CONFERENCE | Jimmie McGovern - In Conversation

This is the first in a series of articles that will share my experiences at the 2011 National Screenwriters Conference, held at Phillip Island in Victoria. Held in February, it was hosted by the Australian Writers Guild.

UK writer Jimmie McGovern was the subject of a special guest appearance on Day One. A native of Liverpool, he is responsible for TV shows such as 'Cracker' and 'Brookside'.

The article below is an extract of the discussion he had with that day's host.

Jimmie's catch-cry was quickly announced: 'we are story-tellers - avoid impressing'.

HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER AND HOW OLD WERE YOU
Jimmie recounted a story about a competition in his class where at the age of eight, all he had to do to win a bright, new shiny book from Weetbix about birds, was to write a story describing life at home in the morning.

"I knew I could write better than anyone else in that class. And I knew how to approach it in a way that no one else would. I wrote about my Dad and the way he shaved, describing the way he held his razor and how he ran it smoothly down his face".

TV WRITING
"I was in the right place, at the right time. I was shit at writing for theatre.

Working on 'Brookside', I had stamina and commitment demostrated by scripts that showed I had something. I had 3 days to write a script between the production meeting and being commissioned. So I knew the story backwards.

I worked the strand of the story that got me in the gut - other writers were crap. You have to stick out. Be fresh. Bereft of cliches.

BUILDING A TV CHARACTER
Take a character and throw everything at them.

HOW TO WRITE EMOTIONAL TRUTH
Find that character in you: The Coward, The Abuser, The Rapist, The Ignoble within you. Unearth all the horrible things you've ever felt.

ROLE OF RESEARCH IN WRITING
It can get in the way. however it can be imbibed and digested. Jimmie is wary of doing too much and only uses when 'stuck' or to 'rob' for his own idea/use.

It does help 'the examination of conscience': why people do things.

HOW HE LEARNED AND HONED HIS CRAFT
Often after a 'rubbish' episode of 'Brookside', Liverpool locals would approach him in the pub having seen his name in the show credits. They would tell him the episode was 'crap', 'shite'.

Jimmie's advice: write the best you can and you'll end up with the actors and directors you deserve.