PLOT AND STORY
Distinguishing between story and plot is tricky. ‘Plot’ is the events that enable and dramatize your story. The story is the show. This is what we’re watching for. The conjunction of character and plot – what the characters do, what impact and consequences the events of the plot have on them.
Plot is the material you use to shape and create your story. But you can’t choose and create these plot events until you know what story you want to tell about your characters. These events of the plot and the way you order them creates your story.
This distinction between plot and story is something that I keep coming back to – it seems to me recognising this distinction is at the heart of effective storytelling.
This all comes back to character. Over the course, say, of a one-hour pilot drama series, you need to create a narrative strand that dramatizes what you want to tell us about your character, this character needs to go on a journey (into the unknown?). You need to confront your character with the sort of challenges that are going to bring out as yet unseen qualities in them (whether positive or negative).
It’s not an efficient development process to invent a lot of plot machinations in the hope that it will reveal who your character is. You need to know roughly the arc you want to take the character on – and then construct plot points that will define and create a narrative arc for this character.
Telling a story on screen well, making it gripping, keeping an audience hooked, is really hard. How many shows do you watch on TV and give up halfway through the first episode or not watch beyond the first episode? Personally, a lot. And these are scripts and stories that have been worked on and worked on – and still, they don’t really work.
The development process, those conversations between script editor / producer and writer are so important. There are no easy answers and you can come at story from so many different angles. But so often it’s the conversation, the notes, that will help a writer advance and enhance their story. Writers need to enjoy being open to these conversations. I just came out of a one hour zoom meeting with a writer where I was discussing big, conceptual notes. I was so grateful to the writer for making this as easy and enjoyable as possible, for being open to the conversation, for engaging with it.
It’s so important that the writer doesn’t lose the core of their idea, the excitement and reason why they started with this idea in the first place. And they are always right to point out notes that may impact negatively, notes that may undermine the ideas and agenda behind the story.
It’s important to remember how much work is involved in, for instance, a drama series pilot episode. In telling the story, you are making literally hundreds of story decisions and choices, which direction you want to take your characters in.
Part of the joy of this process is in these conversations – trying to figure out those conjunctions between character, plot, location and situation. Where you need to place your character in order to most powerfully dramatize who they are and what their story is.
It’s about the process – being fascinated by and immersed in the telling of a story – and not letting your ego get in the way (eg constantly asking yourself – is this good? Do they like it? What am I doing wrong?) There are no rules, there is no right and wrong, it’s just figuring out how to tell the best, most exciting, emotionally compelling version of the story you want to tell.
From a script editor’s point of view, it’s also about being guided by the writer – allowing them the space to find the best method, the way of working that suits them as individual writers (eg vomiting or plotting?).
I sometimes speak to other development people – readers, script editors etc – who say, ‘The characters and dialogue are the important part. If writers do those parts well, we can help them with the story.’ I don’t think this is true. I feel like (relatively speaking) a facility with dialogue and characterisation is more common – what fewer inexperienced writers have is an instinct for how to tell stories compellingly. I read so many scripts that are really well-written – but not compelling. IMO story is often the hardest thing to get write – to turn so much good writing into something that is a gripping page-turner.
SOME COURSES I’M RUNNING IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS
https://riversidestudios.co.uk/whats-on/pg-philip-shelley-on-screenwriting-the-craft-and-the-career/
Saturday May 9th. A three-hour, interactive workshop on creating and telling stories for the screen.
https://script-consultant.co.uk/creativity-for-scriptwriters/
Saturday June 13th. A one-day course about generating ideas and turning them into character-driven stories. Guest speaker – playwright/screenwriter/novelist Anders Lustgarten.
https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/tutored-retreat-screenwriting-2/
September 28th – October 3rd. A one-week tutored, screenwriting retreat in beautiful Totleigh Barton, Devon (the tutors being myself and brilliant screenwriter Thara Popoola),
The next newsletter will be out on Friday May 15th.
Best wishes
Phil
PHILIP SHELLEY
www.script-consultant.co.uk
Friday May 1st 2026