CheckPoint 4: Tone & Style — Genre
You have honed in on the concept, the characters and the world your series is set in.
You’re pretty sure of how you want to do it — but are you?
Since I’m such a believer in trying different ways and giving yourself choices, it is perfectly okay to have second thoughts about what you have done so far.
Better now than after you’ve written your script.
Are you sure you want it to be a half-hour comedy and not a one-hour dramedy? Or even a turgid melodrama?
When I used to teach my Episodic Writing workshop, I developed an exercise to demonstrate this point. I set up a situation: A guy walks in with a bomb tied around his waist, threatening to blow himself up.
Then I would say, I want you to write that as a scene from:
Cheers
Law & Order
House
NCIS
Same scene. Same set-up. Totally different executions.
Same thing goes for you here. This is a good time to step back and ask yourself: “Is there a better way to execute my series than the one I have chosen?”
The concept doesn’t have to change, nor do the characters, nor the locations — only the genre.
Modern Family could be a soap opera.
Law & Order could be a comedy.
Seinfeld could be a drama about the life of a stand-up comedian à la Punchline.
So take a look at what you have — most likely, you will keep it in the form it is, but there is that rare awakening that will whisper to you: “You know what, this would make a great animated series!”
And there you go. You’re off and running down a different path but with the same concept and characters you already have.
The only caveat I offer is: Don’t play away from your strength.
If comedy is your forte and where you want to be, don’t make The Neighbors a science fiction thriller when you’d be better served doing it as a comedy.
If turgid drama is where you want to be, don’t make Breaking Bad a comedy — although it could easily have been.
Tone is extremely important. And it often doesn’t come through on the page. We all know from e-mails that tone can be misinterpreted.
You can help make the tone you want a little clearer by giving the description and narrative the tone you want, in addition to the visuals, characters and dialogue.
If your series is going to be dark and ominous — the elements should reflect that. You can drop in a few adjectives in the narrative, to reinforce what you want.
If you’re writing a comedy, the choices you make, the actions and business you give your characters, as well as the dialogue, should all fit the tone you want.
Where it becomes a little murky is when you drop scenes in that are counter to the overall tone — like when you drop a lighter sequence into something dark and scary, fraught with tension. The lighter sequence can cause the suspense you built up to dissipate. In these instances, inserting descriptive phrases is a great help.
The one thing I’ve learned from experience is — if I’m writing an intense drama, thriller, or horror project — dropping in comedy easily works against the tension I’ve worked so hard to create.
Just know when you do that, you will have to start all over again to ratchet up the tension.
It is important for every department to know the tone that is being strived for. Sets. Costume. Music. It all adds up. In the real world, the Showrunner and Director and the various department heads have a separate meeting in which they strictly discuss tone as they go through the script, scene by scene. But you have the chance to start them down the right path.
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