- knowledge of English language
- excellent written communication skills
- persistence and determination
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to use your initiative
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- knowledge of media production and communication
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Your day-to-day activities may include:
- coming up with themes and ideas
- researching background material
- developing believable plots and characters
- laying out the screenplay to an agreed format
- preparing short summaries of your ideas
- selling your ideas or ‘pitching' to producers
- getting feedback on your work from producers or script editors
- rewriting the script before arriving at an agreed version
- networking with agents and producers
- handling your own tax and accounts, if freelance
You could work in an office, from home, at a film studio, at a TV studio or on a film set.
Your career will depend on how successful you are, and how popular your work is.
You could combine writing with other work like teaching, lecturing or editing.
You can get more advice on writing careers in film and TV from ScreenSkills.
You can get more information on working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
