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This is post is based on a book I’m writing on that chronicles the TV shows I worked on, all the mistakes I made on them (both on and off the page), and the lessons I learned from them. I’m including screen shots from the book of the pages related to this post. Hope you enjoy!
"What is the conflict? When does it begin? How is the beginning grabby?" When BJ pitched "booze cruise," his idea germ was little more than a fun location for a story. A location that sparked lots of great pitches from Greg and the writers. But the key to unlocking that episode (and nearly any story you tell) is understanding what the character conflict is. Michael sees himself as the captain of his office, but feels threatened by the booze cruise's captain, Captain Jack. Michael declares himself, "party captain," and attempts to assert himself as the real authority figure on the ship. Comedy ensues. If the episode had just been the office going on a booze cruise, there might be some funny slice-of-life moments, but there wouldn't be a story. The story's "inciting incident"13 is when Michael surprises the office by taking them on a booze cruise for their quarterly leadership seminar, but the story doesn't really begin until Michael's conflict with Captain Jack begins. And while the lead-up to this conflict is funny (because Greg is a hilarious writer and wrote some incredible jokes), it's Michael's conflict with Captain Jack that really grabbed me when I first read Greg's script. That was the moment my brain went, "Ooh, I can't wait to see what happens next." And that's the key to any good story. Setting up a situation where the audience wants to know what's going to happen next. If you do that, they'll stick around. And if you keep doing that throughout the story, they'll stick around until the end. "Who wants what? What happens if they don't get it? How will we know when the story is over?" As I sat in the writers' room taking copious amounts of notes, versions of these questions were being asked and answered every day. They're questions that are not only imperative to ask at the start of a story, but in every scene. The answers are the foundation of any good story, because they contain the elements an audience needs to follow a story. "Who wants what?" is another… overall goal, but encountering obstacles to achieving it. His boss, Jan, also wants to make this deal, but her "let's talk numbers" tactic is wildly different than Michael's "let's order margaritas at Chili's and talk about our personal lives" approach. (Which is the conflict that drives the story in "The Client.") And the audience knows the story is over when Michael has either made a sale or failed to. So in order to take an idea germ and turn it into a story, the writers started with these questions, and then came up lots of fun obstacles to throw in the protagonist's path. Obstacles that largely grew out of the central conflict. And the way the writers imagined the character attempting to navigate these obstacles led to cards being pinned to that blank board. Each success or failure would naturally lead to another obstacle, until the character had either achieved their goal or failed. And that's a story. But how did they know if the story was any good? By asking more questions. "Is it meaningful, funny, and satisfying in the right way?" In Greg's personal script analysis checklist, one of the questions he asked was: "Is the story meaningful, funny, and satisfying?" And for the millions of people who watched the show regularly, the answer was a resounding, "Yes, yes, and yes!" So what does it mean to be meaningful, funny, and satisfying? A story is meaningful when the characters move us. It's funny when the characters surprise us. And it's satisfying when those moments of comedy and emotion feel earned. In other words, The Office works because it feels truthful. To be clear, truthful doesn't mean the show must be true to life. Rather, truthful means that the audience believes that these characters (as constructed) existing in this world (as constructed) are making choices that we believe they would make. It doesn't have to be a choice we'd make, just a choice we understand why they're making. 14 The Office is an exaggerated look at everyday office life. Many of t… "Scene by scene DOs and DON'Ts." In Greg's list of writing DOs and DON'Ts, he said, "Do focus on the meat of the story; don't serve the audience the skin and fat." In other words, focus on what's important. With that in mina, here are some of the most important lessons I learned while I was a writers' assistant about what makes for a good scene: 14 If someone reads your script and thinks, "No one would ever do that in real life," that's bad. And if they think, "I know this character and they would never make that choice," that's death. 26 • DON'T rely on an actor's performance to sell comedy or drama. • DO write genuinely funny jokes and make your emotional moments compelling on the page. Actors are there to plus the words you write, but if a line isn't working in the script, it may never have the opportunity to be plussed by an actor. DON'T make emotional beats too on-the-nose. • DO make emotional beats subtle, earned, and poignant. Subtext is your friend. A character doesn't have to say exactly what they're thinking in order for the audience to understand what they're feeling. Pam doesn't have to tell Jim she loves him for Jim to realize that he wants to be with her; she can give him a yogurt lid "Olympic medal" and he can realize himself. • DON'T write scenes that fail to advance the story. • DO make sure your scenes are doing double duty. They should be funny (or dramatic) AND advance the story. If the scene is only doing one or the other, there's likely a problem. • DON'T chase a joke just because it's really funny. If it doesn't feel like something a character would say or do, the audience will be bumped by it. • DO make sure your characters are acting in character. DON'T make your protagonist's want something that no one can relate to. If an audience can't understand why the protagonist is hellbent on achieving their goal, they won't care about the outcome. • DO make your protagonist's want understandable even if it's not something the audience aspires to. • …
March 9, 2025 at 9:44 PM