screenwriters, one of the most common pieces of advice is the importance of “finding one’s voice” – but what does this actually mean?
When you’re just starting out, this advice can feel vague and a little hard to pin down. Simply put, your voice as a writer is the unique viewpoint that you bring to a story. It’s less about the story you’re telling and more about how you tell it. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to finding your voice, it can look completely different for every writer, but here are 5 ways to get started.
Read, Read, Read!
A great place to start is to read a heap of pilot scripts. This will help you learn the craft and what you should be working towards. Next time you’re rewatching a comfort show, why not pull up the script and follow it along as you watch? At Shore Scripts, we’ve put together a collection of 100+ of the best scripts out there. Whether you’re interested in comedy, drama, or something in between, there’s something for every writer.
As you’re reading, pay close attention to the scripts you’re most drawn to. Do they share a common theme? Tone? Are their central characters similar in some way? If you can really break this down, you’ll have a better understanding of the kind of stories you’re most passionate about and want to tell.
Think About What You Want to Say
Hone in on a theme you’re particularly interested in or something you want to say in your writing. It could be a social cause you feel passionate about bringing to light or your unique viewpoint on the human condition that you wish to explore. Many screenwriters have a multitude of different kinds of stories they tell, but if you study their work you’ll almost always find a theme or distinct perspective that runs through everything they create.
For example, queen of serial drama Shonda Rhimes often writes shows with complex and powerful working women at the center of them (like GREY’S ANATOMY and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER), and veteran writer Aaron Sorkin explores the dynamic political landscape in America in shows like THE WEST WING and THE NEWSROOM.
Consider what it is you feel most compelled to explore or say in your own writing. Chances are it’s already been swirling around in your head for a while.
Tell the Story Only YOU Can Tell
Every story has already been told a hundred times over in some form or another, but HOW a story is told is where there’s still scope for originality.
One example of this is the 2024 film Música, which features a girl-meets-boy love story and an overbearing immigrant family, both of which we’ve seen plenty of on our screens before. But through the main character’s synesthesia, the story bursts into a sensory experience that feels wholly original. The film’s writer Rudy Mansco utilizes his synesthesia in real life to create a unique worldview in his story.
Think about how your unique worldview might inform your storytelling. For example, do you have a habit of using humor in dark times? How might you use this to create a black comedy or satire that explores dark material with a lighter touch?
Write a Show That You Would Watch
We’ve all done it – spent the whole evening scrolling through various streaming platforms for something to watch without ever landing on anything. Even with a whole world of content at your fingertips, it still feels like something’s missing. Something that you’d love to watch that just hasn’t been made yet.
Next time you find yourself down one of these all-too-familiar rabbit holes, try to think about what show it is that you would click on. Who’s the lead? What does their world look like? If you can pin down the kind of show that you would watch, it might make it clearer where to find your voice. Plus, chances are if you’d watch it, there’ll be a whole audience out there for it.
Don’t Be Afraid To Try On Lots of Different Voices
Before finding a voice of your own, there may be scripts you write that you’ll later look back on and think “Who wrote this?!”. It’s normal to try out different styles while you’re still in the early stages of reading or watching the greats and working out what kind of stories YOU want to tell.
One way of trying different writing styles is by writing spec scripts of existing shows. You may have already heard of the famous example of the viral script Billy Domineau wrote of Seinfeld that landed him work as a TV writer. Closely studying the writing style of a beloved show and then working to emulate that style may help you to narrow down the kind of voice that comes naturally to you. Plus, there’s the added bonus that if you’re staffed on a show, you’ll already have experience imitating other voices (an essential skill in any writersroom).
Don’t be disheartened if anything feels forced or untrue at the beginning, this is all part of the process and the only way to find your style is to actively search for it – by writing and writing until something sticks.
Ready to share your voice with the world? Our TV Writers Mentorship Program is open for applications. We’re looking for writers to join our 8-week program, including meeting with showrunner Beth Schwartz (ARROW), calls with development execs and reps, working on pitching prep, and more. See a full breakdown of the program here. Early deadline is March 14th!
Ella is a lover of all things storytelling. When she’s not conducting market research at her part-time job as a movie theatre usher, she’s interning at Shore Scripts or hunched over Final Draft. So far, her scripts tell coming-of-age tales that are seemingly about very little but show seismic shifts in her character’s growing worlds. You can find her at ellahenke.com.
