"Rules of the Room" for Surviving Your First Writers Room

Surviving the Writers Room - Carole Kirschner.jpg

Surviving the Writers Room - Carole Kirschner.jpg

You did it. 

You made it through the TV gauntlet. You impressed important executives and most importantly now a Showrunner wants you in their room. Congratulations! You’re staffed on your first show. You’re in rarified territory.

But now what?

So what should you expect? How do you act? What if you talk too much, or too little? What if you’re fired in the first week! 

A fantastic Showrunner I know, Rashad Raisani, created a list he calls “Rules for the Room” to help newly staffed writers navigate their first (and second) Writers Room.

I love Rashad. He’s smart and generous. I always invite him to speak at my CBS Diversity Writers Mentoring Program, and he shares this list with the mentees. The list is full of great advice to help any new writer survive and thrive in the fast-paced (often competitive) environment of the writers room. 

When I asked him if I could use his list in my blog he said: “Yes, of course. Please blog away - if it helps anyone in their career that would be an unspeakable honor for me.”

See what I mean? Great guy. Here’s his advice and suggestions. Enjoy!

“Rules of the Room”:

1. Read and research the subject/topic/arena of show before you ever set foot in the room. Read five non-fiction books as a way to get a solid idea of the world of the show and good ideas for pitches. This is probably more relevant for drama series, but it’s very smart to do for comedy/dramadey shows as well.  Be that overachieving student and come to “class” prepared. It’ll make you stand out in the best possible way.

2. Take a day or two to observe the room and the Showrunner. Watch to see if the Showrunner likes a beat of silence to think something over; or if they prefer rapid fire pitches. See who’s an asshole, who’s a builder, who’s insecure, etc. 

Also, watch how the Showrunner transitions from personal/chat time to work time. A common off-putting mistake new (and some not so new) writers make is starting a personal anecdote one minute too late and forcing your Showrunner to politely suffer through it on her time. 

3. People are paying you because they want to hear from you - in acceptable doses. You don’t have to talk every other time, but you do have to talk. 

4. Never take something off the table without putting something back in its place. “Fewer rudders, more motors.” It’s easy to say no. Only say “that doesn’t work” if you have some kind of a fix for the problem. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fix, but you have to offer something to at least get people thinking in a different direction if the current one doesn’t work. Don’t be that naysayer!

5. Never say, “I just pitched that.” It makes you look like an asshole, and secretly every one knows you did. 

6. Try to build up other people’s pitches if you believe they have merit, and give all the credit to them. 

7. Pitch your idea concisely - minimum amount of set-up; throw out the idea and shut up. Don’t be afraid of the silence, everyone needs time to process what you’ve said. 

8. Don’t bring your phone into the room. Don’t check it in the Showrunner’s presence, EVER. Whether you’re working or not - it sends a bad message. 

9. Don’t put your feet on the table until everyone else has. 

10. Take failure with a healthy attitude; make it easy for the Showrunner to be hard on you. Giving notes, shooting down pitches is one of the most unpleasant parts of a Showrunner’s job, the easier you make it for them, the more likely they are to bring you back. 

11. Show up ten minutes early, stay ten minutes late -- look at the board, anticipate the problems of tomorrow’s work; or develop a few pitches about today’s problems. 

12. Volunteer to do every shit detail. Research, TV novelizations, taking early passes at outlines, scenes and scripts. All of these things make you invaluable -- and NEVER ASK FOR CREDIT. 

13. If your room disbands or collapses don’t despair (even though it sucks). Keep going to work; keep smiling; keep reading the material your Showrunner puts out and let them know if you like it. Try to anticipate what’s coming down the pike in future episodes and email concise, specific pitches that might help dig your Showrunner out of the hole. 

14. Be grateful and joyful to have this job. Be kind to people -- especially support staff. One, because that’s just a decent thing to do; two, because chances are you’ll find yourself working for them one day. You made it into a writers room. You’ve won the lottery, act like it. Most people don’t. 

Have you been staffed in a Writers Room? What’s your best advice? Let me know @CaroleKirsch!