Alice Birch: Screenwriters’ Lecture

Alice Birch, playwright and screenwriter behind breakout successes Anatomy of a Suicide, Lady Macbeth and Normal People, has opened up about the experience of being a writer.

“Writing is how I make sense of the world”, Birch explained as she delivered a lecture as part of BAFTA’s 2024 Screenwriters’ Lecture Series.

“I want to say something about what it means to be human. The banal and sublime in every moment.” – Alice Birch

Describing how a “play has to be wrought” and that “writing the script is a physical task” Birch shared that for her it was useful to know the form something will take before starting to write.

“Form is everything to me. Or at least I have decided it is everything. And decisions, certainties, rules and boundaries are exceptionally useful to the writer. Particularly if the writer makes a pact with themselves that they are allowed to break those rules whenever absolutely necessary”, she said.

But how does she know which ideas to move forward with in the first place?

“If an idea is worth pursuing, if it is going to turn into something, it’s persistent, it’s an ever-present dull sort of ache. A new dark, depressing, exciting, definitely-going-to break-my-heart lover.”

Giving honest insight into the writing process, Birch also shared during her lecture that: “I find writing deeply painful. Difficult. Hard. Often, I will do anything to not do it.” But she urged the audience not to be put off by this, but to dig in and keep with it.

“Making something where it did not exist, saying something, digging into yourself and sharing that, that should sometimes feel difficult’, the Lady Macbeth writer said.

So, what is Birch’s advice for those feeling stuck?

• Go to a gallery, stand in front of photo/ painting and turn it into a scene.
• Engage with what you find difficult, what you are not good at. Work on it through your writing. Find a form that will challenge you.
• Be alive to follow everything that interests you and everything that doesn’t
• Head down. Follow the characters and be kind to yourself. Make rules and break them.
• Record a conversation, write it out as faithfully as you can – include all the ums and ahhs – then rewrite it and make it more interesting.

Like any craft, writing is as much about persistence and time as much as anything. For Birch being a successful writer means being rigorous.

“You have to write. You have to write and write and write and write to get better but also to get to know yourself as a writer…

“Read, read everything and anything you can get your hands on. Read outside of your comfort zone, read things you hate and you disagree with. Read like it’s your job,” she said.

• For building a writing scaffold…
  Think about the process. Birch shared that she used to write her scripts out long hand as a way of having greater intimacy with it – everything from character biographies to timelines that go beyond film itself. Also think and consider all notes : “if you work through it …I think trying it…notes don’t have to be frightening”.
• On adjusting to the mind-set of a writer’s room…
  Hold your nerve. “It’s a completely different thing. That’s why writing for screen is so funny, so strange because yes, it’s not just you at the kitchen table. It’s you standing on set, sort of…working with loads of other heads of department and making sure you look confident and calm so they feel like you know what you are doing”.
• To deal with writer’s block…
  Give yourself permission to find the things that will inspire and feed you. Birch said: “Just because you are not in front of a screen typing furiously does not mean everything else isn’t working or that doesn’t count. Like whatever it is – like going for a walk, going to a gallery, watching films, watching plays, reading – you have to feed yourself otherwise that block will last for longer. You can’t sort of force it, sometimes I think being really kind to yourself is really important.”
• For bouncing back from setbacks…
  Remember that it happens all the time and writing is vulnerable so allow yourself to feel that way. But “keep going, keep trying” because “no one else has your voice so we need it.”

For more inspiring Lectures from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA News Resource section.

You can also read the transcript of Birch’s lecture in our Media Centre and find out more about our programmes supporting the next generation of film, games and TV talent.